Bootleg Metrotitan Upgraded

Oh wow, have I been slacking? Missed out on two regular updates. I not sure you readers really care. You'll check in from time to time, and if there's an update, you'll read it (or just look at the pictures). But I care. I want consistency. I want to be able to produce two days a week, and that's really just a minimum of what I should be capable of doing. But then there is the real life, the one where work, house, bills, family, friends and all that stuff comes into play, and blogging about toys and food absolutely takes a back seat. I can't ignore that.

But here it is, the apology for no Tuesday update, and lack of proper content last week. And here it is, a regular Thursday update. And since this is blog post #250, I went the extra length and took some pictures. Here it is, an article I promised literally a year ago. The upgraded Bootleg Metrotitan. 

Figure Friday: Bootleg Metrotitan / Metroplex

The term "bootleg" is a bit silly, when you use it on toys. Most of you know where it comes from: Illegal items hidden in the boot, like knives and bottles. When I grew up, I knew the term through illegal tapes of concerts. Today, I associate the term with toy replicas.
I've talked about bootleg toys many times, and I suggest you use the "bootleg tag" to read other articles. It should be apparent that I actually like bootleg toys - as long as they are sold as just that: not the real deal, but a copy. The big problem occurs when people are being fooled to believe it's the real deal. My fellow blogger, Heroic Decepticon has stated that even he - a legitimate expert in everything Transformers - fears the counterfeit, bootlegs, copies. It's a minor problem when the bootlegged toys are low profile Gobots valued at $2. But when you're talking about toys worth hundreds, even thousands of Dollars, the problem is a bit more apparent.

Me, I still appreciate the bootlegs. They are fun toys you don't have to be scared of playing with. And as I tend to open my toys, pose them, play with them - and as I take absolutely no pride in my Transformers collection (like I do with my G.I. Joe collection), I really don't mind if my robot is "real" or not... To a certain degree.

Today, I will show one of the coolest items in my robot collection, the Bootleg Transformers G1 Metroplex. Now, consider this part one (of at least three) about Metroplex, because things have changed ever so slightly since I took these pictures.

Read on for more about Bootleg Metrotitan / Metroplex

Figure Friday: Bootleg Toys part 1

Reposting the first of a trio of bootleg toy articles. It got lost, and yeah. Here it is again. Part 2 can be found here, and part 3 is here.
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This will simply be an introduction to bootleg toys - something that in many ways split the community of toy collectors. Some like them, many hate them. But are bootlegs really destroying the big manufacturers, and most importantly - how big is the impact on the secondary market?

Expect none of these questions to be answered completely today, but read on for a couple more words.

Figure Friday: Bootleg toys part 3

Hey, I know this is a delicate matter. And I believe I covered some of my thoughts on reproductions and knock-off robots the first time I wrote about Bootleg toys.
There, I used the KO Lord Zarak - the head of Scorponok as an example. The original came with Scorponok of course, but the KO version came in a set with nine other small Headmaster heads.
And even though they are somewhat controversial, I'd like to show some pictures of them.

Read on for toys I could never afford if they were authentic.

Figure Friday: Bootleg Toys part 2

I have admitted my love for bootleg toys in the past. I mean, it's not like I prefer bootleg toys over the real deal, not at all. But I love the idea of silly, cheap, low quality substitutes filling that role as disposable alternatives to what can be extremely expensive toys. Sometimes, the lines are blurry, almost scary. Like with the Transformers Lord Zarak I showed a few months ago. This toy is not meant to fool those in search for a real, genuine G1 Lord Zarak, but it very well could fool someone. It had that kind of accuracy and quality, but it's still just a counterfeit.
Today, I'll show you the absolute polar opposite of the bootleg Lord Zarak. Quite possibly the lowest quality toy I own, a completely meaningless bootleg, copying a toy that no one bothers giving a single thought.

Read on for the bootleg of a random, red Gobot!