1989 Python Patrol Officer

In the first half of the vintage line, repaints were relatively rare.  For the most part, Hasbro released new figures every year.  There were a few sparse examples here and there.  But, the line remained relatively unique for a long time.  As the '80's wound down, though, Hasbro discovered that repainting some older molds was a good way to expand the line without creating new molds.  It also was a way to keep some higher profile characters in the rotation at retail.  Rather than simply repaint a figure and insert it into the line, though, Hasbro came up with the notion of sub teams and themes as a means to pump repaints into the marketplace.  The results were surprisingly strong.  Night Force, Tiger Force, Mission to Brazil and the subject of this profile, Python Patrol are all figure subsets that are highly regarded by collectors today.  The Python Patrol Officer is no exception...even if he was the victim a misunderstanding.

First off, while this figure is named the Python Patrol Officer, the mold is the classic Cobra Trooper.  The Cobra Officer mold was also released in Python Patrol as the Python Trooper.  It is a classic mix-up that causes confusion to this day.  As a kid, I always felt the Cobra Trooper would be the more elite of the Cobras since he had the more detailed uniform and the more specialized weapon.  But, since I like the Trooper mold much more than I do the Officer, this is something I got over as I wanted to have many more Troopers in my collection than I did the Officers.

The Cobra Trooper mold is one of my favorites in the entire line.  If my entire collection was reduced to 5 figures, a vintage Cobra Trooper would be one of those select keepers.  The figure follows the design of the original Joes with the web gear on the chest.  But, in lieu of a molded knife, the figure has a machine pistol.  The mold is covered in minor details, down to the piano wire on the arm.  Unfortunately, the Python Officer does not take full advantage of these details as many are unpainted.  These repaints were meant to be cheap to produce and the cammo likely ate up much of the budget.  But, since the figure's base is black, you can somewhat forgive the missing paint applications.

Python Patrol has retained some popularity among the collecting world.  The reality is that of the original figures, the Crimson Guard and Tele-Viper are not good.  The Officer, Trooper and Viper, though, are extremely well done.  The green, grey and black combination actually looks like something that Cobra could use.  They could be night fighters, forest patrols or jungle recon units.  Mixing them with the Python vehicles is a bit more difficult.  But, Python Troopers and Officers are a perfect match for the SEARS exclusive Dreadnok Stinger and RAM.  The green meshes well with the figures' coloring and is a nice companion piece to any Python Patrol display.

I never really liked the story behind Python Patrol.  But, it did give us some nice figures.  I have found these Python Officers to be a great addition to a Cobra army since they are something a little different, but hearken back to the original blues.  In that regard, I have found a use for them.  Having the Brazilian exclusive Gatilho and Relampago figures helps, though.  These figures mesh well with the Python Officers and give the foreign characters a similarly clad army at their disposal.  They are a more specialized unit, but I see them as more of a forest/jungle patrol on Cobra Island than any other, specific, combat duty.  It is a somewhat limited role, but does work with the figures since they stand out when displayed with non Python Patrol Cobras.

The Cobra Trooper mold was used all over the world.  The straight arm figure was released in the US, Brazil and Argentina.  Hasbro produced the swivel arm version for the US, Europe and Japan.  The swivel arm figure then showed up in Brazil where it was released by Estrela as Vibora in colors very similar to the Python Officer.  In 2004, Hasbro resculpted the Troopers chest and legs for release in the Cobra Infantry set.  But, later that year, they found the original mold and used the chest and head for the comic pack Trooper and again in 2005 as the body for the Night Watch Troopers.  Unfortunately, Hasbro did not properly capitalize on the mold's popularity and left several obvious repaints unproduced.  Enterprising bootleggers have filled this gap and produced Troopers in all colors of the rainbow.  It would have been great for Hasbro to better utilize these molds.  But, they didn't.  At least we can enjoy the figures that were released.

In the mid to late '90's, subsets like Python Patrol and Tiger Force were considered scarcer than the figures from whom the members were repainted.  In those days, you were likely to pay more for a Tiger Force or Python Patrol figure than you were for the original.  As the collecting world moved online, though, inequities like these were ironed out.  Slowly, the original figures became more desirable and expensive while the repaints fell in price.  But, as the '00's wound down, those early perceptions were proved at least somewhat correct.  Python Patrol and Tiger Force were only released in one production year in lieu of the standard two.  So, they are scarcer than the original figures.  Today, it is much harder to find a mint, complete Python Officer than it is a mint, complete Cobra Trooper.  But, the reality is that the popularity of the originals still trumps the repaints.  So, despite being harder to find, Python Officers can be purchased for $11-$14.  Getting an army of them may take some time, but they aren't as expensive as they once were.  For what this figure offers, it's a pretty good price.

1997 Stalker

Starting in 1997, Hasbro attempted to cater to the collector market with exclusive repaints of classic figures.  Between 1997 and 2006, hundreds of repainted ARAH style figures were put into the market.  Looking back at these figures, the majority of them are not well done.  Most were inferior repaints to classic figures.  And, in some cases, were outright insults to the prior figures with whom they shared a mold.  But, now and then, Hasbro did come through.  And, when they did, the results were easily on par or better than items that were produced in the vintage era.  At the time, many of these gems were obscured by the quantity of low quality figures that simply overpowered them.  But, time allows greater perspective and gives the modern collector the opportunity to really appreciate the modern repaints that Hasbro got right.  One such figure that was an instant classic appeared right out of the gate in 1997 Stars and Stripes set: Stalker.

As characters go, they don't get much bigger than Stalker.  He was easily one of the top characters from the comic and enjoyed a large presence from the first issue through the last.  He had figures released in 1982, 1989 and 1994.  But, the character transcended those releases. Stalker's connection to Snake Eyes and Stormshadow along with his green beret background brought the figure to life.  The fact that his original incarnation was the only original Joe released in a cammo pattern immediately gave street cred to the figure.  All of that pressure meant that any repaint of Stalker really had to be special.

In this case, Hasbro delivered on that legacy: big time.  The figure is nearly perfect.  The base green is deep and inviting.  It is very close to Action Force green, but different in a way that makes the figure more usable.  But, the complete cammo is the real star of the figure.  Black, brown and white stripes are overlaid on the figure's body to give the mold a rich texture without overpowering the base green.  On top of this, nearly all the figure's accents are painted.  He has a silver knife inserted in brown web gear, black pouches on his arms, deeper green pouches on his shoulders, grey buckles on his boots and a brown belt with black buckle.  It is a remarkably detailed figure and shows complex paint applications that were pretty much gone from the repaint line after 1998 unless the figure was a convention release.  The one criticism of the figure is the black beret.  In 1997, this alone was enough for most collectors to give up on the figure entirely.  Today, though, it is just a different look for the character.  Personally, I think a green beret would have been too much of that color.  But, the black caps the figure off nicely and keeps the overall color contained within the mold.  He is not a sea of green, but a perfect contrast of subtle darks and lights that create one of the most visually appealing figures created after the vintage Joe line.

Sadly, Stalker is the exception in the Stars and Stripes set rather than the norm.  The Scarlett figure from the set is well done, though in very different colors from her original incarnation.  But, Grunt, Zap and Short Fuze are all in colors that don't work nearly as well as Stalker.  Snake Eyes is an OK figure.  But, there is only so much that can be done to that mold and still remain true to the character.  Breaker and Rock and Roll are basically throw away figures from the set as they aren't the classic molds and aren't even good attempts at remaking the characters.  One of the things that helps save this set, though, is that most of the figures include their original accessories.  The original Joes were all defined, to a degree, by the accessories they included.  So, releasing the figures without them really takes away some of the essence of these figures.  The 1997's avoided that trap and even went so far as to enhance each figure by including additional accessories that made sense.  (In Stalker's case, it was a green Grunt's backpack.)  Hasbro abandoned this practice with the comic packs (except for Snake Eyes and Scarlett) and many of those figures are largely ignored by collectors due to their overall banality.  It baffles me how Hasbro got it so right in their first attempt to appease collectors and then completely forgot how to do it in just a few years.

This figure is my default Stalker.  While the original figure is classic and has a place, it is this figure who represents the character in my collection.  He has all the original molding and accessories, but better colors.  He fits right in with figures from later years in the line, but also is still true to his original roots.  He does go very well with Action Force figures as well as the Zap from the 2007 convention set.  As such, this figure got a lot of use in my early dios and profile photos.  It is a spot well deserved when you see how well done this figure is.

The Stalker mold has been used around the world.  He appeared in the US, Argentina, Brazil, Europe, Mexico and India.  The mold has been also released using a Caucasian skin tone in Argentina (as Manleh) and India.  But, Hasbro managed to get the mold back from Funskool prior to the 1997 releases.  From there, Hasbro released it in the full incarnation just once.  But, the figure did get a new head in a comic pack homage in both 2004 and 2005.  While it would have been nice to see a classic Stalker in desert colors, I can live with what we have.  The 1997 repaint is just so good that any other attempt to remake it would likely have been a flop.

In 1997, the Joe repaints were met with much derision from the collecting community.  As such, the Stars and Stripes set didn't sell though all that quickly and was clearanced in many Toys R Us stores around the country.  Collectors griped about the plastic quality, paint applications, lower quality accessories and pretty much any other little detail they could glom onto.  Amazingly, by 2001, collectors were clamoring for a return to the 1997 standards.  These figures, though, do have much more pliable plastic used for their construction than do the vintage releases.  This isn't bad as the thumbs don't tend to break.  But, it's bad in that the hands are much more flexible.  After a short time holding his weapon, Stalker's hand will be stretched out and the gun will fall out on it's own accord.  This can be remedied with positioning.  But, it is something you notice when dealing with these figures.  Quality did improve from 1997 to 1998 and beyond and it's not unheard of for 1997 figures to break right out of the box.  I never had any real issues with this, but many other collectors reported quality concerns right from the start.

The Stars and Stripes set was not a huge hit.  Despite having some collector favorite molds, it also had a large number of duds.  On top of that, the set was sold for $29.99.  For a set of 8 figures with a full complement of accessories and base, that's not too bad.  But, for the time, was a lot to ask since $30 bought a lot of vintage Joes in 1997.  This lead to the sets lingering and, ultimately, being clearanced.  But, they must have sold well enough as Toys R Us brought the Joes back in 1998.  The success there ultimately lead to the 2000 mass retail releases which were the harbingers of Joe's general return to retail.

In the early 2000's, 1997 Joes got ridiculously pricey.  New collectors were flooding the marketplace and were desperate to pick up all the repaint Joes.  At that time, loose versions of this figure would routinely top out around $20.  But, as time moved on, the interest in this figure and 1997 Joes in general waned.  Supply increased as collectors who had bought multiples in 1997 sold off their duplicates and demand dropped as Hasbro kept pumping out other figures that grabbed collector interest.  Today, this figure can be purchased for under $10.  Rumors abounded that the Stars and Stripes set had a production run of around 30,000 units.  Those numbers make this figure very plentiful in the Joe world.  So, a $10 or lower price tag is probably appropriate.  At this price, the figure is a must buy.  The green coloring, intricate cammo and classic accessories all combine into a near perfect repaint of a classic mold.  Had all of the comic pack and other repaints been of this quality, the repaint line may have had a different fate.  But, at least we got a few figures of this quality.  So, it's worth enjoying the successes when you find them.

1986 Lift Ticket

When I was a kid, there was a retired couple in neighborhood who always spent the winter in Arizona.  Each year when they left, they hired me to rake leaves, clean gutters and cut the grass while they were gone.  In return, they paid me a nice lump sum of cash up front and the rest when they returned in the spring.  This gave me the financial wherewithal to purchase some of the larger Joe items that were available at retail at the time without having to wait for my birthday or Christmas.  In 1985, I had used this money to buy myself a Mauler.  In 1986, I went even bigger and purchased myself the Tomahawk.  The Tomahawk was everything I had wanted the Dragonfly to be.  It had a large, detailed cockpit that could hold 2 figures.  It still had a full complement of weaponry.  But, it added the ability to carry 5 additional figures and had the door guns.  (This was a play feature that I "The 'Nam" comic book had made me desperately want.)  On top of all that, I had great expectations for the pilot figure: Lift Ticket.  Up until that time, the large Joe vehicles and playsets always included exceptional driver figures.  But, the drivers from 1986 had not been up to par with those from prior years.  Unfortunately, Lift Ticket was no exception.

I want to like Lift Ticket.  I have always wanted to like Lift Ticket.  From the day I first acquired him in the fall of 1986, I wanted him to be a pilot worthy of an awesome vehicle like the Tomahawk helicopter.  Sadly, though, he simply is not.  Lift Ticket is a figure that appears to be an attempt at something cool.  When you look at him, there is a lot of potential in the mold.  But, Hasbro simply was not able to capitalize on that when they put the figure into production.  The head is simply too big.  Lift Ticket has a gargantuan nose that offsets his entire face.  Even with the large head, the nose is out of whack.  Beyond the head size, though, the entire sculpt is off.  I'm not sure what Lift Ticket's head gear is supposed to be.  But, it does not work for the figure.  He is left with an angular, over sized look that dominates the figure.  Once you get past the sculpting limitations on the head, though, the color of the entire figure is just not right.  The hunter green offset with the tan base and accented by black highlights is actually quite good.  But, Hasbro went a step too far and included the deep red knee pads, shoulder pads and helmet.  The red doesn't really work as an accent for the green and tan and the entire figure is just too busy.

Lift Ticket had just one feature that I really liked: the microphone.  I had loved the concept of the microphone when I acquired Heavy Metal the year prior.  Lift Ticket took the same idea into the air.  Having a pilot with an built in communications piece just made sense to me.  So, I was able to overlook my distaste for the colors due to that small accessory.  It made Lift Ticket that much more useful since he could communicate with the base without having to carry a pack like Dial Tone's.  It was a fun accessory that helped overcome some of the figure's other shortcomings.  But, the minute the microphone was lost, Lift Ticket's value in my collection plummeted.

As a character, I never did much with Lift Ticket.  He piloted the Tomahawk.  That was it.  But, that role alone made him integral in my collection.  Upon its addition to my collection, the Tomahawk remained the single most used vehicle until I stopped collecting.  In fact, the Tomahawk was the first of my Joe toys that I "rescued" from my younger brothers when I stopped playing with toys.  I found it piled up with other toys under a desk and simply couldn't stomach the thought of something so great being destroyed.  I salvaged what I could and moved on.  I liked the Tomahawk for its versatility.  It could be used as a combat helicopter, a rescue chopper or a transport mechanism.  You could take out the seats and put an Armadillo in the cargo area.  You could insert or extract a small strike team.  Or, you could simply have the Tomahawk hover over an enemy compound and blast it into bits with bombs, missiles and the rotating chin Gatling turret.

Through all this, Lift Ticket was at the helm.  Sometimes, if the need fit, he was a nameless pilot who would give him life for a cause.  Other times, he was Lift Ticket and was a great pilot who always went along with the most important Joes on their missions.  But, Lift Ticket never did enough for me that I actually remember any aspect of the character he played in my collection.  The figure just wasn't good enough for me to develop a memorable character.  I wanted the pilot to be a great figure.  Since Lift Ticket wasn't, I went on a constant search to find a better pilot.  As a kid, I just never found one.  (Later, Ace and Updraft did replace Lift Ticket in the Tomahawk, but that wasn't until I was an adult.)  So, Lift Ticket got use far beyond his quality.

Lift Tickets are very easy to find and ludicrously cheap.  It is that stupid little microphone that is the problem.  It takes a $3 figure and raises him to $22 or so.  You wouldn't think something so insignificant would lead to such a dramatic increase in price.  But, such is the power of an easily lost accessory.  Truthfully, though, Lift Tickets can be hard to find in mint condition, too.  The face paint wears easily and the green plastic on the arms is very prone to discoloration and cracking.  But, no one cares.  A mint Lift Ticket is about the same price as a non mint version.  The only thing that makes the figure desirable at all is the microphone.  Honestly, if the Tomahawk (and, by extension, Lift Ticket) hadn't been so important in my childhood collection, I doubt I would have ever been willing to pay for just the mic.  There are much better figures to pilot the Tomahawk.  But, Lift Ticket is the one that I had available to me in 1986 and he holds a place in my collection for that reason alone.

1986 Mission to Brazil Dial-Tone

In the fall of 1986, I wandered into an endcap full of new Joe figure sets at Toys R Us.  These figures were not in the '86 catalog, but were definitely Joes.  My first impression of the Mission to Brazil set was not overly favorable.  It was mostly repaints of figures I already had.  And, they weren't great repaints.  But, there was one new figure.  Over the next few months, every trip I took to TRU resulted in me staring at the sets, watching as the endcap slowly dwindled due to Christmas shoppers.  I never got around to asking for the set.  But, my parents would have been hard pressed to not know I wanted it since every time they came to get me, I was holding one in my hands.  On Christmas morning, I found a Mission to Brazil set under the tree.  I quickly opened it and added the figures into my collection.  I had no idea how I would use multiple paint jobs of figures who were already major players in my Joe world.  But, that soon worked itself out.

Within a few days of Christmas, I determined that the repaints in the set would become army builders.  They would be soldiers with the same specialty as the characters from whom they were repainted.  But, they were nameless army builders who could die with impunity.  For the next few months, this is how these figures functioned...except one: Dial Tone.  For whatever reason, I retained this figure as a new character.  He was a sniper who used Frostbite's rifle.  He wasn't named, but he became an important player in my collection.

However, Dial Tone's existence in my collection was short lived. On a rainy day in early 1987, I was out playing with my Joes in the loft of my parents' garage.  The garage door was open and it provided a great platform from which a sniper could play an integral role in whatever adventure I was devising.  I placed Dial Tone on the door and promptly forgot about him.  I got done playing and took my Joes inside.  That night, I was sent out to close the garage doors before we went to bed.  The door went down about half way and got stuck.  I pulled and pulled to no avail.  I lifted the door back up and the cause of the jam was apparent: my Dial Tone figure.  In reality, he wasn't too bad for wear except one of his feet was broken clean off.  Unfortunately, an injury like this ended the figure for me...to a point.  A few weeks later when trying to come up with some new figures from my broken parts, I added Flint's legs to the Dial Tone upper body.  The result was awesome and this figure joined my collection as "The Lieutenant" and remained an important character for the rest of youthful Joe playing days.  That figure actually still remains in my collection.

Dial Tone is actually one of my all time favorite vintage Joe molds.  There is something about the colors, head, details, proportions and accessories that combine to make a great figure.  The brown, green and black on this version makes for a great upper body.  The red pants, though, really take the figure down a few notches.  I'm not sure why red was the color of choice.  But, it was out of the line for the time and really didn't fit with other figures from that era.  For that reason, this figure isn't that popular outside of being necessary to complete the Mission to Brazil set and the general rarity of the figure when compared to his standard retail counterpart.  This figure's accessories are identical to those of the retail figure.  But, his filecard is unique in coloring, though the text remains the same.

Dial Tone got a lot more vintage love than his predecessor, Breaker.  The figure was released twice in 1986, once in 1990 and the character got a redo in 1994.  In the modern line, Dial Tone was nearly done to death.  He appeared in 2000, as the body of the Night Rhino Dusty in 2001 and in the BJ's set in 2002.  The figure was planned to be released in a desert color scheme in 1998, but that figure was never produced.  There are between 4 and 6 of those figures that managed to slip out and the "Chocolate Chip" Dial Tone is the rarest figure in the entire history of the American line.  There are enough flavors of Dial Tone now that there is no reason for any more.  But, since this is one of my favorite molds in the entire line, I would actually welcome any repaint that's ever offered.

All of the Mission to Brazil figures are somewhat hard to find.  Of the 5 figures in the set, Dial Tone is no more popular than Leatherneck or Mainframe.  But, is definitely less popular to Wet-Suit and Claymore.  This leaves Dial Tone as a solid $22 figure.  With his real filecard, the figure may go over $30.  Were this figure not one I had owned as a child, he would likely not be worth the money.  But, the nostalgia factor alone made an updated figure a high priority for me...regardless of price.

Bootleg Cobra Mortal

In the late '00's, enterprising collectors realized that they could have some Joe figure molds bootlegged in Chinese factories.  This lead a flood of repaints of some particular army building molds.  However, it has also shown that Hasbro, despite their attempts to appease the collector market, really missed some golden opportunities to supply collectors with large numbers of easy repaints that would have been gobbled up by the collector market.  These bootlegs have also shown that, done right, simple repaints that might appear quaint on paper actually create some great figures that integrate into a collection in a way that no Hasbro repaint ever could.  Such is the case with this bootleg Cobra Mortal.

Construction wise, these figures are bootlegs.  As such, they are not Hasbro quality.  The plastic feels cheaper and more brittle.  Some of the figures have bad O-rings that makes them difficult to pose and joints can be looser than new, out of the package Hasbro offerings.  They are also very slightly smaller than vintage Joe figures.  As such, the figures can not wear vintage backpacks.  The footholes will not fit on vintage vehicles.  So, they are easy to tell apart from original Hasbro figures when you have them in hand.  From pictures, though, the figures are very similar and easily do integrate with an original Hasbro collection.

Bootlegs are extremely problematic in the collecting world.  When you have figures like this Cobra Mortal that were never released, it is easy to know what you are buying.  But, the first forays into bootlegging were Cobra Troopers designed and colored like the originals.  Other enterprising bootleggers then copied Storm Shadow and carded the figures on Chinese cardbacks.  These figures become more problematic as dealers and collectors can be duped by them.  I have seen at least three major toy dealers who have sold bootleg Cobra Soldiers as originals.  In truth, I don't mind paying $6 for a bootleg Cobra Trooper that is similar to the vintage.  But, I'd be extremely upset to spend $20 for a figure I thought was vintage that turned out to be a bootleg.  Fortunately, there are some tells on the bootleg figures and many dealers are above board and let the buyer know they are not selling an original.  But, buyer beware on deals for some of these figures that have been bootlegged as you don't want to spend too much thinking a figure is original when it's not.

The bootleg figures first started showing up in the mid to late 2000's.  Cobra Soldiers colored like their vintage counterparts were the first to appear.  Then, Crimson Cobra Troopers started popping up.  Then, black Cobra Troopers, then Desert, then Grey Troopers modeled after the Stinger Driver.  This then opened the floodgates and there are now several dozen different bootleg Cobra Trooper designs out there.  These are often referred to as "Black Major" figures after the Ebay seller who creates most of the repaints.  They are also sold under the moniker of "customs" because Ebay does not like the work bootleg.  Aside from the Cobra Troopers, there are bootlegs of V1 Storm Shadow (available in white on Chinese cardbacks and chromed in gold or silver), dozens of variants of the V1 Crimson Guard, a dozen or more variants of V1 Snake Eyes (including this Cobra Mortal) and a variety of figures designed after the Cobra De Aco from Brazil.  There could be more as time goes on.  But, these have filled a variety of holes for collectors in the past few years.

As for this Mortal, he exists in various flavors.  There is a Cobra blue version using the Cobra Trooper body and a red version with the Snake Eyes body sporting a Red Shadows logo.  (I have this figure as well and he's a great new Red Shadows villain.)  But, I like the simplicity of this blue figure.  Were the original Cobra Mortal an American release, it would be lightly regarded.  It is different.  But, the rarity of it is really what drives collector interest.  This figure, though, takes the idea of the Cobra Mortal and makes it useful.  This Mortal appears as a Cobra.  It gives him an origin within the Joe world and helps integrate him into early Cobra lore.  It was this that attracted me to this particular design.  I see this Mortal as an early Cobra assassin.  He crossed paths with the Joes and was likely killed in the very earliest days of the Joe Vs. Cobra conflict.

It's a small use, but since this figure does match up with other '83 and '84 figures, he can work as an early Cobra operative.  I've always felt that the early days of Cobra were under-represented in the comics.  We saw glimpses of Cobra's formative days, but not much detail.  However, in some of the early comics, we saw unique, unnamed Cobras who were in the company of Cobra Commander.  To create an organization the size of Cobra, the Commander surely had to have top officers in his confidence who helped move the organization along.  As the named Cobras who appeared later all seemed to have backstories outside of Cobras origins, we are left to wonder what happened to many of these early pioneers who built Cobra into the organization it became.  It doesn't appear that the Commander rewarded them.  So, perhaps he had them assassinated in a paranoid rage.  Maybe they just succumbed to the ineptitude of the Cobra Troops and died in battle.  Regardless, it's an unexplored timeframe in Cobra's existence.  And, characters like this Mortal can fill in some gaps for those undocumented times in Cobra's history.

These bootleg figures are both easy to find and hard to find.  Certain configurations were produced in larger numbers than other configurations.  As such, figures like this Cobra Mortal are somewhat harder to find now than figures like the bootleg Cobra Troopers you see in the background.  However, as these are bootlegs, there is nothing stopping anyone from producing another 10,000 Cobra Mortals and selling them to the collector market.  As such, buying bootlegs can be difficult.  If you spend $80 for one and then see hundreds come out a few weeks later for $8, will you feel you were ripped off?  If the answer is yes, you probably should avoid the bootleg market.  But, if you feel that some figures are worth any price and you won't care if they turn into pegwarmers or a Pimp Daddy Destro, then you can spend what you feel is fair for bootlegs and not be disappointed either way.  Personally, I'm ecstatic that collectors had the opportunity to acquire some figures that Hasbro so poorly skipped.  Sure, they're not quite the same quality.  But, these guys are on display and not a toy that I play with every day like I did when I was a kid.  Hasbro or certain collectors may be butthurt at these figures' existence.  But, I think they prove that, sometimes, collectors really do know what they want and would be willing to spend to get it.