BIG FELLA (Ro El, bootleg) and GODZILLA WIND-UP WALKER (Trendmasters, 1994)

Godzilla fans have seen photos of this famous (infamous?) bootleg toy around the Internet for quite a while, and wanted a better look.  Today, we will do just that!

First of all, let's define our terms.  There are unauthorized pieces, and then there are outright bootlegs.  Unauthorized items are usually completely original, and add something to the fandom that wasn't there before, sometimes even filling a demand (a couple of quick examples are the MONSTER GALLERY coloring book and CREATURE FEATURES board game, both wonderful).  Many of these are beloved by long-time fans, and I refer to them as "unauthorized, but who cares" items.  The problem, of course, is that their manufacturers didn't take the time to get legal clearance/licensing to be able to produce and sell these items.  Because after all, I'm sure that' s not a fun process.

And then there's the other group, bootlegs, a term that going all the way back to Prohibition.  It used to bring up images of a guy with an overcoat full of fake watches for sale, ducking in and out of an alley on a city street.  Today, since the largest retail website in the world is literally overflowing with fake items from China and won't do anything about it, it doesn't have the same sting that it used to. 

Some collectors distance themselves from bootlegs, and in my opinion, they are missing out, because some of them are completely delightful.  Now, let's be honest:  the very point of bootlegs is to illegally offer an inferior copy of a real item (cheaper), and thus screw the consumer, as well as the original manufacturer of that item.  It's understandable to avoid them for that reason.  Well, until they are hilarious, that is.

Different lighting (an attempt to show more detail)

And, that brings us back to Big Fella.  Just look at the card art.  It is not only awesome, it's not bad at all in the accuracy department, and has that outsider-art, third-world country appeal, where movie posters are painted on flour sacks, if you've seen those.  He's also much smaller in person that he appears online.  It quickly makes it obvious what is going on though.

The magic stops when you turn the card to the back!

This is nothing but an outright copy of the Trendmasters "Wind-Up Walker" from 1994:

In fact, here is an opened example that will make comparison even easier:

It always surprises me when bootleggers copy more intricate items, that involve more effort, such as a wind-up toy with dozens of moving parts that need to be casted and/or designed.  But, maybe this Ro El already had made some wind-ups (a cursory search reveals lots of rack toys, and knock-off wrestling figures), so who knows.  

Then again, we are assuming Big Fella even works.  There is definitely a level of "bootleg" where they don't even bother.  He is a more correct color, though, so we will give them that!

In closing, I should mention that next, a company called E Toys (another name for Ro El? Sometimes of course the bootleggers bootleg each other) issued a Big Fella repaint, as well as a Spacegodzilla, which Trendmasters certainly never made a wind-up of!