Personal mini tank, 1:18 scale mini-rig suitable for G.I. Joe or other 3 3/4" or 4" l

lancelot

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Mar 19, 2011
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Something tells me that Chap Mei didn't make this even though that's one of their sculpts. "Happy Lines Limited" is probably not a legit company.
 

Patricio

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Oct 6, 2017
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Something tells me that Chap Mei didn't make this even though that's one of their sculpts. "Happy Lines Limited" is probably not a legit company.

It is probably a bootleg, however I was impressed for the quality of the plastic. In other videos in my channel I have shown toys that use the same molds and similar packaging but using different company names. Perhaps they use a different company for every run of toys so they do not get legal problems for creating a bootleg. Just my theory.
 

Dzirhan

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Jul 22, 2015
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There's a number of Chap Mei bootlegs out there but some of them do have some nice camo patterns, bought a similar vehicle some years back as it was in green camo which Chap Mei never did for the that vehicle, plastic quality is the same really
 

K-Tiger

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Mar 14, 2011
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Definitely a Chap Mei-based piece. I think Chap Mei has farmed out the molds to a lot of things. There's a line using Chap Mei molds that is officially licensed by the U.S. Army, but Chap Mei isn't listed anywhere on the box.

I kind of have fun seeing where Chap Mei's molds turn up. The True Heroes and Animal Planet lines are lousy with them, and I've even seen them in Wal-Mart's (Kids Connection?) cheap-o line.
 

azslogan

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Mar 14, 2013
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That is a nice piece. Looks to be a Chap-Mei clone based on a real mini tank the M-50 Ontos.
 

lancelot

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Mar 19, 2011
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Ok, I always wondered why there are so many toylines using blatant molds by Chap Mei. This particular vehicle is one I've never had first hand, but do want to customize for Cobra use. Where do you even get these? I'm guessing this was bought in a store somewhere way down south right?
 

Dzirhan

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Jul 22, 2015
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That mold is based on the German Wiesel AFV. Think while the US releases are licensed, the ones I've seen in my part of South-East Asia are more likely bootlegs, as generally the figures are shoddily molded and badly painted, plus the add on plastic parts to the main body such as the cannons are low quality plastic, guessing the one in the video is a bootleg as the smoke dischargers on the hull are placed in the wrong direction :D
 

Dzirhan

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Jul 22, 2015
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Ok, I always wondered why there are so many toylines using blatant molds by Chap Mei. This particular vehicle is one I've never had first hand, but do want to customize for Cobra use. Where do you even get these? I'm guessing this was bought in a store somewhere way down south right?

The ones in US and Europe are licensed, rest of the stuff could be reversed engineered molding or the factory producing them/or Chap Mei itself allowed third party access and production from the molds or even someone got the molds to do their own production. While Chap Mei is noted for repaints and reused of many of its product, it's noticeable that some of their stuff have not reappeared again even though they could be viably reused in the current lines