The Energon Pub

So I got my knock off Mirage in the mail today, for those of you like me who were curious about some of these remakes/knock off's available online I heard good things about the Mirage so I went ahead and got him, it's about what you'd expect, feels a little cheap but not too bad, the back wheels are really loose and the joint for his hips isn't too tight so he easily will spin around if you touch him, but all in all not bad, the box is ok can tell it's a fake ha but from the naked eye it will pass as an original. The bubble insert is pretty cheap, its like some dried up glue holding it on ha his accessories seem ok and the instructions look like original except on cheap paper. Came with a rubsign sticker but doesn't work

Like alot of you I was curious as to if it was better for me to buy a KO Sunstreaker, Wheeljack, Mirage then spend more for a mint G1 original, for display purposes its not bad, but I've seen some Shockwave KO's out there for $80+ so not sure if it's worth that to me, this Mirage only cost me like $50 including shipping so if they are around that price I'd pick up Wheeljack and Sunstreaker if they are as good as Mirage, but to pay more then that it's kinda not worth it to me. I'd rather go with a legit mint G1 original for more money, so my advice to any of you looking to buy KO's hoping its close to the original's...in your hands it feels almost the same, looks great! Only negative is you'll notice some little things off, like tail spoilers won't line up right, loose wheels, etc. but for the most part I'm pretty pleased and happy with Mirage. But if you're looking to spend $150-200 on the Dinobots or Shockwave I think I'd wait and buy mint originals. Hope this helps anyone debating to buy a KO or not!

You paid $50 for a knock-off?

GuyIncognito wrote:You paid $50 for a knock-off?

Ha yea he was more like $45 but that's what I mean...if they were $25 total including shipping I wouldn't mind but next time I'll just spend more for an original. The figure is nice and looks great but next time I'll wait and spend more.

GuyIncognito wrote:You paid for a knock-off?

FIXXED.

Those "HQ"-knockoffs are on the list of things I won't touch with two-feet poles.

Chaoslock wrote:

GuyIncognito wrote:You paid for a knock-off?

FIXXED.

Those "HQ"-knockoffs are on the list of things I won't touch with two-feet poles.

Srly, the only KOs that I'd actually consider are funky colored $8.99 Devastator from Big Lots.

Thanks for sharing your experience with KO Mirage, aviolante!

I think there are some neat KOs out there and as I understand it, some people have KO collections. Like anything else, they have an interest in collecting "something" and it's KOs, it's no different than anything else.

shonenfan4 wrote:

Chaoslock wrote:

GuyIncognito wrote:You paid for a knock-off?

FIXXED.

Those "HQ"-knockoffs are on the list of things I won't touch with two-feet poles.

Srly, the only KOs that I'd actually consider are funky colored $8.99 Devastator from Big Lots.

Yup, I'm against buying knockoffs to patch my collection and use the kos as if they were genuine ones, but funky colored, and sized up/down figures can be fun additions.

I will buy knock offs to fill in my collection until I can get an origional to take its place. I don't have the money to spend on, say, a G1 Devestator. However, for $8 I got a decent KO to stand on the shelf. I mean, my G1 guys don't get played with and rarely come off the shelf.

SJ21 wrote:I will buy knock offs to fill in my collection until I can get an origional to take its place. I don't have the money to spend on, say, a G1 Devestator. However, for $8 I got a decent KO to stand on the shelf. I mean, my G1 guys don't get played with and rarely come off the shelf.

It's one thing to buy an $8 KO to add to your display. But would you pay, say, $150 for a KO Devastator? I would rather buy a loose 100% complete original G1 Mirage for $100 than pay $50 for a cheap KO. It just doesn't make sense to me.

thanks for sharing your experience. Good review.

I'll buy a K/O to fill my collection when I know the original won't be reissued such as Mirage and Shockwave. However I make it a point to be sure the K/O is hi quality. The Mirage I got a couple years ago was very nice. I guess they vary. I'm still considering getting a Shockwave cause I've spent over $80 on an original Shockwave on Ebay and got ripped. The Shockwave is damaged and will not stand up. Thusly I'd rather spend $80 or so on a brand new K/O than risk getting ripped off again.

I also want to get the new Springer K/O cause I can't get the original for a decent price and it's becoming obvious that Takara's never going to reissue him.

However I want to make something clear: I in no way condome selling K/Os and claiming that they are original and I don't like the fact that the boxes make them look original. People who do this knowingly are scumbags. (I think I actually fell for this once when I bought a yellow Cliffjumper. Still can't tell if it's a K/O or not)

Yeah, I got a KO G1 Mirage about 2 years ago - expensive but the quality was fine (loose rear wheels).

If Has/Tak want to sell me a G1 Mirage I'll happily give the KO the boot.

I own the red version of the KO, and the black version of the KO.

The black never been made before, and I love black variants.

The red version is a remake of the very rare Diaclone pack with Powered Convoy, which I will never own. So I bought it.

THe cheap KO's pretty much suck, but those that are so close to the original, they're just not the original, well, at times they are pretty cool. What I don't like is anyone who used these dishonestly, or tries to sell them off as the same quality as the original.

once again if they can make decent ko's why wont takara do the same with official re-releases?

ausbot wrote:once again if they can make decent ko's why wont takara do the same with official re-releases?

I agree!! I mean I was told not sure how true that alot of these Chinese Reissues are made from a factory that's owned by Hasbro, if thats ture why dont they just fine tune the KO so its 100% perfect?? I just dont see the issue with remaking the entire 1985 line at least and selling it thru hasbro toy shop as an exclusive just make it expensive so only collectors will buy

GuyIncognito wrote:

SJ21 wrote:I will buy knock offs to fill in my collection until I can get an origional to take its place. I don't have the money to spend on, say, a G1 Devestator. However, for $8 I got a decent KO to stand on the shelf. I mean, my G1 guys don't get played with and rarely come off the shelf.

It's one thing to buy an $8 KO to add to your display. But would you pay, say, $150 for a KO Devastator? I would rather buy a loose 100% complete original G1 Mirage for $100 than pay $50 for a cheap KO. It just doesn't make sense to me.

^That. Not to mention the amount of money spent on these so-called High-End KOs, if you save up, you could actually buy the genuine one.

Are the wheel rivets done right? The Wheeljack version aren't that good.

fenrir72 wrote:Are the wheel rivets done right? The Wheeljack version aren't that good.

Don't think so the back wheels are really loose, and there is like a tiny glob of glue on one of the front wheels, but def the rivets in the back aren't right, but compared to a flaw you'd fine in a original I guess its an even trade off.

I keep reading about the KO Sunstreaker, but have yet to find one. Can someone Message me where I can get one?

Atomatron wrote:I keep reading about the KO Sunstreaker, but have yet to find one. Can someone Message me where I can get one?

Search on eBay.

Atomatron wrote:I keep reading about the KO Sunstreaker, but have yet to find one. Can someone Message me where I can get one?

Some sellers have been telling me should be available next month sometime

shonenfan4 wrote:

GuyIncognito wrote:

SJ21 wrote:I will buy knock offs to fill in my collection until I can get an origional to take its place. I don't have the money to spend on, say, a G1 Devestator. However, for $8 I got a decent KO to stand on the shelf. I mean, my G1 guys don't get played with and rarely come off the shelf.

It's one thing to buy an $8 KO to add to your display. But would you pay, say, $150 for a KO Devastator? I would rather buy a loose 100% complete original G1 Mirage for $100 than pay $50 for a cheap KO. It just doesn't make sense to me.

^That. Not to mention the amount of money spent on these so-called High-End KOs, if you save up, you could actually buy the genuine one.

BUt you would only have one, as opposed to 3 or 4.

BTW i have a crappy G1 version, and a loose mint complete with box Gigi Diaclone version, so I've paid my Mirage dues. I needed some damn red and black Mirage...

I'm with tigertracks here. Takara/Hasbro, either release an original re-issue or we get a high end K.O. without s elling your kidney. Btw, sellers go to heck if they try to pass it off as an original.

Yeah, I don't mind KOs as long as they don't try to pass themselves off as the real deal. If a toy is labeled as a "transforming robot thingamabob" instead of "Transformer", then I'm fine.

Convotron wrote:Yeah, I don't mind KOs as long as they don't try to pass themselves off as the real deal. If a toy is labeled as a "transforming robot thingamabob" instead of "Transformer", then I'm fine.

Yet, those labels ususally only appears on KOs that you can tell immediately. Those Hi-End KOs are usually passed off as the real deal.