14B The Michigan Daily - ekend, etc. Magazine - Th sday; February 10, 200000 tF Collector's Corner Don't ignore bootleg ty o novelty value and profit w a . w _'_ IIW Festival brings documentarian's oe By Ted Watts Daily Arts Writer In "Jingle All the Way," Arnold Schwarzenegger gets duped with an imitation "hot" toy, completely unacceptable for gift-giving. This was a powerful fable, the moral being never trust James Belushi in a Santa suit. But in the real world, bootleg toys l are neither as obviously located - in a warehouse full of violent elves and Santa Clauses - nor as devoid of value. Sure, the new fake Pokemon toys might not be what some little kid wants. The miscolored and poorly cast "Pina Colada Misty" figure might not be what the 5-year old rugrats had their hearts set on. Who could blame them? This isn't a coun- terfeit toy that can be easily passed off as the real thing, to the irritation of the Pokemon Corporate Collective. No, these are toys of the caliber Rof production of generic army men found in dollar stores, only now with an insidious slap of brand recogni- tion on them. A toy that would, if genuine, have moveable arms may now be a single piece of plastic. A toy normally having a half dozen bright colors may now have three faded shades of what could be con- sidered paint - except that on clos- er inspection, one of those colors turns out to be the native hue of the plastic itself. Furthermore, these toys are also usually empty shells, since the plas- tic that would normally fill them would cost more money - money the robber barons of Taiwanese or Hong Kong production vectors would rather keep for themselves to buy solid gold toilet paper. Any kid who got these toys from their par- ents could hardly be blamed for sending them to the rest home as soon as possible. But as much as they suck for kids, bootleg toys are a gold mine for col- lectors. 20 years ago, action figure bootlegging found a major original source of material: Star Wars. At once an extremely collectible variety of bootlegged Star Wars toys started popping up in the Eastern Bloc. Hungary and Poland were the prime markets, and from these nations a wealth of low-quality bootlegs found their way into collectors' hands in the U.S. From straight-ahead bootlegs of major characters to inexplicably redecorated toys (especially the chrome plated version of the Imperial Guard named Head Man), the Star Wars franchise spawned enough bootlegs to constitute a large independent toy line. And that's not to mention a col- lectible toy line, too. Bizarre, cheap reproductions from beyond the Iron Curtain now command hundreds of dollars. That isn't as true for more recent bootlegs, as they have not acquired quite the mystique of Star Wars. Sure, a Pikachu with no red on its cheeks may be harder to find than a real one (maybe not), but for now they just seem like damaged goods. Even more freakishly mispainted knock offs are at least that much more fun - a green Jigglypuff has an interestingly random look to it if nothing else. And you don't need to travel to Budapest to find current bootlegs, either. Sure, U.S. Customs may keep them out of Walmart's or even Everything's a Dollar's shelves, but they do get through, largely to flea markets or small stores with ties to the far East. At the same time, these toys are produced with the intention SAM HOLLENSHEAD/Dayy This Dragoonball Goku figure looks amazingly similar to the official toy. Courtesy of Miramax Films The Pokemon phenomenon is by no means limited to genuine toys. of reaching these shores. They are often packaged with the standard indicia: Choking hazard warnings, the obligatory and virtual- ly redundant "Made in China" emblazoned on them, a recycling symbol. Nevertheless, the toys are clearly fakes. One Dragonball GT knock-off package goes by the name GT Dragoonball. Perhaps there's a juris- diction somewhere where a name change by transposition and an extra "o" might carry some weight, but it seems doubtful. The name shouldn't UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN PLATTE VILLE Study Abroad Programs even fool a customs official on a cursory lookout for Dragonball bootlegs. But maybe Blonde Dragon Super Fight wouldn't sell as well. The producers of this bootleg weren't too thoughtful, however. The included characters are not the obvi- ous hot sellers. Sure, the star of the program Goku is there (although his toy size is abnormally large com- pared to the average Dragonball fig- ure). But then you get Brolly (who showed up a couple of times in the movies), three kids from the show and a fused version of Goku and Vegeta. One actual good idea is the inclusion of seven Dragonballs, the things that need to be collected in the show to make wishes. But on the whole, the package seems a bit ran- do m. Even the art on the packaging is strangely altered from the art of the show; some characters are blue instead of pink, but others are the same as if they were official. It is as if the bootleggers can't decide whether how to try to avoid looking like a rip-off - by looking like real toys or by looking completely unre- lated. Well, whether these current bootlegs will have the staying power of Head Man, only time will tell. Until then, use some common decency and don't buy your kids fake toys. Buy yourself fake toys. READ THE NEW AND IMPROVED ONLINE DAILY AT WWW.MICHIGAN DAILY.COM* By Aaron Rich D)aily :Arts Wrter Freaks, geniuses, maniacs. These three words would be one way of generalizing the range of characters and subjects docu- mentarian Errol Morris has shown us in his six major works, spanning more than 20 years. Then again, that terse description would not cut to the quick of his oeuvre. What underlies these six masterpieces - yes, masterpieces- is how hard they are to qualify in simple terms. Each of them comes across effectively on several levels of humor, philosophy and anthropology. In honor of all this, and the release of his new film "Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr.," the Detroit Film Theater at the Detroit Institute of Arts will begin a small festival of these seminal Morris works, once a week on Monday nights. In the middle of the line- up will be the new "Mr. Death." "We're trying to get people to see, the films of Errol Morris - not see an Errol Morris film about a specific per- son," said Elliot Wilhelm, curator of films at the DIA. On top of this, the museum was recently able to get clean 35mm prints of all the films through Lions Gate Films, the company that produced and is releasing "Mr. Death." "Morris is a perfectionist when it comes to visual quality," Wilhelm said. This quality is apparent in each of Moris' sets and shots. The first film in the festival, showing this coming Monday, is "Gates of Heaven" (1978). In the late '70s, Morms began filming this documentary about two different pet animal cemeteries in Northern California. One is in the process of shutting its gates for good, the other is relatively prosperous. In an effort to better understand the pet cemetery world. Morris begins interviewing some of the animal lovers who patronize and run these establishments. Morris' style rests in the interview. He lets people speak (and speak and speak) without interrupting the flow of their ideas. His genius lies in his ability to hold the shot forever until his inter- viewee has said everything they could possibly have in their head. This is espe- cially apparent in this early work as the film is made up almost entirely of inter- views - very funny, challenging and entertaining interviews. "Gates of Heaven' is one of the films that we've probably shown more than any other," Wilhelm said in reference to the timeless popularity of the documentary. The following week the DFT will show 1980's "Vernon, Florida," perhaps the EuoL Momus F m FEsVAL Feb.14:"Gates of Heaven" (1978), 88min. * Feb. 21: "vernon, Florida"(1980), 65 min. Feb. 25 -27: "Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr" (1999), 90 min. Feb. 28: "TheThin Blue Line" (1988), 106min. Mar. 6: 'A Brief History of Time" (1992), 80 min. Mar. 13: "Fast, Cheap and Out of Control" (1997), 110 min. U Mar. 13: "Stairway to Heaven" (1998), 26 mnm. For oiV inf/ all the DLFT at (313) 833-4005. least-known of Morris' major works. This expose of a small town in Northern Florida began as a look at some of the unorthodox citizens who chopped off body parts for insurance money. As Morris spent more time in the title town, he realized that these individuals werejust the tip of this hamlet's bizarro iceberg. Other friendly inhabitants of Vernon include a couple who traveled to the site of the Trinity nuclear tests and brought back "special" sand, a man who claims his tortoise is a gopher and a turkey hunter who can imitate all the different turkey gobbles. This screen- ing is especially important as the film is only rarely found on video. The weekend in between "Vernon" and "The Thin Blue Line" will be the short premiere run of "Mr. Death." This film studies the life work of Fred Leuchter, arguable the nation's, if not the world's, foremost expert on execution devices. As Leuchter's popularity grows, he is employed by revisionist historians to go to the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau to investigate the gas chambers. Leuchter, using suspi- cious science, decides that the gas chambers are a "myth," though his claim is later refuted by chemists. This chilling story leaves one wondering about the depths of evil and culpability. "The Thin Blue Line," made in 1988, is considered one of Morris' biggest achievements, both cinematically and even morally. It also marks a turning point in the overall look of the director's {tery a s 2 ,": n0' :hm te : _, ~ A "F ' b- 4 " ar.," ",'s in fr i3':=ta b a,. ;y.' ffe-, one=of r-s v cesfwh l_ rha ""S'ra rols. works. This documentary "facts" of a cop murder < Through extensive intervi actments of the situations ally proves a convicted r and implicates the real m "The Thin Blue Line first experiment with r based filmmaking. Ther a great variety of "talkir the director adds other special effects as we artistic "dramatic reena the actual events. "A Brief History of Tir the film on the slate for Learn Your Way Around The World 0 s e0 6 * Study abroad in England, Japan, or Spain Courses in liberal arts and international business Fluency in a foreign language g i required Home-stays with meals Field trips Financial aid applies (except for summer session) Program Costs: * For tuition, room, board and field trips per semester (for Wisconsin residents/non-residents) " In London, England: $5,275/$5,575 "-In Nagasaki, Japan:$5,675/$5,975 " In Seville, Spain: $6,675/$6,975 Application deadlines: " April 1 for summer session * October 15 for spring semester * April 30 for fall semester For further information contact: Toll free: 1-800-342-1725 E-mail: StudyAbroad@uwplatt.edu Web: http://www.uwplatt.edu/-studyabroad RU1N February Ulrich from 11:0( SAVE $75 OF