Sunday, January 25, 2015

Bootleg Alert! Hasbro Movie Electro

This is Loosecollector Customs. Where we put bootleggers in tight underpants, and give them a wedgie.
 
We've found out yesterday that the ENTIRE "Spiderman Infinite" line has been bootlegged and sold as a lot in the grey market.
You will see the figs... Superior Spidey, Black Cat, Movie Spidey, Movie Electro, Beetle, Carange and BAF Goblin
all jammed together inside a cheap plastic bag. Today we review Electro.

We would like to thank Jimmy Tan of Divisoria Mall, for donating the bootleg and Jeff Corbett of Wisconsin, USA
for the original figure. Thank you guys :)!
On all the pics, left side is the bootleg, right side is the original item....




At first glance, the most obvious differences are these...

BOOTLEG
- matte and dull-colored black plastic. Material feels flimsy
- blue overspray on costume, carelessly applied and not very vibrant
- blue plastic used for the head and hands are less transluscent and has a dull and darker color

ORIGINAL
- smooth and vibrant black plastic. Sturdy material
- blue overspray on costume is very well-applied and of a very nice skyblue color
- blue plastic used for the head and hands have a very nice pearly blue color that slightly shimmer under light



The bootleg's neck peg is longer and the pegs on its hands have broader "heads".
At least the bootleg can brag..."Mine has a longer neck and it's head is broader!".
The horizontal peg on the bootleg's neck that provides the up-down articulation is slightly exposed as well. 

Note that the original comes with an alternate head and the bootleg DOES NOT.
Also, the head and hands of the bootleg require more force to remove compared to the original's.


Here are closer shots of both. See the obvious difference in colors? You can also see here how the grey parts on bootleg's collar and waist are dull, while the original's are slightly metallic.






Now, if you are shopping for an Electro and you don't have an original one in hand, here's the best way to find out.

There is a visible gap between the bootleg's torso and crotch parts (the waist articulation),
while the original's torso connects to the lower half very tightly. Here's why...

If you look closely, there is a white-colored ring/washer between the bootleg's torso and crotch. See that?
It's purpose is to make the articulation tighter and the parts to come closer together. BUT! It should be placed INSIDE the crotch part during assembly. The bootleggers had it wrong and placed it OUTSIDE like so. As a result, the articulation is tight, but the ring causes this gap. I have inspected at least fifteen (15) of these guys and every single one of them have this "Waist-gap Syndrome (WGS)", which leads me to conclude that they are all assembled this way.

Hope this helps guys. Keep loving the hobby :)!

Monday, January 19, 2015

Daredevil : Madness Within

Customer-specified chunky-ness and gnarly-painted goodness :).
Comes with interchageable heads, an equally-chunky-nunchuck, sticks on his back and cruel intentions. 


Sunday, January 11, 2015

Top 10 Bootlegs and Knockoff Toys


This is Loosecollector Customs. Where we come in the Bootleggers’ Party un-invited, drink all the beer and wee on the sofa.
Today we rank ten of our most favorite bootlegs/knockoffs of all time. Why? Because it’s break time.


 
At #10
DOGS! And we got two of them. Yay :D!
 


#9
Manny! "Not Jesus". Nope.


#8 
Robert Cop 2! The only secret project that didn't start with number "1".
Thank you Robert Cop 2... We feel safe already. 


He was successful enough to spawn a sequel, Robert Cop 3.
And we're not even joking.


#7
Spider-Man! You know you’re the leader when you get to ride the dinosaur… I mean “Power Vehicle”! From the New Machine Series no less.
 


#6
Whoever made this one... the Force was strong in him. Bless his heart...
 

With a villain this powerful, you'll need an equally powerful hero that can "Perform Distinctive".
 

#5
Super Bat! With his fearsome Bat-skateboard and bluetooth headset, he strikes fear into the hearts of evildoers in the mean streets of Utah.

Employing his “Non-Fall Action” technique, he can never lose.
You know you're "Super" when you can punch through concrete... left handed!
 

With powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men!
 


#4
"This time it's personal!"




Battle horns: Narwhal - can freeze time. Unicorn - filled with chocolate.
That's like Godzilla vs Bambi.... Unicorn wins!
 


#3
We lump these guys in one entry. Don’t ask…

“Happy Times Woody”
 

“Pull-along Cock and Pussy”
 

“Breast Chaser”

And... "Super Cock"!
From the mighty Cock Robot he changes into the even mightier, Super Cock! They don't stand a chance.
 


#2
Backstory: Due to an impending galactic threat, Superman assembled the most powerful force for good the world has ever seen.
The "Sense of Right Alliance"! Earth's defense against the diabolical, "Manners of a Goat Coalition"!

Here we have...
Blue Ranger
Spider-Man
Superman and his rolled-up sleeves
Batman
Joey... Shrek's half-warthog, step-cousin, from his mother's side
and blue car dude. Let's call him Chet.


Surprisingly, Blue Ranger, Chet and Joey died on their very first mission. In heroic fashion, they all got hit by a truck on their way out of the base. Here is the second, albeit much weaker unit... We miss Joey already.



And finally at #1
Special Man. We have no words to describe his greatness.
  

Disassembled: ML3 Wolverine (Toybiz)




This is Loosecollector Customs. Where we destroy perfectly good (and sometimes expensive) figures, so you don't have to :D. 

Today we operate on the very first Marvel Legend Wolverine figure ever made, ML3 Wolvie by Toybiz.

He's got a 1-piece torso, hip-joint construction similar to the modern Hasbro ones, nicely sculpted arms,
that head is not even his (got him headless, but you get the point :D) and is way out of scale.
(Thanks to our friend, JC of Milwaukee for donating the sexy Dremel and Punisher figure. You rock!)



And here you go...




Other figures using this body:

It's the other way around actually. ML3 Wolvie is basically a retooled version of the "Evolution of X Wolverine" figure made earlier by Toybiz. They use the same head, torso, shoulderpads and crotch. The neck, arms and legs share almost similar sculpt but ML3 Wolvie's got the standard Marvel Legends articulation.





ML3 Wolvie came in three variants.

1) ML3 Individual package (Masked)
2) ML3 Individual package (Unmasked - showing teeth)... later used on an XMC Wolvie that came with a vehicle
3) X-Men Boxset (Unmasked - open mouth)


Hope this helps guys. God bless!