So I have received my KO versions of Battle Tanker and decided to post some pictures to help people make their decision on whether to buy these or wait for the upgraded versions from Maketoys at almost triple the price. At Chimungmung.com these cost $50 each plus $15 shipping if you don’t need the box which is the same as the original, no new colors or graphics. They almost match the quality of the original Maketoys version, (which I own) except a few flaws. Some nitpickers might not like the flaws, but for me personally, they aren’t worth stressing or shelling out another $90 bucks for the upcoming official versions.
• The leg/boots take extreme force to slide into the bottom of the trailer and are almost impossible to get out without loosing the screws on the legs to unlatch from the slots. With that being said, if you don’t plan on using the tanker mode often, its no big issue.
• The KO comes with the old head without the screw. The one Maketoys told us to boil in hot water to make it fit. I know a lot of necks were broken forcing these heads on. With a small hand file, I shaved a little bit of the hole bigger and made the heads fit on with a nice easy fit. Not too tight, not too loose, and easy to remove without damaging the neck of your figure.
• No problems at all with the armor on the robot mode. Snaps on tight like the official version. L.E.D. lights worked fine but only came with one battery to keep it from turning on during shipping. Maybe if you buy the boxed versions it might have the 2nd battery. Beautiful yellow and clear glow on the large swords in the dark. Also included was the KO drift swords. The one with the Ultra Magnus set was especially nice with a blue handle, and goes great with Botcon Gigatron.
• There will be no pictures of the Ultra Magnus set on Botcon Ultra Magnus in robot mode. I found out the hard way that attaching the wrist clips will chip the paint on this expensive figure. DONT DO IT…You will screw up your figure !!! So instead I used RTS Laser Prime until I get my G2 Combat Hero Prime from BBTS. All other versions of this mold don’t have paint on the part where the clips attach so no damage will be done.
• While the upcoming Maketoys version has red wrists, the KO sports blue wrists and is much more accurate to the original image of G2 Laser Prime. You can even paint the face plate red since it’s just a KO without fear of devaluing your set. I never understood why people would want to use this mold as SG Ultra Magnus anyways. Isn’t that what D.I.A. Commander is for ?
• While the upgraded shoulders on the upcoming Maketoys version are cool, chances are they will probally be KOed too. We have seen KO black missile launchers for Shadow Commander, red KO Scythes for Protector, so in my opinion, these extra parts will probably fall victim to KOs too in a nice $20 set. And who attaches an RPG to a chain and starts swinging it around anyways ?
• These guys did a great job of adding extra details that go perfect with the Botcon figures. The blue and purple plastic were matched perfectly. Especially the faded silver on both looks great. And like it or not, the credit goes to the KO guys for coming up with these paint schemes. The official Maketoys versions was just a knee-jerk response to these KO’s.
• My Recommendation: Save $90 bucks and get the KOs. And don’t use it on Botcon SG Ultra Magnus unless you don’t care about chipped paint. That goes for the official versions too. The clips are just as tight.
Here are some pictures I took, as well as an image of G2 Combat Hero Prime which is what I think the Ultra Magnus version works best for. Enjoy…
?). I like how his red abdomen looks better than the Botcon version's red abdomen with this set anyway and the blue feet/legs look better than the black ones IMO too.
