The Energon Pub

News Credits: 8 · by **ZoneDaiatlas** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 9:21 am

[quote="mechajol"]Marikina. My home city. :grin:

Pretty rare to come across such good bootlegs in my area, so I don't post much.

News Credits: 8 · by **ZoneDaiatlas** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 11:15 am

Found more KO's for everyone to enjoy...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0145130068

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0153175261

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0146621333
($50 is too much for this KO. I paid $25 for mine)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0144801984

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0162560979

by **zemper** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 12:11 pm

[quote="mechajol"]Marikina. My home city. :grin:

Pretty rare to come across such good bootlegs in my area, so I don't post much.

by **JHand** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 12:17 pm

Bought a TF knockoff Monday. I'm not sure, but it probably was a gray-colored Cadillac, Saleen or a Saleen-mod Cadillac that transforms similarlly to Cybertron Minicon Oval. His legs are very fragile, however (fall off with little shaking). Thinking about dubbing him as a gray Sideswipe (on the grounds that TF Armada has a blue Sideswipe). Some photos of him follow.
Any ideas?

News Credits: 4 · by **craggy** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 12:45 pm

wow, bootleg Perceptor looks like a pretty cool purchase! digging the gene simmons boots he and Soundblaster are sporting.

the red Defensor looks like a Hate Plague variant. I read someone had an all-white version too, anyone have both so we can get some crazy mix&match pics?

News Credits: 49 · by **Scaleface** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 3:12 pm

Knockoff Nikes!

http://cgi.ebay.com/NIKE-Free-7-0-Trans ... dZViewItem

by **Wes Crayon** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 3:45 pm

[quote="yovnocrats"]ok, heres a question. you know how big lots has the 6 dollar sets with 4 figures in it? the animal one and the dino one? has anyone bought the dinosaur one?

News Credits: 49 · by **Scaleface** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 4:17 pm

Someone at Knockoff TF Inc. is getting smart. First the Getaway redeco to look like movie Bumblebee. Now we get a redeco of G2 Laser Optimus Prime that looks like movie Optimus!

http://cgi.ebay.com/TRANSFORMERS-LASER- ... dZViewItem

Love the name too... "Super Changes Collect Them All Robots". The box art features movie Optimus, Cybertron Optimus and Cybertron Wing Saber.

by **mechajol** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 7:43 pm

whoah! getaway redeco? can you post some pics?

those bootlegs look cool! i hope they turn out in our pegs. all i see here are WST gestalts

by **mechajol** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 7:46 pm

[quote="ZoneDaiatlas"][quote="mechajol"]Marikina. My home city. :grin:

Pretty rare to come across such good bootlegs in my area, so I don't post much.

by **mechajol** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 7:55 pm

and speaking of bootlegs from great toys...

Yeah! Bootleg gen1 tape robots!!! Got these a few months ago from the greattoys shop. They had a bucket full of these tapes!

The bootlegs come in 2 sizes, the small versions (which, according to my friend, is the G1 size), and the big versions (which are upsized, but slightly smaller than the real cassettes).

And guess how much I scored these! Around 1$ for all 5!!! Of course, I got the small versions because I was planning to pose these along side the Classics toys.

TAPE MODE

The quality of the plastic used is a bit on the brittle side. Typical bootleg plastic. In tape mode, the structure is a bit convincing, except for the fact that some of the limbs are a bit loose.

In tape mode, the structure is still solid enough. All robots are marked "6 in 1" and painted only on the Side A part.

The paint does a good job of disguising these (sometimes even better than the original). Turn these over on the unpainted part, and it becomes obvious. Bootleg robots look like actual bootleg tapes!

ROBOT MODE

For Rumble/Frenzy, the robot mode is nice. The arms have surprisingly good articulation, and the loose limbs can be tightened on the screws. Except for the painted tape label, no other paint is applied, so the facial features aren't clear.

Also, it is interesting to note that while these guys have the Frenzy/Rumble body, they have the Rewind/Eject head. And yeah, I know, the legs are transformed backwards. But the feet are placed in the wrong direction. I fixed these already.

Okay, all of the robots have no Autobot/Decepticon markings whatsoever, so unless you're familiar with them, you'll be lost.

Also, there are no weapons or accessories included.

For Ramhorn, the rhino, this toy has the most loose limbs. When you dig in greattoys' bootleg tape bucket, be sure to choose the robots with the tight limbs. The short legs make limited poses.

Ravage and Steeljaw are great. Both have tight leg joints, with only the paws a bit loose.

ROBOT OR TAPE?

I'll go with either modes. The tape mode is really cool, and even deceiving specially if you have someone who's not familiar with these things anymore.

The robot modes are also fun, specially Frenzy/Rumble/Rewind/Eject.

PROS:
- great buy
- good cassette modes

CONS:
- brittle plastic
- wrong assembly of some parts
- loose joints in some parts

RECOMMENDATION:

If you could grab one, grab one! I preferred to purchase the smaller versions because I want to display these with the Classics TF toys.

Also, be very careful when transforming these bootlegs, and expect to do a little bit of adjusting/tweaking here and there.

As for customziing, why not? But honestly, I'm not even sure if I want to repaint these to their G1 colors. I mean, old cassette tapes are colored the same way, right?

News Credits: 49 · by **Scaleface** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 9:59 pm

[quote="mechajol"]whoah! getaway redeco? can you post some pics?

those bootlegs look cool! i hope they turn out in our pegs. all i see here are WST gestalts

by **mechajol** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 10:43 pm

nice! gotta keep my eyes peeled for one of those!

i used to have a getaway when i was a kid!

btw, the car's roof which turns into the chest. it should be able to turn around. The windshield should be pointing downwards

and the gray "feet" should be folded out to form real feet

by **It Is Him** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 12:56 am

[quote="Bonger"][quote="It Is Him"]This thread is amazing. Answered all of my questions without having to ask one.

Thank you!

by **waaaaghlord** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 1:07 am

[quote="It Is Him"][quote="Bonger"][quote="It Is Him"]This thread is amazing. Answered all of my questions without having to ask one.

Thank you!

by **coolpop** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 1:53 am

[quote="toysghost"][quote="Overcracker"]I guess we will be starting new. Start Posting knockoff finds and questions. And could somebody please sticky this.

by **deceptibots** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 10:37 am

HELLO. I'm new to this site and IN NEED OF YOU GUY's HELP. PLEASE TELL ME HOW TO SPOT A KO G1 OPTIMUS PRIME (in a Hasbro Box) JUST BY LOOKING AT THE BOX.

by **xgat** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 3:55 pm

[quote="RX-93 v Gundam"]I couldn't find the set of KO Constructicons at Big Lots but I found the 2packs of them. I don't think I can combine them to form Devastator though.

Also I was laughing really hard when I found some KO Gundams there as well. The KO Wing Gundam in particular was prety funny.

by **Wes Crayon** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 8:19 pm

Found those old Victory Leo/Star Saber knockoffs for $3 at Dollar General today -- decided to go ahead and snag the $5 wannabe Insecticon set as well.

No out of package pics of these guys; I'm sure you've all seen them before. They're decent enough for knockoffs -- the plastic is cheap and they are hollow, of course, but that's the nature of the beast. My only significant problem with them involves fact that my Saber's sword handle was broken off inside the package.

Insecticon wannabes! They're pretty crappy, but if you're planning to build a cheap Insecticon army these guys are great. The cicada and the grasshopper kinda suck, but the dragonfly is pretty cool and the beetle rules the school. I'd pay up to $3 for him alone.

Note that these are larger than the ones I've seen packed individually (the larger ones with the painted eyes are from the 4-pack). The big grasshopper's legs have several points of articulation, whereas the smaller one's legs have none. In the absence of clear nail polish and tighter joints, this effectively makes the larger one far floppier than his smaller counterpart.

Shot of the grasshoppers in robot mode. They also have different transformations regarding the legs: the smaller grasshopper's hind insect legs fold forward to become the robot shins and feet, but the larger one has these molded so his hind insect legs fold back (he's kinda unstable, so I use them as heelspurs). Incidentally, both the larger and smaller robots had misassembled legs right out of the package, but since there are no screws or pins they were fairly easy to fix.

The stickers on the larger one are not very sticky at all.

All for now -- someday I'll get a more complete review of all of my bootleg Insecticons up on Scary-Crayon. :grin:

News Credits: 3 · by **coolpop** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 9:08 pm

[quote="deceptibots"]HELLO. I'm new to this site and IN NEED OF YOU GUY's HELP. PLEASE TELL ME HOW TO SPOT A KO G1 OPTIMUS PRIME (in a Hasbro Box) JUST BY LOOKING AT THE BOX.

by **blunghole** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 9:32 pm

[quote="Wes Crayon"][quote="buddahscott"]I have these guys, plus a Laserbeak and Steeljaw that he doesn't list anymore. And they
are FANTASTIC.

...A word or two of advice: X-Acto knives and Krylon paint are a must and if
you are going to paint them, paint the pieces first and then put them together. A little hot
glue is nice too. It'll keep pieces from separating if you plan on transforming the figures
often.

by **It Is Him** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 11:36 pm

[quote="waaaaghlord"][quote="It Is Him"][quote="Bonger"][quote="It Is Him"]This thread is amazing. Answered all of my questions without having to ask one.

Thank you!

by **Auto Bot** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 2:17 am

That's a very good Hound you got there. Looks like fine quality, with details instructions and nice packaging. Almost like original of another brand.

Price is acceptable. But not the cheapest. I've seen this version (same box design) of Subaru and Viper at around 8-10 USD.

But 15 USD is still a decent enough price.

Great find!

News Credits: 1014 · by **First Gen** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 12:49 pm

So I went to BIG LOTS again to go get the Knock off Beast Wars/MAchines Megs (Dragon one) and they had 1 Lio Convoy ko. The Japanese version one. Its in the weird yellow which are traditional lion colors but its real bright.

I guess Im asking this, should I keep it and repaint it to look like the original, or should I just dump it on ebay?

by **Wes Crayon** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 4:17 pm

[quote="First Gen"]So I went to BIG LOTS again to go get the Knock off Beast Wars/MAchines Megs (Dragon one) and they had 1 Lio Convoy ko. The Japanese version one. Its in the weird yellow which are traditional lion colors but its real bright.

I guess Im asking this, should I keep it and repaint it to look like the original, or should I just dump it on ebay?