Knockoff — an imitation of someone or something.
Whenever a consumer item becomes profitable, imitations flood the secondary market. Pirated Blu-rays, mock Rolex watches, and psuedo Louis Vuitton handbags compete with the real thing for a fraction of the price, but often lack the cache of the real item. Consumers who own these knockoffs don’t extol their virtues so much as hope you don’t notice their inaccuracies. Few people proudly collect these fakes. But knockoff action figures — well, that’s a whole other thing.
Bootleg toys have evolved considerably in their lifetime. They’ve gone from cheaply produced blow-molded product to something that’s slowly but steadily catching up to the level of quality exhibited by the major toy companies. Almost blatantly, many of these newer counterfeits are produced in the same factories that manufacture actual licensed product. While details are sketchy due to the practices’ underground nature, over the past few years enough information has emerged that we can draw some safe conclusions.
“Industrious” factory workers produce limited runs of bootleg action figures in a manufacturing plant’s off-hours, often using leftover or reground plastic. These forgeries are made from either the counterfeiter’s own molds or those of unknowing toy companies. These illegally produced items may be painted on-site or moved to another location, then it’s into the package and off to market. For Marvel Legends collectors, lately that market has been eBay.
Starting in the first weeks of June, headless Marvel Legends began appearing online. While factory castoffs are nothing new to many serious online hunters, these caught the eye specifically because they were figures that Hasbro had allegedly scrapped — or never produced. Lucky buyers had the option of unreleased versions of Phoenix, Rogue, and Lyra, convention exclusive-items like Satana, Ghost, and Crossbones, as well as a mixed bag of older figures like Black Panther, Protector, and the Wrecker.
Unreleased figures like Rogue were initially offered at Buy It Now prices of $49.95, but when the seller realized what a goldmine he had on his hands, Rogue quickly became auction-only and her price skyrocketed. Many of the other unreleased figures followed suit: collectors who scoffed at White Phoenix’s original asking price the night before choked on their morning can of Cougar Boost when they saw what she was going for the next day. Quick-thinking third-party sellers began offering “complete” figures using pre-existing heads. Turns out the SDCC Medusa head makes a fair stand-in for Jean Grey:
The sudden appearance of these figures caused a lot of confusion. Were they prototypes or test-shots for product scrapped at the last minute? Were they the first indication that these supposedly cancelled figures were actually being released? Most importantly, where were the heads? As of now, none of these questions have been answered. Those who have purchased the figures seem to feel they’re the real deal: tight joints, quality plastic, and sometimes even paint. But why they exist remains open to speculation.
Obviously fans of characters like Rogue and Jean Grey are going to snag those bodies, even at the inflated price. Many Fwooshers have expressed confusion as to why someone would shell out hundreds of dollars for a dirty, headless figure with antiquated articulation when a customizer could make the same character on a modern body for a quarter of the cost. For the diehards, a custom, no matter how nice, isn’t going to cut it — if there are factory-manufactured pieces of their favorite character, they’re going to need to own them. Case closed.
The more “common” headless bodies are being snapped up for custom figures. Still lacking a Moon Knight? The all-white Protector body may be what you’re looking for. Missed out on Crossbones? He’ll cost you a Pineapple, but what’s money when it comes to completing your team of Thunderbolts? Always wanted an army of Guardsmen? They’re just green Ultron and a handful of head casts away.
Most recently, the unreleased Pepper Potts as Rescue began to appear. Breaking the trend, this figure actually comes with a head. It’s hard to say if these Rescues are just early test-shots or more sophisticated offerings from the counterfeiters. Sadly, the figure does not come with the alternate unmasked head fans were shown a few years back, which is what most collectors seemed to want it for.
However you feel about these counterfeits, it’s hard to deny they’re hitting a sweet spot with the collector base. Adding an unreleased figure to your shelf is surely an exhilarating feeling and clearly brings some serious collector cred. Some Fwooshers have reported dirty or misassembled figures, but the general consensus seems fairly positive. Will this trend continue? Will supply eventually exceed demand, bringing those high prices down? And will collectors who refuse to buy bootlegs ever get a chance to purchase these figures legally at retail? Only time will tell.
If you enjoyed this article, check out my previous look at some of the wildest bootleg toys ever released!
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