The Energon Pub

I need help identifying this Optimus Prime I won on Ebay, It is almost in mint condition, no paint wear at all on the cab or anywhere else, only a little wear on the chromed parts, no rubsign indention, or any trace of where one was at all, at first I was like, oh this must be a ko but after I compared it to some pics of the ko I realized this was impossible as the paint apps on the ko are horrible and the ko does not have the ratcheting knees like this one does, furthermore to compound my confusion are the eyes on the robot head, they kind of come to a point where they meet up at the nose and the fists which obviously do not match this figure as they are a very tight fit. So what do you guys think? My thinking is: it is either a g1 original and I got lucky or it is a Japanese reissue. One more thing is the red on the cab is kinda light but is different from G2.
Also note I don't think this trailer came w/ him originally either as it is in nowhere near the condition of the cab, spots of dirt, rust, grease.
Here is a link to the auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0294025179
Any assistance is appreciated.

Hard to say. It's not a Commemorative US edition. I am guessing by the condition it's probably vintage. Also Power seller with 99.9% accuracy and over 2000 sales, looks like you can trust the guys description.

tigertracks 24 wrote:Hard to say. It's not a Commemorative US edition. I am guessing by the condition it's probably vintage. Also Power seller with 99.9% accuracy and over 2000 sales, looks like you can trust the guys description.

Thanks for your response, this is Sweet, I mean this guy is in immaculate condition, the best 40 bucks I spent, especially glad I got this after reading Seibertron's review of 25th anniversary prime. I kind of figured it was the real deal when I saw the ratcheting legs that was a big tip off but it looked so new I had a hard time believing it to be vintage. I have him packaged in a reissue Japanese 15th anniversary box I won on Ebay a few months ago for $3.00 and a purple roller and rifle for $10.00 so for way less than the 25th anniversary edition I got a near mint vintage. I also just won a misb g2 Optimus for $95.00 which I am impatiently waiting for SWEEEET!!

Sounds like you got lucky and won a pre rub sign G1 Optimus. I'm not sure but I'm almost certain all of the reissues have rubsigns.But the only G1 Optimus I own is the Encore reissue and I generally store my reissues in their boxes to not to lose parts and conserve on space so I could be wrong.

Oh and you do sometimes get extremely lucky with vintage toys on ebay. I've gotten some that were damn near brand new despite being 10-20 years old.

It looks like an original Prime to me too. Nice find there.

Merc With A Mouth wrote:Sounds like you got lucky and won a pre rub sign G1 Optimus. I'm not sure but I'm almost certain all of the reissues have rubsigns.But the only G1 Optimus I own is the Encore reissue and I generally store my reissues in their boxes to not to lose parts and conserve on space so I could be wrong.

Oh and you do sometimes get extremely lucky with vintage toys on ebay. I've gotten some that were damn near brand new despite being 10-20 years old.

Yeah I'm still kinda new to the whole Ebay thing.
I've only bought one g1 transformer that turned out to be cool on ebay and that was my g1 Snarl the only other two I had bought prior to that were a Grimlock and another g1 Optimus, both which despite good descriptions like c8.5 lil play wear etc. and me asking every question possible and despite the toys looking deceivingly good in the photos turned out to be garbage fodder. So when I took a shot and got this for a relatively low amount I was shocked at how pristine it was. Thanks for your input. I'm not as fearful of vintage toys on Ebay since this transaction. Most of the stuff I've bought has been G2 and reissues.
But after this experience I will probably work on some more loose G1. But still w/ extreme caution.

[quote="Deszaras1979"I will probably work on some more loose G1. But still w/ extreme caution.[/quote]

Make sure to refer to this list, if needed, and ask more if you think you're getting a KO.

Many times things that are too good to be true are. Be wary, and make sure they have very, very good feedback to buy from them.

Looks legit to me. I've personally bought 50% of my G1 collection off ebay and have been more than satisfied with my purchase a good 80-90% of the time. As long as you do your research and do some photo comparisons along with checking the sellers feedback, you should be fine in most cases.

Nice buy though. What a bargain.

tigertracks 24 wrote:[quote="Deszaras1979"I will probably work on some more loose G1. But still w/ extreme caution.

Make sure to refer to this list, if needed, and ask more if you think you're getting a KO.

Many times things that are too good to be true are. Be wary, and make sure they have very, very good feedback to buy from them.

Thanks for the link. I also use this page right here: http://www.geocities.com/futuristgroup/vquanda.html
It has a pretty comprehensive list of the different variants of each mold.

a few things to look for in a 84 prime.

84 prime has round 4 dots on the back of his head.
the reissue and bootlegs has 2 round dots.

the trailer from a bootleg or reiuuse has a 92 stamp.

Hope that helps-
ultraconvoy

ultraconvoy wrote:a few things to look for in a 84 prime.

84 prime has round 4 dots on the back of his head.
the reissue and bootlegs has 2 round dots.

the trailer from a bootleg or reiuuse has a 92 stamp.

Hope that helps-
ultraconvoy

I just checked the back of his head and yes there are 4 round squares. Thanks for the heads up. This was very helpful. About the trailer, it is stamped 1980-1982 Takara/Hasbro and has a 6 in the connector hole.

you have a 84 prime D and no problem. glad i can be a help

ultraconvoy wrote:you have a 84 prime D and no problem. glad i can be a help

So what are the chances of this being a pre-rub?

the pre rub and the rub sign are the same toy. unless your pre rub has the matel plates on the trailer with gray roller. but the cabs the same for the most part.

ultraconvoy wrote:a few things to look for in a 84 prime.

84 prime has round 4 dots on the back of his head.
the reissue and bootlegs has 2 round dots.

the trailer from a bootleg or reiuuse has a 92 stamp.

Hope that helps-
ultraconvoy

I've got one of those nice bootleg Primes that comes in a reprinted original box, and it has four round dots on the back of his head. Were it not for the box and the fact that it did not come with the silver stripe decals, I don't know that I could tell.

I've also got one of the Pepsi Primes from last year, and it does have the two round dots on the back of the head.

all bootlegs and reissues has 2 dots with a number 4 or somehing.

the 84 Prime is the only one with 4 dots.

ultraconvoy wrote:all bootlegs and reissues has 2 dots with a number 4 or somehing.

the 84 Prime is the only one with 4 dots.

I am holding in my hand a G1 bootleg Prime. It came in a nicely printed, but knockoff G1 box. It did not have the silver stripe decals on the cab; I had to get them from reprolabels. I suppose it is possible that someone peeled the stickers off of a real G1 Prime cab and put it in this knockoff set, but I doubt it. It has four circular dots on the back of his head.

i find that very strange.

Interesting debate we have here over the dots on the ko heads.
anyone got pics of a ko w/ 4 dots on the back of the head? I don't own a ko so I don't know either way.

TinglingSensation wrote:

ultraconvoy wrote:all bootlegs and reissues has 2 dots with a number 4 or somehing.

the 84 Prime is the only one with 4 dots.

I am holding in my hand a G1 bootleg Prime. It came in a nicely printed, but knockoff G1 box. It did not have the silver stripe decals on the cab; I had to get them from reprolabels. I suppose it is possible that someone peeled the stickers off of a real G1 Prime cab and put it in this knockoff set, but I doubt it. It has four circular dots on the back of his head.

Just curious as to the plastic quality on the ko. Would you recommend it as a display piece? I am thinking about getting one, though mostly for the box, which I may end up putting this one in. I own a ko Grimlock and am quite pleased with the quality, especially compared to some of the newer Hasbro releases. Also, where do they get the molds to manufacture these kos? I notice my ko Grimlock has a copyright stamp although it is slightly altered.
I noticed some of my G2s are stamped China, so is it possible sometime after G2 tanked some lil Chinese dude made off w/ some of the molds since Hasbro claims they have lost a few? Or did Hasbro just sell them off for a fast buck?

OK, here are some pictures of KO and Pepsi Prime.
*edit* Pepsi Prime is in this first pic, he just got squeezed out.


The back of KO Prime's head. Note the four dots.



The back of Pepsi Prime's head. Note the two dots.


The KO is actually really, really nice. All the joints are tight, the stacks are long, and the decals and paint are excellent. The plastic (and die-cast) quality is top-notch -- it's not that really soft sloppy stuff like with the Big Lots KOs. It fits right in with my other G1s (which I know are legit because they were mine as a kid). The only flaw was the missing silver stripe, but I fixed that with reprolabels. I didn't take any pictures, but the trailer is also excellent, a nice dark gray (not like the new 25th release). The box was nice too, but with the known printing flaws/tipoffs. It was even slightly beat up, I suspect as an attempt to make it look vintage. To be fair, both the seller and I knew it was a KO (although he called it a "reissue"). Based on the scathing 25th anniversary Prime reviews, it was $30 well spent.

TinglingSensation wrote:OK, here are some pictures of KO and Pepsi Prime.
*edit* Pepsi Prime is in this first pic, he just got squeezed out.


The back of KO Prime's head. Note the four dots.



The back of Pepsi Prime's head. Note the two dots.


The KO is actually really, really nice. All the joints are tight, the stacks are long, and the decals and paint are excellent. The plastic (and die-cast) quality is top-notch -- it's not that really soft sloppy stuff like with the Big Lots KOs. It fits right in with my other G1s (which I know are legit because they were mine as a kid). The only flaw was the missing silver stripe, but I fixed that with reprolabels. I didn't take any pictures, but the trailer is also excellent, a nice dark gray (not like the new 25th release). The box was nice too, but with the known printing flaws/tipoffs. It was even slightly beat up, I suspect as an attempt to make it look vintage. To be fair, both the seller and I knew it was a KO (although he called it a "reissue"). Based on the scathing 25th anniversary Prime reviews, it was $30 well spent.

Where did you get one for 30 dollars? They are $50 most places I see them plus $20 shipping.