Polish Variants/Bootlegs on eBay

[The Commander]

See Ebay item #300170078570

The description, all i can say is wow...

[Obiwanjacoby]

This would actually make for a cool thread, because it really blurs the line between a valid Joe and a "knockoff". Some of those parts look familiar, but they've been retooled into oblivion.

-PJ

[OUTBACK]

isn't that a Tunnel Rat gun on the Polish Stalker?

[C.I.A.D.]

Here's the way I see it...

Sure, they could very well be Polish Bootlegs...but at the end of the day...they're just bootlegs, and rather ugly ones at that.

Hopefully someone with knowledge of Foreign items can chime in here and shed some light on this topic...as I'm not buyin' it.

Who knows though? My knowledge of foreigns is wrapped solely around action force & whatnot. I have no idea wtf a polish bootleg is.

[Obiwanjacoby]

After some browsing, I see two positions on this. . .

Group 1. sees these as cheap imitations or mere novelties, and therefore unworthy of being archived, much less referred to as Joe "variants."

For example, the yojoe archives do not have anything close to an organized bootleg section, noting for example only one piece in the Agglo Extreme Troop line. . .

http://www.yojoe.com/archive/actfig/...gagglocc.shtml

. . .when only a few years ago every dollar store in the US was literally saturated with these.

Group 2. sees anything even remotely referring to GIJoe as some kind of "homage" to it, and it is therefore valid to make your International collection truly complete, or more complete than someone with a complete Heros Sans Fronteires collection. ;)


-PJ

[C.I.A.D.]

Originally Posted by Obiwanjacoby

After some browsing, I see two positions on this. . .

Group 1. sees these as cheap imitations or mere novelties, and therefore unworthy of being archived, much less referred to as Joe "variants."

For example, the yojoe archives do not have anything close to an organized bootleg section, noting for example only one piece in the Agglo Extreme Troop line. . .

http://www.yojoe.com/archive/actfig/...gagglocc.shtml

. . .when only a few years ago every dollar store in the US was literally saturated with these.

Group 2. sees anything even remotely referring to GIJoe as some kind of "homage" to it, and it is therefore valid to make your International collection truly complete, or more complete than someone with a complete Heros Sans Fronteires collection. ;)


-PJ

See, I fall in to both categories. They're friggin' craptastic. That being said, if they really were some lil tidbit of the joe universe that I never knew about...then I'm happy I saw them for the first time. I don't need to own them. The day I pay two bills for bootlegs is the day I give up collecting. Period.

[Obiwanjacoby]

Originally Posted by C.I.A.D.

See, I fall in to both categories. They're friggin' craptastic. That being said, if they really were some lil tidbit of the joe universe that I never knew about...then I'm happy I saw them for the first time. I don't need to own them. The day I pay two bills for bootlegs is the day I give up collecting. Period.

Well put. I'll leave an addendum-edit in absentia, how 'bout that? ;)

I love looking at 'em as well. But I see just as much purpose in owning these as I would the X-troops, other than the fact that they're really-really rare.

I have some CRAPS figures that are really rare. As a matter of fact, only one other member of the forums owns a complete set. ;)

-PJ

[Tripwire201]

There are no known carded examples. Those bootlegs were made by the same company that made 2nd and 3rd Generation Polish articulated Star Wars figures. You can read about those in an article I wrote years ago: http://theswca.com/images-speci/polishboots/index.html Towards the end of the lines they started mixing and matching parts between GI Joe and Star Wars. I have a handful of pics of hybrid Joe/Star Wars figures but I have't had the time to update the article.

As for weapons, the same weapons came with 3rd Generation Star Wars figures. It's pretty comon for Vader to show up with Snake Eyes/Stormshadow's sword in black: http://theswca.com/images-speci/poli...vader-gen3.jpg These weapons were distributed pretty randomly. If you look at the carded Pruneface he has a Hothtrooper rifle and the carded ATAT Commander has Zuckuss' rifle. Most collectors seek out the appropriate weapons but there really was no distribution rhyme or reason in Star Wars or Joes.

These are really rare, moreso than the Star Wars ones but not as rare as the hybrids. Though no carded have turned up a handful of unused cardbacks and parts still on sprues have turned up over the past few years. One of my contacts tracked them down through an ex-factory employee and I helped hook up some Joe collectors with that stuff. An unrelated source turned up a handful of loose figures and they also trace back to a bootleg employee. Before that find I'd seen less than 10 ever.

I do know there's an article in the works as I was allowed to proof for content/accuracy a while back. It's a great article and I can't wait to see it finally get posted once it's 100% ready to go live.

John

[KrymsynGardImmoral]

There is one really sweet Polish bootleg, a Targat figure. The head is different from the american figure (different sculpt, not just crappy looking) and has the Helmet visor closing only halfway down the figure's face, similar to the Targat cardback artwork. It would be a great piece to have hollowed out, cast in a clear yellow and then have the light blue painted over it for a cardback art accurate Targat custom.

[C.I.A.D.]

So wait, those are "real"? (obviously).

See, now I'm happy I know.

Know what though? I'm sooooooooo happy I don't feel the need to buy them. Seriously, I'd display my Polish Sausage Golobulus before those things. Bleh.