The Energon Pub

[Bronzewolf]

We've all seen knock-off toys, and if you're like me, you enjoy seeing all that the crazy, neon-colored world will crank out next. So share it here! Post all of your KO sightings below, revel in all the cheap, warped-plastic glory that other Seibertronians have brought to the table, and educate yourself and others about the dangers of true knock-off products.

[Bronzewolf]

To start things off:

Apparently San Diego is a breeding ground for KO TFs.

[Kurona]

Ooooh my god that is incredible.

[Bronzewolf]

Ooooh my god that is incredible.

LOVE your new profile pic, Kurona. And yeah, Super Transform Ultimate End General has to be one of my top 5 favorite TF characters hands down.

[Kurona]

Ooooh my god that is incredible.

LOVE your new profile pic, Kurona. And yeah, Super Transform Ultimate End General has to be one of my top 5 favorite TF characters hands down.

It's a gif I've had for ages, but Ace beating up a dalek with a baseball bat never does get old. best companion and best doctor

And I know, right? He had so much depth and inspired generation upon generation. As good as MTMTE/Lost Light is, I doubt any future Transformers fiction can match up to his era.

Also he's wearing two Optimuses for his feet how can you not love him

[Bronzewolf]

Ooooh my god that is incredible.

LOVE your new profile pic, Kurona. And yeah, Super Transform Ultimate End General has to be one of my top 5 favorite TF characters hands down.

It's a gif I've had for ages, but Ace beating up a dalek with a baseball bat never does get old. best companion and best doctor

And I know, right? He had so much depth and inspired generation upon generation. As good as MTMTE/Lost Light is, I doubt any future Transformers fiction can match up to his era.

Also he's wearing two Optimuses for his feet how can you not love him

Nope, never gets old. Though I would say 5 and K-9 or Sarah Jane, but whatever

Oh, and the ThecHangEable feature is easily THE best gimmick to ever be included in a transformer toy. I mean, really, Hasbro should just stop production now. There's no possible way to top this.

[Bronzewolf]

Round 2, this time from Kansas City.


Starting with one of the more well-known knock-offs: Scaled-down DoritoScream


Next up a less specific knock-off, but a knock-off just the same.



I threw these in because I was just so shocked to see the Gundam designs so blatantly ripped off, while simultaneously being a Lego clone. (Hey, other Giant Robots matter, too, right?)

[Bronzewolf]

The KO's have taken Toy Fair! I thought I'd repost some of Seibertron's findings fro this year's New York Toy Fair.

Bamblebee






Aptimis Pram (Although, potentially a G1 Blaster homage?)





...aaaand some Bugatti Veyron trensmorphers. (Hmmm... Reminds me of someone)









Nothing like re-invigorating old threads, right?

[Jelze Bunnycat]

Knockoffs never cease to amaze me I want to check out Family Dollar because new KO's have been spotted there, but no opportunities yet.

[Bronzewolf]

Knockoffs never cease to amaze me I want to check out Family Dollar because new KO's have been spotted there, but no opportunities yet.

Please, post anything you find here! The more the merrier!

And yep, I keep going to dollar stores expecting something along the lines of these, but ironically, my first two posts in the thread were both found in super upper-class swanky outdoor shopping districts, one in Los Angeles, one in Kansas City. And, adding to the irony, the only things I've found at Dollar stores have been the official product.

[Agamemnon]

Knockoffs never cease to amaze me I want to check out Family Dollar because new KO's have been spotted there, but no opportunities yet.

Please, post anything you find here! The more the merrier!

And yep, I keep going to dollar stores expecting something along the lines of these, but ironically, my first two posts in the thread were both found in super upper-class swanky outdoor shopping districts, one in Los Angeles, one in Kansas City. And, adding to the irony, the only things I've found at Dollar stores have been the official product.

Official product, you say?



(Sorry, was too tempting. I'll show myself out now... )

[Kurona]

Not my findings; but those of someone on Twitter who found them at B&M (a UK store thing). Oversized and weirdly coloured CW Rook, Streetwise and First Aid - anyone know 'em? Kinda wonder why the Protectobots in particular are exposed to this. They were the most common in the UK in my experience, mind...

[Jelze Bunnycat]

I know those, they were featured in the KO forums not too long ago. Getting 2 for GBP 15 sounds like a pretty good deal, I'd have gotten the red First Aid and blue Streetwise.

[Bronzewolf]

Not my findings; but those of someone on Twitter who found them at B&M (a UK store thing). Oversized and weirdly coloured CW Rook, Streetwise and First Aid - anyone know 'em? Kinda wonder why the Protectobots in particular are exposed to this. They were the most common in the UK in my experience, mind...

Ohhhh, those are great. How'd they even get the molds to stuff so recent? I was under the impression it had to be years since.the mold was last used to be thrown out.

[Kurona]

Not my findings; but those of someone on Twitter who found them at B&M (a UK store thing). Oversized and weirdly coloured CW Rook, Streetwise and First Aid - anyone know 'em? Kinda wonder why the Protectobots in particular are exposed to this. They were the most common in the UK in my experience, mind...

Ohhhh, those are great. How'd they even get the molds to stuff so recent? I was under the impression it had to be years since.the mold was last used to be thrown out.

It's not necessarily the situation that they have the mold; they could have simply gotten the toys themselves and created a mold around them. Given that these are upscales I wouldn't say that's out of the question in this particular case

[Bronzewolf]

Not my findings; but those of someone on Twitter who found them at B&M (a UK store thing). Oversized and weirdly coloured CW Rook, Streetwise and First Aid - anyone know 'em? Kinda wonder why the Protectobots in particular are exposed to this. They were the most common in the UK in my experience, mind...

Ohhhh, those are great. How'd they even get the molds to stuff so recent? I was under the impression it had to be years since.the mold was last used to be thrown out.

It's not necessarily the situation that they have the mold; they could have simply gotten the toys themselves and created a mold around them. Given that these are upscales I wouldn't say that's out of the question in this particular case

Ah, you're right. I didn't notice they were upscaled. Even cooler in an illegal, awful looking way. I want to know if they combine.

[SirToys]

Combined

[Agamemnon]

Combined

My eyes, the goggles do nothing!

[Bruticuz]

bought my son, who is a big thomas fan, one of these

[Bronzewolf]

bought my son, who is a big thomas fan, one of these

Lol those never get old. I can never seem to find one out in the wild. I've actually never seen one with the robot head. Normally it breaks off and people just use the train face which always looks weird.

[Kurona]

Oh man did I hit upon a goldmine with my friend yesterday.

First of all, he showed me a couple of KOs he had and which were incredibly awful - one is clearly Razorclaw, but I can't pin down the other one. I thought it was ROTF Blazemaster but it doesn't seem to match up. Anyone able to help out?









But the fun doesn't stop there. I went with him to Poundland and found and bought my first very own KO! Say hello to
GALAXY SHIFTER
flying through the universe

I almost don't want to throw out this packaging because it's got so much awful over it.
DEFENDING THE PLANETS
WE SHIFT SHAPE
MISSION COMPLETE







Of course it's by Funtastic. Of course it is!





This isn't his car mode, just his back. Now we know what TLK Barricade was inspired by!



The actual car mode doesn't tab together very well and the underside has more robot kibble than an Aerialbot





You can't quite make it out here but the car doors say "MARS attacker". I guess that's how they work in the Galaxy shifting angle.

The whole thing feels so oily and awful and the worst thing ever and... man it's great.

[shajaki]

This thread is brilliant

Is it just for the Beatdown type KO's or the nice ones too? Cause I got a couple reviews I could toss in here

[Bronzewolf]

Oh my god Kurona, those are all great. I have no clue on the Helicopter. I've been looking for about 20 minutes on Google and the Wiki and I just can't find anything with that silly rotor-feet thing. I thought it might have been a rescue bots toy because it's so simple and unrefined, but I just can't find it.

Galaxy Shifter is awesome. Fear him and his slightly oversized bread knife. (His box is actually pretty cool looking, tbh)

This thread is brilliant

Is it just for the Beatdown type KO's or the nice ones too? Cause I got a couple reviews I could toss in here

The gaudier the better, but everything's pretty much fair game.

[Kurona]

Oh my god Kurona, those are all great. I have no clue on the Helicopter. I've been looking for about 20 minutes on Google and the Wiki and I just can't find anything with that silly rotor-feet thing. I thought it might have been a rescue bots toy because it's so simple and unrefined, but I just can't find it.

Galaxy Shifter is awesome. Fear him and his slightly oversized bread knife. (His box is actually pretty cool looking, tbh)

This thread is brilliant

Is it just for the Beatdown type KO's or the nice ones too? Cause I got a couple reviews I could toss in here

The gaudier the better, but everything's pretty much fair game.

I totally forgot to mention two laughably bad things about the helicopter's transformation: the hands are on swivels which are of course for hiding them inside the arms, but plastic inside said arms block them from going in. And my friend's had this for quite a few years; and in all those years he's never been able to get the head out. Oh, and the arms easily keep falling off the balljoints.

[Bronzewolf]

UPDATE: I have doth been twitted by Lord Thew. ( )

https://twitter.com/toygrind/status/866364285693382663