Knockoffs, Reproductions, and You.

 In the world of toy collecting, there are three noteworthy types of knockoffs. The first, and arguably most famous, are the cheap dollar store ones you'll find with hilarious names like "Deformation Warrior" and other sorts of nonsense. The second are the actual counterfeits: higher-quality reproductions made at a fraction of the cost to dupe buyers into thinking they got a sweet deal on a genuine G1 Soundwave for forty bucks. The third is what I call the "labor of love". Unlike the first two, these aren't made to get a quick buck, but instead, to use the existing designs to give actual fans of the property something new. In some circles, these are called "factory customs", with the most notable example being the G.I. Joes released by Black Major. One could argue that the "third party transforming robots" fall into this category as well, but that's not what we're here to talk about.

Black Major Alley Vipers, circa 2018.

I want to focus on the "factory custom" and reproductions here. I own a lot of Black Major figures, as well as ones from other folks like Red Laser's Army, Letal Customs, and Lady Jaye Toys. The primary purpose of these figures is to supplement existing collections by giving fans existing molds in color schemes that weren't offered in the real line. While they're usually army builders (a guaranteed way to get people to buy multiples), some have been singular characters, like the excellent Red Laser releases for the "Argen 7" figures, Lady Jaye's plethora of Baroness repaints, and the recent Black Major rangers. Save for some sparse reissues like the HasLab Skystriker, the classic O-ring G.I. Joe line is effectively dead and has been for over a decade. With these new knockoffs, collectors of that classic style are able to get new offerings and keep that corner of the hobby alive. After all, isn't it boring when you run out of stuff to collect?

Missing Link Arcee, in her glorious 1986 prototype colors.

Let's take G1 Transformers. I don't mean the characters themselves; I mean the actual toys. There's something charming about the classic Japanese toy robot style: the limited articulation, the focus on cool features and gimmicks, and going absolutely buck-wild with character design choices. This is what made Missing Link Arcee my current champion for the "toy of the year" title: she feels like she stepped right out of 1986 with only some new articulation indicating that she was made in the 21st century.

In addition to collection holes like missing characters, there are some that are just unobtainable to the average collector, be it as a result of price, scarcity, or worse: fragility. Some of you reading may be familiar with a condition called Gold Plastic Syndrome, and those who are unaware can read TFwiki's article here. Enter Black Zarak, a Japanese-exclusive redeco and retool of the G1 Transformer Scorponok. He's one of the most unfortunate cases for a variety of reasons: he's a late release in his respective line, meaning he had a shorter shelf life than his compatriots; he's a big-ticket item, so not as many people could afford one; and finally, he was exclusive to only one market. Take all of that and add fragile gold plastic that shatters if you look at him wrong, and you have one hell of a holy grail for the average collector.

That's where that third kind of knockoff comes in.

The KO Black Zarak, image taken form TommyParkStore, where I ordered mine from.

I'm not 100% sure on their name (I think it's BX?), but a few years ago this company started producing knockoffs of G1 Metroplex, mainly so they could do another coveted Japanese-exclusive deco, Metrotitan.  This release was very well-received and allowed collectors around the world a chance at getting their own version of such a cool rarity at a fraction of the cost. Last year, they announced that they were doing Scorponok, and as you can imagine the first thought on everyone's mind was, "are they doing Black Zarak?" Well, the answer is yes. The Scorponok was very well-received, much more so than the counterfeit version that flooded markets many years ago. Not only that, it comes in its own unique packaging that doesn't emulate the real deal, and each part is marked with "BXZX" so it can't be easily passed off as the original. Is it a fake of the original? Sure. Is it trying to fool people into thinking they're buying the original? Not in the slightest. It's made by fans, for fans, so the casual collector has a chance to own something that might otherwise be impossible to get.

What about figures that everyone owned, but not everyone has the pieces for anymore? What do we do about those? Should we leave our Princess Leia figures defenseless because she lost her blaster to the Sarlaac Pit that is 70s shag carpeting? Should a G.I. Joe Mauler be left stranded on the battlefield because its tow cable snapped in three places? What about poor Starscream, who no longer transforms into a jet because your friend's dog chewed up wings and tailfins, and is now stuck turning into some weird dart? Reproduction parts can provide old toys that may have been otherwise thrown away or strapped to bottle rockets with a new lease on life. 

Cartoon Boba Fett (by ProCustomFigures) shows the SS (Stan Solo) stamp on Threepio's thigh, which exists so you won't mistake him for the real (and expensive) deal. Don't worry, Threepio is used to the humiliation.

Some people (mostly vintage Star Wars collectors) despise reproduction parts and scoff at the mere mention of the word (seriously, I got banned from the Imperial Commissary on Facebook not for trying to buy or sell repro parts, but for merely *showing that I owned some*) and think they poison or ruin the hobby, but I think it's the exact opposite: it makes the hobby more accessible. What's the point of paying $50 for a genuine Leia blaster when the reproduction looks and functions the same way? Most people who buy repro parts do it solely for themselves, they're not trying to rip people off. They want their toys to feel complete without paying through the nose. People who insist on buying the real deal will always be part of the hobby, but not everyone is that kind of die-hard collector. Some of us just want to have fun.

At the end of the day, isn't that why we're here? To have fun? To enjoy our little plastic robots, army guys, and spacemen? Maybe you like to keep your stuff 100% original. That's cool, but don't get mad at those of us who just want our toys to look and function properly.