Dangerous toys you should avoid buying your kids this Christmas.

Christmas is fast approaching. So too are annoying cheery carols, late night trading hours, and novelty reindeer car costumes.

But in your exhausted Santa-esque state, there’s something shifty you need to be aware of when filling your kid’s stockings this festive season.

Dodgy, counterfeit toys.

It turns out that a range of Melbourne retailers are stocking dangerous fake action figures which do not comply with safety standards. So, if you see a toy modelled off the Star Wars, LEGO, Avengers, Minecraft, Superman, Pokemon, Nintendo or Disney franchises, you might want to take a closer look.

This is something parents need to keep an eye on, according to Tom Godfrey, a spokesperson for consumer advocacy group CHOICE.

“Counterfeits are getting more sophisticated,” he told News.com.au.

“So in some cases the toys may well look good from the outside, but what we find is that they won’t meet any of the safety standards. Genuine toys will have all the materials tested, all using the types of plastic that are known to be safe. Counterfeit goods haven’t gone through any of these tests, and so they won’t have an approved mark on the back showing the suitable age range for the product.”

If shopping isn’t your thing, you could always take a leaf out of Jimmy Kimmel’s book this festive season…

So, while the cheaper Star Wars figurines might be tempting at first, they could be putting your kids at risk.

“Genuine toys go through drop testing to see if it’s possible for them to splinter into small pieces, and then a sharps test to check if any of the items pose a danger.

“These requirements change by age, so you’d be looking at whether a small child can take a piece off and put it in their mouth. Counterfeit toys haven’t been put through any of this, so they’re really taking a child’s life into their hands.”

The best way to tell if something’s legit or a cheap knock-off? The price (…unfortunately).

Have you been tricked into buying a fake toy before?