I agree, it's has several differences from the real thing, but a replica doesn't have to be an exact copy to be an infringement of copyright. In that you bought that one in lieu of the real thing is an infringement of their property.
When small companies have to spend money on legal issues it just makes it that much more difficult to stay in business.
When we refurbished our Lil
Bigfoot we spent almost $300 on genuine BigFoot graphics.