Bootleg Spider-Man Parachute Kite, Bootleg Spider-Man Parachute Kite, Does Whatever a Bootleg Spider-Man Parachute Kite Does

By far my greatest flea market find in a long time is this Bootleg Spider-Man parachute kite. It was so much fun flying it with my little intern! She's a real kite flying natural!

Seriously, I've always been a bit of a Charlie Brown when it comes to kite flying. She must have inherited her kite skills from her mom!

It has been extraordinarily windy lately, which obviously comes in handy for nothing but generating energy and/or grinding corn via windmill or kite flying. And while I had my doubts that this cheap knock-off toy would fly it took to the air like, well, like a radioactively mutated teenager to parachuting!

I got this picture while reeling Spidey in, shortly before I lost hold of the line! Thankfully he caught on a soccer goal at the end of the field and I recovered him, or else these shots may have been all I had left of the great Spider-flight of 2016. Good 'ol Charlie Brown.

Here's how Spider-Man was presented when I found him at the flea market, all wrapped in cellophane like Superman had thrown his 'S' symbol at him. At first I thought he was just a bootleg parachuting Spider-Man, which, granted, is a pretty cool thing to be. But then I saw the reel of line and realized he was supposed to be a kite! I didn't believe for a second he'd fly, or that all the strings were attached or that the chute wasn't torn to bits by years of neglect or simple bootleggery. But for $2 (having talked the guy down from $4) I figured the plastic Spider-Man alone was worth the price of admission.

Here's Spidey post-flight. Although Spidey is about 12" tall this toy reminds me of the Azrak-Hamway parachuting superhero rack toys I had and loved as a kid. I still can't believe he held together for his entire inaugural flight! The wind was pulling hard, and his crash into the goal frame tangled him up a bit, but I am pretty sure I was able to sufficiently untangle him for another go. Time will tell, but even if he's a one flight wonder my intern and I got enough joy out of him to make it all worth while!

Next time I may even bring along more string. Spidey was ready to rocket into the stratosphere!

I wish had bought this from a vendor selling a bunch of these things (so I could go back for more), but it was just one random item in a family's possession. No idea if he's new or old or easy to find south of the border (pretty confident he's a Mexican bootleg) but I'd buy a dozen of them if I could find them (especially if they make different parachuting superheroes!)