Marvelee? Avengerses? They are not the usual typographical errors you encounter in this blog. It's a way around copyright laws, I guess. Some countries have their own versions of copyright laws and I guess in some country they only cover names but not the design. They can copy a design but not the name, I guess. I guess a lot, don't I? I just don't get why they have to change the "Avengers" to "Avengerses" when they kept using the word "Avengers" all throughout the box. I also find it funny and cute how they "translate" Hasbro in Chinese. Harharhar.
front and back of knock off Titan Hero Tech Hulk Buster box
I forgot to take pictures of the earlier 3 Titan Hero Tech knock offs in their boxes before I gave them away. Knock offs need to be documented as well, as a validation of their existence. I have these two left to be given away later on so I decided to document them.
front and back of knock off Titan Hero Tech Thor box
The three earlier characters came in a box similar to the Hulk Buster box above. The back of Thor's box is different. One thing lacking about clones and knock off's is the consistency. It could be because a number of manufacturers are copying the same products and they each have their own recipe. Since they are copying the same product, they generally look the same but some details vary with each copy.
When one buys knock offs, limitations are to be expected. For one, the recorded sounds are not appropriate for the characters. They are actually from a Transformers movie. For Thor, the hip joint is done away with. The metallic plates on his chest doesn't look metal. Mjolnir also has a different color from the original.
The Hulk Buster on the other hand is too short. The size of the box is totally misleading. It has the biggest box but it has the shortest figure inside! The steel parts which are supposed to be in silver are in plastic gold. The hands are in gold instead of red. The punching action from the original is not copied. The sculpt is also different from the back, with some details removed. (I forgot to take a picture of that.)
With those limitations, one has to weigh things if these toys are worth getting. Personal criteria may vary but after some thought, I personally think that they are worth the price and is still a better alternative than the original. The intended kids who will play with this don't understand English very well, so the recorded voices will be alien to them. They don't understand what they are saying. The removal of some features (the hip joint and the punching action) is okay. I've seen how the kids play with these toys and those features adds little value. We don't buy these toys for their articulation or life-like action, right? Moving parts tend to break easily as well so less moving parts, less breakage. As for the different colors in some details, I honestly didn't realized them until I nitpick. The size of the Hulk Buster is a let down but it still is a big figure that looks like a match for Hulk.
The original Titan Hero Tech Hulk Buster retails for about PhP1200+, while the knock off is just PhP350. That is less than a third of the price. The knock off Thor is even lower at PhP250. Original regular (not Tech series) Titan Hero (comics version) are priced at PhP600+. The sculpt on these knock offs are good enough. Personally, I like the sculpt of the knock off Hulk better than the original. For the price of these knock offs, I can get the original 2.5-inch figures at their current discounted rate but those small toys can easily be lost by the kids I intended to give them to. Plus, buying these knock offs feels a lot better especially for someone who has been disappointed by Hasbro a number of times.
comparison with Ken doll
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