Since the officially licensed Ionix Pokémon sets were cheap and unimpressive, to say the least, I guess we need to move onto the less... legal stuff to find something with any quality to it. Again, since I have a lot I want to talk about in a short amount of time, I'm doing two reviews but only one video. In this post, let's see if our friends over in China can produce something even remotely resembling what Lego Pokémon would look like. And let's start with our new acquaintance over there: Dargo.
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Name: Dargo Pokémon Minfigures
Distributor: Dargo
Model: 860A-D, 900A-D
Pcs: N/A
Yes, we're finally moving onto the less official and more... sketchy side of the building brick market. And where better to start than with possibly the first Lego knock-offs of Pokémon?
Right now, there's an INSANE amount of bootlegs and knock-offs based on the Pokémon franchise. More than I can keep up with(even though I sure tried...), ranging from minifigures to Nanoblocks to entire unofficial sets to something called "Free Joint Micro Blocks." Nearly any character you can think of, they've released!
But about a year ago, all these different choices didn't exist. When I first started collecting bootlegs and knock-offs, only two lines existed(to the extent of my knowledge):
Dargo Minifigures
And LOZ/Wise Hawk Nanoblocks.
There may have been more unofficial Pokémon sets and figures released before, but due to the lack of information on most unofficial merchandise, I can't find any fakes made before these. A lot of custom, fan-made models, yes, but nothing anyone tried to skirt around copyright law and sell.
The start of knock off Lego Pokémon can probably be traced back to that Lego Ideas page I briefly mentioned in my r̶a̶m̶b̶l̶e̶ introduction to Pokémonth: The PokéCenter, or "Pikachu's Pokémon Center Visit" as it's officially known. As far as I can tell, this was the first idea for a commercially available Pokémon set to be submitted. ...I say that, because Lego Ideas doesn't seem to have any other Pokémon-centered projects on its site, save for a pathetic-looking expired PokéCenter pitch that only received 100 supporters. Including this set, which I had to manually search for to find.
This set was submitted on December 5th, 2014, and VERY quickly gathered support from the community, earning over 1300 supporters in less than two weeks!
It really helped that the idea was widely shared in other blogs, with posts like this calling the idea "superb" and encouraging others to support the project.
Unfortunately, only 12 days after launch, Lego pulled the plug on the project, announcing that since the license is owned by a competitor, they would no longer consider Pokémon projects on the site.
So if there was no reason to be angry with Ionix's sets and minifigures before, just remember that they're the reason we will possibly never see an officially released PokéCenter...
But that's not exactly the end of the story, because, as we saw with the Inside Out minifigures, smaller companies will pursue any idea that nets them a few bucks, whether they have permission or not. The entire set was too complicated and expensive to build, but the little Pokémon figurines were feasible for any building brick company with the right molds, so they just stole the designs, quickly Photoshopped some box art, and released their own unofficial version of this idea.
Thus bringing unto the world a new era of bootleggery: Pokémon minifigures! What you see here is possibly the first example of knock-off Pokémon minifigures and one of the first unofficial products I bought from China. I ordered these months before I had the idea to start a blog based around official and unofficial building bricks, and even before I tried to do video reviews of Lego sets I collected(a venture I am more than happy to forget.) Even before I felt like I had to start a blog to justify my stupidly large collection of building bricks, I knew I had to own these. I mean, figurines based around one of the greatest and most creative franchises ever created? One that fans and nonfans can appreciate for its fun, collectability, and appeal to adults and children alike? I don't care if they are unofficial...
As I've mentioned, these come from the knock-off company Dargo.
...No, not the squid-Klingon from Farscape.
At least I assume he didn't create them, since, as with most underground building brick companies, there's no information on Dargo. However, a quick image search shows that they're primarily a Lego bootleg company, churning out their own cheap copies of existing minifigures.
Mainly Marvel and DC superheroes and Star Wars characters.
However, they're also behind a few lines of "crystal" minifigures, where they've taken existing Lego figurines and molded them using transparent plastic. Why? I have no idea, but I do know I have to feature some one day...
In fact, the Pokémon line might be their most original! The Pokémon are stolen from the Lego Ideas page, but I can't find anything that suggests the Ash designs came from another source, so we actually have a bootleg company that comes up with original concepts! ...Sort of. ...I think. ...Therefore, I'm not sure...
Before I talk about the actual designs of the boxes, let me acknowledge the thing you've probably already noticed: Yes, these boxes are FRIGGIN HUGE! Much bigger than the minifigures that they contain!
They're at least 1.5x bigger than most of the other minifigure boxes I have. Heck, they're even bigger than a standard Lego miniset box! ...No, I have no idea why. Maybe they overestimated the size of the sets they were copying, maybe these are leftover boxes from a much bigger set they had lying around, maybe it was necessary to give the images on the boxes clarity, or maybe there was a communication breakdown between the manufacturers of the minifigures and the boxes? You can never tell with underground toy companies.
...Then again, I think we'd be better off NOT knowing the thought process behind some of these toys...
But speaking of the box designs... they're REALLY good. In fact, they're probably even better than most official boxes I've seen!
You have these computer-generated versions of the minifigures in action poses with the Pokémon that comes with each figure right next to him, standing in front of what I could easily see as a matching environment from the Pokémon series.
Pikachu has a wide open field, Squirtle is in front of a beach, Bulbasaur is in a more tropical location, and Charmander is located in a volcano.
They put a lot of thought, effort, and variety into just the backgrounds on the front of the box!
Just stick the Lego logo over the Dargo symbol and I probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference at first glance!
...But the illusion that this is an official product is shattered when you notice the caption on the bottom of the box, where they seem to have forgotten which name they needed to change for each character. "Ash Ketchum-Pikachu" is fine and accurate.
But then on the next box, it reads "Squirtle-Pikachu."
And they repeat the mistake on each of the other boxes. I should be angry, but it's hard to get mad at designers so ill informed that they probably think "Lapras" is a painful skin condition requiring large amounts of cream...
But they did get the Pokémon names right at least, as they also display them at the top of each box, along with a very Engrish and literal moveset for each one...
For Pikachu, the "Mouse Pokémon", the "Tricks" it can learn are:
"One Hundred Thousand Volts"(Thundershock/Thunderbolt/Thunder Wave?)
"The Thunder"(Thunder)
"The Lightning Steel Tail"(Iron Tail?[which isn't a move that can be learned naturally])
"Bulb"(Flash[again, requires an HM])
"High Voltage Electric Shock"(Thundershock/Thunderbolt/Thunder Wave?)
Squirtle, the "River Pokémon", has a more recognizable "trickset" with:
"Impact"(Tackle?)
"Tails Wagging"(Tail Whip)
"Bubbles"(Bubble)
"Water Guns"(Water Gun)
"Bite Bite"(Bite)
"Shrinking Shell"(Withdraw)
"Rocket Header"(Skull Bash?)
"Water Cannons"(Hydro Pump)
Bulbasaur, "Seed Pokémon", knows the more obscure tricks of:
"Impact"(Tackle?)
"Howling at the End of the Parasitic Seeds"(some strange amalgamation of Growl and Leech Seed)
"Tengbian"(looking this up brought up results for a company specializing in woven purses and baskets, so I guess Vine Whip?)
"Dufen"(if you can unscramble this one, please let me know...)
"Fei Ye Sharp Knife"(Razor Leaf learned under the tutelage of an underground Chinese poet?)
"Sleeping Powder"(self-explanatory)
And finally, Charmander has a limited, but most recognizable, amount of tricks including:
"Claws"(Scratch/Slash)
"Howling"(Growl)
"Sparks"(Ember)
"Anger"(Rage)
"Jet Flame"(Flamethrower)
"The Flame Whirlpool"(Fire Spin)
Google Translate, how we love thee...
And something minor that annoys me is that on the front of Charmander's box, they have the Generation I version.
While the top of the box has the smoother, cuter Generation II version. Google Images, we love thee too.
The back is what really gives away that these aren't exactly given Nintendo's blessing.
Since a good portion is taken up by promotional material for the movie Arceus and the Jewel of Life. ...Odd movie to promote, seeing as how it was about 5 years old when these were released, but it's likely it was just the first poster that came up when they were looking for art to steal...
We're also given a look at their impressive line of Pokémon minifigs(all four of them!), along with the statement that it is indeed "Children's Happy Hour."
Half-price milkshakes at Milky Marvin's!
And on the side, they show you how to assemble the included minifigure and little Pokémon figurine. ...See, Ionix? If you're so worried that your product is too hard to figure out, THAT'S all you need to do! Just provide a picture of the minifigure being assembled. You don't need an entire bleeding instruction sheet!
Now with all that buildup, I'm sure you're dying at this point for me to open up the boxes and show you the minifigures inside. ...Well, I'm not going to...
Because I'm instead going to show you a later release of the figures with the Pokémon GO name. Basically the same as the earlier release, but with MORE Pokémon and accessories! ...And much smaller and less interesting box work, hence why I began with the larger boxes.
Admittedly, the backgrounds and the model poses are just as good, if not a bit better, than the larger boxes, but the rest of the box just loses that charming "Engrishness" the others had, where it had the same attitude as a grandparent trying to act "hip" and pretending they understand what their grandkids are talking about.
"Hey, Joe! Let's go catch those Poke-Mans before they unleash a hundred thousand volts attack and skedaddle like a Red called before a McCarthy committee!"
Instead, the back of these boxes are just comprised of a short instruction sheet and a look at the exciting four-figure line! ...Still infinitely better than the Ionix boxes though...
And while there's the standard "0-3" on the bottom
The front says "5-12"
Anyone between those ages is eaten by Zombie Pikachu. ...Yeah, I'm still not over that. And I don't think I will be any time soon...
And in case you were disappointed that I had already put together the Inside Out minifigures, here's what a standard bag of pieces from one of these sets looks like. Usually, the minifigure is completely disassembled save for the head since... I guess because they only package a minifigure in these things, they try to give us SOMETHING to put together?
Even the legs are disconnected from the torso and the arms aren't attached to the sockets. I almost feel like I'm looking at a bone structure recreation of an ancient humanoid... Either that, or this just became the strangest episode of Bones. I know it's hard to come up with ideas for 200+ episodes, but still...
The pieces to the Pokémon are all in the same bag as well, but it's easy enough to figure out what goes to which, so no complaint there.
And here's the completed set! ...And I will tell you right now that these are a HUNDRED times better than the Ionix figures. ...Also, that's my last jab at Ionix since now even I'm bored of them...
First, let's talk Ash.
...Yeah, I wish.
One major compliment I can give these minifigures right off the bat is that they're all wearing different outfits pertaining to the first four series of Pokémon. From left-to-right, we have The Original Series, Advanced Generation, Diamond & Pearl, and Best Wishes. Like I said, I haven't seen past the first incarnation, so I had to look these up, but I am impressed with the amount of detail they put into each outfit and how accurately they matched the pieces.
And take a wild guess where The Brick Miser got the inspiration for his body...
The insignias in the back are also present. ...Unfortunately, unlike official Lego figures, there's no covering to protect the paint job and by simply running your finger over the minifigure, you can feel the thin, easily scratchable coat of paint. In fact, the Best Wishes outfit fresh out of its packaging already looks like it's been through considerable wear...
They even included the symbols on the hats! And spotted the slight difference between the colors of the Advanced Generation and Diamond & Pearl symbols! Either they found a REALLY good source to steal these designs from or they actually had fans working on designing these minifigures, since this is some of the best attention to detail I've ever seen in a third-party brick set! And an unofficial knock-off even!
They're the best molded and easiest to move out of the other knock-off minifigures I've seen in the past! Remember how I was commenting on how loose or tight the joints were on the Inside Out minifigures and how it was either really hard to move certain parts or how the pieces fell off at the slightest touch? No such problems with these figurines! With the exception of the Original Series, since it was probably either an early printing or just a defect, everything snaps together perfectly and moves with the same fluidity as an official figure! Even BM, since he's made out of unofficial pieces, doesn't have that same quality!
The facial expressions, I'm a little torn on. They do look like Ash, or at least an anime character, and they have the same looks of equal parts goofiness and determination he would wear on the show... but they don't actually LOOK like Ash. I think it's because they didn't include any hair, since Ash, as with most other anime characters, is known for his spiky black hair. So without this detail, he looks more like a 40-year-old cosplayer... Couldn't they have molded some hair around the hats? Or at least painted some bangs on the top of his head? ...Yeah, I know, I didn't like Ashtimus because of his hair and now I'm complaining because these don't have hair. I'm never satisfied. Just ask my 43 ex-girlfriends...
And in some cases, they were a little off on painting the details on the face. ...Yeah...
Each figure also comes with its own Pokéball. ...Or Voltorb, rather, since they didn't paint the button on the front and just gave us a half-red, half-white ball, like a British guy supporting his favorite rugby team. There are better painted Lego Pokéballs, but I don't have any to show you right now, so I'll save them for a future review.
Alright, enough of Ash, let's move onto the franchise's namesake. PIKACHU! I CHOOSE YOU! ...Because right off the bat, you're infinitely better than the Ionix Pikachu!
Alright, you're a collection of parts and not an actual minifigure like Zombie Pikachu... but you're MUCH cuter! I really like how the face actually looks like Pikachu and not some dead-eyed face decoration from Majora's Mask... Ok, NOW that's my last dig at Ionix. This one was just unavoidable.
The proportion's much more accurate as well. It looks a lot more like a small creature you stuff into a ball and force to fight giant lizards and fluffy bunnies than the guy in a suit dancing in front of a GameStop to remind us to preorder Pokémon Sun and Moon...
I guess if I had to complain, it's that the design is very... generic. They took some yellow pieces, formed a rough approximation of a four-legged Pokémon(though I prefer bipedal Pikachu), and slapped a Pikachu face on the front so they can shout to passersby "Hey! You! Pikachu!" And yeah, with the other Pokémon I'm about to show you, two others share roughly the same design and another design is shared by two Pokémon as well. ...But it works. If Lego's found a minifigure mold that can be used for everyone from Abraham Lincoln to Zookeepers and still make every character design unique, then as long as it fits the type of Pokémon it's representing, other companies can come up with a universal design for their figures.
But yeah, Pikachu looks great and has a design I could believe Lego would pursue if they ever got the license to make Pokémon sets. Moving on.
Now sadly, there's not as much to say about the Pokémon as there was the Ash minifigures, so I'll just rush through each one and give a short opinion so it doesn't become a long string of me saying "I like this figurine" over and over.
Next up: Pidgeotto! ...Not as impressed with this one. They have the colors and face down, and I like its purple plumage, but for a Bird-type Pokémon, it doesn't look too much like a bird... I understand why they couldn't give it wings, since the piece holding the face and... ears(?) has another stud protruding in the back, but in that case, why give it this design? So yeah, not showering praise on this one. I don't hate it, but it's not too accurate a depiction either.
Eevee, on the other hand, looks like Eevee. Same design as the other two, but I like that they gave it an actual head and those cute big black eyes! And the round 2x2 they gave it for its neck frill fits well. ...However, the piece that gives it its spiky ears doesn't quite fit. Couldn't they have molded it to look like some actual Lego hair and not just a smooth skullcap? It looks like Eevee's cosplaying as Spock, or maybe Legolas. ...And if fanart of that doesn't exist, then the community has committed the greatest sin against each franchise possible...
However, they did give it a hole on the top of the head, so if you have some of those Lego Friends or Disney Princess accessories, you can give Eevee a cute pink bow.
...Or you can set it on fire. Whatever your preference... This isn't the way it evolves into a Flareon...
And before we move on, one small complaint I have is that since the feet are these two single studs(and that just sounded like a porno they make for unhappy moms), it's hard to pry the figurine off the base plate without them falling off. ...So don't put them on any base plates...
Moving onto a different design, we have Squirtle! ...Well, the design does help it look like a bipedal Pokémon and I like the shell design on the front. ...But it's not very "Squirtley." The blue is WAY too deep, like they got the colors of this and its evolution Blastoise mixed around. ...And even then, it may be too dark of a color... And the two wedge pieces on the back are colored blue as well, instead of tan or dark red or even white or something that would resemble a shell... I do like that they gave it an actual head, but I'm not sold on this minifigure.
The design works a LOT better with Charmander. They gave it the right colors for its skin and belly and they even gave him a "tail" with flames coming out the back. Good thing they remembered this little detail, because as any old-school Pokémon fan knows, once the tail is extinguished, the Pokémon dies. Not faints. DIES!* And if there's one thing kids don't like to get for their birthday, it's dead Pokémon.** And once again, it's given an actual head and a fitting face, so this minifigure gets my approval!
*Out of curiosity, was there ever an episode of the show or a movie where a Pokémon dies... and STAYS dead? There's the obvious Lavender Town dedicated to dead Pokémon in the games, and Pokémon have been casually slain in battle in the manga, but with the arguably more kid-friendly show, I can't think of one time where a Pokémon died. Coming close to death, several times, but the obvious eventual outcome of sending two creatures wielding mystical powers to fight each other to exhaustion I don't think has gotten any screen time. ...Still, I'm curious. If such has happened, please let me know.
**Besides the Pokémon actually classified as DEAD Ghost-type Pokémon. ...Which may or may not have been other Pokémon or humans previously and may be the actual souls of the Pokémon dead in Pokémon Tower. Also not counting Cubone, which is arguably a baby Kangaskhan that wears its mother's skull and uses her femur to club enemies. ...This series is messed up!
These last three all have unique designs, so they stand alone on how creative they are. With Bulbasaur, I think they nailed it pretty well. The face looks pretty Bulbasaurish, it's a quadruped, and they plastered a large bulb on its back which will slowly open and decrease its ability to walk. ...True fact, look it up. However, once again, the blue is WAY too dark.
Which is strange, since the Bulbasaur and Squirtle on the box covers are the right color. Maybe there was a printing error with the original blueprints the manufacturer needed to follow and it printed too darkly or maybe it was cheaper or more convenient to use that shade of blue, I don't know.
Also, they missed a few times painting its face. Either that, or this was a Pokémon they tried to train to paint and it ate the paint instead... Still, it's an ok design. Not great, but convincing at least.
And speaking of dead Pokémon, our next one is Gengar. ...And right away, you can tell they've committed the cardinal sin of building brick sets and forgot a piece, so now Gengar needs to wear a prosthetic. ...You'd think that, being a ghost, Gengar would no longer be bound by the limitations of a physical body, or it might just be a sick prank that Gengar is pulling. You know, where he tries to get other Pokémon to shake his hand and the it comes off and they're all like AAAAHHH and he's just standing there, laughing? ...Wouldn't put it past him. As for the design, it looks a lot like a Gengar and probably the best bipedal Pokémon in the range, so I really like it.
By the way, an irrelevant thought has just sprung to mind. In the game Pokémon Mystery Dungeon(and the TV special), your rival is turned into a Gengar* as a curse. ...Is he dead? I mean, seeing as how Gengar is a Ghost Pokémon and it's argued that at least some Ghost Pokémon were originally human, did the curse actually KILL him and now he's forced to wander the world eternally as a spirit who can no longer interact with friends and family and his life is forever wiped from his mind? ...And just when I thought that series had reached the pinnacle of tragedy and sadness in the Pokémon franchise...
*Also, why does he start as a Gengar while you start as a basic-level Pokémon? ...Destiny's a jerk, isn't it?
And finally, we have the strangest design out of all of them: Jigglypuff. ...I can see where they were going with this design, Jigglypuff being a round, balloon-type Pokémon and all, but what they added for detail just comes across as ...weird. So Jiggypuff has a little tuft at the top of its head, that's fine... but then why not just paint it on the head piece? As is, it looks like a laser gun helmet I saw in a sci-fi movie that I can't remember now.
Flip around the top pieces and it actually looks better. ...Though it still looks like it's missing something.
That's better.
And that's the set. With each of the figures, we've had some good points, some bad points, some fun and some questionable design choices, but overall... There are really good!
They're what I think of when I think Lego and Pokémon. The minifigures look like the characters they're meant to represent, the designs for the Pokémon are convincing, and there's the same sense of charm and creativity that is also present in the series and games. They're not skins that were quickly slapped onto existing models to pretend they represent the series. ...Ok, they are, but they're given more effort than what we've seen before is my point. It's sad that these are unofficial and a little hard to find, but if this is what smaller, unofficial companies can churn out, imagine what would happen if a larger company received the license? ...I mean, besides the official companies that have produced their own lines of these. ...You know what I mean...
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Quality: The plastic is actually nicer than the Ionix figures, feeling very sturdy and close to Lego quality. All the pieces, save for one Ash minifigure, stuck together and clicked in place with the other plates and bricks I used with them, which even my official Lego minifigures can have difficulty doing. The paint job, as to be expected with knock-off figurines, leaves a bit to be desired, especially since one of the figures came scratched fresh out of the box. It's not the worst, especially when compared to the Inside Out figurines we've previously looked at, but in some places, you can notice features out of alignment or paint smudges on the faces. Some sort of protective coating over the features would have greatly helped to prevent damage and improve their longevity. Still, the quality is very high on these and if I didn't know these were bootlegs, I would assume that Lego had actually produced Pokémon minifigures.
Design: The designs across the board are all very good and clearly display who or what they represent, though there are some flaws with most of them. I LOVE the fact that they created 4 Ash minifigures, each with a different outfit that accurately matches the first four Pokémon series and each with a face that you could picture Ash having. However, like I said, it would have been nice to have some sort of hair for him so he doesn't resemble what the newer generation of Pokémon fans think the older generation looks like... Each of the Pokémon are built very well with the pieces chosen closely resembling appendages and other features the animated versions have. There are some problems with colors, design choices, and textures, but they look like Pokémon and are built to scale with the Ash minifigures. I know they stole most, if not all, of these designs, but with how accurately they recreated them, there was some clear love, or at least some clear direction, in their production.
Creativity: The designs for the Pikachu, Eevee, Squirtle, Charmander, and Bulbasaur are taken straight from the site, and since they had a large amount of reference material to steal other designs from, there's not much creativity with these. However, the attention to detail with the outfits and the facial expressions do show some creative thought behind these and they did still have to create the molds and draw out the plans for the figures, so there was a bit of creativity in how these would translate into building brick sets. And they really had to scour the Lego parts list to find pieces that would fit some of these, such as the Eevee ears, so there was clearly a lot of effort and thought put into these. However, the most glaring problem they missed with these? Ash is missing sleeves from his outfits, so it looks like he's wearing a tank top.
Readability: I'm almost tempted to not include this section since the figurines didn't come with instructions per se, but I guess the short guide on the boxes count. And for what they are, it's easy to tell what goes where, so I'll be nice and give them high marks.
Packaging: Both versions of the boxes are incredibly well done and high quality, with hi-res images on both and computer-generated versions of the minifigures set against matching realistic-looking backgrounds. The quality of the cardboard and printing is really high and, like I said, if it wasn't for the Dargo logo in the corner, I would actually think these were put out by Lego. However, I do like the bigger boxes a lot more than the smaller ones, if only for the hilarious Engrish and stolen artwork missing from the smaller boxes. Sometimes unintentionally messing up can be more entertaining than intentionally getting it right.
Compatibility: These are made out of standard Lego pieces and minifigures and would fit in nicely with any Lego or similar building brick set.
Overall:
It's the paint jobs and Pokémon designs that don't quite fit that keep this from getting all 5 bricks. I LOVE these minifigures and just how much effort they put into making each one. These were given WAY more attention than they deserved and it's clear that they were made by people who were fans of the franchise and/or who wanted to see their company succeed. Either way is highly commendable. If you ever wanted to play with Pokémon in the Lego world, then you Gotta Collect 'Em All!
So before we move on, let's take one last look at the best knock-offs we've seen yet on this blog to remind us of what quality really is!
...Hmmm... Something different here. Can't place it. ...Oh well...
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