In the first title salt, [Cu(C(12)H(8)N(2))(2)(C(5)H(10)N(2)Se)](ClO(4))(2), the Cu(II) centre occupies a distorted trigonal-bipyramidal environment defined by four N donors from two 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) ligands and by the Se donor of a 1,3-dimethylimidazolidine-2-selone ligand, with the equatorial plane defined by the Se and by two N donors from different phen ligands and the axial sites occupied by the two remaining N donors, one from each phen ligand. The Cu-N distances span the range 1.980 (10)-2.114 (11) A and the Cu-Se distance is 2.491 (3) A. Intermolecular pi-pi contacts between imidazolidine rings and the central rings of phen ligands generate chains of cations. In the second salt, [Cu(C(10)H(8)N(2))(2)(C(3)H(6)N(2)S)](ClO(4))(2), the Cu(II) centre occupies a similar distorted trigonal-bipyramidal environment comprising four N donors from two 2,2'-bipyridyl (bipy) ligands and an S donor from an imidazolidine-2-thione ligand. The equatorial plane is defined by the S donor and two N donors from different bipy ligands. The Cu-N distances span the range 1.984 (6)-2.069 (7) A and the Cu-S distance is 2.366 (3) A. Intermolecular pi-pi contacts between imidazolidine and pyridyl rings form chains of cations. A major difference between the two structures is due to the presence in the second complex of two N-H...O hydrogen bonds linking the imidazolidine N-H hydrogen-bond donors to perchlorate O-atom acceptors.