The Energon Pub

As part of my order from ebay seller Lena81822, I received a MP-5 which is obviously a KO (I discuss this in a dedicated thread), and the two Cassettrons MP-15 & MP-16. This thread is about these last two guys.

As I own a legit MP-15 purchased from Big Bad Toy Store, so I was able to compare the two MP-15, and I found some differences that persuaded me that, as for the MP-5, MP-15 (and thus MP-16) are KOs.

I detail the différences below, hoping that it would help others determine if they possess a legit or a fake MP.

First, the boxes (the legit MP-15 is on the left, KOs are on the right).

Front :



Back :



As you can see the ribbing is present on all the boxes. Absence of ribbing has always been highlighted has a way to tell a KO appart of a legit one. A quick discussion about this : it is true that absence of ribbing may be sign of a KO (yet, my MP-27 has almost no ribbing and there is no way it could be a KO). However, the presence of ribbing is NOT an guarantee that you have a real MP (actually, my fake MP-5 HAS the ribbing). So, be careful with the "ribbing criteria", I really think it should be cross-referenced with other features.

Back to the picture : as you can see, colors are a little bit faded on the KOs, its especially visible on the red color, wich is very deep on the real MP-15. The Yellow is also more vibrant on the original and more pale on the KO.

The front pictures are SLIGHTLY blurry on the KO, but you need to stick your nose on the box, and it can not really be seen on the pictures. Of course, all of this is VERY difficult to see without a legit one to compare.

One thing that is however obvious is the difference in the blue background of the TAKARA TOMY logo. On the legit, it is exactly the same colour as every logo on my other MPs (a somewhat dark blue), while on the KOs, it is a much lighter blue. This difference is clearly visible on the picture.

On the back, again, the pictures are little bit more blurry on the KOs, and all the colors are faded compared to the original. Interestingly, the "date stamp" embossed on the boxes of the two KOs are very similar (A2113 for MP-15 & B2113 for MP-16). The date stamp on my original MP-15 is C2414. So A and B doesn't systematically correspond to MP-15 or 16. To me it looks like the KOers just changed one letter to their stamp from one MP to the other.

Finally, these date stamps are systematically reported on the miniatures of Rumble & Frenzy (look at the pictures below). Interestingly, on these videos : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISlZOX2rmFs & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8hGZvetf14 the date stamps of the reviewed KOs are the same as the ones on my KOs !!!!

So, date stamps are probably the best way to check if you have a KO.

Finally, the font used for the date stamps seems different on the KO (look below at my original and my KO Rumble).

Inside the box :

Let's have a look at the instruction leaflets. On the picture below, the leaflet from the legit MP-15 is on the top right.





I have written elsewhere that the leaflets from MP-15 were folded differently in the KO compared to the legit. I was wrong, there's actually 2 leaflets in my legit MP-15, while only one in the KO (but leaflets common to both the legit and the KO are quite the same). However, the colors of the stat card are a bit off in the KO, but honestly it is impossible to notice without a legit to compare.

Most importantly, there is no hole in the leaflet bag, while there is one on each side of the leaflet bag of the legit MP-15.

If you look at the accesories bags, again another difference appear (in the picture below, accessories from the legit MP-15 are on the left) :



When you look at the subdivision where the gun are , the legit bag has evenly-formed separations . Also, this separations are continuous in the KO, and as "dots" in the legit.

Now the cassettes themselves. On the pictures below, the legits are on the left, and the KOs on the right:









All I can say is that these figures are impressive ! They look almost exactly like the originals. I have to say that the painting quality is in some places even better, and even the global build quality is above the original (look at my Rumble, he doesn't really transform properly in cassette mode, while it is flawless in the KO).

However, there are differences. Look at the pins I highlighted, they are painted on the originals, but not on the KOs. Honestly, this is the only difference I have seen, the tampo stamping are not a give away (they are SLIGHTLY better on the original, but you need again to stick your nose on the figure to see it). To be honest, most of the legit MP-15 that have been reviewed on youtube do not have these painted pins, so my MP-15 is maybe from an improved second rund (according to the date stamp, it has been produced in 2014, while the figure was first released in 2013). That means that the pin painting is not exactly a gove away for the KO.

Inside the box, the most striking difference is in the color and texture of the pink cassette cases. On the picture below, the bottom one is from the legit MP-15, the middle from the KO MP-15 and the top from the KO MP-16.



Again, the difference is obvious : the real case has a deep pink color while the KOs are much lighter. Also, the real one is more opaque, while those from the KOs are almost crystal clear. Looking at these cases is probably the best way to tell if you have a KO. A similar difference has already been discussed in this video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8hGZvetf14

I also noticed that the "Transformers" branding is completely flat on the KO, and grainy on the original (this has been also highlighted in the video).


So in short, the most easy way to determine if you have a KO MP-15 or MP-16, is by looking at (1) your Takara Tomy logo (should be exactly same color as our other MPs), (2) the plastic bags of accessories and (3) the pink cassette cases and the Transformers printing that should be grainy. Also, globally, all colors are faded on the boxes (especially the yellow).

The rest mentionned in this review (Date stamps, pin painting...) seems not to be systematic, maybe depending on the production run.

Also like to add ladies and gents, as mentioned in Pilgrim's other thread, buyer beware. You get what you pay for. Some vendor aren't that greedy while some are.....especially in ebay. If the deal is too good to be true then it isn't.

Price of KO TFs almost half of the legit. I'm OK with the vendor being honest up front. Not even going into the morality issues.

If you really want an original with no future intent to sell, I'd take even the box damaged ones. So long as the item isn't damaged. That's how I got my MP 08 Grimlock. Boxed damaged with the wrong batteries packed in lol!

Also,on packaging fonts. Whether G1 or MP. Sometimes, the originals are the faded (due to age) while for MPs there is indeed a degradation in quality as those used to make the Ko boxes are just scans from the originals. Packages are printed using a master negative sent by the product contractor. In this case TT/Hb.

Je viens de discuter avec un ami qui connait bien les masterpiece MP-15 & MP-16. Il a plusieurs modèles originaux et copies. Il existe plusieurs modèles originaux qui sont fabriqués dans des pays différents avec des variations dans les détails et bien sûr les copies aussi. Pour lui, les 2 détails qui prouvent que c'est un original c'est: la camera sur la tête de buzzsaw ou laserbeak doit être gris metal foncé. Si c'est gris métal clair comme le reste de la figurine c'est une copie. En 2, plus subtil, on peut lire les lettres L et R sur buzzsaw ou Laserbeak en format cassette à coté des canons laser. J'ai bien regardé vos photos, je vois bien les 2 lettres! Ça relance encore le débat. Par contre, je ne vois pas la caméra sur la tête. Pourriez vous me préciser la couleur? Merci.