The Energon Pub

All I'm going to say on this is I appreciate Seibertron and other fan sites reporting on KOs. It's not fair to either fans or the creators of the toys when people blatantly rip off a design and pass it off as real. A lie is a lie, and it deserves no defense. Used lots create a real problem for determining what's legit, as do gift purchases by friends and family, who could easily be duped.

Third party homages with new, original toy designs are another matter entirely, as all the good companies are careful not to use trademarked names or otherwise pass their toys off as official, and they actually put a lot of creative effort into making something new and different, rather than just copying someone else's work.

In stock now!

http://www.toymoda.com/goods.php?id=436

$130!? That's outlandish. I got a G1 Scorponok in near perfect condition at Auto Assembly 2009. It was only missing two of the radar dishes, that I have still to track down. It cost me the equivelent of $90. If you are willing to pay $130 for a KO, just look for the original.

Also, it is "nice" to see that a discussion over warnings about KO products can descend into anarchy around here.

A quick look at completed listing on ebay shows COMPLETE Scorponoks have sold for $200 to $400 lately.

Those radar dishes can sell for $15 each, bringing your deal to about $120, which was a very good price, but not one everyone can find every day.

any word on these unscrupulous rascals possibly doing a Black Zarak? Shame on them! Down with this sort of thing!

OK, do we really have to do this every time a "grail" gets KOed? And I mean this in the sense that we repeat ourselves and our arguments over and over and over.

I mean I just found this thread, and it's from the time I wasn't even on this site from the time I was taking a break from all this. And while reading through it, I was convinced I've read the thread before. The same people, make the same arguments, with the same analogues.

If it weren't for the facts that there are a handful of, lets say "original" posts and that it's about KO Scorponok, I would have thought I've gone crazy and never left here.

These threads are always the same, the thread warns us that something big is getting KOed, the early posts can be summed up as "F**k", then some jackass applauds this news and cheers like it's f**king Batman beating up the Joker and saving innocents, then someone posts how this news totally ruins everything forever, which in turn pisses of the ones who seem to hate Hasbro and Takara and seem to only collect KOs because HasTak are assholes due to ebay prices. And then it all degrades into the same tiered old debate of why KOs are bad mkay, and why KOs are good mkay, with all the same points being brought up and debated the exact same way by the exact same people.

The only difference here is that the owner of KO-Toys didn't sign-up, and angrily attack everyone who posted in this thread, be they on the "We love KOs" side or the "We hate KOs" side, but then again KOToys is gone so well.

I mean it was kinda cool and insightful the first three times, but come on guys, we're better than this.

Dead Metal wrote:OK, do we really have to do this every time a "grail" gets KOed? And I mean this in the sense that we repeat ourselves and our arguments over and over and over.

I mean I just found this thread, and it's from the time I wasn't even on this site from the time I was taking a break from all this. And while reading through it, I was convinced I've read the thread before. The same people, make the same arguments, with the same analogues.

If it weren't for the facts that there are a handful of, lets say "original" posts and that it's about KO Scorponok, I would have thought I've gone crazy and never left here.

These threads are always the same, the thread warns us that something big is getting KOed, the early posts can be summed up as "F**k", then some jackass applauds this news and cheers like it's f**king Batman beating up the Joker and saving innocents, then someone posts how this news totally ruins everything forever, which in turn pisses of the ones who seem to hate Hasbro and Takara and seem to only collect KOs because HasTak are assholes due to ebay prices. And then it all degrades into the same tiered old debate of why KOs are bad mkay, and why KOs are good mkay, with all the same points being brought up and debated the exact same way by the exact same people.

The only difference here is that the owner of KO-Toys didn't sign-up, and angrily attack everyone who posted in this thread, be they on the "We love KOs" side or the "We hate KOs" side, but then again KOToys is gone so well.

I mean it was kinda cool and insightful the first three times, but come on guys, we're better than this.

I'm going to save this nice summary and save some time in the future.

know what? I don't even really want a Black Zarak, I want this in the Double Punch colours.

As many of you know a knock off G1 Scorponok has hit the market, and site sponsor Robotkingdom has provided a quick write up and some comparison images. If you're in the market for a authentic G1 Scorponok you might want to take the time to look over the information below.

Dear customers,

Here are some comparison Photos of the KO Scorpronok.

Without checking the product in personal, it may be difficult to distinguish the difference between original G1 and KO.

Below listed some points that might help to recognize their difference.

1. KO Overall material is a little bit gross while original features plain plastic. KO version material is more like a normal plastic toy material...

2. KO features screw on both sides of the head while original feature pin.

3. KO have Scorpion legs use screws while the original one use pin.

4. Sculpture on Original item is clearer.

5. The eye sculpture of Headrobot is difference.

6. Sculpture on the cannon is different.

7. The sculpture on KO Chromed parts are damaged.

8. Visible bubble on the KO version chest and hip paint job.

Hope these informations are helpful and don’t mistakenly buy KO version as authentic one. Enjoy!

Please email to info@robotkingdom.com for further enquiry.


Robotkingdom Crew

Looks pretty close. Say what you want, but they did an awesome job KOing it. The bottom line is Takara slept on this mold. There must be a market for it. A lot of guys just want one for their man cave and don't really care if it's original. It's not like their friends are going to start looking at the screws and nitpick it over a few beers. It's a retro coffee table ornament at a fraction of the original's cost and it looks good. Just my two cents.

I'm all for KO's because HasTak will never reissue a lot of stuff, and it's cheaper, new and in box. However the companies should clearly mark their reissues e.g. having an obviously different copyright logo, and having different logos on the boxes. If they made it identifiable for sure, then it would be completely fine

Can we not have this discussion twice in one topic, please?

welcometothedarksyde wrote:I'm all for KO's because HasTak will never reissue a lot of stuff, and it's cheaper, new and in box. However the companies should clearly mark their reissues e.g. having an obviously different copyright logo, and having different logos on the boxes. If they made it identifiable for sure, then it would be completely fine

What the f**k did I just say the other day? And you want to do it again?

Yeah, it's sad that Hasbro/Takara are so slow to act on these reissues. I'm really glad we got the Takara Fort Max, but it should have been quickly followed up with this guy... and Black Zarak. While I have a vintage one, I'm very seriously considering one of these just to have a clean, crisp one. Most of the visible differences are screws VS pins. That doesn't bother me in the least.

Glad I bought the original thanks for pointing

Yeah, it's the pits that there will be an influx of KO parts now. That part truly sucks.

Who cares this is a 3rdp & kO forum expect this **** if not get over it

I hate to say it, but I actually like the plastic colors on the KO better. They seem much more vivid (the purple and the green).

I've been hankering for a G1 Scorponok, but I don't think I'm gonna grab one of these. I'm waiting for that monster of a bot they showed off at the Tokyo Toy Show.

Any way why is this on the front page! what about all the other **** that gets KO that nobody gives a **** about that goes through the net, i thought seibertron didn't do 3rdp & KO !? and don't say it's to warn people there's been too much to make fuss about this just cos it's G1.

Yeah, the colors do look just slightly brighter — more comic and cartoon accurate. Interesting.

Gotta be honest...

I'm impressed.

I definitely like the colors better on the KO. And what slight complaints they do have, I'm fine with. If I had the money, I'd be all over it.

Autobot Genocide wrote:Any way why is this on the front page! what about all the other **** that gets KO that nobody gives a **** about that goes through the net, i thought seibertron didn't do 3rdp & KO !? and don't say it's to warn people there's been too much to make fuss about this just cos it's G1.

This is not an article about the latest character that a dozen or so "third party" companies are all determined to make their own different homages of. It says right in the title: "Buyer Beware." It's a consumer warning PSA about a fraudulent counterfeit of a highly desirable and sought after figure that goes for significant amounts of money. It's not intended as "hey, everybody, let's all buy, review and talk about this figure." It's "watch your back, because there are a**holes out there who are looking to scam you, lumping you with a fake after you handed over the going price of a real." Maybe it's not possible to avoid ending up with one when buying through eBay or wherever. But at least with an alert like this, the knowledge spreads and you can perform a quick check and raise a claim against the seller, instead of finding out in 5 years when you try to on-sell it to someone and they raise a fraud claim against you because you didn't know you had a fake.

Not to mention all those screws and such are probably easy to hide in photos, and for those who buy in/are looking for certain parts are likely to get KO parts.
On the bright side, if the part doesn't really effect the figure at all, buying a KO part could be a good thing, that is, if its not passed along as the genuine article and is treated as such by the seller.

There are already counterfeit Black Zaraks, they were on sale at Botcon in European classics packaging

Not long till they get unboxed and sold as genuine loose ones or "reissues".