Leo Fender had a vision that was so ahead of his time that it was prophetic ..
He was an absolute genius because he designed his guitars that he released to perfection .
Part of his Fender guitar perfection attributes were the guitars were meant to be mass produced in a cost effective manner . He has even said that if a guitars neck needed a fret job or simply wore out ,just slap an new neck on it
A cardboard guitar that is made in the image of a Strat does not surprise me at all in the least ...
Leo's blueprint was perfection , the guys that built that cardboard guitar built it to Fender spec , using Fender hardware , parts , design and electronics at the Fender Custom shop no less

why wouldn't it not work and sound just like a Fender

It works and sounds the way it does because of the design ....
all the best,
Kenny