Hey guys. I went to a local toy show this weekend and picked up an amazing item. I’m not sure whether or not it’s legit, doubt it, but i think it’s awesome nonetheless. The seller told me it was Korean, not sure, if anyone can help identify the country of origin it would be great as well as any other info. No company logo that i can identify though. It comes with a sword, holster and get this, a crossbow, lol. Coolest Lion-o bootleg i’ve ever seen if it is one, and MIB. I’ll post more on it later. Thanx.
Sal
Took more photos. Ifound more weapons too, lol. They were white so i missed them the first time through. So Lion-o officially includes…1) sword of omens, 2) dagger, 3) looks like a sickle of some kind, 4) harness with molded arrows and holster areas for dagger etc., 5) Crossbow, 6) 3 small thundercat stickers. Also Lion-o has a hip holster attached for his sword and he has a lever on his back to move his arms just like the official cats. Strange for a bootleg though???. Anyone also know if only a Lion-o was produced or if there are more of the line available?
Got more info off the fig. The box states 1988 as the year, however on the figures waist it reads Copyright 1985 Select TM. Also, there is a MADE IN KOREA stamp on the bottom of his right foot. His weight ratio to actual T-Cat figures is almost identical. I also posted another photo of his back lever, however it only moves his sword arm. This item is really confusing me…it’s either a real deal foreign version or the best damn bootleg i have ever seen.
It is Korean. As far as I can tell I think it is legit, of course I am very much on the fense about it (I would like it to be legit as I dont think it fits too well with my other thundercats bootleg figs). I know that the Thundercats were released in Korea, (I have two carded minis, but these were the same as the kidworks versions). Mine is the same as yours sal. I had never seen one till a few months ago and now this is the 3rd. I was always under the impression that the figs from Korea were made via Tonka (but again I could be wrong). I have tried finding more about this fig but I dont speak korean. I believe the way I do since it has copyright info (most bootlegs prob 99% have no copy right info), the Thundercats pics are all over the box and they are pics used on other items, the quality is too nice and the packaging is superb compared to your standard bootleg. He fits well in with my boxed Glasslite figs, I personally dont think of him as a bootleg though. Again all of what I said is my own speculation and opinion as my research on him and the Korean Thundercats has not panned out yet. Hope that helps.
EDIT
I hear from a good source of bootleg figs on another forum that it is a bootleg. I would term it a KNOCKOFF though and not a bootleg. Apparantly it has a Ninja Assassains/defenders body.
Fascinating pix! I’m always impressed to see how popular the Cats were in their heyday. And for a Korean version of the Lion-O figure, I have to agree with Matt. It’s very well done. I can handle the outfit being royal blue, but he’s missing his Claw Shield. And Lion-O with a crossbow, a dagger, and a scythe? He never had those in the cartoon show. It would be a good fan-fic idea, however!
Thanx for all the replies guys. It’s my first run in with this figure and packaging, at least i’m not alone. I’m wondering if they would have also made a panthro or tygra. Anyways, you guys should post this guy in the Bootleg section of the site. Maybe someone else will come across one. Only 3 that we know about, eh matt. Does that mean it’s a hot commodity? lol.
Matt, does yours have any extra or different accessories?
Mine has all the same acc. that yours has sal. Which is another reason why I feel it could be legit. Bootlegs production are so random. They usually wouldnt have the same acc from fig to fig. But again I can be wrong.
When I got him I also wondered about any other figs from the series as they would be sweet. But again I cant read Korean so I have no idea if they are listed on the box. I will look into getting pics of the particular line that these are from (Ninja assassains/defenders) and see if they have any that look like other Tcats.
As far as it being a hot commodity I don’t know about that. I think its hard to find (but it could be like the Tcats big wheel, for the longest time we didn’t think it was produced since nobody saw pics of one. Then one pops up on ebay and boom 5 have been on ebay in the past year). I got mine from ebay and the other one I saw was on ebay from the same seller I got mine from.
Anyway as far as getting it in the bootleg section, well I have a few more figs and things that can go up, just havent taken pics yet. I need to get the minis section done before that (which means I have to teach myself photoshop cs :duh:)
From what I can see, it definitely looks like it was originally intended to be a Ninja figure as the feet have the “toe split” that many of the ninja figures have. Plus the extra weapons are very indicative of Ninja weapons.
Very cool find indeed! And the box looks sweet too.
Speaking of bootlegs, I just saw the photos of bootleg ThunderCat figures on your “Toyline” section to educate collectors about them. Those things are a hoot! Some of the designs had me laughing, especially that one badly-painted Lion-O figure in his briefs and boots. Think somebody was watching too many wrestling programs? And those two Mumm-Ra figures gave me the impression that whoever made them clearly needed glasses; it looked like they couldn’t tell the difference between Mummsie and Medusa!
Those Korean figures aside, are all or nearly all bootleg action figures poorly made, matt? :roll: I know you can answer that one because you seem to have a lot of expertise in that area.
And something else struck struck me that’s not so funny, matt. How many of these bootlegged toylines were made in sweat shops? I think that’s something worth considering, don’t you? It would go a long way toward explaining such poor quality of the products.:shocked:
Yeah most bootlegs are bad sculpts, paintjobs, plastics, etc. Knockoffs on the other hand tend to be pretty decent, there are a ton of motu knockoffs that are pretty sweet looking and decently made. Theres only a few actual bootlegs that decent looking. (I forgot which of my collection actually made it to the section, as I have since added more) but I think theres a purple Mumm-ra that looks good (this isnt mine) but I have a white version of him that looks good in fact I like it better than the release by LJN. There are also the “Playful Prototypes” those dont look bad, but the rest are funny. I agree with that aspect, not to mention dangerous alot of the time the paint or plastics flake off. This horrible quality is not just limited to THundercats, I have seen numerous other figs from different lines that are god awful but funny and still kind of cool at the same time. Quality control in Mexico I think was never top notch
As far as sweat shops go, I suppose they could very well be from them, it never dawned on me before. Thats a good idea, and could very well explain the terrible quality control
Its not even photographed yet. Its the same as the bootleg purple bootleg to the left of jackalman on the bottom row. I have a lot more ive picked up not pictured. its just hard to photograph it all and get it up.
