Space Team
| Class of Bootleg |
Class 2 - Duplicated and Modified
|
| Class Notes: |
Original Molds, New Package Art, New line name
|
| Bootleg Source: |
Toy Biz Iron Man Series 2
|
| Bootleg Rating: |
 (Three out of five stars)
|
| Sightings: | California
|
| Vintage: | Spring 1997
|
As seen from the title block above, these Iron Man Bootlegs share the same logo-styling as their American counterparts. The backboard is mostly identical to the 2nd series Iron Man ones on the front, with the deletion of any character-specific information, and the obvious replacement of the Iron Man name with Space Team.
There are several figures in this line, probably consisting of the entire second wave of the Iron Man line from ToyBiz. First, let's take a look at the Blizzard figure.
At first glance the figure appears to be identical to it's US counterpart. One item that is missing, however, is the "Stark Enterprises ID Card" accessory that came with all the US figures. This omission isn't too suprising, as all the ID info was heavily copyrighted and probably would have been a pain to reproduce. ;)
Zooming in a bit closer, we can see the figure itself a bit more clearly. Of note is the actual construcion of the figure. Believe it or not, he's molded out of blue rubber....not plastic! (You can get the suggestion of this in the way the head kind of hangs sideways on the neck piece.) It remains articulated in all the same places as the US version, however.
Finally, we take a look at the back of the figure. In specific, the lower right corner that has the company name (Kimbo) that produced these monstrosities. The figures shown are the same as the Fantastic Four and Iron Man I waves produced by ToyBiz. I don't have any information on if the FF Bootlegs exist, or even if the Iron Man Wave I figures were bootleged, but I'd put even odds that they were illegally produced somehwere.
Hawkeye and Whirlwind
I've also managed to get the Hawkeye and Whirlwind figures from this set. In all major respects they follow the pattern established by Blizard - rubber figures on a Space Team backboard, no Stark-ID badge.
Hawkeye - Notice the white paint used for the "flesh-tone" on the arms and face. The glove coloration matches that of the actual figure.
Whirlwind - Not much to say about this one, other than to point out that they got the colors right.
Overall, this bootleg line isn't too bad. The molds come from a nice looking copy, the painting is so-so, and the accessories (that survived the bootlegging process) are the originals. (As opposed the the X-Team/Super-Warrior "Everyone Gets A Gun" ideology.) The backboard is an attactive fake, and the new logo is pretty keen.
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All Content ©1986-2008-through the End of Time by Christopher Doyle |
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