Bootlegs For A Buck
03.01.06 By Derek DahlsadIn the music world, a good bootleg is worth its weight in gold: they’re a recording of a live performance, or an obscure recording that was never really meant to make it to public. Somehow, somewhere, a bootleg finds it’s way into the hands of a collector and becomes much sought after.
Other collectible industries, however, know ‘bootlegs’ as the knock-offs, the poor-quality alternatives. The pottery and glassware markets see the most convincing and least valuable of the counterfeit collectibles, but one genre has a booming industry, one that’s overlooked yet available almost everywhere: the toy industry.
I doubt there’s a kid today who hasn’t played with a ‘bootleg’ toy, the gift from the distant aunt who didn’t know what to buy, the toy bought at the grocery store to stop the kid from complaining, the four things that allowance money can buy at the dollar store instead of the one at Toys R Us: bootleg toys are sometimes more available than the regular brand-names, because they’re the toys that end up at gas stations, grocery stores, in vending machines and at flea markets.
The fun in collecting bootlegs is the sheer variety of what can be found: often, to skirt the legality of the knock-offs, the packaging and name is completely changed, making it all the more difficult to locate a ‘genuine’ bootleg. Consider these bootlegs, bought at the local dollar store:
(click to view larger image)
To many people, these look like they were created after 9/11 to feed of the whole anti-terrorist genre: action figures belonging to the “Counter-Terrorist Units” of Extreme Troop. It’s an international team of good guys, each skilled in fighting terrorism in his or her own way, according to the back of the card — but an expert eye knows exactly who these figures are. What is sold here as “Extreme Troop” are knock-offs of GI Joe figures. Have a look:
The woman, in GI Joe parlance, is “The Baroness,” one of the bad guys of Cobra. The bootleggers didn’t even bother to remove the moulded cobra-heads on her wrists, belt buckle, and backpack - - aside from the poor quality of the duplication, she’s a dead-wringer for the original Baroness toy. The other is a Cobra Commander variant, one I don’t own the original for, but, again, is a dead-on duplication of the original, and collectors will recognize Snake Eyes, Mutt, and a number of other famous likenesses on the card back, relabeled and repackaged as something completely different.
I wasn’t out on the hunt for cool toys that day — I think I was looking for stocking-stuffers, actually — but I still ended up with the thrill usually reserved for finding a rare figurine at an estate sale. It’s the rush of the unexpected, and given the multitude of cheap imported toys on shelves today there’s no reason not to stop by the dollar store. For collectors who feel their collection already has ‘everything’ (or at least everything they can afford), adding bootlegs gives the collection a texture that purists lack. The inexpensive nature of the toys also makes it an easier direction to get started in without requiring a huge investment. For the price of one rare GI Joe figure, I could have filled my trunk with the entire rack of Extreme Troop toys. All kinds of toys are bootlegged, but they are rarely well organized or easily found, and it is actually the sign of a well-trained eye to notice a bootleg despite the wrong paint colors and being labeled something entirely different. Iin fact, some of the rarer bootlegs end up more valuable than the original toy! If running back and forth between thrift shops, rummage sales, or auctions is wearing thin, take some time and stop at the truck stop. There might be some treasure to be found!
More on bootleged toys:
- Bootleg Toys The Undiscovered Playthings
- RTM’s Bootleg Watch
- Bootleg and Just Plain Weird toys.
- An unbelievably thorough Star Wars bootleg list
---
Article Tags: bootlegs, Cobra, imitation, knock-offs, toys, weird================
Gotta Collect? Then You Gotta Connect - Join our Collectors’ Community!
