Mexican toys are a whole thing unto themselves. I don't collect them exclusively, but could easily see myself getting hooked on them if I didn't have enough to contend with already in Japanese toys. Crude, funky, cheap, and loaded with character. I love 'em, and I know I am not the only one. Okay, here is a real interesting one. The best of both worlds - Japan by way of Mexico. Happened upon this one for fairly cheap and took a gamble on him. I was expecting another hard plastic bootleg similar to many of the Mexican toys, as they were made as cheaply as possible. Even that was going to make me really happy though, as I have not seen too many non-Ultraman KOs, let alone humanoid hero characters. I was already excited to add an interesting figure to my collection. Japanese masked hero toy, Ultra character, vintage, bootleg, this is hitting all of the bases for me. When I received this guy though, I got an even bigger surprise. He is actually made out of a rubberised material. I definitely think he is vintage era, but is still incredibly soft and squishy. A full size replica of the traditional Japanese hero figure, I am just stunned at the way they have re-created the classic toy but in a whole different medium. I presume he must have been cast of the soft vinyl version at some point, and then the molds used for this guy, but the process for making rubber toys is different, so that is a hitch. I am not absolutely sure if Bullmark officially released the ST removable mask version of this guy, Clubtokyo has it listed only as a prototype, and I have only see a few versions of him listed as 'rare,' which adds even more interest to this guy's story. (There was a B-Club re-issue done in 2010, but I don't feel this toy is that recent to be a KO of a re-release). He is done in a non-traditional colour scheme, different to the original, and is entirely hand painted. A bit beat up now, but a lot of that is due to the heavy quality of the paint and the material used. It doesn't adhere well to the rubber as well as vinyl, due to its give, and was not sealed at all. Someone sure put some time and ingenuity into crafting this guy, and you have to think that came from a certain love for it. Whatever his story was, I would love to know it, and I am sure glad he came to be. Anyhow, a new love of mine, and I am glad I jumped on him when I had the chance. Enough with the yammering, on with the pics! Soft rubber bootleg TAC member
Wow, that's a nice quality bootleg! None of that stereotypical shite quality here. Now you just need to lay hands on some of the fabled Canadian bootlegs. You know, the ones that are of equal or better quality compared to the originals, have names like "Maple Robo" or "Poutine Pounder", smell like beer, and mysteriously come with free health care and curling themed headers. Oh and duck tape, eh. Ya hosers!
Yeah, there's a crazy variety of Mexican bootlegs (I believe there's an old thread about them)- They used to make them better I think. I dare say this one is vintage because if they made Ultra (or basically any kaiju/tokusatsu) now, I don't think they'd sell many. Barely anyone here knows Ultraman (they've probably heard the name but no clue who it is), though everyone knows Godzilla. If you add that this is rubber it just makes it more unique and makes me wonder if it's really a Mexican boot. I've seen vinyl, blown plastic, hard plastic, and a few rubber but they certainly don't look like this one. Anyway, congrats on the nice figure.
That IS a great one, Steve. I had a Robocop boot a couple years ago that was made of a very dense, squishy rubber too...only it looked like a nightmare given form! This one's actually pretty elegant in comparison.
Thanks guys! I should mention I have no evidence or anything he is necessarily Mexican made, but as I bought him from a seller in Mexico, who had just listed him as a Mexican-made toy, I also don't have any reason to suggest otherwise either at this point. Interesting to hear about that Robocop Sanjeev, too bad you don't have him anymore. It is funny to see certain characters seem to have made very popular bootlegs. Along with Robocop, I have definitely seen a lot of He-men, Hulks, and Lion-Os, though the Planet of the Apes/Spaceman seems to be a regular character too. Maybe they just produced a lot of these toys during the 80s and were heavily influenced by the popular characters then.
Ultra Kaiju I saw in a video that this figure was made by Jugarama a Mexican conpany. They described like a Ultraman or Monster Hunter, the piece that you have is the blue version and are also an orange version. Best regards!
Is the Ultra figure truly a bootleg? Or is he a licensed Mexican production? He looks WAY too nice to be a boot... Some of he Mexican toy companies made some wonderful variants of other countries stuff. Kid Acero springs to mind as does some of the Marx and mego variants. Curious.
Interesting question. Well, I was going off of what I could only tell on the figure itself, i.e. having no markings. But, according to what Roger has shared, there might actually be a known toy maker to attribute to this. From there I guess it would depend on whether or not that company had a specific license to the Bullmark toys, and your particular definition of bootleg. I have a feeling that, while it might be better quality than most Mexican boots, it is still not something that was likely approved by Tsuburaya and/or Bullmark.
You would be surprised at the quality difference in some of the Mexican issued figures. Compare an official Lili Ledy GI Je to a Hasbro figure, and you would never in million years guess that the Mexican one is not a bootleg. The Lili Ledy Megos also look like knock off figures. The Kid Acero line ( Mexican Big Jim) is beautiful. Nicer than the American originals ( but not as nice as the European issue). A lot of "official" mexican releases are quite differnt from the source. i wonder if the licensing is a cheaper use of the concept, rather than an epe sive use of any existing toy lines. Maybe. Who knows? I dont know! But the head on that TAC guy is absolutely beautiful. As is the whole deal, but the head blows me away.
If it is true that Jugarama made this one then the best bet is that they were licensed. edit. But I find it strange that it doesn't have a marking. Jugarama usually has their markings on the toys.
I have a few of the mixed parts chupacabras pictured above. They are fun little guys. Bought a bag years ago and have given most away. I have to go in the vault and see if I can find them.
Jumbo He-Man bootleg This figure was made in Mexico in the 80's, I know that also they made some of the villains. What really surprised me is that the plastic is much harder than I expected, comes with the sword but I do not know if originally also came with a shield.
ha, I had that guy as a kid but mine was a garish white instead of flesh colored. Completely forgot about it until I saw this. Mine had a red sword and I dont recall a shield, but then again it was 20yrs ago who knows where that toy is now.
For example, I find that this is another variation of the same figure for the shape of the hand (see more open). Note: This photo is not mine, I take fro the Flickr of https://www.flickr.com/photos/madhuntercollection/
I think those two might be fully different sculpts (i.e. not just the hands are different). If you look at some of the other details, and the head especially, they don't look similar. There are a lot of MOTU KO figures though, and of varying sizes as well. I don't know that anyone has made any efforts towards documenting them all, as they aren't really all to popular with the MOTU crowd, but I know of a few bootleg collectors who have loads of these toys through flickr and such.
You are right guys are two different figures, the one on Flickr it´s smaller than the Jumbo and it´s another sculpt.
^ It is a very dark, and deep well to fall into. The whole 'barbarian' /5.5" scale figures that exploded in the 80s is an immense world, and one I truly love too. If you are into those toys, be sure to check out some posts from thisthread, especially some of the pics in silver_lining_man's collection, it is really something. And a big welcome to the forum, Melody! You can always pop in to the 'intro' thread and let us know more about you or what you collect. Enjoy the wealth of fun and information that is SB.
