Chinese bootleg Transformers are a dime a dozen. The "robots in disguise" are so popular here that we can seldom go a few months without another Chinese fan making a legion of the robots, and now we have a set that's so bad, they're slightly good!
Images of these "trashbots" showed up all over Chinese news media this past week. These "trashbots," like previous fan-made Transformers in China, are just really tall statues of the titular robots made with whatever's available. In this case (and every other case), scrap.
Chinese internet giant Sina reports that a man named Li has been building these robots for a while now in his spare time. Li apparently operates a factory in Shanghai and has access to welding tools and scrap material.
Li says that his ultimate plan is to make some money with his statues through sales or rentals. He's quoted in saying that since the announcement of Transformers 4: Age of Extinction orders for his "replicas" (and I'm using that word lightly) have been rising.
Li's probably the first person who has made Transformers out of trash to come out and say that he's seeking monetary gain. Who knows, maybe Hasbro and Paramount will be able to stop Li. Then again, his Bumblebee looks like if someone hit Bumblebee in the face with a frying pan.
Photos: 男子上海郊区打造变形金刚“山寨”军团 [Tencent]
男子在上海郊区打造山寨变形金刚军团 [Sina]
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Eric is a Beijing based writer and all around FAT man. You can contact him @FatAsianTechie@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @FatAsianTechie.