Bootleg Super Heroes minifigs - worth it or not?

[Zhagas]

I steal my kids Lego figs - they get bootleg replacements

I've started doing that myself. It makes my wife far less angry than when we used to buy my son sets and the minifigs would either be lost or creatively destroyed in no time flat.

Oh yeah the chinese new year will slow things down i guess. Happy sheep year guys/girls!

I can't wait... a few of my orders on AliExpress have been on hold until after Chinese New Year (waiting on suppliers.) I want my Decool Groot and Daredevil already!

[pmptstc1]

Did anyone else not get the cape for the Collector with the Decool set?

[Kire]

Any news on new bootlegs per chance? I'd like to see a new series by now (call me impatient).

Same, Decool and SY have been pretty quiet lately. Hopefully we get a new set soon! Especially with the new DC and Marvel Avengers 2 waves.

[Robianco]

Same, Decool and SY have been pretty quiet lately. Hopefully we get a new set soon! Especially with the new DC and Marvel Avengers 2 waves.

With the recent DC wave and the marvel wave set to land tomorrow I expect them to have plenty of stuff to be working on... it's a shame that they put so much effort into total copies of existing stuff.

Helicarrier from them for $100? :)

[Borex]

I hope they release a comicversion scarlet witch, quicksilver, vision and baron von strucker

[Robianco]

I can see SY doing something like that after their Avengers Assemble set did comic versions of those characters although it would have been nice if they'd done a movie Falcon as theirs was a copy of the Lego version.

[jangosolo]

With the recent DC wave and the marvel wave set to land tomorrow I expect them to have plenty of stuff to be working on... it's a shame that they put so much effort into total copies of existing stuff.

Helicarrier from them for $100? :)

Oh man, that would be so tempting! I was a click away from buying it yesterday before I came to my senses - £260!! Mental.

Looks like a fun build though, where would you put it though!

I'm looking forward to what the bootleggers do next, seems to have been a while now since anything new has a appeared, a lot of new source material (plus still loads from the DC and Marvel Lego games) to explore.

I hate waiting, and I miss not waiting for those little packages to arrive!

So true - but you read horrible stories about torsos cracking when you remove the arms - especially on the cheaper Chinese plastic figs. I have to keep 'my' minifigs away from prying little fingers - I steal my kids Lego figs - they get bootleg replacements

Haha... Guilty too!

[wickedlemon]

It would be great to see more comic versions of figures. We got Hawkeye, Antman and Rhino recently. I think it's pretty safe to say that once Lego have done an Ultimate/movie version there's little chance of a comic one following if the design is significantly different. I think we were lucky getting a comic Falcon.

Scarlet Witch, Vision and Quicksilver definitely need doing. I still want a comic Electro too. I'm also waiting for an old school Nick Fury head. I've read far too many Sgt Fury comics for him to be anything other than white with a huge cigar.

I'll confess to swapping Lego out with bootlegs for my son, especially caped figures. He spots them pretty well though.

I saw some of the new sets yesterday in a toy shop. A quick bit of Maths showed the cost at about £12 per figure on most of them. And that's without accounting for repeat figures. Ouch.

[crossmr]

I picked up the SY Turtles pack a couple days ago. $9 for the 8 figures here on the street. Very impressed with the quality and my daughter likes the skateboards. I'll probably stick to SY. They have good arms and legs. Decool was also good, but my starlord was missing a hand.

[Zhagas]

I picked up the SY Turtles pack a couple days ago. $9 for the 8 figures here on the street. Very impressed with the quality and my daughter likes the skateboards. I'll probably stick to SY. They have good arms and legs. Decool was also good, but my starlord was missing a hand.

I used to feel that Decool's quality was superior but lately I've been very impressed with SY's newest releases. Galactus is simply awesome and I was also quite impressed with comic Hawkeye and Antman. Decool will still be getting plenty of business from me though, at least until someone else starts making some decent big figs!

[Amset-Rah]

I've been stalking this thread as I've been thinking of getting some bootlegs of figures Lego hasn't made yet or are hard to obtain/overpriced in the aftermarket. I'm assuming most people in this thread have their fair share of knockoffs and I know the nature of the game is luck of the draw you get a good one, but I'm still hesitant, like I wanted to get SY's Fantastic Four set with Pyro and Silver Surfer, with the intent on changing the Fantastic 4's legs (The incomplete boot print bothers me) and maybe a new head for Reed, but still, which companies are worth it and which ones are junk? This thread and Digger's videos have helped in terms of figuring out what's crap and good, but I need more opinions.

[CptPJs]

I'd honestly say just take the plunge and buy one, I bought Phoenix for £2 and I couldn't be happier. An AFOL could tell them apart, but as a legit one goes for £200 I can live with slightly lighter plastic! They're not expensive so just get yourself a few and see what you think.

[Amset-Rah]

I think I might bite the bullet and go for Phoenix and the Fantastic Four set like you said. It's just some of the funkier ones like Red Robin, Antman, and cowl Wolverine kind of made me weary (Though Galactus is amazing)

[Zhagas]

I've been stalking this thread as I've been thinking of getting some bootlegs of figures Lego hasn't made yet or are hard to obtain/overpriced in the aftermarket. I'm assuming most people in this thread have their fair share of knockoffs and I know the nature of the game is luck of the draw you get a good one, but I'm still hesitant, like I wanted to get SY's Fantastic Four set with Pyro and Silver Surfer, with the intent on changing the Fantastic 4's legs (The incomplete boot print bothers me) and maybe a new head for Reed, but still, which companies are worth it and which ones are junk? This thread and Digger's videos have helped in terms of figuring out what's crap and good, but I need more opinions.

To be honest, I've had a pretty good record so far. Out of a lot of different figures from different brands I've only had a few that had serious defects, and almost all of those were in the first sets I bought so I think the quality has improved substantially. That's not to say you won't get a dud (I got a Red Robin recently that the helmet wouldn't fit on. I was upset til I saw the picture here of someone who got the same figure with the head printed upside down!) That being said, I've not had any issues getting a replacement sent by the sellers on AliExpress when I have had issues with a particular figure. As far as what brands to start with, I would definitely suggest Decool and Sheng Yuan.

And if you need another resource (with tons of picture comparisons) I find this guy's blog an invaluable resource: http://mybrickstore.blogspot.com/

[Amset-Rah]

Yeah, from scouring this thread and watching Digger's videos, I'd think SY or Decool are the top dogs here, but like I said, I'm restricting myself to characters Lego hasn't done yet or characters that are too expensive to get regularly (Phoenix, Collector, Batman of Zurr-En-Ar, etc.) but some characters in this category I'm sticking away from like the aforementioned Antman or Wolverine (Though I have the Sentinel set version, so I'm good).

Now one character I think might be bootleg that I have coming in is Deadpool, but the picture looked just like the Lego version which is way too pricey. I can report back once he comes in the mail his quality, but if anyone here has any Deadpools, are they any good compared to the genuine Lego?

[wickedlemon]

I've got Decool, SY and Lego Deadpool's and they're all good. Pic of the Decool one here: http://www.herobloks.co.uk/figures/Decool/445/Deadpool

[Amset-Rah]

Huh, not bad. Aside from the sharp bits Decool I guess is known for on the body, it's spot on. I think I might go for a few bootlegs and see if they're worth it, though I have to ask is Ebay or Aliexpress a better place? I know Aliexpress is a cheaper option, but eBay has US sellers but the prices are similar to genuine Lego. Like I said, I might as well take the chance and see where it goes. That said, I think you found a new regular to the thread.

[Robianco]

I'd pretty much say SY has the advantage on quality over Decool... the only time I've kept a Decool over a SY version of the same figure was the last full Iron Man set that Decool did and they upped their game on that set although some other releases since have been hit and miss.

I've never had an issue with AliExpress and now that Chinese New Year is over they're shipping out orders pretty quickly. The only issue you might have with a slow order is one that we've all encountered and that's with a brand new range some sellers put them up early and take orders even without receiving them from their supplier... the SY Iron Man range is the perfect example of this... they'll send it out eventually as they don't get paid by AE who hold the funds until you've confirmed receipt of the order but sometimes you have to wait a while.

I think some people forget that AE is owned by Alibaba who are a HUGE company... not some iffy Eastern trading site.

For the sake of $7 for 8 figures I think it's a no brainer... and I'm like you in the sense that I only ever keep figures that Lego haven't done... or the SDCC figures. If I couldn't get bootlegs of ZEA Batman, Green Arrow and Black Suit Superman I'd have been sitting hovering over very expensive eBay auctions for legit versions... as it is I'm not and I'm very happy with my copies. I just wish someone would clone the 2011 Batman figure... for some reason nobody has done that one yet!

I totally understand when people don't want bootlegs or even custom figures but there are so many figures people are crying out for in the threads and they exist already.. just not as official Lego.

Welcome to the thread! ;)

Edited March 2, 2015 by Robianco

[Borex]

I love SY antman. I think that cowl on Wolvie (from sy) can maybe used for a custom Nite Owl (watchmen)?

With the new DC and Marvel waves out in the stores i expect the next series are all about copies alas.

DC: space batman, sinestro, captain cold, scuba robin, black manta, green arrow (hood off), hawkman, cyborg, braniac, supergirl and the bigfigs Grodd and Darkseid are the ones that aren't done yet.

Marvel: All avengers new designs, quicksilver, scarlet witch, vision, baron von strucker, hydra soldier, iron drone, ultron all versions

If they're bootlegging everybody it's a long wait for new designs of characters not done yet :-(

My hope for now is that they're making comicversions of scarlet witch, quicksilver, vision and ultron. Plus while they're at it throw in some avengers like tigra, black panther, moonknight etc. :-p

[Amset-Rah]

I don't have a problem with bootlegs or customs, again, as long as it's a character Lego hasn't made or unlikely to make (Punisher) or a figure that's ridiculously priced for a genuine article. I'm actually more curious than anything, as I've done purist customs before.

Yeah, I'm with you on that. About time SY and Decool put out some new figs for the DC and later Ultron waves. What I'd snap up in a heartbeat are the exclusive Helecarrier figures like MCU Nick Fury or Maria Hill. Even Captain America is getting an upwards of $50 on eBay, so I'd welcome any of them for us who do't want to throw down $400 for a few exclusives.

[Robianco]

They're not stupid... I think they know those Helicarrier figs would be a big pull... Include Winter Soldier in that too!

[Amset-Rah]

Oh yeah, forgot about Winter Soldier! Didn't they make one already early on? I'd be interested, but I have a feeling I'll be getting the Lego version more on this one.

[Robianco]

i picked up the Helicarrier for the figures, Winter Soldier and the VIP points then sold the Helicarrier build on so it cost me £35 for Maria Hill, Nick Fury, Winter Soldier, Cap without mask and the Hawkeye and Black Widow figures along with £15 worth of VIP points! That sounds fair to me!

I just hope they read SY and Decool read forums like these and see that a Raven figure is wanted and maybe some comic versions of characters that are getting official releases.

[Takezo]

No one has information about the new DC and SY waves?...

[jangosolo]

i picked up the Helicarrier for the figures, Winter Soldier and the VIP points then sold the Helicarrier build on so it cost me £35 for Maria Hill, Nick Fury, Winter Soldier, Cap without mask and the Hawkeye and Black Widow figures along with £15 worth of VIP points! That sounds fair to me!

I just hope they read SY and Decool read forums like these and see that a Raven figure is wanted and maybe some comic versions of characters that are getting official releases.

Gah

Really regretting not doing this weeks ago, I expect the bottom has fallen out of that particular market now...