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2/15/2020 6:42 am  #1


Unlicensed Superhero Action Figures

I've recently started an odd new hobby: collecting unlicensed superhero action figures. I'll try find another place where I can scan/photograph the figures as size limits won't let me post directly here, but the ones I have are quite fascinating and I want to at least describe them, if only for the chutzpah in them even existing. I got all of these at a branch of a national Canadian discount chain that I won't identify because I don't want to get them in trouble.

The ones I've found so far have come from three distinct series. In all three cases the packaging is in English, French, and another language I'm not sure of (Arabic?) and is said to be made in China. I suspect all three versions are from the same company.

Type 1, titled "SUPER HERO SAVE THE WORLD"  has the usual figure encased in plastic attached to a cardboard backer. Each of them has a Captain America-style shield with "SUPER HERO" in the centre (silver and another colour). The top of the front side of the cardboard showed Iron Man, Thor, Superman, Batman. Bottom left shows Spider-Man, bottom right Shows Iron Man again and Captain America. The back of the cardboard is black except for a sticker with item number and UPC. 
I've found three figures so far:
1. Spider-Man (called "Spiderman" on back sticker). Looks pretty close to the comic version except for minor costume tweaks. Non-silver colour on the shield is red.
2. Spider-Man again. Same sticker on the back (same item number and UPC). This one is black where the other figure is red, gold where the other figure is blue, and silver where the other figure is black. Non-silver colour on the shield is black.
3. Superman (unidentified on back sticker). Non-silver colour on shield is blue. This Superman wears blue gloves.

The second type has the figures on a cardboard stand the covers the back and slightly covers the bottom front with the logo "SUPER MAN THE EARTH PROTECTOR". This is encased in a clear plastic box. All of them have a light in the centre, which when not in use creates the illusion that all the characters have been shot in the chest. The back of the cardboard shows the hero in action. None of the characters are identified by name and again all have some tweaks (and in two cases a bit more). Most come with swords.
The ones I have are:
1. Ant-Man. Figure based on the MCU version. Red sword.
2. Iron Man. Figure based on the MCU version. Black sword.
3. Superman. The back cover art resembles the Brandon Routh version.No sword.
4. Batman, only his costume is mostly red, though cowl, cape, waist, and gloves are black. Back cover, coloured correctly, resembles the Val Kilmer version. Black sword
5. Zorro, who is given a Z chest insignia. I'm not as familar with Zorro, but the back image looks like an actor, though not Antonio Banderas. Red sword. One of the legs has broken off in my copy. I haven't opened up the package to see if it can be easily snapped back on or not.

The third set is even more blatant the the first two sets. This set again has the usual figure encased in plastic attached to a cardboard backer. These figures are a bit larger than the other two types. This set is called "AVENGERS JUSTICE LEAGUE VS THE WINTER SOLDIER". The top of the front cardboard shows Spider-Man, Iron Man, and Captain America and the bottom shows Batman and Superman. On the back, the top row repeats the top row from the front, the next row repeats the bottom images, then the row below has two photos showing how to use the toy. You see, you can open up the chest of the action figures and place discs inside them for the figure to shoot. Each figure has five discs. As with other sets, these skew pretty close to the original with minor tweaking. Bottom of back cover has sticker with item nummber and UPC.
I've only found two figures so far.
1. Captain America (has red gloves, waist, and boots). Disc images are of the MCU version, though two are just of his shield. Back sticker says "Avengers ligue des Justiciers"
2. Spider-Man. Disc images are from the Tobey Maguire movies. Back sticker says "Spiderman ligue des justiciers"

Whether you seek them out is up to your own conscience. They are after all blatantly breaking the law (though I don't think it's illegal to buy them once they're in stores) and at least one of the figures has been shown to be easily breakable. But there is a certain level of creatively to them.

Last edited by Andy E. Nystrom (2/15/2020 6:43 am)


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5/15/2020 10:19 am  #2


Re: Unlicensed Superhero Action Figures

Here's the back of the Avengers/Justice League Spider-Man figure (the front scans too darkly)


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6/15/2020 7:19 am  #3


Re: Unlicensed Superhero Action Figures

For some reason even with posting to a blog first, this board is not letting me post images taken with my camera here due to size (even when the size is reduced to below the stated 65 kb max). If anyone wants to take a crack at formatting them so they'll post here, feel free to try. Other than the image already posted, these are all medium size, not the smallest that I attempted.

These are most of the remaining images for figures described above.
https://whowatchesthewatchersohotmu.blogspot.com/2020/05/action-figures.html


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12/25/2020 12:01 pm  #4


Re: Unlicensed Superhero Action Figures

I decided to open them up to display them better and for the ones with the shields I noticed an amusing typo which became more apparent when they were out of their containers: they don't actually say SUPER HERO but rather SUPER HERD.


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