Hercules: Series I
| Class of Bootleg | Class 1 - Exact Duplicate |
| Class Notes: | Slightly reduced card size, figures are same size as legal counterparts. |
| Bootleg Source: | ToyBiz Hercules Figures |
| Bootleg Rating: |
 (Four out of five stars)
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| Sightings: | California, Australia |
| Vintage: | Winter 1997 |
Hercules the Legendary Journeys...as seen on the Popular Television Series. That's what the backboard of these figures would have us believe they are. And the Card looks authentic. The logo and fonts have been lifted straight from the ToyBiz backer - the only thing missing is the ToyBiz logo itself.
Sure, the card is a bit smaller, and the peg-hanger is the half-circle Canadian style hanger instead of the US J-Hook version, but at a glance, the toys look authentic.
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From the stock number and instruction sets, we can conclude that five of the seven Hercules Series One figures made it to bootleg form:
Right now, I have a single figure from the set...probably the coolest one.....
As shown at right, Xena comes with all the accessories that her legal counterpart carries. The coloration, however, leaves a bit to be desired. Her sword lacks the black detailing on the handle, the back-scabbard is molded in silver as opposed to the maroon and red scheme of the US version, and the shield is now just plain goofy. Instead of a nice black color, the shield is cast in a pink plastic with red and green highlights.The shield does still have the pop-out blades, but they are no longer activated from a button in the center of the shield, which is now a single piece of plastic.
The Xena figure also suffers from some odd coloration choices. Her boots are now bright orange instead of tan, and her indigo armor is now the same silver plastic as her sword. (Interestingly, the gold detailing on the armor was carried over to the bootleg.)
Where the real Xena figure has a bodice and undergarments painted on under the accessory-armor, the Bootleg Xena is butt-naked. The only additional painting on the body of the figure are the wrist-bands and boots - even her upper-arm bands are left "nude". Quite an upgrade from the "Party Angela" variation from McFarlane toys! (For those of you not interested in McFarlane's Spawn line, Party Angela is the net-name for the Angela figure that was released without white paint added for undergarments.)
Of course, once we look at the Bootleg Xena's face...maybe they shouldn't have painted that either!
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