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Beast Saga Chinese Bootlegs

bootleg KO Beast Saga

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#1 bachamn

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Posted 07 January 2014 - 11:08 AM

A few months ago LRG member Coelacanth found some odd looking Beast Saga figures posted for sale in bulk from a Chinese vendor (http://www.hongsontoys.com), and recently member tinkerbee posted some for sale so being the bootleg collector that I am, I picked up one of each. At first there was some speculation regarding whether or not these are KO's, but as vaal had mentioned during his initial reaction to them once you have them in hand it's very obvious that they are.

 

I've not had much time to dedicate to inspecting them yet, and have only opened the Tiger so far, but since these are relatively scarce within the community at the moment I'll post some photos of each of the ones I have along with some general impressions about the figures.

 

So far we've seen a total of 10 different sculpts and 12 figures in all in a variety of packaging. Some of the ones listed on Hongson Toys are in 2 , 3, or 6-packs but appear to be the same as the ones packaged into single-boxes. For simplicity I'm going to avoid listing the Japanese character names just mention the animals that are available:

  • Tiger
  • Elephant
  • Wolf
  • Lion
  • Turtle
  • Dolphin (Blue Skin/ Grey Skin)
  • Whale
  • Owl (Dark Grey Feathers, Light Grey Feathers)
  • Eagle
  • Parrot

 

bs_bootleg-tiger1.jpg

 

First off, I like the fact that they are single-boxed, which felt like a definite nod towards the way the classic BB/LBs were packaged in Japan. I dislike the blister packaging of the official BS figures and wish they had all been packaged like this.

 

Ok, not exactly like this. For a few reasons:

  • the cardboard is cheap and papery (though the printed parts don't look bad)
  • the cut-outs for the window looks like they were done by hand with an X-Acto knife and left little slivers of paper here and there
  • the plastic bubbles are cheap and situated in the box so that the figure is practically behind the cardboard. Apparently they felt showing the dice was really important :)
  • Most of my boxes had at least one wrinkle or a smushed corner due to the way the boxes were taped shut at awkward angles. tinkerbee packed them securely during shipping so I'm sure this wasn't a result of transport.

It's unclear at this point if the BS-XX numbers are consecutive for these releases, but certainly they don't correspond with the licensed product numbers as the tiger is labeled as BS-08 and his official figure was released later in a 3-pack. Anyway, enough about the box, here's what's inside:

 

bs_bootleg-tiger2.jpg

 

Each figure comes with two dice, weapons, and perhaps most interestingly an English-version of the character's trading card. More on that later.

 

bs_bootleg-tiger3.jpg

 

As vaal mentioned in the Beast Saga Countdown thread (hey, maybe we should change the name of that thread now that the line is dead? ;) ) the most obvious thing about these are that the paint apps are pretty laughable. Not as bad as some I've seen on other KOs, but it looks like they made little effort to put the details where they actually belong. Having said that, I do like the colors for some of them; the tiger probably being the most drastic departure from the looks of the standard figure (though they kept the general color scheme intact).

The materials of the figures appear to be identical to the rubber of the originals, or if not they are very close in firmness. The cyclot/dice launcher apparatus in the chest doesn't work as well as the originals; pushing the die into the character's chest causes the entire part easily slide out the back of the figure, so loading must be done carefully. The clear acrylic used for the plunger is slightly more cloudy in these as opposed to the transparent originals, though the light-piping effect still works well. 

 

bs_bootleg-tiger4.jpg

 

Unlike the originals, weapon and shield accessories come attached to the same plastic "tree", and in my opinion something that these bootlegs have over the original figures is that the weapons are made of firmer material and are rigid as opposed to the originals made of flexible rubber. The detailing though is a bit softer by comparison but still looks good.

 

bs_bootleg-tiger5.jpg

 

Finally, one of the most entertaining about these is that we get a little bit of a glimpse into the character information spoken in fantastic Engrish.   :)

 

More photos to come as I open the packages of the other figures. 


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#2 nanoFatato

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Posted 07 January 2014 - 11:52 AM

There's beauty and dignity even in the worst bootleg toy

 

Great photos! :)


Edited by nanoFatato, 07 January 2014 - 11:59 AM.

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#3 Beastformers

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Posted 07 January 2014 - 03:42 PM

 

As vaal mentioned in the Beast Saga Countdown thread (hey, maybe we should change the name of that thread now that the line is dead? ;) )

 

 

LOL I'm actually glad I used the Countdown term in there since it can work both ways as it can be seen as a start but also as an end ;)

 

Good review here and some usefull info as well only thing I was still wondering is what kind of markings are shown under the feet if any......?


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#4 bachamn

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Posted 07 January 2014 - 07:42 PM

I opened the whale today and the figures both had smooth feet, so nope no markings at all it seems.


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#5 JonnyPac

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Posted 08 January 2014 - 11:52 AM

Very neat. I kinda dig them!


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#6 vaal

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Posted 08 January 2014 - 08:15 PM

Reading the cards these guys came with is hilarious!  :lol:

 

I may post some pics of them when I get a chance because they are quite entertaining.


Edited by vaal, 08 January 2014 - 08:16 PM.

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#7 Beastformers

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Posted 09 January 2014 - 02:22 AM

Deadly Attack; Lame Blow

 

Imagine how powerfull this figure would've been with just a normal or powerfull blow..........

:) :) :)


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#8 bachamn

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Posted 09 January 2014 - 06:56 AM

Well after a slight delay, here is the unboxing for the Don Whale bootleg. :)

 

bs_whale-bootleg-01.jpg

 

bs_whale-bootleg-02.jpg

 

bs_whale-bootleg-03.jpg

 

bs_whale-bootleg-04.jpg

 

bs_whale-bootleg-05.jpg

 

bs_whale-bootleg-06.jpg

 

Damn Capt. Eagle, tell us how you really feel...


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#9 Beastformers

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Posted 09 January 2014 - 01:18 PM

Hahaha these are hilarious indeed.

 

DON WHALE

Hobby: Warm Water

Hates: All Troubles

 

In other words he likes to pee the whole day long and don't gives a sh#t what other Beasts might think about this.....

And he'll probably even get away with it knowing the Eagle has the hearth like a Sardine and the Tiger can't come up with more than just a Lame Blow.

 

I like these beasts :)


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#10 Rubberhammer

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Posted 09 January 2014 - 03:27 PM

I don't even collect Beast Saga, but I love bootlegs, and I think these are great!

I especially love the whacky bios on the cards!
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#11 FANtomCore

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Posted 09 January 2014 - 03:54 PM

Does anybody have an extra set of these that are for sale? Otherwise I have to try to buy them from China myself, but I'm hoping someone bought more than enough already.


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#12 Beastformers

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Posted 09 January 2014 - 04:15 PM

Does anybody have an extra set of these that are for sale? Otherwise I have to try to buy them from China myself, but I'm hoping someone bought more than enough already.

 

Tinkerbee was the onlyone offering these so you might have to check which ones are still available.

I doubt if we'll ever see more of these soon to be honest.........


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#13 bachamn

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Posted 10 January 2014 - 07:37 AM

And he'll probably even get away with it knowing the Eagle has the hearth like a Sardine and the Tiger can't come up with more than just a Lame Blow.

 

I like these beasts :)

 

The phrasing makes it sound otherwise, but I think the 'evaluations' are supposed to be of the beast on the card, by the beast whose face is next to thecaption. So Capt. Eagle is saying that while Don Whale has a huge body, he's a pansy. JanJan (Panda) is saying that Golda (Tiger) is "rough around the edges" but has god-given abilities" :thumbsup:

 

Does anybody have an extra set of these that are for sale? Otherwise I have to try to buy them from China myself, but I'm hoping someone bought more than enough already.

 

Yeah I know there were some left a week or so ago but they might have been spoken for by now. Oh, and for what it's worth I contacted the HongsonToys factory two weeks ago about ordering a case of those BS figures (just to figure out pricing) and never received a reply...

 

Anyway, on to an un-boxing of the Elephant. :)

 

bs_bootleg-elephant01.jpg

 

bs_bootleg-elephant02.jpg

 

bs_bootleg-elephant03.jpg

 

So far this one has is the "highest quality" paint apps of the bunch. Like the official figure, his limbs are pretty flimsy, and even more-so to the extent that they come off pretty easily. 

 

bs_bootleg-elephant04.jpg

 

I'm noticing that the number attached to the "tree" for the weapon/shield correspond with the actual BS-XX release numbers for the official figures, not the numbers given to them by the bootleggers. That means these are being made from the weapon/shield "tree" itself rather than having to do the pieces individually as they came in retail. Ultimately, this suggests that the bootleggers have/had access to the original factory production pieces and are not bootlegging from the retail figures.

 

bs_bootleg-elephant05.jpg

 

The sleeve with the card was bent literally in half under the plastic bubble holding the figure, so when I opened the bottom flap of the box the card practically fell out and now it's all bendy (think Predasaurs trading card :p ) Anyone know a good method for flattening cards? I was thinking of using an iron...

 

bs_bootleg-elephant06.jpg

 

I love delicious fry greengrocery too...

 

And I'm guessing "dogfall" is a strange translation for "draw"?


Edited by bachamn, 10 January 2014 - 07:43 AM.

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#14 glass67

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Posted 10 January 2014 - 07:56 AM

Man, these figures really look like crap, which is understandable considering they're bootlegs. They do, however, carry a certain charm, much like the various muscle bootlegs out there.
I will say that the cards they come with are quickly becoming my favorite Beast Saga related item ever! These are funny as hell!
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#15 bachamn

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Posted 10 January 2014 - 08:02 AM

Man, these figures really look like crap, which is understandable considering they're bootlegs. They do, however, carry a certain charm, much like the various muscle bootlegs out there.
I will say that the cards they come with are quickly becoming my favorite Beast Saga related item ever! These are funny as hell!

 

I totally agree; the figures are exactly what I was expecting, but the attempted-English cards are an unexpected treat. I'm planning on keeping the figures in the packaging (for obvious reason ) but I think I'll take the cards out to display in my binder. :lol:

 

And yeah the "so crappy it's charming" is an odd but alluring note to hit; a la Transmegators...


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#16 ironmask

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Posted 12 January 2014 - 07:24 AM

Oh man, these ARE awful... Awfully rad. I think I fall in the "love the cards" with everybody else. 

Not going to lie, though... If I found that elephant at Dollar Tree, I would likely buy several.


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#17 bachamn

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Posted 13 January 2014 - 07:35 AM

After a little bit of a delay, here is Captain Eagle's bootleg. This one's actually not that bad; there are a total of five different paint app colors on him including the green base-color, and most of them hit their mark.

 

Oh, and something I noticed this time is that the boxes are all marked BS-04 or BS-08 (either Land Kingdom/red packaging  or Sea Kingdom/blue packaging), not in any kind of custom sequence regarding what figure is inside. The figure inside also appears to be arbitrary as the Whale was inside a Land Kingdom red box, while Tiger was inside a Sea Kingdom blue box. :)

 

bs_bootleg-eagle01.jpg

 

bs_bootleg-eagle02.jpg

 

bs_bootleg-eagle03.jpg

 

The green paint on the back of his wings looked fresh and was still kind of tacky... :crazy:

 

bs_bootleg-eagle04.jpg

 

bs_bootleg-eagle05.jpg

 

bs_bootleg-eagle06.jpg

 

Um...what?

 

bs_bootleg-eagle07.jpg

 

Hobby: Rainbow

Hate: Sigh

 

:rofl:


Edited by bachamn, 13 January 2014 - 07:43 AM.

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#18 Rubberhammer

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Posted 14 January 2014 - 12:44 PM

Hahahaha!

"Rose odour make me feel fresh"?

Wtf?!
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#19 bachamn

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Posted 19 January 2014 - 07:20 AM

Today I'm unboxing the turtle. Paint apps are pretty good on this guy and only slightly less detailed than the original.

 

bs_bootleg-turtle01.jpg

 

bs_bootleg-turtle02.jpg

 

bs_bootleg-turtle03.jpg

 

bs_bootleg-turtle05.jpg

 

Remember that scene from Hannibal?

 

bs_bootleg-turtle04.jpg

 

 

bs_bootleg-turtle06.jpg

 

bs_bootleg-turtle07.jpg

 

Apparently, he's a traditionalist.


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#20 bachamn

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Posted 06 February 2014 - 08:44 AM

After a short break from this thread I'm back today to share the Wolf. 

 

Another one with relatively nice paint applications and of course, a hilarious BIo card. :)

 

bs_bootleg-wolf01.jpg

bs_bootleg-wolf02.jpg

bs_bootleg-wolf03.jpg

bs_bootleg-wolf04.jpg

bs_bootleg-wolf05.jpg

bs_bootleg-wolf06.jpg

bs_bootleg-wolf07.jpg

 

At first I was all like "Hobby: Hot Milk? Whaaaat?", but now I'm not so sure I want to know that means...


Edited by bachamn, 06 February 2014 - 08:45 AM.

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#21 vaal

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Posted 06 February 2014 - 05:45 PM

I hate trains too!

 

But the feeling doesn't always appear on my face.  

 

 

:lol:


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#22 cassel87

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Posted 12 February 2014 - 07:59 PM

haha. hate: train. what an asshole. he thinks he is above public transportation


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