Bootleg Super Heroes minifigs - worth it or not?

[mooproxy]

I doubt it is something I will get into on a big scale

That's what I said at first and I'm now over a hundred figures in and have started customising my own

[Legotom]

Hi all,

Does anyone know of a clone brand that makes a Princess Leia slavegirl minifig? The figure doesn't have to be brilliant as I'm only after the hair piece. I'm trying to make a lineup of my family and that's the closest match to my wife's hair, although a bit short. It costs over £8 on Bricklink, and that's from sellers with over £50 min order! Or over £20 for the full figure. So I'm hoping to find a decent clone brand.

Very excited to see the Lepin emerald night coming. Think I'll be ordering one or three of them. Has anyone built a big Lepin kit? Are they good quality? I've got a few Enlighten trains and they're pretty good, although sadly discontinued.

[Coopa182]

That's what I said at first and I'm now over a hundred figures in and have started customising my own

I've promised myself I won't go down that f#!$&n rabbit hole! But it is so tempting when they are so cheap, and the shipping being so cheap too.

[agoodfella77]

SY621

http://s.aliexpress.com/fumiMruu

Do the colors look a little different on the Abomination or is it just me? The highlights on the Set were very light green for example could just be over saturation on the photo....

[wickedlemon]

Just a heads-up for those in the UK, Smyths have £5 off £20, £10 off £50 and £20 off £100 vouchers on their front page at the moment. Coupled with most of their Lego already having a 20% discount and free delivery over £15 for Lego makes for a pretty good deal.

[Panther]

That's what I said at first and I'm now over a hundred figures in and have started customising my own

Yep... Started December 2014 when i stumbled upon 4 pack cap/ironman/thor/wolvie set thinking about buying it for a cousin for Christmas. Ended up keeping it for myself and here I am 60+ marvel figs on ... and counting . I even got myself a genuine Lego avengers tower that ultimately couldn't fit even a third of my figs (sidenote: if it wasn't for bootleg I wouldn't have bought several genuine Lego sets since then).

Mooproxy, how do you customise your own? I usually make custom ones from existing spare parts here and there. I'm interested in printing some custom designs onto stickers and stick them onto spare parts but don't know the appropriate sticker papers, printing, size of designs on pdf that when printed would fit nicely onto a minifig torso.

[wickedlemon]

I bought a bootleg Flash off eBay to see what is was like. Then I discovered this thread and Ali Express. No idea how many figures I have now. More than 500. Maybe way more. 1000? The evil glare on the missus's face and the huge grin on my son's says it all.

Like a lot of others here I've bought more Lego and customs since I started buying bootlegs.

Edited September 2, 2016 by wickedlemon

[mooproxy]

Yep... Started December 2014 when i stumbled upon 4 pack cap/ironman/thor/wolvie set thinking about buying it for a cousin for Christmas. Ended up keeping it for myself and here I am 60+ marvel figs on ... and counting . I even got myself a genuine Lego avengers tower that ultimately couldn't fit even a third of my figs (sidenote: if it wasn't for bootleg I wouldn't have bought several genuine Lego sets since then).

Mooproxy, how do you customise your own? I usually make custom ones from existing spare parts here and there. I'm interested in printing some custom designs onto stickers and stick them onto spare parts but don't know the appropriate sticker papers, printing, size of designs on pdf that when printed would fit nicely onto a minifig torso.

I'm sill figuring out how to make it look good, but I've been investigating waterslide decals, which seem to be the standard way to do it. The issue is you need them printed nicely (my home printer is dirt cheap and doesn't do the job well), laser printing > inkjet but no print shop will put a sheet of glossy paper through their laser printer unless they've come across it before and know it'll be fine (and very few have) and applying them is longwinded takes a bit of practice. The cheap/easy alternative is vinyl stickers which are as simple as printing and sticking, but they don't have the "printed on" look that well-applied decals do.

Bear in mind I'm still learning the ropes, and I'm absolutely no expert so there will be a good few other people around here who can probably provide better help than me. Happy to let you know what I've figured out though. I think there's a set of sizes and dimensions in the minifig customisation workshop section of this forum, as well as tutorials about applying decals.

As for how I started, I wanted a Flash figure and discovered an eBay seller doing a set of 36 Decool figures (probably just combined a few concurrent waves) and went half and half with my friend. Then I discovered Ali and this forum and here we are.

Edited September 2, 2016 by mooproxy

[Robianco]

I've printed a few waterslide decals for figures... some which I've actually sold.

Waterslide decal is a very good way of doing things but is a little trickier. I've found that even £30 first cheap photo printers can give an excellent finish. Pick up a clear acrylic spray, they're usually shown as recommended items on Amazon when looking at Waterslide Decal paper as you'll need this to seal the ink before putting them in water.

They can look excellent but obviously only really work on light coloured torsos.

[Drakuhl]

Does anyone know why offers on Aliexpress get so much more expensive when you want a set with box? For example:

http://de.aliexpress.com/item/X0107-Building-Blocks-Captain-America-3-Minifigures-Iron-Spider-Man-Woman-Gwen-Green-Goblin-Shadows-Doctor/32669482578.html?isOrigTitle=true

The price with box is almost double that of the price without, yet shipping is excluded, so that cannot be the factor...

[wickedlemon]

I'm sill figuring out how to make it look good, but I've been investigating waterslide decals, which seem to be the standard way to do it. The issue is you need them printed nicely (my home printer is dirt cheap and doesn't do the job well), laser printing > inkjet but no print shop will put a sheet of glossy paper through their laser printer unless they've come across it before and know it'll be fine (and very few have) and applying them is longwinded takes a bit of practice. The cheap/easy alternative is vinyl stickers which are as simple as printing and sticking, but they don't have the "printed on" look that well-applied decals do.

Bear in mind I'm still learning the ropes, and I'm absolutely no expert so there will be a good few other people around here who can probably provide better help than me. Happy to let you know what I've figured out though. I think there's a set of sizes and dimensions in the minifig customisation workshop section of this forum, as well as tutorials about applying decals.

These are some figures I've done with waterslide laser decals except the Cap Britain on the left which is a 'play' copy using self-adhesive labels .

Just make sure you get the right decal paper as it's specifically designed for lasers or inkjet. I've bought stuff from Crafty Computer Papers in the past. I always buy A4 and then cut it down to A6 so I don't waste it. You can fit loads of decals on one tiny sheet. I normally print several copies of everything I need, including some enlarged and reduced by 10% just incase the sizing came out wrong. You can also use some wood floor polishes that dry clear for protecting decals (certainly with laser paper, not sure about inkjet). The paper's so cheap that I'd just experiment.

Does anyone know why offers on Aliexpress get so much more expensive when you want a set with box? For example:

http://de.aliexpress...sOrigTitle=true

The price with box is almost double that of the price without, yet shipping is excluded, so that cannot be the factor...

I guess the postage cost is figured in to the price. There's really no such thing as free shipping. Coupled with the fact the the factories probably sell the sets loose cheaper to the AE resellers. I don't think it's a case that they're being unboxed for posting. It does suck. I'm after a boxed Lepin Carbon Freezing Chamber because I'm a sad Boba Fett collector, but it's going to cost as much as the genuine Lego set.

Edited September 2, 2016 by wickedlemon

[gundambob]

Hi all,

Does anyone know of a clone brand that makes a Princess Leia slavegirl minifig? The figure doesn't have to be brilliant as I'm only after the hair piece. I'm trying to make a lineup of my family and that's the closest match to my wife's hair, although a bit short. It costs over £8 on Bricklink, and that's from sellers with over £50 min order! Or over £20 for the full figure. So I'm hoping to find a decent clone brand.

Very excited to see the Lepin emerald night coming. Think I'll be ordering one or three of them. Has anyone built a big Lepin kit? Are they good quality? I've got a few Enlighten trains and they're pretty good, although sadly discontinued.

You can check out the review on Lepin sets here: https://www.facebook.com/ShopofNinjaBricks/

[MDM]

I've printed a few waterslide decals for figures... some which I've actually sold.

Waterslide decal is a very good way of doing things but is a little trickier. I've found that even £30 first cheap photo printers can give an excellent finish. Pick up a clear acrylic spray, they're usually shown as recommended items on Amazon when looking at Waterslide Decal paper as you'll need this to seal the ink before putting them in water.

They can look excellent but obviously only really work on light coloured torsos.

I've used some decals on láser printer and had the same problem.

Found a printer in germany that print using Metallic inks, White and all the colors are visible on dark colored torsos.

Can shoot and post some photos later if anyone is interested

Edited September 2, 2016 by MDM

[Drakuhl]

I guess the postage cost is figured in to the price. There's really no such thing as free shipping. Coupled with the fact the the factories probably sell the sets loose cheaper to the AE resellers. I don't think it's a case that they're being unboxed for posting. It does suck. I'm after a boxed Lepin Carbon Freezing Chamber because I'm a sad Boba Fett collector, but it's going to cost as much as the genuine Lego set.

That's not it as this is not a free shipping offer. Shipping is extra. That's what made this so weird.

[mooproxy]

These are some figures I've done with waterslide laser decals except the Cap Britain on the left which is a 'play' copy using self-adhesive labels .

Just make sure you get the right decal paper as it's specifically designed for lasers or inkjet. I've bought stuff from Crafty Computer Papers in the past. I always buy A4 and then cut it down to A6 so I don't waste it. You can fit loads of decals on one tiny sheet. I normally print several copies of everything I need, including some enlarged and reduced by 10% just incase the sizing came out wrong. You can also use some wood floor polishes that dry clear for protecting decals (certainly with laser paper, not sure about inkjet). The paper's so cheap that I'd just experiment.

Nice figures. Unfortunately my first foray into decals ended up looking more like your sticker version than a decal version. I think it's because my inkjet sealant varnish hardened up the decal and made it more like a sticker, but I still have a way to go. The way I'm thinking of dealing with sizing and position is to "continue" the colour of the decal outside the borders and wrap the excess space around the edges of the figure, then let it dry and remove those parts around the edge to leave a decal which goes right the way up to the edge of the piece, and I can then use micro sol to soften it and make it fit more nicely. Does anyone know if that'd work?

Edited September 2, 2016 by Darkdragon
Please do not quote imags.

[Robianco]

I've used some decals on láser printer and had the same problem.

Found a printer in germany that print using Metallic inks, White and all the colors are visible on dark colored torsos.

Can shoot and post some photos later if anyone is interested

I think I might know the printer you mean but pictures and info would be great!

[mooproxy]

That's not it as this is not a free shipping offer. Shipping is extra. That's what made this so weird.

Perhaps the seller isn't able to have a different shipping cost on each option, so needs to account for it on the main cost.

[Darkdragon]

I think I might know the printer you mean but pictures and info would be great!

These are some figures I've done with waterslide laser decals except the Cap Britain on the left which is a 'play' copy using self-adhesive labels .

Nice figures. Unfortunately my first foray into decals ended up looking more like your sticker version than a decal version.

Please, let's keep this thread for the Bootleg discussion and keep custom minifigure discussion in the proper forum Minifig Customisation Workshop

Nice figures. Unfortunately my first foray into decals ended up looking more like your sticker version than a decal version.

Please don't quote images, it creates clutter on the thread.

[MDM]

I think I might know the printer you mean but pictures and info would be great!

Will post later on the bootleg customisation thread if I can find it.

Btw... Do they look like dual moulded?

Pogo legs for beast boy and blue beetle

[mooproxy]

Will post later on the bootleg customisation thread if I can find it.

Btw... Do they look like dual moulded?

It's difficult to tell with them being black. When you look closely at them can you see any hint of blue/purple in a place which should be black? If you look inside the top leg hole can you see any blue/purple in a place where the black paint missed? If you can see any of them, then they're not dual molded.

[MDM]

It's difficult to tell with them being black. When you look closely at them can you see any hint of blue/purple in a place which should be black? If you look inside the top leg hole can you see any blue/purple in a place where the black paint missed? If you can see any of them, then they're not dual molded.

Had to put the legs off from hips to check it. Definetely blue/puirple painted black over... But well done

[Coopa182]

My first ever Ali Express order arrived on a signed Saturday morning courier, even though the tracking page makes it look like it is still waiting to leave China. I placed my order on Tuesday 23 August, so 11 days including weekends isn't bad at all to little old New Zealand. I used T T Toys and everything arrived correctly. My flesh coloured minifigure didn't have one of his hands attached, but it was loose in the bag, so it pays to give everything a good shake out and double check. Pretty happy with the quality overall, for the price they were I wasn't expecting perfection. My light blue minifigs left hand looks like it has been splayed open and is a weird shape, honestly I don't know if it is even bother mentioning it to the seller. I have since managed to squeeze it closed to match the other one, but there is a white stress mark visible still. Mr. Golds left leg/hip also isn't perfectly lined up, even when forced onto a base plate. Everything is very stiff with this minifig, so it can just sit by my computer monitor at work. I got a few extras too which look in better condition. Mr. Gold and the two Walking Dead characters came with an extra hand each. TWD figures are nice, both with back printing. I had to assemble the crossbow, it was two seperate parts.

http://i.imgur.com/UkuurDQ.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/WKWUqvC.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ysyzAY3.jpg

Edited September 2, 2016 by Darkdragon
Please keep images 1024x768 max, per site guidelines

[mooproxy]

My first ever Ali Express order arrived on a signed Saturday morning courier, even though the tracking page makes it look like it is still waiting to leave China. I placed my order on Tuesday 23 August, so 11 days including weekends isn't bad at all to little old New Zealand. I used T T Toys and everything arrived correctly. My flesh coloured minifigure didn't have one of his hands attached, but it was loose in the bag, so it pays to give everything a good shake out and double check. Pretty happy with the quality overall, for the price they were I wasn't expecting perfection. My light blue minifigs left hand looks like it has been splayed open and is a weird shape, honestly I don't know if it is even bother mentioning it to the seller. I have since managed to squeeze it closed to match the other one, but there is a white stress mark visible still. Mr. Golds left leg/hip also isn't perfectly lined up, even when forced onto a base plate. Everything is very stiff with this minifig, so it can just sit by my computer monitor at work. I got a few extras too which look in better condition. Mr. Gold and the two Walking Dead characters came with an extra hand each. TWD figures are nice, both with back printing. I had to assemble the crossbow, it was two seperate parts.

I'm no expert on shipping to New Zealand, but that seems like a pretty good delivery time to me. Regarding your figure's hand I have some good news - almost every figure I have ever bought from Ali has been shipped with one or two spare hands. If you plan to put in another order you should hopefully get a spare hand to replace the damaged one, or the figures are so cheap you should be able to order another one in for yourself at minimal cost.

But yeah, good stuff, hope you're happy with your stuff.

[Coopa182]

I'm no expert on shipping to New Zealand, but that seems like a pretty good delivery time to me. Regarding your figure's hand I have some good news - almost every figure I have ever bought from Ali has been shipped with one or two spare hands. If you plan to put in another order you should hopefully get a spare hand to replace the damaged one, or the figures are so cheap you should be able to order another one in for yourself at minimal cost.

But yeah, good stuff, hope you're happy with your stuff.

Exactly. If I ever place another order I can grab another for dirt cheap. That's why I grabbed a few Mr. Golds, that was the minifigure I wanted to look as nice as possible, so I figured ordering a few would be my best shot at having enough pieces to make a good copy if anything was wrong with one or two of them. Yes I think the shipping time was pretty fantastic, I expected at least 2 to 3 weeks and was ok with that.

[mooproxy]

Exactly. If I ever place another order I can grab another for dirt cheap. That's why I grabbed a few Mr. Golds, that was the minifigure I wanted to look as nice as possible, so I figured ordering a few would be my best shot at having enough pieces to make a good copy if anything was wrong with one or two of them. Yes I think the shipping time was pretty fantastic, I expected at least 2 to 3 weeks and was ok with that.

Nice. I usually get seemingly random wait times of two weeks to a month for my orders to come in, though I'm in the UK which might be a bit further away to ship to.