As many of you may already know, most all of the home video releases of any of the episodes of the 1941 – 1942 Max Fleischer Superman cartoons are considered “bootleg”… sort of. At some point, after the rights reverted back to National Comics (now DC), they licensed the rights to another company. After some time, National failed to renew their copyright and these wonderful cartoons fell into public domain. In the years that followed…
Another in the strange but true world of bootleg items is this nearly 5-inch tall Superman figure from Sri Lanka. This figure is extremely light and, like many bootleg figures, uses a generic body with a Superman-esque head.
Digitally sculpted and printed by Canadian artist Tonie Neo Tirado, this 1/16th scale Kirk Alyn Superman figurine is a wonderful addition to my collection! The fine detail of how the cape attaches to the tunic, to the exacting design of Kirk’s ‘S’ symbol made this an extreme pleasure to paint and mount on a custom base.
Within a local pet store, I found a box of knitted animal figures filled with catnip called BarnYarn Animals. There were sheep, lions, tigers, parrots, and many others. While I looked through them, I noticed non-animal related figures and some that closely resembled various characters. As I dug deeper…
Here we go with another bootleg Superman item. This is a bag of a pair of Superman cartoon socks made by an unknown company. The only label on this package is a UPC sticker that says “cartoon socks $3.49.” With a design looking similar to that of South Park, “Superman” appears on these socks with googly eyes and brown hair.
This is a pair of “Qui Che Gua Gou”, or “car hooks”, that can be hooked around a headrest post and allows you to hang a bag on the lower hook up to 3 kg (about 6-and-a-half pounds) in weight. Apparently, the hooks come in various characters. These are clearly meant to represent Superman.
Here is a tin box produced by Echo Bridge Home Entertainment that contains two DVDs. The first DVD features ten Fleischer Superman cartoons from 1941 and 1942. The second DVD contains eighteen classic public domain cartoons.
Here’s another bootleg Superman figure, this time from Mexico. This figure was molded in blue plastic and painted in certain areas. It has four points of articulation and has a red vinyl cape.
Unlike some other bootlegs, this was clearly designed to be a Superman figure with its large ’S’ wave hair to its sculpted ’S’ symbol area on the chest (which was covered with a sticker) and the belt. The same can’t be said for the legs which have…
Another example of a bootleg figure from China, this is a “Superman” figure that has five points of articulation. It has a generically molded body so that it can, presumably, be used for other heroes. Additionally, its plastic cape is scalloped for that reason. The ’S’ symbol on the chest seems to have been painted on using a stencil. The figure is clearly loosely based on the 1996 Kenner Total Justice line of figures. This figure is made from the same mold as…
One day, I stopped at a gas station, walked into the food mart to get a drink and pre-pay for the gas. While at the register, I looked to my left and noticed a shelf of small plastic containers filled with wrapped character pens. Now because I am who I am, I immediately saw the “Superman” pen.
This is a standard cheaply produced pen with a “Superman-like” rubber character. Technically, this character has…
Superman Collector in Hawaii 