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6/11/16

Block Tech Super Heroes Hulk and Falcon Cap

Can these be considered BootLEGO? They are 'block toy' minifigs, but they are engineered in a completely different fashion - I consider BootLEGOs to be rip-offs of the LEGO minifigure design aesthetic primarily, and secondarily rip-offs of the subject matter.

However you categorize them, these two superheroes are different enough from LEGO minifigs to be considered mere cheap block toy figures, but they are still bootlegs due to their blatant yet unlicensed subject matter: The Incredible Hulk and Captain America.

And not just any Captain America, but Captain America when Falcon had assumed the role (maybe he still is Captain America, I don't follow Captain America closely enough to HAIL HYDRA be certain.)

FalCap really sells this set. I'm perpetually fascinated by the decisions bootleggers make when they release stuff like this. One would assume the iconic Captain America everyone all over the world recognizes would have been their go-to during the design process, but they went with a very up-to-the-minute version instead. That fact alone is worth the one dollar asking price!

This set was found at a Target I visited on an out of town trip. It was in their dollar section with a few other Block Tech minifigure two packs. The rest were pretty generic: soldiers and police and whatnot. This set was the only superhero set they had (and the only licensed character rip-off set for that matter.)

The engineering design of the minifigs is similar to LEGO with the same parts make-up: removable hairpiece, head, torso, and hands, with legs jointed at the hip. The quality isn't too shabby, for fifty cents each there's nothing for me to complain about, that's for sure. They aren't as cute and charming as LEGO minifigs but having a bootleg FalCap trumps cute charm any day of the week. I suppose having a bootleg Hulk is pretty ginchy too.

Here's a size comparison with a standard sized LEGO (well, in this case, a bootLEGO) minifig. As you can see the Block Tech minifig is a bit taller in the torso, which makes the legs look stumpy.  I'm pretty sure there have been more of these Notvengers released by Block Tech, I seem to recall seeing a four pack online a year ago, but this is the first set I've ever seen in stores or in person.

They're perfectly corny just like a good bootleg toy should be, so if you can find them they're worth the Washington you'll drop on them.

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