The curious case of the Deadpool Knock-Offs

Head hunting is fun

With the Deadpool movie hitting (pun intended) the cinemas, the hype for Deadpool action figures is now reaching its feverish pitch. I remember last December, while I was toy hunting in my favorite shopping mall (Greenhills Shopping Center), I came across a kid probably aged 9 or 10 years old, looking for Deadpool action figures. He was accompanied by his big sister who was trying to convince him to take Captain America instead to no avail. I remember telling him to just wait for the movie to come out, for sure Deadpool action figures would flood toy stores. Lo and behold, January came and a fresh batch of Deadpool action figures started flooding the toy stores in Greenhills Shopping Center and over at Ebay. But wait, Deadpool action figures have become a rare find nowadays so why the sudden abundance? Upon closer inspection, these aren't your Hasbro Marvel Legends Deadpools. These are actually Knock-Offs! As in fake, unlicensed replicas of the original Hasbro Marvel Legends Deadpool action figures. And the Hasbro Marvel Legends aren't the only victims, Hasbro Marvel Universe and Diamond Marvel Select Deadpools also had their own share of Knock-Offs. I didn't purchase the Marvel Universe and Marvel Select ones, so I'm reviewing instead the Marvel Legends one as I managed to snag one of the better made qualities of this Knock-Off figure when it was first released last year.

Hasbro Marvel Legends Deadpool Knock-Off

My earlier close encounter with this Deadpool Knock Off was sometime March of last year when it initially hit the market. I managed to purchase the last remaining Deadpool Knock-Off in my favorite thrift shop but couldn't hold on to it longer when someone offered to trade it for his Toys R Us exclusive Marvel Legends Stryfe. Of course I bit the bullet. At that time I was thinking that Stryfe might be rarer than this Deadpool figure. I mean, it wouldn't hurt this time around as I used to own the original Hasbro Marvel Legends Red Deadpool/Warpath two-pack but sold it at a very good price at that time. Besides, at the back of my mind, I'm guessing that these Knock-Offs will eventually come in large volumes once the hype machine finally starts rolling when the movie starts hitting theaters. True enough they did. But the problem was, a lot of the figures have defective joints or stucked waist. Still, it did not dissuade me from purchasing one. I got my second Deadpool Knock-Off around April last year. Prices were much higher this time around as the demand began to spike up. But as the movie started to draw near, droves and droves of these figures started to sprout like mushrooms all over the place. By January of this year, the prices of these figures started to drop due to the law of supply and demand. The quality of these recent Deadpools are also awful as most of these have stucked wrists and ankles that if you force to bend them, they would eventually break. I also came across in some toy shops Deadpool Knock-Offs that are better in quality. With the quality of the plastic almost the same as the original ones. These are limited in quantity, and I could no longer find him in my favorite thrift shop. I'm not biting the price range of these better Knock-Offs though.

Slice and Dice

The Action Figure: The Deadpool Knock-Offs retains all of the original Deadpool's points of articulation. It also comes with a complete set of weapons. Two katanas with sheathes, rifle, and a pistol hand gun. The katanas are easily bendable, sometimes distorting its natural form. The sheathes are also easily removed, to the point of being too annoying as it easily falls off from the figure. The plastic used in this figure is that of hard plastic that is very brittle in which if you forcefully bend the joints, you'll end up with a broken figure. The plastic also has this toxic plastic smell that is similar to those bootleg toys from China. Though not as strong smelling as the really ugly bootleg toys. The figure is actually a good stand in for the original if you are only using the figure for display. But too much playing with the figure will leave you with loose hip ball joints. These type of Knock-Offs also comes in two colors. The original Red Deadpool and the Grey colored X-Force Deadpool that is a Knock-Off of the Return of Marvel Legends Wave 3 Deadpool. I also managed to have a close inspection of the other better quality Knock-Off and by leaps and bounds those figures really are closest to the original ones. One can identify the better quality Knock-Off by locating a Deadpool mask insignia on the rifle. The quality of the red color body suit is also much clearer than the Knock-Off that I have. This particular Knock-Off comes in three colors, Red, Grey, and Blue which is a Knock-Off of the Variant Deadpool/Warpath two-pack.      

Striking my sexy pose!

Knock-Off Red Deadpool and Original Blue Deadpool

Here on the left is a photo of a scale comparison with my original Blue Deadpool from the Deadpool/Warpath two-pack. I think the Knock-Off one is noticeably taller than the original one. I don't know if this holds true when you compare it with the original Red Deadpools. Let me share to you a little back story of my original Blue Deadpool. I don't know if I made the right decision but I used to own original versions of the Hasbro Red Deadpool and the X-Force Grey Deadpool. I had two Red Deadpool/Warpath two-pack which I sold one to my cousin and the other one to a toy collector completist. I also managed to own a Grey X-Force Deadpool but I foolishly traded it for a Marvel Legends U.S. Agent action figure. I don't know if I made the right decision but I decided to retain the Blue Deadpool because I think this figure would be rarer as time passes. This version of Deadpool I think only appeared in one issue in the Cable/Deadpool comic book. If I remembered it right, the X-Men had hired Deadpool to capture Cable for them thus making Deadpool suit up in X-Men costume colors. Since I'm a huge X-Men fan and I needed to dispose my extra Deadpools back then, I decided to retain this particular X-Men Deadpool. He actually looks nice when displayed with the X-Men Strike Force Uniforms (the Blue and Yellow costume that was famously worn by Forge, Banshee, and Wolverine). I think he is not as hyped as the Red Deadpool but I guess I'll have to live with it. Besides the Red and Grey ones are the easier to find Knock-Offs than the Blue ones.

Red v.s. Blue, K.O. versus Authentic

Cable and Deadpool

Hyped figures!

Like Deadpool, the so called Toybiz Todd McFarlane (J. Scott Campbell to Spider-Man fans) Spider-Man is also one of the most hyped action figures to collectors. And like Deadpool, there was a time that this particular Spider-Man was in abundance due to the sudden outbreak of Knock-Off figures. But that is another story for another time. (Deadpool is now apparently pointing a gun on my head forcing me to reveal that he is not the only much hyped Marvel Legends action figure that had a Knock-Off version.)

Watch our movie, in Cinemas now!

In closing, the dearth of Knock-Off action figures is a bane to toy-collectors who had prided themselves in being able to own a rare action figure. But for those who just wanted to have a Deadpool action figure (like that little kid I mentioned earlier), these figures are of great help in terms of filling in the holes of their Marvel Legends collection. But still, nothing beats the original. Especially if you could find one at collector friendly price. (I sold mine twice the price of retail but 1/4 of the current market value).