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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 :)!

4 comments:

  1. Very helpful! Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow! Sharp eyes guys! Good work.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Those bootlegs now comes in boxes ! At least in my country. And those boxes are really well made, i compared them to the original one and there are identical [the same glossy art-photo on the back, the same descriptions, marks, bar-codes - everything, like those are actually the original packages.]

    As for the price - i was able to buy whole set for a really cheap price [like 8-10$ per piece], and those are one of the best knock-offs i ever seen Awesome for custom figure material.

    But collectors out there - you need to be very careful. Sure when you know you're buying a bootleg and the price is low its fine, but when youre sure tou get the original figure for the full price and they cheat on you - things get really bad.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Those bootlegs now comes in boxes ! At least in my country. And those boxes are really well made, i compared them to the original one and there are identical [the same glossy art-photo on the back, the same descriptions, marks, bar-codes - everything, like those are actually the original packages.]

    As for the price - i was able to buy whole set for a really cheap price [like 8-10$ per piece], and those are one of the best knock-offs i ever seen Awesome for custom figure material.

    But collectors out there - you need to be very careful. Sure when you know you're buying a bootleg and the price is low its fine, but when youre sure tou get the original figure for the full price and they cheat on you - things get really bad.

    ReplyDelete