K-2SO gets a bootleg buildable figure care of KSZ

At this point in time, Star Wars is a guaranteed money-printing machine. Rogue One is no exception. As it stands, the movie has grossed upwards of $900 million. Of course, no Star Wars movie is complete without the myriad of merchandise on retail – including bootlegs of said merchandise.

Today I’ll be showing you a bootleg of Lego’s Buildable Figures K-2SO, that sassy droid which endeared itself to many moviegoers. This set is made by KSZ. I have seen this brand around for some time now. They aren’t as prolific as the more known makers are, but they do produce a number of minifig sets and buildable figures, the latter of which is a market that hasn’t been tapped much by bootleggers. Let’s take a quick dive and see what this set has to offer.

A new maker takes on Batman v Superman, is it any good? [X Batman v Superman minifig set]

Man, I really, really should update the blog more. There’s a bit of a backlog accumulating here, but I will get through them all, I promise. In the intervening months since I last posted, there has been an explosion of bootleg sets, from Star Wars to superhero sets and even Lego’s higher-end Creator sets. Admittedly, I don’t think I’d be able to cover all those sets lest I burn a serious hole in my pocket (and savings)! I will cover what I can, though, and I guess those would be sets that pique my interest.

As well, a number of bootleg makers have branched out and started to release their own minifigs for characters that Lego has yet to manufacture themselves. I’ll also be covering those, since minifigs are my thing if it’s not obvious enough from previous posts!

All told, it’s a great time to get into these. Just the plethora of choices available is astounding.

Anyway, I’ll focus on this here Batman v Superman minifig set. The movie itself is one of those deals where you either like it or you don’t. Regardless, we’re getting some good minifigs out of it, so it’s a definite win for brick collectors.

Someone cloned Lego’s Millenium Falcon, and it’s a new maker [Lepin Star Wars The Force Awakens Millenium Falcon]

Well. The allure of cashing in from a sure-fire merchandising behemoth like Star Wars produced a new entrant in the Lego clone scene, Lepin. Getting another maker isn’t exactly surprising, it’s that they jumped into the fray with huge sets from the get-go. To be honest, the Millenium Falcon isn’t the first of their kits to come over. The first I’ve seen from them is Kylo Ren’s Command Shuttle, an equally-huge set (but something I personally skipped, not being a fan of the ship design in general). So yeah, Lepin came in with a splash tidal wave, not being content in starting off with the usual 8-character themed minifig sets.

Dargo draws first blood in the race to come out with Force Awakens bootlegs [Dargo Star Wars: The Force Awakens minifig set]

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a big deal. That’s pretty much set in stone right now. With the film breaking all sorts of records already (and will only open in China this weekend), suffice to say, the film is an astronomical hit, not only financially, but also critically (93% at Rotten Tomatoes).

Where there’s a hit, there’s bound to be merchandising, too! And Star Wars as a whole is definitely no slouch in that regard. There’s a ton of merch Disney licenses, from t-shirts to, um, tape dispensers.

Catch Jurassic World's Owen and company on a shoestring budget [Lele's Jurassic World minifig set]

One thing about Lele is that among the big three of bootleg Lego manufacturers (Sheng Yuan and Decool are the other two; together with Lele, these three makers offer the best-made bootlegs), it tries to diversify its offerings more than the other two. Or at least, they go to market with non-superhero offerings faster than the other two.

It comes as no surprise, then, that they're first to the market (at least here in the Philippines) with a Jurassic World minifig set. As with most bootleg minifig sets, this one comes in a set of 8 minifigs.  So who made the cut?

Dargo complements SY’s Avengers offering [Dargo Avengers Age of Ultron minifig set]

If you’re a bootleg minifig maker and you’re dead-set on making production runs of sets of 8 minifigs per set, max, you’ll eventually run into problems with the Avengers movie franchise. With the second movie, you now have 10 main heroes to account for (including Fury), and that’s not even counting Falcon and War Machine into the mix.

And that’s also not including the Big Bad Boss, as well as other henchmen and enemy footsoldiers. SY made their cuts when they made their Avengers 2 set, and they stuck with the core heroes from the first movie, plus Ultron.

Interestingly enough, Dargo, instead of making their own set similar to SY to compete with them, decided to make minifigs that complement SY’s set. So the minifigs that weren’t picked by SY to be included in their set, Dargo did.

Submit to these minifigs or perish [Sheng Yuan Age of Ultron minifig set]

The new Avengers movie is only about to start screening in American theaters and Sheng Yuan has already shipped their bootleg minifigs. That’s a pretty fast turnaround, considering that we’re talking about bootlegs here.

As an aside, watch the movie. It’s great!

Anyway, I know that I have a tremendous backlog of minifig sets to lay out on this blog. But I figure I’d shake things up a bit and try to post new acquisitions ASAP, so as not to further add to said backlog. For the readers who check back here every once in a while, thanks for keeping tabs on this small spot on the internet!

Another superhero set from Decool? Why not? [Decool Super Heroes Set 2]

Perhaps buoyed by the retail success their first super hero set brought (I actually don’t have sales figures, but I’m willing to bet that it did), Decool figured to keep a good thing going, and we’re all better-off for it.

In this set, Decool opted to stick to a mix of Marvel and DC characters, lumping them all together under the Super Heroes branding.

A bird? A plane? No, it’s SY’s Superman minifig set! [SY Superman Set]

Let’s be honest, Marvel has been lording over pop culture in recent times compared to DC. That said, DC still has some iconic characters in its library, one of which is Superman. There’s legitimate buzz and curiosity, if not total excitement, over the upcoming Batman v. Superman movie, and Sheng Yuan thought it might be able to cater to cash-strapped fans by releasing a Superman-themed set.

Minifig Display Case Impressions [Lele, Sheng Yuan, Elim]

Not content with just making bootleg minifigs, a number of manufacturers are now making display cases for the numerous minifigs they're making. It makes sense, really, and it's always good to have options.

The video covers offerings from Lele, Sheng Yuan, and Elim, a manufacturer not yet featured in this blog space.

Two More Makers Enter The Star Wars Minifig Fray [CB Toys and Bom Bom Star Wars]

The Star Wars franchise, man, it won’t ever run out of steam. At least in my lifetime, it won’t. It’s practically a cash cow for merchandise makers, whether it’s officially-licensed or otherwise.

So it really comes as no surprise that two more makers hope to cash in on the Star Wars minifig gravy train. Both of these, I haven’t covered yet in this space, so this also serves as an initial look-see if these two are as good as, better, or worse than the ones we’ve seen so far.

Lele Tries Its Hand At Star Wars [Lele Star Wars Set]

Around the same time that Sheng Yuan's Star Wars minifig set started appearing here, Lele's own Star Wars set also popped up alongside SY's offering. Knowing what we know of Lele's minifig quality, would this Star Wars set fare any different? I took a flier and dove in to find out.

These Could Be The Bootleg Star Wars Minifigs You're Looking For [Sheng Yuan Star Wars Set]

A long time ago, in a galaxy, well, not far away (we're actually in it), a young George Lucas brought to the world a genre-breaking sci-fi film we now all know as Star Wars. It has been a cultural pop icon and fixture for so long, it has spawned so many merchandised items. Obviously, Lego saw it fit (and rightly so) to license Star Wars for their own sets. The bootleg makers, seeing an opportunity to cash in themselves, also saw it fit to, uh, "incorporate" those designs in their own product lines.

So now we have Sheng Yuan (previously seen in this blog making superhero minifigs) dipping its toes in the SW line (the Clone Wars timeline, in particular). Pricing is as per usual, so that's PhP 27.50 per minifig when bought as a set of 6.

30 NES Games From My Childhood [Listicle]

Credit: Wikipedia

Gaming made up a big part of my childhood. Alongside Saturday cartoon binge-watching sessions and playing with an assortment of toys, I was lucky enough to have gotten a Nintendo Entertainment System (NES for most people) as a kid growing up.

I spent hours a day playing on that console when school was out. Fun times. The graphics were far from the spectacular imagery kids of today probably take for granted (to be fair, I also took for granted the relatively spectacular graphics of my time as a kid) and the sounds weren't exactly orchestral quality, but they were memorable. I'd even go so far to say that there exists a charm to them that many of today's games routinely utilize pixelated graphics and chiptune music even when even the most basic of today's smartphones can push Playstation 1-level graphics (i.e. full 3D with bells and whistles).

"Holy Bootleg, Batman!" [Sheng Yuan Batman Set]

With the exception of Superman, Batman, and Zod, most of the Super Heroes sets we've seen so far in this small corner of the internet mostly contained Marvel characters. Whether that's indicative of bootleg makers' view of the market, in that they think they'd sell more units with Marvel characters than DC characters, is a good topic for discussion.

There's no doubt, though, that DC characters have a solid following, and their long and storied publication history means that at least some of DC's staples will resonate with people from all walks of life. Batman is one of those characters, and Sheng Yuan is looking to capitalize on that.

The Super Heroes Set We Don't Deserve [Lele Super Heroes Set]

Because superheroes are absolutely in vogue lately, it's hardly surprising to see another bootleg minifig maker enter the scene, hot on the heels of Decool and SY. Today we're looking at Lele's own Super Heroes set. Is it any good? What secrets lie hidden in these small paperback-sized boxes? The answers will surprise you! (Not really, I just wanted to try my hand at a viral post-style lede.)

Decool Super Heroes Set 1 [Toy Impressions]

Here's Decool's answer to SY's Super Heroes set. If I recall correctly, these two sets came to our shores within days of each other. Fierce competition between bootleg makers, who would'a thunk it, eh? I ain't complaining, though, competition is good, the more options there are, the better.

Pricing is still at PhP 30 (USD 0.69) per minifig when bought as a set. That's a bit higher than the SY minifigs that retails for as low as PhP 25 (USD 0.57) per minifig. These are, again, Divisoria prices. If you plan to buy each separately, the prices bump up to PhP 50 (USD 1.15) per piece.

Decool Iron Man Set 1 [Toy Impressions]

If you need proof of how great and charismatic an actor Robert Downey Jr. is, the Iron Man movie is it. Before that film, only comic geeks are familiar with the character. Even in movie media circles, the general consensus is that Marvel Studios took a big risk in making that movie, knowing full well that Iron Man isn't as popular to the general public as, say, Wolverine or Spider-man.

Not only did RDJ fully embrace and own the role, he turned Iron Man into a household name, as well as a heavy merchandise-selling machine. Today we'll be looking at Decool's Iron Man-themed minifig set.

Decool (Teenage Mutant) Ninja Turtles Set [Toy Impressions]

Talk about a comeback. As a kid, I enjoyed watching the original TMNT, though the series itself, looking at it today from a non-nostalgic perspective, feels a bit dated. Must be the lingo Michelangelo used. I can't recall the last time I heard "cowabunga" used in everyday conversation.

But the basic concept is solid enough that producers thought it might still be a hit today, they just need to update the visuals and feel for today's generation. Boy were they right. Not only did the rebooted TMNT become a hit among kids (my nephews are all over that stuff), it's such a hit that Lego gave it their own stamp of approval and acquired the license to create sets based off of it.

Quick and Dirty Streaming From Computer To Your Android or iOS Device [Tips]

Credit: The Guardian

Sometimes you just want to lie down and watch movies from the comfort of your bed instead of sitting down in front of your computer. If you have a laptop, go nuts, bring over the laptop to your bed and watch away. If you have a desktop, though, good luck with that. If you have a mobile device, just load it up with your movies and you're set, right?

But sometimes you simply just run out of space on your device. Sometimes people opt to be more economical and choose say, an 8 GB model and pocket the savings. Or it could simply be that you have more content you want to put in your device than what it could hold. Between apps and music alone, your device could already be reaching its max capacity, and you still want to shoehorn in a whole season of Game of Thrones to watch before you go to sleep.

Why not stream those bad boys and save space instead of reshuffling your device's files over and over? If you have a Wi-Fi router in place, then you're almost there.