The Energon Pub

I'm looking forward to how this pans out.

Scaleface wrote:If someone else owning a knockoff damages you, you must be doing something wrong.

So then you simply have nothing to add to this subject then?

KOs damage the entire collector's market, not just me.
I would be happy to hear why you are bashing hasbro and defending the manufacturing and selling of KOs but so far you haven't really explained your position.

KOs make the secondary collectors market a pain to navigate, especially when it comes to vintage molds like mirage, the dinobots, the seekers, optimus prime, the minibots, sixshot, metroplex, the insecticons, and the combiner teams. If you can tell me why that is a good thing, and hasbro shouldn't do anything about it then I am all ears.

Dread_Wing wrote:I wonder how this will affect retailers? The Warehouse (NZ equivalent of Walmart, but not as big) has always stocked knockoffs. Right across from the Hasbro transformers a lot of the time.

Well as i assume hasbro wont be able to bring down KO's from shops and markets, 'cause that's just impossible.
But yeah, they shouldn't have done this. i mean, the listings where its clearly KO's mean that the seller is honest and the price would be right (minus fkin shipping wich is always a fortune. 20$ to poland srsly wut).
Bad things are happening. Why not delete auctions for sex products aswell and only let the best producers sell their stuff? ebay is for people who want to sell something and for ppl who want to buy, and NO ONE should stop them, even if they want to buy a dead dog.

woosh wrote:Bad things are happening. Why not delete auctions for sex products aswell and only let the best producers sell their stuff? ebay is for people who want to sell something and for ppl who want to buy, and NO ONE should stop them, even if they want to buy a dead dog.

Open marketplace or not, ebay still needs to respect the laws surrounding intellectual properties. A counterfeit product like a KO mirage is in violation of that.

I am sure that ebay was happy to assist hasbro, less KOs mean less complaints between seller and buyer over merchandise that is of a lesser quality than the real thing.

Seibertron wrote:

Sledge wrote:If this means Hasbro are going to sell the stuff that people have been buying, great. But they claim that half the molds are no longer viable, so how are people going to get that Mirage/Swoop/whatever?

Also, does this mean Hasbro will sort their distribution out properly? I wouldn't be considering buying a KO Alt Prowl if the figure had got a proper release in the UK.

Why can't you just buy an official Binaltech or Alternator Prowl on eBay instead of a knock off?

Good condition Alt Prowls are hard to come by, especially for a reasonable price. Usually there's a big scratch, paint chips, or even broken mirrors.



You're way better off searching buy and sell forums on tf sites Sledge. You're much more likely to find Prowl that way (I found him for £25 shipped from a guy on tfw2005)

I agree, it's about time that those aweful knockoffs are kicked out from ebay.

If u buy a KO, becuase you know it's a KO, then it's all on you, and nobody else.

I don't think you should tell a person what to buy in regards to what he/she wants to collect. I don't buy KO's, well not G1, becuase if I collect G1, I want what I had as a kid, the real deal.

But, times are hard, and they are making KO's slightly better, so it helps for those who want a different mirage, something that Hasbro has not done.

So this semi-bashing I hear about poeple who buy KO's, well that's not right. To each his own.



Now if Hasbro wants to stop these KO's, they are gonna have to get crackin on the small packaging details, even begin some litigation on these sellers, now!!!

Becuase now, we are going to see these KO's slip in with the regualr G1 TF's, and the unsuspecting person not hip to these reissue KO's are gonna get ripped off.

Scaleface wrote:There are still some on ebay selling as "remakes", and I give it a week before there are tons of them on there again.

Heck, they are still there is you look hard enough:

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZperfect-worlder

I'm not exactly a newb on this KO thing...I've bought some on purpose knowing they were KOs, but isnt the Megatron at the bottom of your link an actual re-issue? This maybe where the KO market gets ridiculous. I know all the other items in that link are KO, but I would be tricked on the Megatron since that was an actual re-issue.

Stormrider wrote:
I think the next suitable step would be for Hasbro to start using trustworthy factories and workers.

Pah! yeah right! They would be too expensive.

Blackstreak wrote:

Scaleface wrote:There are still some on ebay selling as "remakes", and I give it a week before there are tons of them on there again.

Heck, they are still there is you look hard enough:

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZperfect-worlder

I'm not exactly a newb on this KO thing...I've bought some on purpose knowing they were KOs, but isnt the Megatron at the bottom of your link an actual re-issue? This maybe where the KO market gets ridiculous. I know all the other items in that link are KO, but I would be tricked on the Megatron since that was an actual re-issue.

That seller sells both knockoff and official reissue.

Scaleface wrote:

Blackstreak wrote:

Scaleface wrote:There are still some on ebay selling as "remakes", and I give it a week before there are tons of them on there again.

Heck, they are still there is you look hard enough:

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZperfect-worlder

I'm not exactly a newb on this KO thing...I've bought some on purpose knowing they were KOs, but isnt the Megatron at the bottom of your link an actual re-issue? This maybe where the KO market gets ridiculous. I know all the other items in that link are KO, but I would be tricked on the Megatron since that was an actual re-issue.

That seller sells both knockoff and official reissue.

And he states it's a Takara reissue on that one, while on the others he just says reissue.

It's funny how the seibertron.com front page will call the knockoffs on ebay a "problem" to be dealt with, then proudly display the Universe 2.0 toy galleries they purchased that are almost certainly stolen off the assembly line. Shouldn't Hasbro be sending complaints to this very site for promoting theft? Of course I don't have a problem with the pre-release toys, but it seems to be at odds with this site's bias against knockoffs.

Thank you, Hasbro! I'm getting tired of having to search through dozens of KO listings to find an authentic version of some figs... It's a huge waste of time, especially when "KO" isn't listed in the item description.

Scaleface wrote:It's funny how the seibertron.com front page will call the knockoffs on ebay a "problem" to be dealt with, then proudly display the Universe 2.0 toy galleries they purchased that are almost certainly stolen off the assembly line. Shouldn't Hasbro be sending complaints to this very site for promoting theft? Of course I don't have a problem with the pre-release toys, but it seems to be at odds with this site's bias against knockoffs.

You are right, good point. I noticed that myself. toys that are "pre-released" as this site probably gets them, is likely the "lessor of two evils".

I don't even know about it being lesser. The knockoffs are merely violating intellectual property laws in a country not enforcing those laws, but are presumable made by the people who are selling them. The "pre-release" toys like Universe Tankor and Sunstreaker are stolen by theives off Hasbro assembly lines.

Hey, here is a nice turnaround. i was selling off some of my Alternators on ebay. These are the real things still MISB. I ended up seeing a Smokescreen to a guy.... in China! Guess he didn't want a local made knockoff.

It is a CRIME how much people charge for knock-off dinobots.
How am I ever going to get a set of KOs to bash in to the ?Geisters from Brave Exkaiser at those prices?

Personally, I will admit to this, I would love to get my hands on a test shot or a prototype. That sort of thing would be interesting.
What I wonder, where does animation cells come from? I have one...


I saw a whole load of knock off Cybertron flame convoy's at a local dollar store. They were in titanium type packaging.

Like That Huge Fort Max? Alot of people were buying KO's mainly for the reason of price of Original. So it has its OK and donts, some KO's where ok made.

Scaleface wrote:It's funny how the seibertron.com front page will call the knockoffs on ebay a "problem" to be dealt with, then proudly display the Universe 2.0 toy galleries they purchased that are almost certainly stolen off the assembly line. Shouldn't Hasbro be sending complaints to this very site for promoting theft? Of course I don't have a problem with the pre-release toys, but it seems to be at odds with this site's bias against knockoffs.

Ryan buys the figures as a service to the fans, he also rebuys the figures at retail (I remember him doing so with the movie) so it does no harm to Hasbro. Not to mention him buying a prerelease figure is far different than buying a cheap KO. It’s really no different than buying an old figure off eBay.

So yeah, I’m sorry if you think it’s wrong that Ryan buys these toys to give us pictures and then rebuys them at retail.

Nekoman wrote:Ryan buys the figures as a service to the fans, he also rebuys the figures at retail (I remember him doing so with the movie) so it does no harm to Hasbro. Not to mention him buying a prerelease figure is far different than buying a cheap KO. It’s really no different than buying an old figure off eBay.

So yeah, I’m sorry if you think it’s wrong that Ryan buys these toys to give us pictures and then rebuys them at retail.

Still sounds like buying stolen goods to me. He paid Hasbro for one figure, yet owns two. If I walked into Target and stole a figure and paid for another, then said "Don't worry, I paid for it once!"

Of course if Hasbro had any brains they'd just mail sample figures to Ryan to primote their figures, the galleries he does always look awesome. Just don't pretend they are not stolen goods.

Scaleface wrote:

Nekoman wrote:Ryan buys the figures as a service to the fans, he also rebuys the figures at retail (I remember him doing so with the movie) so it does no harm to Hasbro. Not to mention him buying a prerelease figure is far different than buying a cheap KO. It’s really no different than buying an old figure off eBay.

So yeah, I’m sorry if you think it’s wrong that Ryan buys these toys to give us pictures and then rebuys them at retail.

Still sounds like buying stolen goods to me. He paid Hasbro for one figure, yet owns two. If I walked into Target and stole a figure and paid for another, then said "Don't worry, I paid for it once!"

Of course if Hasbro had any brains they'd just mail sample figures to Ryan to primote their figures, the galleries he does always look awesome. Just don't pretend they are not stolen goods.

I could not have said it better myself.

Scaleface wrote:

Nekoman wrote:Ryan buys the figures as a service to the fans, he also rebuys the figures at retail (I remember him doing so with the movie) so it does no harm to Hasbro. Not to mention him buying a prerelease figure is far different than buying a cheap KO. It’s really no different than buying an old figure off eBay.

So yeah, I’m sorry if you think it’s wrong that Ryan buys these toys to give us pictures and then rebuys them at retail.

Still sounds like buying stolen goods to me. He paid Hasbro for one figure, yet owns two. If I walked into Target and stole a figure and paid for another, then said "Don't worry, I paid for it once!"

Of course if Hasbro had any brains they'd just mail sample figures to Ryan to primote their figures, the galleries he does always look awesome. Just don't pretend they are not stolen goods.

I have to agree, although I understand the purpose to buy those figures.

Scaleface wrote:

Nekoman wrote:Ryan buys the figures as a service to the fans, he also rebuys the figures at retail (I remember him doing so with the movie) so it does no harm to Hasbro. Not to mention him buying a prerelease figure is far different than buying a cheap KO. It’s really no different than buying an old figure off eBay.

So yeah, I’m sorry if you think it’s wrong that Ryan buys these toys to give us pictures and then rebuys them at retail.

Still sounds like buying stolen goods to me. He paid Hasbro for one figure, yet owns two. If I walked into Target and stole a figure and paid for another, then said "Don't worry, I paid for it once!"

Of course if Hasbro had any brains they'd just mail sample figures to Ryan to primote their figures, the galleries he does always look awesome. Just don't pretend they are not stolen goods.

You act as if he IS stealing them. He’s not, some guy in china is, Ryan paid for it so what’s the problem? It’s not his fault Hasbro cant have some security in their own darn facilities. If they have a problem with it they should A: notify the site or B: Tone up security or move the plants to somewhere safer. And so far I haven’t herd of Hasbro doing either.

And like you said, the galleries are almost free advertising, I’d say if they wanted to do something about it they’d be doing more harm than good.

Nekoman wrote:

Scaleface wrote:

Nekoman wrote:Ryan buys the figures as a service to the fans, he also rebuys the figures at retail (I remember him doing so with the movie) so it does no harm to Hasbro. Not to mention him buying a prerelease figure is far different than buying a cheap KO. It’s really no different than buying an old figure off eBay.

So yeah, I’m sorry if you think it’s wrong that Ryan buys these toys to give us pictures and then rebuys them at retail.

Still sounds like buying stolen goods to me. He paid Hasbro for one figure, yet owns two. If I walked into Target and stole a figure and paid for another, then said "Don't worry, I paid for it once!"

Of course if Hasbro had any brains they'd just mail sample figures to Ryan to primote their figures, the galleries he does always look awesome. Just don't pretend they are not stolen goods.

You act as if he IS stealing them. He’s not, some guy in china is, Ryan paid for it so what’s the problem? It’s not his fault Hasbro cant have some security in their own darn facilities. If they have a problem with it they should A: notify the site or B: Tone up security or move the plants to somewhere safer. And so far I haven’t herd of Hasbro doing either.

And like you said, the galleries are almost free advertising, I’d say if they wanted to do something about it they’d be doing more harm than good.

I have no problem with it. I'm just pointing out it's as bad as the knockoff selling off ebay. Heck, most of the knockoff sellers who recently were removed also sold pre-release stolen toys.

I contacted one of the recently removed ebay TF KO sellers, and he told me this in a letter.

We were all temporarily suspended for selling the KO TF.

I should have a web site up soon with KO's for sale.

So those looking for things like Mirages, Metrotitans and Trainbots, just wait, they will be back, but probably not on ebay.

Nekoman wrote:You act as if he IS stealing them. He’s not, some guy in china is, Ryan paid for it so what’s the problem? It’s not his fault Hasbro cant have some security in their own darn facilities. If they have a problem with it they should A: notify the site or B: Tone up security or move the plants to somewhere safer. And so far I haven’t herd of Hasbro doing either.

And like you said, the galleries are almost free advertising, I’d say if they wanted to do something about it they’d be doing more harm than good.

Doesn't matter who's stealing them, Hasbro lose money. Which is surely the argument against knockoffs?