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Question on Bootlegs

I have noticed a surge in pictures of bootleg Cobra troopers. While I have seen some of them before, I don't know where to find any. Can someone please tell me some places I should look?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roland da Thompson Gunner

eBay

Yup. Try eBay.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rambo

This guy used to have some:
http://shop.ebay.com/djmessiah1984/...=1&_from=&_ipg=

This is current provider:
http://shop.ebay.com/the_black_majo...=1&_from=&_ipg=

Those guys had entirely different figures, they were manufactured by different groups

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rambo

This guy used to have some:
http://shop.ebay.com/djmessiah1984/...=1&_from=&_ipg=

This is current provider:
http://shop.ebay.com/the_black_majo...=1&_from=&_ipg=

I bought mine from the second guy. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roland da Thompson Gunner

Those guys had entirely different figures, they were manufactured by different groups

are one better than the other?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rambo

are one better than the other?

There's a really long thread at yojoe.com's forum regarding these.

Thread at yojoe,com forums

Here's some snippets from that thread. (None of these opinions or speculations are mine, btw.)

Quote:

So are there two sources for these figs?

Yes, and I got some soldiers from both sources...

Guy from China producing tan (Cobra/scorpion logo), black and crimson soldiers based on the 1983 Cobra soldier.

The Black Major producing white, black, crimson and green camo soldiers based on the 1983 Cobra soldier.

Here are some ratings:

Guy from China:
•I paid $20 (cad) each at the Canadian con (so no shipping to pay).
•Overall better quality.
•It didn't come with a rifle at that time.
•Perfect logo and paint (this is not a customs, it's a factory paint application).
•Real elbow like the vintage Joes.
•Feet hole is the vintage feet hole size.
•Back hole is smaller, so it can't get a backpack.
•I didn't like the gold Cobra logo for the black soldier (but the grey he used is darker which is a good choice IMO).
•I didn't have a problem, so I can't rate his aftersales services.
The Black Major:
•I paid $16 (usd) each including shipping (shipping was free).
•Overall lower quality.
•Came with 1 rifle each (1 was missing, so the guy sent me another one with another trooper: that was very nice from him).
•Perfect logo and paint (this is not a customs, it's a factory paint application).
•Not real elbow like the vintage Joes (the hole is deeper).
•Feet hole is not the vintage feet hole size (it is smaller).
•Back hole is also smaller, so it can't get a backpack.
•I really like the silver Cobra logo for the black soldier (but the grey he used is lighter which is a bad choice IMO).
•Great aftersales services.

Quote:

The first 3 (from the left) are all based on the same mold... meaning:
•The legs can't stay together (like the 2006 Viper Pit).
•They can't stand straight up. Their torso doesn't fit very well in the waist piece (I don't have this problem with the blue one, so maybe it is something with the O-ring... too tight?).
•Their elbow rivest is deeper, making it looks strange (on the pic above, you can see it better when you compare the white and blue troopers with the crimson).
•Their feet and back holes are smaller. I was planning giving my white soldier the 1985 Snow Serpent snow shoes... but it doesn't fit.
The last 2:
•I don't have these problems (I got them at the Canadian con).
•But, their back hole is also smaller (can't give them a backpack).

THose problems were o-ring issues, which even Hasbro figures have had.

I'm rather conflicted about these bootlegs. On one hand, they are absolutely beautiful ! If only Hasbro would do more stuff like this. Oh, the dio potential...
But on the other hand, they are also absolutely illegal, no question about it. Whoever is making these (and, reading that yojoe.com thread, apparently nobody knows who makes them), is committing copyright theft and possibly trademark infringement too. And then there are the reports of some people selling the blue fakes as vintage originals. Oh, the potential for problems...

I have nothing against the bootlegs of figures that don't exist. Go ahead and make/buy all the red, white, black, camo troopers you want. What I don't like is making figures look exactly like old figures, making the bootlegs and the original figures almost indistinguishable. If you're going to bootleg blueshirts or viper pilots, at least make a few subtle changes, that would still look fine standing next to an original, but still be enough to not allow the not so savvy ebay buyers get ripped off.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marty

Well said Marty. I would hate to think of lowlife scumbags deliberately selling bootlegs as original figures. That's just plain greed and dishonesty.