Star Wars Buddies
| Class of Bootleg | Class 2 - Duplicated and Modified |
| Class Notes: | Some of them would be Class 3, if the patterns weren't the same... |
| Bootleg Source: | Hasbro's Star Wars Buddies |
| Bootleg Rating: |
 (Four out of five stars)
|
| Sightings: | USA |
| Vintage: | Spring 1999 |
Star Wars:Episode One offered many challenges to bootleg toy vendors. The real toys were being kept under wraps. Security was TIGHT. Sure, some real product snuck out of the factories, but very little.
What to do? Product was needed to be on the shelves to cash in on Lucasfilm's marketing dollars!
Well, the bootleggers dug deep into their piles of crap, and pulled out what they thought to be a winner.....Bootleg Star Wars Buddies.
These weren't new toys by any stretch of the imagination...the legit versions had been on the shelves for over a year. But they hadn't been copied. Yet.
The amazing thing about this wave of bootlegs is how many people were snookered by them. HUGE retail chains (who really should have known better) like "Aladin's Castle" stocked them openly in those "crane-grabber" games. I won several in the LOBBY of a THEATER that was SHOWING Episode One!
The best part was that every crane game I saw had a little xeroxed promo poster taped to the glass behind the bootlegs. The poster boasted of the player's chance to win "Authentic Star Wars Collectables." Not likely!
There were several buddies in this set:
The bootleg version, on the other hand, leaves a lot to be desired.
Pictured below, the first thing you'll probably notice is that he looks a whole lot more evil than R2. Many folks refer to him as "Pirate" R2, deciding that the "eye" on the right looks a lot like an eyepatch.
Be sure to note, however, that the pattern used to create this toy is identical to the Hasbro version. Note the seam down the center of the "head", the secondary stitching at the bottom of the torso, and the identical construction on the legs.
If found by himself, Pirate-R2 would probalby just have been seen as an "R2-Like" toy. A class three bootleg at best. The construction would have been overlooked.
Luckily (for us, anyway), R2 wasn't alone in the assortment.
At right is the legit version of this toy. Note the cool gold-tone material, the robotic eyes and the tummy dodad.
If you wanted a cuddly version of a protocol droid, you couldn't ask for a nicer version than this.
The bootleg on the other hand, isn't quite so nice.
Once again, the bootleggers have taken Hasbro's pattern and used to to create their version. Something went a little screwey in the process this time, as Cheap-PO stands nearly four inches taller than his legit cousin.
As you can see in the close up at left, the bootleg starts out looking like 3PO, but some "cost saving" features really mess him up. In particular, note:
There is also a variaion on this bootleg. Along with the somewhat-accurate tan material, there is also a deep grey version.
Of all the Hasbro beanies, Chewie lends himself best to the theme. I mean, sure, he's nearly seven feet of angry ape-man, but scale him down and he gets cuddly right quick. The only one to top this would be the Ewok, who was small and cuddly to begin with.
For those not obsessed with Star Wars variations, I should mention that Chewie came with both a black and brown colored bandoleer.
The first bootleg version of Chewbacca is VERY close to the Hasbro effort. The color is a bit off....a much deeper red/brown, and the bandoleer has become a belt.
The pattern used to construct the toy remains consistant, however. Even if the stuffing is a bit off. The bootleg version has a severly over-full head, causing the eyes, nose, and mouth to rotate up and away from the front of the figure.
Also interesting to note is that the "pads" on Chewies hands have been made from the same leatherette material as the bandoleer, as opposed to the more "matte" cloth of the Hasbro version.
Sure, the fur looks more like "Snuggles the Bear" than Chewbacca, but the color is close.
But....
....and I hesitate to show you this....
....his....
....head....
....is....
....well......
It's a transporter accident with Chewbacca and an "Area-51" alien! Something has gone horribly wrong and this toy is the result!
That flat black face!
Those eerie green eyes!
That crecent shaped felt mouth!
All combine to spell out PURE EVIL!
This version was found almost a month after the first Bootleg-Buddies surfaced. Perhaps the bootleggers decided to try the old "Change it enough so that there's no violation" scam. Maybe someone was asleep at the production line in China. Maybe they MEANT to do this.
All I can say is I'm sorry they did. This is really a scary looking toy.
Brrr. Let's move on to another bootleg, I'm getting chills!
He's pretty cool, but weaker than Chewie in my opion. I mean, Chewie looks all soft and playfull in his Buddy incarnation. This, well, this just looks like an Ewok. And Ewoks kill people. (C'Mon, you remember them beaning the Stormtrooper in Jedi too.)
Anyway, the bootleg version actually makes the transition from homicidal-munckin to stuffed animal much more successfully.
From the same second wave of bootlegs that included the Alien-Chewie, the Ewok-boot has the same "Snuggles the Bear" texture fur. Once again the pattern used for the figure is identical to the Hasbro version.
The other change is the face. Instead of the snarling animal head, we've got a face much more akin to a Gund teddybear.
Gone is the open mouth with clenched teeth.
Gone is the pug nose.
Instead, we have the same nose and eyes that appear on the Chewbacca bootleg. And NO mouth.
I think if Hasbro had combined the styling of the bootleg's face with the correct hood of their version, they would have had a much more successful Ewok Buddy.
In either case, the Ewok bootleg was reportedly the hardest to come by.
The eyes are done with a facetted peice of matte gold plastic. The rest of the assembly is pretty straight forward. A nice, loose hood, floppy feet, and quilted bandoleer.
It'd be pretty tough to screw this one up, right?
Wrong.
Say "Hello" to Bootleg-Jawa.
Before we cover his obvious optic problem, let's take a look at the rest of the figure.
First off, the coloration of the toy is all wrong. The deep orange of the Hasbro version has been replaced with the same lackluster tan used on one of the 3PO variations.
The stitching on the wrists and ankles is also pretty bad...looks like this Jawa has been hitting the cheesecake a bit too hard.
The hood, obviously, is way to tight. In fact, it's so tight that only one eye is showing!
If you really strain the fabric, you can pull the hood back far enough to uncover the other eye. But to many people, this will always be a Cyclops-Jawa.
So what happened? Well, my guess is that they made the pattern for the Jawa's body too small. As a result they got the "pinched" body we see here.
Both come with a suction-cup equipped hanger, so you can make them play "Garfield" on the windows of your car.
I don't have a photo of the TIE to show you, but I do have one of the X-Wing-ish craft to share.
Thanks to John B. Kingsbury, we now have photos of two "new" additions to the Bootleg Buddy line.
Also notice the sliverish "belt" of fabric around 3PO's middle.
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