Bootleg Things

It says something about a character's reach and popularity when others are willing to take that character and make their own copy, flouting copyright law and, in some cases (as we'll see), the bounds of good taste.

Such is the case with the Thing, nothing less than a company mascot in the '60s and '70s and still one of the more popular characters under the Marvel umbrella. Bootleg action figures of the character abound, and every time I see one, I try to grab it. Over the years I've amassed a few, and I thought it'd be interesting to take a look at the ones I have.

All of the below figures, to my knowledge, originated in Mexico. It seems our neighbors to the south and Latin America in general have a taste for bootleg toys, but I'm sure that there are others out there from different continents. If you are reading this and you feel the desire to part with your faux Ben Grimm figures, I hope you'll reach out.

These four figures are the first bootlegs I bought, from a few years ago, and ever since I saw these, I've been on the lookout for more. There are some real all-time greats in this bunch - I started out strong. Let's get a closer look at a couple from this image:

This skeletal-looking Thing is one of my favorites, with his metallic speedo and tiny, individually-painted teeth. This one is also pretty big and sturdy, and is one of the few with a more well-defined figure (as opposed to a blob that came out of a cheap mold). The orange color really stands out as well. 

This second Thing from the group is, by virtue of its ski-mask-like facial features, kind of frightening to look at. It kind of looks like someone took the Thing's face and is wearing it over his own face. Ben, is that you under there?

Not all of the Thing bootlegs are even orange. I guess this neon yellow was the best they could do at the time. This one kind of looks like cauliflower to me.

Here's The Thing in the middle of a dance move, I guess? One of the features of many of these bootleg toys is a faded paint job, seen here in Mr. Grimm's powder blue trunks. The sunken eyes and mouth slit are the most we're getting with regard to facial features. Who needs a nose?

This right here is probably the most bizarre one of the bunch. It is nothing short of a Thing hand puppet; the only plastic features are the head and the Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood-style hands. Why the Thing needs to wear makeup (check out those rosy cheeks!) is also a mystery. The head mold on this one is actually pretty good, and is reminiscent of the Michael Chiklis-style Thing from the mid 2000s movies.

This Thing comes with a surprise. No, it's not that he is apparently nude...

...this one lights up! It kind of looks like his chest is exploding. Anyway, there are a few similar bootleg Thing figures with he same light-up feature (this is the only one I have a picture of). I guess it added an extra incentive to buy the toy? It seems kind of odd to me.

Here we have perhaps my favorite bootleg Thing toy of all time. It's a solid figure that reminds me a lot of the 1960s cartoon Thing, with his lumpy mouth and the relatively large rock segments, especially in his chest area. When I get a bootleg Thing figure, I often store it away, but I keep this one out on my desk. It's ugly and weird in all the right ways.

I've got a couple bootleg figures that never made it out of their packages. This one even comes with a friend, and I have to say that I might like the inverse color Spider-Man more out of the two. Spidey also comes with a giant spider accessory, just like in the comics.

This one is probably the most official-looking bootleg I've got, but the shiny trunks and the seemingly hand-painted "4" on the belt give it away. Still, this is high quality as far as these go!

I've never seen another like this one, with its exaggerated, giant head and long arms. The pants seem to indicate that it's also from the 2005 movie era.

This is the most recent bootleg figure I've bought, and it's another gem. It's kind of Mego-esque with its Thing-style head on a more generic action figure body. This one comes with a screw right through his waist, and there's a lever on the back that makes the figure's arms move up and down. He also comes with a slightly deformed head.

Here's one more oddity for today. This blue-green figure is similar to the above "cauliflower" Thing, but what makes this one special is the packaging. It's a bootleg within a bootleg, as the "Go see a Star War" card inserted into the plastic sleeve adds another dimension. It also looks like Ben Grimm is getting ready to go on a job interview and has decided to wear a tie.

I don't know what it is about these things. They're ugly and poorly made and often misshapen, and also I absolutely love them. I've got a few more packed away somewhere, but these are a pretty good representation of the bootleg figures I've got. I'm always excited to see 'em.

Pictures from the 2019 Comic-Con International, part 4 (Friday, 7/19)

We've got a bunch of pictures to get through for Friday at Comic-Con! Let's take a look!

I saw this while driving to the parking garage in the morning. I have to believe that this wasn't a robot being delivered somewhere, right? That it was driven around like a billboard all day? No matter what the case, bravo to whomever came up with this idea. I loved seeing it.

First costumes of the day! Both have pretty good beards.

Funko had two big displays at the show this year, one on each end of the convention center. This one was near row 100, and the Comic-Con Toucan was showcased.

Was there...a medieval theme going on on Friday that I wasn't aware of? These are some great costumes, even if I have no idea if they're from a particular property.

WAIT! I KNOW THIS ONE!

Here's a dog. I liked it.

Bob's Burgers continues to be a popular draw at Comic-Con. Great job with the mustache and glasses for this couple.

Heckman!

The Red Jacket and Greenwoman!

Here's some character-and-episode-specific Star Trek dress-up - it's Jadzia Dax from the "Trials and Tribble-ations" episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine!

This woman really went above and beyond with this Nacho Libre outfit. A tip of the cap to you, ma'am.

It's gotta be tough to wear such a big costume at Comic-Con. But if you're going to go for an H.R. Pufnstuf look, you might as well go big.

I'm pretty sure these were real people. I think.

I still haven't seen the new Toy Story movie. What is wrong with me? I'm sorry, world.

I'll take any Fantastic Four costume I can get. Sue here was the only FF costume I saw this year - good for you for carrying that (Human) Torch!

I try to stop by and see my friend (and long-time Marvel artist) Todd Nauck at every show. He's a nice guy and allows me to get frowny pictures with him every year. Hooray!

There's a booth near the artist alley section that always has these incredible pieces of art on display and for sale. I think that's an Action Comics #350 original cover near the top right. Unbelievable!

Strongbad makes and appearance.

I don't usually take pictures of toys (because you can see those anywhere!), but my goodness, this Unicron figure is a sight to behold. It's incredible!

Look, it's He-Man and the Masters of the Universe!

Check out this great MOTU diorama that was constructed just for the show with original '80s figures. How great!

Let's end this post with a few Cupheads. There were some really great costumes to see on Friday - so much so that this is only about half of the pictures I have to show. I'll post more soon!

Pictures from the 2019 Comic-Con International, part 3 (Thursday, 7/18)

Let's look at some pictures from Thursday at Comic-Con!

This may sound hard to believe, but I actually spent a decent amount of time at my booth this year - certainly more time than any previous year. This happened for various reasons (I'm responsible, maybe??), but because of this, I didn't get to see as much of the floor as I might usually see. I only ran past the LEGO booth a few times, but I'm glad I did - their displays were as impressive as ever. I really liked this Iron Man from Avengers: Endgame.

The backdrop for this Detective Comics #1000 Batman was even cooler than the life-size figure, I thought.

And here's a red Stormtrooper - I think they're calling it a Sith Trooper? They has an exclusive bust of this guy for sale.

Right before the doors opened in the morning, I passed by the Star Wars display.

By far the most popular costume choice at the convention was the Stranger Things "Scoops Ahoy" outfit. I had just finished watching the third season before flying out to California, so I especially appreciated this choice. I'll have a separate post with all of these costumes, back to back!

This is a video game reference. I'm fairly confident of that.

What a great Sabrina costume!

I also spent some time at the New England Comics booth this year, promoting and selling our new Comic-Con special edition Tick comic. It sold very well! Here I am with Ian Nichols, artist on this year's issue.

I absolutely loved "Into the Spider-Verse" and I'm thrilled to see every costume inspired by it. Now let's get Spidey 2099 in the mix!

Various Avengers, assemble!

Thursday seemed like a slower day than I was used to. It was still incredibly busy, and it picked up considerably at other times. It was nice to be able to walk the aisles at least for a little while.

DOOOOOOM

Around 1:00, I left the convention hall and went out the back exit. There I found some fencing going on, behind a rope, of course.

This Batman '66 boat was in the harbor directly behind the convention center.

What's this? Is the Taco Truck back? THE TACO TRUCK IS BACK! It returned for another year, and I couldn't be happier. Love the Taco Truck.

While in line, I met this gentleman, and we talked loudly about Star Trek for a solid 20 minutes. I had a great time!

TACO TRUCK SELFIE!

After eating, I took a stroll along the harbor, behind the convention center. Adult Swim had the only major display directly against the water. This site was just opening up for the first time of the show, and I was able to walk in without much of a wait - this was good timing and nothing else, as this was as busy as ever at later times. The Rickmobile was just getting set up!

Most of the activities were not up and running yet at this time. Here's a relatively empty shot of the main stage.

The one site that was open was the "Rickflector" a VR-like Rick and Morty experience. Once you got your face scanned (no chance that'll be used for marketing purposes), you entered one of these chambers, where you tried to dodge ray-gun fire.

It was an interesting experience, but I don't think all of the bugs were worked out quite yet. I'm glad I did it, but also glad I didn't wait too long to do it.

By this point, I had gotten as much sun as I could handle without bursting into flame, so I went back inside. I love this shot of the convention floor!

While at the booth, I saw some great costumes. People wear costumes each of the five days, but this was a good Thursday, I thought.

I told this guy to go chase a bike after I got his picture.

I'm not sure how the Joker fits in here, but I'll take it.

Later in the day, I walked to the other side of the main hall, into the gaming section. I don't know what these pictures were being taken for, but these guys were ready for it.

I got some trading cards at the Upper Deck booth, which had this Sam Raimi-era Spider-Man hanging above it.

Mid snap, even!

These are impressive. I don't know what they are. But they're impressive.

Daken, one of Wolverine's many, many children.

I saw a number of these statues around the floor.

At the end of the day, Ian and I met up with Zander Cannon briefly.

And then the convention closed for the day! After meeting up with my group, I had one more thing to see this evening...

...the stairs! (Not really.)

Around 8:30, I headed back to the Gaslamp district.

Okay, here's Harvey Birdman.

Finally! I made it to the Jean-Luc Picard: His First Duty offsite. I had been to the same location in previous years for other Star Trek-related displays, so apparently they've got a corner on this particular building. There were a lot of really cool props on display in anticipation of the new Picard series.

It's the flute from "The Inner Light"! Wow!

And here's a model of the movie Enterprise.

At the back of the room, they had a big "Captain Picard Day" banner draped just below the ceiling.

Was the bat'leth sharp? No, it was not. Dishonor!

And here's a formal uniform from the Insurrection movie.

Jessica Cruz also stopped by to check it all out.

And that was pretty much it - on the way back to the car, I saw this Watchmen banner; the display wasn't open yet.

And some old friends dropped by, too. Can you believe that I was able to make it through the entire convention without having the ending of Game of Thrones spoiled for me? Please, uh, don't take that as an invitation to spoil it in the comments. Larry, don't spoil it. Don't do it!

More pictures soon!