Can't help passively react

I overheard a couple of coworkers who are Lego collectors talking about buying bootlegos. One said that a lot of Lego collectors keep the original Lego's in their boxes and buy the bootlegos just to experience the joy of the build. 

I thought that their conversation was very enlightening and very reflective of our times. It really made me smile, like an inside joke.

Decool 7105 Batman Tumbler

My nephew, being a Batman fan, asked for this as a reward for doing good in school. I thought I'll have a hard time hunting for this toy since this has been available since last year and with the popularity of this toy, I expected it to be sold out. Once again, I enjoy how easy it is to buy this. Availability has never been a problem here with bootlegos.


This is not from the last Superman/Batman movie, Sons of Marthas, but from the better in every way movie Dark Knight Trilogy.


The Lego set 7888 was copied by Decool but opted to skip the ice cream truck. That was very practical.


I have some issues with this set. Some pieces are slightly warped making them more difficult to snap into place. The cockpit cover is also not flush because of some warping.  The rear axle design can be flimsy. The rod holding the wheels may either break or bend. The rear wheels don't rotate easily as well. Also, Batman's head is stuck in the cowl.


Those issues are really minor considering this only costs PhP450 from Divisoria.

Lele 79127 Ant-man Final Battle

I'm not an Ant-man fan and I don't like Lele so what am I doing with this brick set? The minifigs' faces and helmets are different from the original but I'm one of those who doesn't care that much given the price.

Maybe, I'll grow to love Ant-man later on especially in the Civil War movie. I haven't seen other bootlego brands releasing this set so I have no choice but Lele.


When my nephews visited, they had fun playing with these bootlegos. The brand didn't matter. Some parts got lost and broken but that's part of playing. That's why I got this set. I know they will enjoy this as much as the other sets.

The only thing that I hate (yes, that strong word) during the build was how some pieces were too tight, specifically the pin connector shown above. It's a literal pain when inserting the pin into the brick slot. I had to use very hot water to allow the pin to slide through.

Sheng Yuan (SY370) Attack on Avengers Tower

If real life didn't get in the way, I would have gotten my hands on this set earlier. Now that life is a lot closer to normal, I had the chance to hunt for this at Divisoria. I got mine for PhP 750 (US$16). Others are selling it for as much as 60% more.


The tower looks good from any angle and can be opened up like Polly Pocket houses. The first floor has the sick bay and the Iron Legions (a symbol of how the idea of being the world's saviour can easily be corrupted) deployment area. The second floor has the lab with Loki's scepter being analyzed. It also has the assembly/repair room for the Iron Legions, which Ultron can use to rebuild himself.


The "glass" panels on the first two levels can be opened to allow the minifigs' entry/exit. On the 1st level, the panels are hinged while a lever is used to "blast" open the glass panel on the second.


There is a lounge on the 3rd floor with a viewing deck aside from a control room. The floor of the deck can be opened apart to simulate being destroyed or getting ready for battle with a couple of hidden shooters underneath.



The lounge has a secret compartment for minifig ammunition. This is perfect for Black Widow. The Black Widow and Hawkeye minifigs are not included. I just thought those rooms have been designed with them in mind.



The top most part of the tower has another pair of shooters. It also houses the drone, you know, similar to the ones they regularly use on terrorist regions even is there will be a lot of civilian casualties but they don't really become trending topics. I digress.

I kinda like this set more that the Quinjet. Maybe because I can play house with this set. What more can you do with Quinjets anyways aside from bomb places?

Enlighten (No 128) Police Riot Tracking Truck

I wanted a trailer truck that can hide a control room and a motorbike for a vigilante character I have in mind. I was willing to build it from multiple sets but I was lucky enough to stumble upon this Enlighten set. It is what I had in mind, except for the color scheme and the "police" prints. I was hoping they would just be stickers that I'll just keep unused. Sadly, there are no stickers. All the prints are printed on plastic.

Front of the box

Enlighten is one of the better bootlego brands although I can't be sure if they are indeed bootlegs. Lego's patent for the toy brick design has expired years ago and I don't think you can patent a basic truck design. Sheng Yuan are bootlegs since they don't have licenses for the superhero characters. This set doesn't have that. Enlighten is also sold at major toy stores (making it look legit as reputable stores will avoid selling illegal items) while Sheng Yuan isn't.

Back of the box

Enlighten has a series of police sets. I have bought smaller Enlighten sets (not police) and I was satisfied with the quality so I was not worried about this set. I got this set for about US$10. It just has a pair of minor parts missing, a piece to make the smoke stack fit properly. No big deal.

Smoke stack with missing piece

I do like the printed pieces for the control room. I can also use it in the X-mansion's control room. The set came with a trike. I want cool vigilante motorbike instead. For now, I'll just keep it in the trailer.

The truck will be modified later on. The objective is to make it look inconspicuous. I wanted this to be a mobile hideout for a vigilante so it shouldn't attract attention.

Lele Sentinel (No 78087B)

The box could have been smaller by half. There were no extra piece except for Magneto's hand.

Lele is not as popular as Sheng Yuan (SY) with bootlego collectors because of the quality. There some leftover plastic flash in some pieces. The printed lines are bold compared to SY's. The triangles on the chest is a little off-center. The pieces are also a little darker in Lele's.

Guess which is which.

Since Lele is the only one offering a stand-alone (without the Blackbird) Sentinel, it's a practical choice when building a Sentinel army.

It cost for PhP150 in Cubao. I'm guessing this will be about PhP75 in Divisoria.

Back of the box shows an image from an X-men movie.

Bootlegos are more fun than Hasbro's 2.5-inch Avengers

The Avengers is a team and having members missing doesn't make the team as strong. Hasbro left out some characters in their 2.5-inch line so you really can't complete the team. It's a depreciative response to the "Avengers, assemble" battle cry. Way to go, Hasbro, for teaching teamwork!

The Avengers minifigs which are mainly from Sheng Yuan SY275 and SY276

That is not a problem with bootlegos and the minifigs have better articulation than Hasbro's 2.5-inch line. And of course, you can complete even the supporting characters. I still have to find a Falcon and War Machine minifig.


Bootlegos also have better playsets than Hasbro's 2.5-inch line. The former allows the child/adult to be imaginative by giving the person the opportunity to redesign the set.


The best thing about bootlegos is the price. If you had it with big toy companies increasing their prices while lowering the quality, make a statement by not buying their products. Buy something else instead, something worth your pennies. Buying bootlegos is one hell of a statement.

I may not be able to protect the world from increasing toy prices, you can be damned sure I'll avenge it.

Sheng Yuan (no. SY357) The Hulk Buster Smash

This is a bootleg copy of Lego No 76031 The Hulk Buster Smash. I got the bootleg set for US$6.20 (PhP280) at Divisoria. Others sell it for US$8.90 up to US$13.30. It all depends on how skilled you are at bargain hunting.

front of the box 

The Lele version is also available locally but based on previous releases, Sheng Yuan is more consistent in quality. I was supposed to get two Hulk Buster sets but I decided to wait for another trusted brand, Decool's version.

back of the box 

Unlike in a Youtube video I saw, mine didn't come with a box tray. Instead, every piece was in a big resealable plastic bag. Two pieces were loose inside the big bag while the rest were secured in smaller sealed bags. It made me worried about missing pieces. Luckily, the set is complete.

There are some confusing instructions. An example is shown in the scanned copy below. One is supposed to get 3 of the piece illustrated at the top left corner and attached it to the assembly as shown. The assembly shows only one piece attached.

Of course, it came with the cute minifigs. Here is Scarlet Witch and Ultron reenacting a scene from the Avengers: Age of Ultron movie. Everything is just cute but Ultron could be bigger and look more menacing.

I'm glad I didn't get the big Hulkbuster figure. This version of the Hulkbuster is more fun. You can place an Iron Man minifig inside, just like in the movies.

Yes, I know this is a bootleg set. It violates copyright laws but then again I don't know if the same laws apply to the country where it is from. Maybe they don't apply. The situation seems threatening, right? Let's just see what the Avengers will do about that.

And by the way, there are no Avengers.

More on bootlegos and more

Apparently, there is a bootlego following in my city. In one store, I overheard how the seller explain to one hobbyist why the stock ran out for a certain set. From what I gathered, there are people who hoarded it after it was posted in their online community. So, there's an online community where fans can get updates on what's available in what bootlego store and there are people who hoard bootlegos. Here I was thinking that I'd be safe from self-serving people in the bootlego scene. It's good that there is ample supply, no limited edition drama. There is no need to stress out about running out of stocks if you know where to look, that is. There might just be a problem if one is looking for old releases. 

I don't belong to their online community so I get my bootlego intelligence from other sources (and there are already a lot of info online about this toy, reflecting its popularity). I don't really get to know right away what's available locally but I get to know what will be available, just not the when part. The good thing about bootlegos is that almost all sets have been released locally. There's no ek-ek exclusive, something I really hate about other toy lines. I visit nearby stores (Cubao, St. Francis Square etc.) to see what's available but I don't buy from them. They usually sell it for 50% more. I go directly to their source, Divisoria, when I know it's already available.

I'm looking forward to getting and building this set:

I still don't know if I'm going to get two. I'm quite sure my nephews will love that. I can't wait for this weekend.

Wange Creation Villa No. 34052

I wanted my bootlego minifigs to have a bootlego minihouse. Most of the houses on the market are pink. They didn't use to be like that. I remember last year, a toy store was selling red and beige houses. Luckily, there were 3 boxes left, 2 for villa number 34051 and the one I got, number 34052. These were released last year.


There are 6 styles for the houses as can be seen at the back of the box. Two are yellow.


There's an instruction manual but the 1st step was confusing. It's hard to locate where to attach the first pieces. It was also difficult to understand how to attach different pieces (all in gray) in another step. There was no extra floor, wall or roof brick so following the instructions is crucial.


There were no missing pieces but there's a few extra plant pieces since I designed the plant layout. It took me about 4 hours to build.


There was no furniture included which was fine since this won't be an ordinary house once I'm done with it. It's for my X-men but my other minifigs can use it, of course. If you won't fill it up with furniture, you can store the minifigs in the rooms.


This brick set came with two minifigs but I didn't bother taking their pics. All I want is the house. The small basketball court on the side is a nice touch.

I got it for about US$24 with 755 pieces or 3 cents per piece. This was sold for much more in other places. For once, I'm glad I don't have to pay more just because of where I live. 

UPDATE:

The 320000 series villas where spotted in another department store. They cost about US$13.

2015-07-04 update

Villa number 34052 was spotted at Divisoria for only US$19, $5 cheaper than the department store price.

We love bootlego

No surprise

There are some toys that pretend to be investments and there are some toys that are just meant to be fun. I will not argue whether seeing Lego (or any collectible toy) as an investment is a delusion or not. There have been articles written about it by people who know more than me. I do know that bootlegos are meant to be fun.

For about a year, I have resisted buying these bootlegos for myself. Focusing on just two toylines (Barbie and Marvel's 4-inch dolls) has made me appreciate the toys that I have and allowed me to improve my customizing skills. I felt that having another toy to spend time on will complicate things. 

It's hard to resist toys that are easily accessible. They are sold in the major toy stores, online shops and even at the smallest neighborhood store. People are talking about them in various social media. They are bootleg but people notice the improved quality in some bootleg brands. The way some picky collectors speak about these bootlegos have made me want to collect them. What seals the deal with these bootlegos is, of course, the price. Bootlegos offer relief from two major causes of distress for toy hobbyists, the accessibility and the price.

I started with the buying of minifigures (minifigs, for short). They have doll-like qualities so these are not difficult to like. Minifigs, unlike fashion dolls, can change their emotions by changing their faces but it's not ideal to use them to play dress up. If you re-dress a minifig (except the bootlego friends), chances are, it's a already a different character.

There are a lot of Marvel characters that don't have 4-inch action dolls. Bootlegos fills up this empty space. Fans can complete a superhero team in minifig form. I have decided to focus on Marvel characters, mainly the X-men and the Avengers.  Some DC characters are packed with the Marvel characters so I also end up with characters I am not interested in, but they're so cute, I decided to keep them. There is a wide array of characters from SpongeBob and friends, Kamen Riders to the cute minifig zombies from The Walking Dead. They all can share the bootlego world without disparity in scale and articulation unlike various toylines. It's a small world after all.

Speaking of cute, what can be more cute than a small Sentinel in pink and purple?

Those who enjoy dioramas will enjoy these bootlegos as brick sets are also available. Since they are in a smaller scale, less storage space will be be required.  Aside from the designed play feature, there is also fun in building and more fun rebuilding or redesigning a set.

I am looking forward to more Marvel sets

Since these are bootlegos, there is no pressure to handle the toys with obsessive-compulsive care as you would a precious collectible. If things fall apart, it can be rebuilt. If a part is ruined, it can be replaced. It's just fun, no worries.

When the day job becomes stressful, carefree play has a healing effect. It shouldn't come as a surprise if I suddenly stop blogging about Barbie, should it?

Sheng Yuan No. SY327 Quinjet

There was no inner tray or box and the big plastic bag containing the small packs was torn. The cover of one instruction manual was almost torn because of the packing design. I was worried my set was incomplete but fortunately everything is there. The comic version of the Black Widow is shown on the box but the set comes with the movie version.



I wish they made finding the parts easier so I won't have to worry too much. There's no comic book and brick remover like in the original Lego set, which is no big deal.



I hurt myself building this because I was too sleepy. I stayed up late to build it. That could only mean that I have a new addiction.

 

Comparison with the X-men's Blackbird

Not Lego (6869) Quinjet Aerial Battle Brick Set

Loot for the day. This costs from PhP1300 to PhP1500 at Divisoria.

2015-07-04 update

This set is now discounted at Php900 at Divisoria.

X-MEN shorts: Everything is Awesome