Bootleg Super Heroes minifigs - worth it or not?

[Super Goblin]

Some sellers have them listed separate but in most cases you can get the whole set cheaper than buying a individual figure. These sellers are buying these for about 30 cents a piece.

[KingPixels]

Well until someone makes an SDCC Phoenix replica I have no other option but to get the Decool one (which is a shame because I REALLY hate those shoulders).

[Robianco]

We need a tutorial on how to file them down then get it really smooth with ultra fine sandpaper to make them perfect! ;)

[CustomJoe_MD]

We need a tutorial on how to file them down then get it really smooth with ultra fine sandpaper to make them perfect! ;)

Diluted drugstore acetone works better than sandpaper and is gentler, just make sure you rinse in soapy water so the reaction ABS/acetone stops once you have it like you want it. my 0.02cents

Or you can try and get Lego arms to work with it, just use acetone gently on the socket till it's the right size/shape. And it would make the fig 10% official. well maybe 9% :D

Or bite the bullet like I did because of this conversation and get the official one for 100 and something euros. I BLAME all of you for my wallets pain. (and the fact that plain green torsos are damned impossible to get)

PS: I'm not responsible if the chinese plastic goes up in flames, gets eaten through or anything. It's probably more reactive than the european variety. IMHO

Edited May 23, 2014 by CustomJoe_MD

[pizzapizza]

In my country you can get 6pcs of decool for $3.5

I'll post the actual pics of it when it comes out

[KingPixels]

Diluted drugstore acetone works better than sandpaper and is gentler, just make sure you rinse in soapy water so the reaction ABS/acetone stops once you have it like you want it. my 0.02cents

Or you can try and get Lego arms to work with it, just use acetone gently on the socket till it's the right size/shape. And it would make the fig 10% official. well maybe 9% :D

Or bite the bullet like I did because of this conversation and get the official one for 100 and something euros. I BLAME all of you for my wallets pain. (and the fact that plain green torsos are damned impossible to get)

PS: I'm not responsible if the chinese plastic goes up in flames, gets eaten through or anything. It's probably more reactive than the european variety. IMHO

The sockets already fit lego arms. :)

I managed to get my fantastic four shoulders looking almost official, but it took a lot of work, frustration, and patience, so it's almost not worth it.

You're suggesting softening the plastic with acetone, right?

[CustomJoe_MD]

Yes to polish it to the right shine.

The socket thing is just in case there are some barbs and the arm doesn't go in right. It always good to "melt" any hard joints to avoid splitting the torso, but at those prices you can get spares.

[KingPixels]

Yes to polish it to the right shine.

The socket thing is just in case there are some barbs and the arm doesn't go in right. It always good to "melt" any hard joints to avoid splitting the torso, but at those prices you can get spares.

Could you elaborate on how to use the acetone?

[AmperZand]

Nice link Joe :) Brickfortress legs look really good! Guess I will order some right now...although shipping is more expensive then the rest of the order

The BrickFortress articulated short legs are really good. I reviewed them here on EB a while back: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=73584entry1527866

I don't have any of the SY ones. Is anyone who has both able to compare them? Are the SY ones actually BrickFortress ones, copies or original SY designs?

[Hammerstein NWC]

Could you elaborate on how to use the acetone?

Be very very careful using acetone - it's nasty stuff!

My 2 cents on the decool/clone subject. I like being able to get parts in different colours and custom parts that TLG are not doing. It's not cool that they copy customisers designs but let's be honest none of the custom houses are actually licensed to use the intellectual property so in effect they are stealing too.

I will never stop buying official Lego but I wish they would stop denying us the opportunity to get certain figs. SDCC figs should be available in sets later on for example. The exclusivity comes from the packaging not the fig itself. Look at newyork comic con superman from 2011. Reissued in the first superman set an the value of the one on the backing card is still worth 200 dollars plus.

The thing that really bugs me is how selective people are about aftermarket accessories. I hate brand X but love brand Y. For example - I hate megabloks but love Brickarms...

[agoodfella77]

Well until someone makes an SDCC Phoenix replica I have no other option but to get the Decool one (which is a shame because I REALLY hate those shoulders).

Would you mind elaborating the issue with the shoulders?

Thanks!

[Robianco]

Would you mind elaborating the issue with the shoulders?

Thanks!

I think it's just down to how sharp they are compared to Lego shoulder curves. The Sheng Yuan bootlegs are curved the same as Lego but the DeCool ones are much sharper... maybe not to a point... but not far off!

DeCool then also have the blades on the outside of the hips rather than the 2 studs to fix to the box whereas Sheng Yuan now also copy the Lego hip studs too.

All in all DeCool's choice of figures is really promising and they're delivering the SDCC figures to us for next to nothing but the quality of SY has surpassed them.

[agoodfella77]

I think it's just down to how sharp they are compared to Lego shoulder curves. The Sheng Yuan bootlegs are curved the same as Lego but the DeCool ones are much sharper... maybe not to a point... but not far off!

DeCool then also have the blades on the outside of the hips rather than the 2 studs to fix to the box whereas Sheng Yuan now also copy the Lego hip studs too.

All in all DeCool's choice of figures is really promising and they're delivering the SDCC figures to us for next to nothing but the quality of SY has surpassed them.

Thanks for the reply. I was curious because I have both the SY and DeCools. I never really noticed the "sharp shoulders" until this comment. IMO it's not really that noticeable, but for "perfectionists" I guess there are plenty of things to nitpick!

At these prices, you really do get what you pay for (and much, much more IMO).

[TristanLoganLoki]

I got Capt America and Hawkeye, and some one else wasnt that pricey, got hawkeye for the bbow only as the bow on ebay was 1.50 the fig cost 1.99 only reason. But I will only get the figs if Lego arent going to be doing them

[the enigma that is badger]

I was in Hong Kong a few months back and ended up picking up some of the Iron Man knock offs (copied from HJ Media Studios designs) in person. These figures were clearly the hot item of the day at the local street vendors; pretty much every toy vendor had at least a small display.

Of the few I picked up, quality seemed to vary wildly. Some were rather nicely printed with plastic quality on a decent clone brand level, while others were . . less impressive (sloppy printing, decidedly inferior plastic).

Like Hammerstein has mentioned, it's strange situation in regards to intellectual property, and it is morbidly fascinating to watch this decidedly strange corner of minifigure production and collecting evolve.

Have any pictures of that Hulkbuster knock-off popped up? I've looked around Flickr and eBay but haven't found anything.

[fatmui11]

They're from China, so any time from a week to a month. It varies.

can you show me the link ?

[KingPixels]

I was in Hong Kong a few months back and ended up picking up some of the Iron Man knock offs (copied from HJ Media Studios designs) in person. These figures were clearly the hot item of the day at the local street vendors; pretty much every toy vendor had at least a small display.

Of the few I picked up, quality seemed to vary wildly. Some were rather nicely printed with plastic quality on a decent clone brand level, while others were . . less impressive (sloppy printing, decidedly inferior plastic).

Like Hammerstein has mentioned, it's strange situation in regards to intellectual property, and it is morbidly fascinating to watch this decidedly strange corner of minifigure production and collecting evolve.

Have any pictures of that Hulkbuster knock-off popped up? I've looked around Flickr and eBay but haven't found anything.

Do you remember the different brands? Could you do a quick write-up on plastic quality per brand?

And Hulkbuster hasn't been shown yet, just the silhouette.

can you show me the link ?

The link to what? Lots of places sell them (eBay stores, AliExpress) but they all come from China.

[the enigma that is badger]

Do you remember the different brands? Could you do a quick write-up on plastic quality per brand?

And Hulkbuster hasn't been shown yet, just the silhouette.

Unfortunately, I don't remember the brand names. Reading through the thread, most of the points I'd make have already been raised, in particular some of the stranger aspects of the figs (oddly shaped legs, leg-torso connections, etc).

[Robianco]

From what I've seen there are at least 4 brands of clones: DeCool, Sheng Yuan, Lele and IQ Blocks.

Sheng Yuan for me are the best clones available now... moulds and print are now very good and they now have full Lego clone leg and hip moulds. Plastics are very good and the colours are usually a close match to official TLG colours. You need to put an official Lego figure next to them to sport some of the differences.

DeCool have excellent figure choice and are, rightly or wrongly, cloning other customisers work to give us close to pad print quality.. unfortunately when the print isn't quite bang on it can be VERY off. Moulds also can suffer from a lack of QC but colours are usually close to TLG's and the plastics used are also pretty good. Hips and shoulders are the obvious difference to TLG but the legs do fit official Lego hips (helps with replacing The Thing's hips and keeping the '4' printed on the leg).

Lele are a poorer relation and are lacking somewhat in the design department. Print can be very heavy handed and sometimes very inaccurate. They do clone Lego joints though and the shoulder moulds are closer to TLG. Plastic is a little inferior to the previous companies in my experience as I've actually worn away plastic simple by rubbing with my nail. They did produce a VERY nice Scarlet Spider though which none of the other companies have. If there's one figure you should get from Lele then that's it. The recent Captain America set is a perfect example of how they fall short when comparing it to the SY set.

IQ Bricks have released some terrible sets. They're the people responsible for the multi Thor pack, Wolverine pack and Black Widow pack... all of which had some of the worst design and print I've seen on these clones. Joints can be very loose and things such as hair pieces can be very ill-fitting. That said some of their more recent releases have shown a slight increase in quality such as the Avengers Alliance set with figures such as Black Widow, Riddler, Harley Quinn... but only slightly... some really odd print decisions like having the same face printed both sides of a head when there'll be no hair piece to cover the back one etc... The newer stuff is still slightly behind Lele from what I've seen. Plastic colour is a little iffy and quality is slightly less than DC and SY. Also prone to moulding issues and lack of QC.

[KCMatze]

Are there any pics out there of the upcoming Decool Phoenix yet?

[turbo1013]

after last christmas,

I REALIZED SOMETHING

i bought the AT-AT and another starwars $100 dollar space ship, for my son,

only to find

all the boxes open, and just the guys were missing,

it seems kids just want the guys,

me too,

so

i spent about $150 on them for me and my son,

i spent about $1.00 per guy, usa

got

5-6 diffrent sets of Ironmen, about 45 total guys, all about $1.00 a peice 5 sets were AWESOME< 1 ok

thor set of 5 diffrent thor (ok)

comic con set black widow , Spider-Man Winter Soldier robin deadpool shazam (cool)

hulk set deadpool hulk flash iron man wolverine (AWESome BIG HULK)

lego movie 8 guys set AWESOME

comic con set flash , green martian, 2 robins, dr doom WOW green martian

comic con set, green arow, superman, zod, deadpool, spider man , shazam, wonderwomen, (very good)

comcin con set, riddler, harlyquin, black widow, wonder women, 2 face , loki,

batman set 5 diffrent batman (very good)

wolverine set of 5 (very cool )

3 star wars sets of 4 to 5 (2 were ok, 1 was by far worst of all)

nijago sets of 5 guys, ok

captian america set of 5 (preety AWESOME)

i bought my daughter about 30 lego friends rip off, she knows no diffrence,

sponge bob set of 5, ok,

lord of rings set, 6 guys for 3 bucks,

now building my ironman hall of armour,

i love legos, and have about 200 sets, 100 just starwars,

but

most of these knock off minifiguers look the same but cost me what one huge set of legos would have cost, and i have over 100 guys now

Edited May 27, 2014 by turbo1013

[KingPixels]

Are there any pics out there of the upcoming Decool Phoenix yet?

Yup, they're available to purchase now. Personally I'll wait and see if Sheng Yuan does one.

[rosalind14]

Gotta love that costume they've put Logan in!

[Dr Leg O Brick]

Yep, I love it! Buy five or so, change the heads and necessary parts, and you've got a start on an ultimate X-Men team!

[Robianco]

I'm just waiting for mine in the post.

Set of 6 figures for just over £4. Can't argue with that really.