The Energon Pub

Starscream5150 wrote:The good thing about these are for those of us who want to open some toys for display. I cringe at the thought of paying upwards of 80 bucks to tear open the package when I get home. I appreciate the review and it seems that they are so similar, it is a great deal. I went online and bought the whole seeker set (SW, TC, and Ghost SS) for 60 bucks. They will sit just fine with my opened authentic SS.

I've spent upwards of like 140$ on one figure and totally removed it from packaging, I just carefuly remove it and save the packaging if it isn't a clamshell monstrosity or an easily devastated blister card..

Yeah, I removed Henkei TC from its packaging, which is why I unfortunately don't have the original packaging to compare for this.

I just can't stand leaving them in their little plastic coffins!

Nah, mate, I only drop 99$ in the first fifteen minutes.

And here is a look at KO Botcon Mirage. I don't have an actual Botcon Mirage to compare him to, but I do have Classics Mirage, Fracture and Drag Strip. All of these molds appear to be alike, so I will be pointing out where KO BC Mirage differs from these molds. This will again be one half review, and one half tutorial.



Here he is next to Classics Mirage. As you can see, the reproduction is 1:1. He's reproduced part-for-part. There don't appear to be any shortcuts taken in this KO. All parts are clear blue plastic with the following exceptions: the ball joint that the head is on, the biceps, the two inner parts of the torso, and the part that connects the thigh and the calf.



I should apologize right off the bat for these pictures not being clearer. My camera is a simple digital camera and isn't made for high quality photos. This is the first difference I noticed between the KO and all the other Mirage molds I own. In the solid piece between the thigh and calf, there are markings. On the KO, there are 2 straight horizontal lines. On the other Mirage molds, there are 3 slanted lines.



Also on the legs, on the upper part of the thigh, there are air intake vents right where the exhaust pipes fold up in bot mode. The KO has 3 vents. The original mold has 4.



I'm not certain if this next difference is also present on the real Botcon Mirage, so maybe somebody who has it can let us know. If you look on the KO BC Mirage's shin, there is a lot of detailing that is not present on Classics Mirage, Drag Strip or Fracture. Also, the dead giveaway is the rubsign. KO BC Mirage has no rubsign.



There is a seam on the outside of the forearm of each Mirage-mold figure. On Mirage, Fracture and Drag Strip, this seem perfectly bisects a detail, making it essentially look like teeth. The legit molds have the seam running straight down the middle. The KO does not. It's rather widely off center.



Here's one that's really easy to spot. The screws on KO BC Mirage are smaller than the screws in any of its mold-mates. The holes are obviously meant for larger screws, but smaller ones are used.



Oopsie! Don't worry too much, though. This is not actually broken. It's just a place in the torso that can be detached. All the other versions of this mold have this too. The reason I point it out is that the one on the KO slides out really easily. It showed up in my mailbox split in two, and it also fell out while I was fiddling with it. The legit figures have never done this for me.

This picture also showcases one of the dealbreakers for this figure, in my eyes. The KO BC Mirage I received cannot hold his gun. The peg on the crossbow is simply larger than the one in his fists. I couldn't get it to peg in on either fist. So when KO BC Mirage transforms, he's going to be weaponless, sadly.



And here they all are together. As you can see, KO BC Mirage does fit in to the classics collection, as long as you don't look closely.

QUALITY: Sadly, Mirage does not live up to the high quality of the Henkei seekers. He's floppy for one thing. His joints are not tight at all. The plastic quality also doesn't feel up to snuff. I realize this is clear plastic, but the Henkei Ghost Starscream KO felt a LOT sturdier than this guy. The looseness of the figure hinders his ability to achieve all the great poses the original Mirage could achieve. Additionally, as I mentioned, he tends to come apart at the waist, and he cannot hold his weapon.

PACKAGING: There is none. No bag, no card. Er go, one of the simplest ways to ensure you are getting a REAL Botcon Mirage is to purchase one bagged. So far, anyway.

One more thing: I don't know if this is true for all of them, but there was a flaw on my KO BC Mirage's face that stemmed from it being improperly removed from the sprue.

In summary, this is only a figure to get if you are planning to get a real one in the future and want it as a placeholder. This will be really easy to spot as a fake in person. If you buy it on eBay or another online source, be sure to get close-up pictures of it. If you want it because you can't afford a Botcon figure, that's fine, but realize you're getting something that is lower than Hasbro quality.

G1Sizzle wrote:By the way, I have noticed from pictures of the KO Skywarp that the same notching differences in the shoulder and knee exist. So this TC review should also be helpful in distinguishing fake Skywarps too.

Yes, it did, sadly.

I got sold what I'm pretty damn sure is a KO Skywarp as the Real Thing. The notches on the shoulders and knees are absent. And I can't say I agree about the quality of these KOs, as there are some other flaws:

• The chrome paint on the launchers is inconsistent and somewhat marbled.
• The places where the plastic pieces were broken away from the injection point is readily visible in several places that stick out more than you'd typically find on a TakaraTomy or Hasbro figure.
• The bottom of one of the legs has "mold seepage" that wasn't cut away.
• Some joints are ridiculously tight, while others are very loose.
• He's got an upside-down left fist for a right fist.

Finally, I do have what I'm pretty confident is an authentic Henkei Thundercracker to compare to. The packaging on these two is practically indistinguishable (except for the bits you'd expect to be different; e.g., the blue-printed front matter on TC's package). Holding the backing cards side-by-side, you can tell that there is a slight degradation in the quality of the photos on KO Skywarp's card. But it's really subtle. In other words, if you don't know what you have in your hand, it's almost impossible to tell for sure without taking it out of the package. So I definitely have sympathy for sellers who sell these items as authentic because they got taken in themselves. On the other hand, I do expect anyone to stand behind what he's selling.

I've contacted the seller in this instance, so we'll see where it goes. I'm willing to give the guy the benefit of doubt.

I hate to post this a little late in the game, but just thought someone might be interested.

I just bought and received my KO Thundercracker. The packaging didn't have the Tomy Takara logo and the plastic blister didn't have Transformers embossed, but rather the KO creator's name. The rest of the packaging looks identical. It also came with the instruction manual w/ the Tomy Takara logo and a figure card.
The figure on the other hand is different from the one used in the comparison. My KO has the notches and everything in the same spots as the Henkei. The only similarity I can see from my figure and the photos are the off-center Decepticon logos on the wings and the darker red pin stripping.
And as the review said, my figure is solid and decent quality, only his left hand is loose as hell and a few joint/paint scuffs.

I hate to admit it but I hope someone makes a KO Shattered Glass Rodimus.

funklizard wrote:I got sold what I'm pretty damn sure is a KO Skywarp as the Real Thing.
⋮
I've contacted the seller in this instance, so we'll see where it goes. I'm willing to give the guy the benefit of doubt.

Just to follow up on this…

This, fortunately, had a happy ending. The seller accepted a return of the item and I got a full refund. The seller indicated that he'd been taken in; and I think that's entirely credible. As I've said, it's extremely difficult to identify this counterfeit without opening the package.

Roxxstar wrote:I just bought and received my KO Thundercracker. The packaging didn't have the Tomy Takara logo and the plastic blister didn't have Transformers embossed, but rather the KO creator's name. The rest of the packaging looks identical. It also came with the instruction manual w/ the Tomy Takara logo and a figure card.
The figure on the other hand is different from the one used in the comparison. My KO has the notches and everything in the same spots as the Henkei. The only similarity I can see from my figure and the photos are the off-center Decepticon logos on the wings and the darker red pin stripping.
And as the review said, my figure is solid and decent quality, only his left hand is loose as hell and a few joint/paint scuffs.

It does appear that there are two KO molds and packaging out there. What appears to be the less accurate of the two molds (that is, without the notches on the knees and shoulders) is the one that has the nearly-identical packaging.

There is one distinct thing I noted about the packaging on the knock-off I received: the twist-ties were clipped very close to where they were twisted together with no excess to speak of. You can see this without opening the packaging. My experience with Hasbro and TakaraTomy packaging has been that there is some excess tie to grab and untwist it. I don't know if this will, in fact, indicate a knock-off 100% of the time; but seeing it again would definitely give me pause.

Nemesis251 wrote:I hate to admit it but I hope someone makes a KO Shattered Glass Rodimus.

I frequent the KOtoys forums often and i can confirm that they are working on 1.. As well as a Shattered glass prime and Toxitron..

My personal Opinion is this. If you knowingly visit and purchase items from a Site called KOTOYS, you should know you are getting a KO..It has been my experience in the purchasing transformers world that if a deal is too good to be true..It probably is. I know if I see a Shattered glass Optimus prime on sale on ebay for a Buy it now of $150...It's total bullshit..No way any collector or retailer would sell that figure for such a low price..But a scalper knows he can swindle a unknowing and impatient collector for a cool $150..

I purchase items from KOtoys failry regulary and they have always met my expectations. Someone mentioned that they make figures available for those who can't justify dropping$ 100 on a single figure only to display them out of package and I say bravo. If they make a good copy of SG Prime and Rodimus, Im all over it. No way I could afford dropping $500 on either of those, but say, $60? I can handle that.

I applaud those who make the comparison witht he KO and the Original. They keep the shady SOB's out of the money and scratching their heads which is great..

sorry if this is mindless rambling..I'z tireDZ!

LiKwid wrote:

Nemesis251 wrote:I hate to admit it but I hope someone makes a KO Shattered Glass Rodimus.

I frequent the KOtoys forums often and i can confirm that they are working on 1.. As well as a Shattered glass prime and Toxitron..

My personal Opinion is this. If you knowingly visit and purchase items from a Site called KOTOYS, you should know you are getting a KO..It has been my experience in the purchasing transformers world that if a deal is too good to be true..It probably is. I know if I see a Shattered glass Optimus prime on sale on ebay for a Buy it now of $150...It's total bullshit..No way any collector or retailer would sell that figure for such a low price..But a scalper knows he can swindle a unknowing and impatient collector for a cool $150..

I purchase items from KOtoys failry regulary and they have always met my expectations. Someone mentioned that they make figures available for those who can't justify dropping$ 100 on a single figure only to display them out of package and I say bravo. If they make a good copy of SG Prime and Rodimus, Im all over it. No way I could afford dropping $500 on either of those, but say, $60? I can handle that.

I applaud those who make the comparison witht he KO and the Original. They keep the shady SOB's out of the money and scratching their heads which is great..

Thanks! You must have been reading my mind. My thoughts exactly.

All I have to say is that the KO CHMS version of Thundercracker is Astonishing ! The only major drawback that I could find was that the eyes are painted over the face instead of being a notch themselves. All and All is very, very Nice!

for me this is a good find I was wondering how I will do my seeker collection when this go for 100+ is crazy money hope I get them soon

hopefully these 3rd party KO companies do a botcon 2011 SG Galvatron for around $25. because I can't afford the secondary market prices

Hate to say this but I am actually happier with the product quality of the KO over the real deal. I have no regrets at all buying the KO version of these guys. I helped fill my bros missing Skywarp spot and finally got a ghost screamer. I actually recommend the KO for 2 reasons
1) Save cash obviously
2) Tighter joints and an overall better construction job on the KO versions.

Shinobitron wrote:2) Tighter joints and an overall better construction job on the KO versions.

Since when?

I love those high quality diecast metal KO Binaltech toys. if it wasn't for the over seas shipping fees that cost around $15. I would have bought a bunch if their were some sellers in america selling these.

The diecast metal ko binaltech toys that interest me is as follows:
that sunstreaker molds turned into movie verse Barricade with the police lights & decals on the toy. that sunsreaker mold in the white colors with the red racing decals on it because it looks like a decent DRIFT toy.

robofreak wrote:

Shinobitron wrote:2) Tighter joints and an overall better construction job on the KO versions.

Since when?

I've heard this to actually be the case with many of the Henkei seekers vs the CHMS version II KOs. But that's definitely an exception...

Kibble wrote:

robofreak wrote:

Shinobitron wrote:2) Tighter joints and an overall better construction job on the KO versions.

Since when?

I've heard this to actually be the case with many of the Henkei seekers vs the CHMS version II KOs. But that's definitely an exception...

This is the case only with Henkei Thundercracker, since quality on that toy was pretty damn low. All others are about the same quality as the original toy except for KO Henkei Starscream.

I have never has better construction on my KO Seekers than on my official ones. Mold issues on the face aside, the hands are a bitch to get out of the arms, one foot on my Sunstorm doesn't fold all the way down, and the Sunstorm (again) didn't have his nosecone fit snugly into his body (had to sand down the peg it collapses into myself to fix this issue). The hand issue is especially bad on any Seeker with painted hands as the paint was scrapped off on mine in my attempt to transform him.

And this is just on the CMS stuff. The older KO Seeker mold is worse.

Of course maybe I lucked out on all of my official Seekers, but I find the hype on the CMS Seeker overblown. They're good, but ... not official quality.

G1Sizzle wrote:KO Toys is NOT the manufacturer of the KO Henkei TC, SW or Ghost SS. To be honest, I'm not sure exactly who manufactures these. KOToys and chimungmung are not making these; they are merely retailing them.

Ignore 84forever. He's a jerkoff from TFW2005 who is pissed because he paid $100 for KOToys Rainmakers, got them, took them apart and broke them, GOT HIS MONEY REFUNDED WITHOUT RETURNING THE ITEMS and is mad because KOToys will not give him free toys.

He got "ripped off" by getting his money refunded in full while KOToys is out a full set of Rainmakers. Yeah...really ripped off...

Just found this.

The KOLD Rainmakers broke at every joint when I attempted to pose them. I never asked for my money back because $100 wasn't worth the wait, time or effort. KOTOYS, with the exception of Thundercracker, stocked 99% garbage at the time this thread was created. I would never ask for free garbage. I was then supposedly blacklisted from buying from KOTOYS and Daelite's Aces toy store after this. I had no idea I was blacklisted because I went on to buy many CHMS seekers and other classics/generations/RTS items from these sellers.

Talk about bringing back the dead....

I miss CHMS and KO Toys. They had some pretty cool stuff. At a time when certain figures were considered a privilege to own, these guys made them available to the masses. There were plenty of haters. But it's not like they were making fake antiques or archeological relics. They were making copies of toys that were under 5 years old. Most of them even said "CHMS" on them. I thought most of them were awesome. I wish CHMS would make a comeback and give us some repaints Hasbro, Takara, and Funpub wont. Redwing would be nice. SG Dirge would also be cool. And the world is ready for a mass release of G2 classics Sideswipe. (custom class version) They could also get the Bumblebee mold and do Glyph and Tap out. And the new Arcee mold could be done as Medic like CHMS did with the Animated mold. Theres plenty of money to be made with those repaints.

CHMS is not gone, They were always known to be brother-sister companies of chimungmung Toy Shop.

These KO and 3rd party companies are very hard to destroy or get rid of. if they get in trouble or go bankrupt. They simply a few days later open up another another company name or re-partner up with their brother-sister company.

1984forever wrote:Just found this.

Okay, this has to stop, NOW. Quit bumping threads that are long past dead and gone. This is the second time you've bumped a thread in the past few days and this post you commented on has flame bait in it.

This is all well known and doesn't need to be brought back up. If it's more than six months old, DO NOT BUMP IT.

Rather than let this spiral out of control, which it has the ability to do, I'm locking this.

Rated X, you had no reason to respond to this, you knew it was a necrobump and that it would be frowned upon, please don't feed into this sort of behavior.

Tsutsukakushi, the same goes for you.

STOP.