The Energon Pub

Sorry, that's the nest I can find right now. There are other sited with it, but they range from $30 to $60.

yeah i know, in the past 30minutes ive found at least 12 other websites all selling the exact same kos as kotoys but that take the piss with prices - Example - the chms rainmakers set is $90 on 2 other sites....90! for 3 ko seekers? wtf

strange how hasbro are dicks to kotoys but they appear to be leaving these other sites alone yet they sell loads of classics/henkei kos themselves

seriously words cannot express how pissed i am about this. I really wanted that last order and now it doesnt look like its gona happen unless i pay some douche bag X4 times the amount the figure would have been off kotoys. Seriously this whole childish situation is just another reason why im getting seriously sick of this hobby

Lets be fair here, that sale at KOtoys should have ended after the Thanksgiving sale ended in November, they EXTENDED it because of the shut down. KOtoys is opening up again under a new name as we speak, and their prices are back up to normal on the new site. Your best deal right now is probably acestoystore for Black Statscream. Once the new KOtoys store is open, they will have Wonderfest Konvoy in stock at its old price. Sorry, you missed the sale. I had other things I wanted to get, but had to limit it to a few items because of money concerns too. I'm glad I got a couple things for the sale.

KO Toys was selling all their products for the regular price until their sale. It's you own fault for not taking advantage of the sale while it was going on. You can't expect Black Friday prices to last forever.

Ace's prices for a set of 3 Rainmakers was actually BETTER than KO Toy's until their closing sale.

I don't know what they'll do with their products now that the store is closing. If you're lucky, Kate or Gen Zao will sell it to you privately. I wouldn't expect it for their going-out-of-business sale price, though.

The Black Friday sale was supposed to end sooner before the shutdown, so is anything the shutdown bought people more time to get bargains. Either shut down or not the prices would be back up now.

tom and kate said the sale was going to last till the begining of jan when the store would be closed down. closing it down now is kinda screwing customers over who were waiting till pay day (like myself) to purchase that last and final deal

now...now i just feel alittle short changed because i cant get the items i wanted anymore and its real sad for me because classics/henkei ect is all i collect. I dont collect cybertron or animated or anything else aside from classics/henkei series...so now i doubt i can get the bots i wanted anymore since kate doesnt seem to answer emails that well because her english isnt that good. Im not even sure how to ask ghenzoa directly as i heard tom doesnt deal with customers anymore because of how...delicate... he can be at time

We can only hope they will sell them again one day. In the meantime, at least the Black Starscream is still available elsewhere.

Sorry to hear you got some misinformation. I'm sure they thought they could stay open until January. But they're a small business and they got hit with an unforseen wall.

You can still buy all the KOs you want ... you'll just have to buy them at full price. Or wait even longer and see if they go down some more. Even KOs can get pricey. KO Toys may have been the most accessible TF KO store, but they aren't the only one.

see u say full price but some people are clearly just taking the piss with the prices and the fact kotoys has been screwed over - in which these OTHER stores start to screw fans over by raising prices x4 times amount

im more angry at myself more than anything else because i seriously wanted a ko wonderfest convoy and the rainmakers and kolg gold prime and death starscream but because i hesitated for the next day...well kotoys closed down early and i missed out big time

im just real sad 1 of my fav websites is gone all because of hasbros greed in **** fans over by making them pay 200-300 for a toy a child should be playing with. If anything i can gaurentee i wont buy direct from hasbro ever again and instead buy from other people so none of the money goes back to hasbro themselves

see its kinda sad because instead of being dicks about the whole situation why not just make an arrangement with kotoys to take a small % of there profits instead? Takara didnt release wonderfest convoy and screwed fans over yet kotoys makes an exact copy of it...so why not just let them and let the fans have a chance to get an item they want and instead hasbro could just take a small % of the profits instead of being arse hats about it all. Im just annoyed they pick on kotoys yet ive found at least 7 other stores selling everything else kotoys had but are retarded prices IE $60 for ko rodimus and then adding £20 for postage

Wonderfest Convoy was never meant to be played with by a child. It was always meant to be a pricy exclucive aimed at adults. Henkei Convoy or Classics Prime is the child's toy you're thinking of. They are not the same. (If they were, you'd be happy with Classics Prime, right?)

High prices, well ... market economy is a bitch. Even KOs are subject to the laws of supply and demand. I saw a blue Classics Prime on sale for $130 on ebay a few days ago. I want Henkei Convoy sometime soon, but I can't complain that he's becoming pricey because I waited. Definately can't blame Hasbro ... they have no control over his price now.

Swindle01 wrote:im just real sad 1 of my fav websites is gone all because of hasbros greed in **** fans over by making them pay 200-300 for a toy a child should be playing with. If anything i can gaurentee i wont buy direct from hasbro ever again and instead buy from other people so none of the money goes back to hasbro themselves

There is just no words for this kind of nonsense. Let's see...You are butt hurt because your "cheap" outlet to avoid paying secondary market prices is closing down. So the solution is obviously "screw Hasbro" by paying higher prices on the secondary market. Except that Hasbro already has the money from the initial sale and all you are doing is paying somebody a little profit so you can feel better by not giving your money to this "evil" corporation who is only defending their IP. Is that right?

i see the obvious point is clearly missed on you... no your right i clearly MUST be wrong. Lets all defend hasbro for not giving us what fans ask for while another company does and lets all be happy hasbro ask 200-300 for a toy.

Also come on G! wonderfest convoy is still a toy no matter how much you look at him. Yeah he was a convention item but hes still a toy and a repaint of a toy aimed at kids which would in all realisticness...would be played with by a child. If some idiots willing to pay 200-300 for a toy then more fool them, im sure there wife/gf (if they even had one) wouldnt be to happy about that much money being spent on something like a childs toy an adult would play with afew times and then put on a shelf collecting dust. Theres more important things such as bills/food ect that need sorting first and foremost. Not everyone wants to pay a greedy company 200-300 for a sodding toy made of plastic which would only have cost $12 max at retail. Kotoys offered people the chance to enjoy there hobby and collect the figures that were rarer and harder to find but at reasonable prices. The websites called KOtoys...so you cant think your buying an offical item considering the title.

Look i know some hardcore collectors here are happy kotoys has gone but if anything doesnt that make you come across as alittle pathetic? your happy a ko website has gone which has offered fans the chance to own figures we wouldnt have been given such as ghost coneheads+seekers+diy kits ect ect while hasbro seem more bothered about a poopy movie line with toys that are all just plain awful and a movie written and directed by an arsehole. sorry i like an actual plot please, not just explosion explosion explosion explosion bumbleebee explosion explosion sad act sam explosion explosion.

I feel sorry for tom because i know he gave up work to focus on kotoys and he put all his energy and money into the business

truth is i feel about done with this hobby after all this. I will keep collecting classics ect but it wont be from hasbro anymore and after the whole bs thats been thrown around about kotoys by so-called-fans its just left me with a bitter taste in my mouth. Were all ment to be grown adults but when were all acting so pathetic as to be happy a toy websites been closed down and a guys lost his livlyhood and its all because of a plastic kotoy robot and that theres some people grinning about this?? its just pathetic, thanks for keeping the stereotype of simpsons comic book guy alive and portaying transformer fans as childish people who cant grow up

see the real irony is alot of these collectors are saying toms greedy for making kos of items like SG rodimus ect and there annoyed at the fact there REAL SG rodimus might lose vaule. Its abit sad to see there being consumed by greed also....there toys people...childrens toys no matter which way you look at them there toys

Okay, on some points ... Hasbro never charged $300 for a child's toy. SG Rodimus was made by Fun Publications as part of a SET. It's the aftermarket that made him jump to $300 outside of that set. And I do believe the price of that set didn't even start out at $300 anyway. You can't blame Hasbro for aftermarket prices; they have no control over that. How can they control the price of SG Rodimus after Botcon? Do you wan them to knock on every ebay auction out there and have a word with private sellers?

Takara has come closest to your $300 mark with the new Masterpieces. But, again, not children's toys. Hasbro and Takara are two different companies that work together. But they are not the same.

Again, Wonderfest Prime is not the same as Classics Prime. WF Convoy was NEVER going to be played with by children. Never. The WF exclucive didn't take away a deco that would have been released in Henkei - it was made FOR WF.

You have a fair point on the prices of some of these things, but it's worth that to some people. That's how a collector's hobby works. Like baseball cards, sports memorabilia, coin collecting, stamps, or anything else you collect.

I'm not happy that KO Toys is closing down. I don't really support KOs, but I did like the redecoed versions of the toys they made. HOWEVER, even while I'm sad to see KO Toys go, they are selling toys they, essentially, STOLE from Hasbro/Takara. I'm sure they knew the risks.

What the crap? When did this thread become a "evils vs. greatness of KO toys"? I don't really like KO anything. I will get one for a gift to someone or as a placeholder until I find an authentic one. I don't believe KOs are equal to the legitimate versions, but I'm not above them. If you love KOs & they're better than the real deal for you, then great. If KOs are a thorn in your side, great. I design computer systems for a living, I have patented a few of my inventions to make money off them. My patents have been ripped off before, so I know how HasTakTom feels, it sucks. When my IPs were used without my consent they basically took money out of my wallet & therefore food/toys/clothes away from my son. That's not cool. But since their quality was inferior to my stuff, people ended up coming back to buy my products in the end. Point is KO is never as good as the original & most people that go with the KO due to price are disappointed & end up buying the real deal to replace the shoddy KO at the end of the day. That is my thoughts & feelings on this. This is the only time I've stated my opinion in the matter & will be the last. If anyone chooses to argue with me about MY OPINIONS & VIEWS on the matter. Sorry for you, but you won't get a response.

Swindle01 wrote:i see the obvious point is clearly missed on you... no your right i clearly MUST be wrong. Lets all defend hasbro for not giving us what fans ask for while another company does and lets all be happy hasbro ask 200-300 for a toy.

You keep referring to Hasbro asking 200 to 300 for a toy, please tell us which toy Hasbro has ever actually asked that much for.

Also come on G! wonderfest convoy is still a toy no matter how much you look at him. Yeah he was a convention item but hes still a toy and a repaint of a toy aimed at kids which would in all realisticness...would be played with by a child.

Wonderfest Convoy was never released, officially he does not exist. There are test shots for a proposed black Wonderfest Convoy, but it was never made. Most likely due to the mold having been too deteriorated at the time.

Also do you know what Wonderfest even is?
Wonderfest is a special convention in Japan centred around adult fans/ collectors of various animes getting together and selling/ buying expensive hand-made adult orientated garage kits and models based on various toylines/shows.

You won't find kids there, Takara gives a license to people like Jizai to create and sell stuff there legaly, it's against Japanese law to sell self-made toys based on someones characters other than on such special events like Wonderfest, and even sells an exclusive there out of appreciation to the people who organise the event. Those exclusives cost about retail price and are limited to a number based on the expected number of attendees.

Look i know some hardcore collectors here are happy kotoys has gone but if anything doesnt that make you come across as alittle pathetic?

Don't you feel a little pathetic for buying childrens toys and therefore robb a child of playing with it?

I feel sorry for tom because i know he gave up work to focus on kotoys and he put all his energy and money into the business

The people who's property he steels also put all their money and energy into their products.

see the real irony is alot of these collectors are saying toms greedy for making kos of items like SG rodimus ect and there annoyed at the fact there REAL SG rodimus might lose vaule. Its abit sad to see there being consumed by greed also....there toys people...childrens toys no matter which way you look at them there toys

No he is greedy, the KOs are of a worse quality than the real ones but still they are more expensive.

Truth is it costs a KO company about as much to make a toy as it does Hasbro/Takara, that cost is about 79 cents a unit for 2007 Leader Class Optimus Prime, that includes factory labour. Then you have to factor in packaging and transportation plus wages and salaries for Hasbro's thousands of employees (designers, marketing, managers, secretaries, customer service, etc ...), plus a profit so the company can continue to grow and stay in business, with TFCC and BotCon exclusives you have to add a bit more to that due to their own expenses and employees.

The price at KO toys includes the production costs at the factory, so 79 cents per figure, if KOToys really did care about making affordable alternatives for fans, then why do they make such a huge profit per figure? Keep in mind they do not have any employees or designers to pay, since the designs aren't theirs.

sigh....i did kinda expect some of the fanboys to say something like this but some of these comments are just stupid....again i see the points missed. just keep kissing hasbros ass guys im sure they will apprechiate it

also in case anyone is unsure - toy comes under this in a dictonary

1. An object for children to play with

no matter what you wana call a convention exclusive or whatever transformers still come classed as a TOY which is for children.

Also im not depriving a child from them because i happen to be married and have a daughter i let play with them but only because shes smart enough to be delicate with them

Swindle01 wrote:sigh....i did kinda expect some of the fanboys to say something like this but some of these comments are just stupid....again i see the points missed. just keep kissing hasbros ass guys im sure they will apprechiate it

also in case anyone is unsure - toy comes under this in a dictonary

1. An object for children to play with

no matter what you wana call a convention exclusive or whatever transformers still come classed as a TOY which is for children.

Also im not depriving a child from them because i happen to be married and have a daughter i let play with them but only because shes smart enough to be delicate with them

You still haven't answered my question regarding the 300 dollar Transformer by Hasbro, so unless you tell me which one it is you simply have no case in this.

I would also like to apologize to Scaleface that his thread on the fact that KOToys delivers in spite of them having to close down most of their inventory.

Yeah, I should apologize as well since I went off topic. I know better, sorry.

Swindle01 wrote:also in case anyone is unsure - toy comes under this in a dictonary

1. An object for children to play with

no matter what you wana call a convention exclusive or whatever transformers still come classed as a TOY which is for children.

collector's item 
noun
an article or object of particular interest or value because of its uniqueness or scarcity.

Dictionary.com

WF Convoy and the Botcon exclucives are collector's items meant for ADULTS, regardless of how you personally feel about it or how the dictionary defines a "toy". They are designed by adults, to appeal to adults, and are priced for adults. The TFs that are for children are the ones sold at Toys R Us and are usually cheaper.

Also im not depriving a child from them because i happen to be married and have a daughter i let play with them but only because shes smart enough to be delicate with them

But if she wasn't smart enough to be delicate with them you WOULDN'T let her play with YOUR toys. But why should that be? If you're not "pathetic" you'll let your daughter play with any TF in your colelction at any time. They're for CHILDREN ... right? Not you, an adult. By the logic you're putting forth you should let your daughter play with every TF you own, without supervision, as roughly as she likes, at any time she likes. Because she is the child and they are meant for her - not you.

Toy collecting is an exception in society, but make no mistake: there are toys designed for adults. Deal with it.

I am going to say to a point, knock offs do have some uses. Customizing them has been a fun experience, especially since in some cases dismantling the KO and fixing up their joints is a much easier experience than dismantling their much larger counterparts (and significantly cheaper).

Heck if there was a knockoff of Shockblast I'm pretty sure you'd see the prices of those not as high as they are thanks to how many have been sacrificed over the years. There's actually a very simple modification that can be made to SG Optimus to give him articulated hands from Alternators Hound...wonder how many people would be willing to do some surgery on their official ones to pull that off?


But on topic, still waiting for my order to arrive. Got the following still coming in the mail as it were:
*Animated Medic
*Decepticon tape combiner
*Powerglide
*SG Optimus for box & spare parts
*KO Devy

I'm still curious just how well their knockoff Crazy Devy set will fit on that last one though.

I don't really have much of an opinion on KOs either way these days so I don't really care whether they close or continue...but couldn't KOToys just get a different website provider, based out of China or something, and keep selling their KOs?

Kibble wrote:I don't really have much of an opinion on KOs either way these days so I don't really care whether they close or continue...but couldn't KOToys just get a different website provider, based out of China or something, and keep selling their KOs?

I'm sure they will. Transferring a domain to a different host & even a different registrar only take about two days for everything to clear, including the dns records.

@ swindle:

patience... don't feel screwed, my friend.

perspective: imagine an avalanche of orders right before a forced shut down before the end of the year (godaddy.com was it?). Those orders need to be secured, processed, packaged, confirmed to be paid, and shipped with tracking. As far as the goods that were taken down, no one can force them to destroy product they rightfully own. Its a matter of distribution. a legal strategy is already being formulated, im sure just be sure to keep their email, and give them enough time to settle after the holidays.

reminders: web servers are available in several places. paypal is a great payment entity.

yeah again i tried talking to kate several times now but she just doesnt seem to reply, either shes busy or her understand of english just isnt that great...

i need to speak to tom realistically as i know with tom i can sort somert out within 1 minute...however i dont think tom has his own email anymore as he gave everything to kate to deal with as he was fed up of dealing with customers

just alittle worried about my account getting wiped as i ordered afew things from them that have yet to arrive and were moving house in feb....

Give them some time, they will answer everyone.