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I spoke with TFSource.com spokesman, Curt, regarding the fake Encore Metroplex's that were sold. He assured me that only a small portion of their stock was affected. Curt had this to say:
Only a fraction of the orders purchased in December from us are the KO, so if yours shipped before December it is 100% authentic. We purchased from 4 different suppliers to get enough inventory for the holiday sale, and less than 10% of the stock shipped was the holiday sale. If your order shipped before December then, you have nothing to worry about.
In talking with other online retailers, it seems that the KO Metroplex came from one particular factory in China. As many of you will recall, a KO Metroplex was released this summer but in a different package. The illegal manufacturer most likely swapped the boxes this fall to disguise them as Encore figures in order to compete with the legitimate toys.
Update:
D Unit has reported that TFSource will be shipping authentic Encore Metroplex replacements to customers that received a KO. TFSource wrote:
At our cost, we also have purchased twice the amount of legitimate figures as KO’s shipped out, to fill any claims, from a legitimate supplier. So by all means please send your purchase back no questions asked, and we will send a replacement as well as refund shipping for the inconvenience. Normally we are good at identifying this product but the information regarding the counterfeit wasn’t readily available and we also received so many orders during the holiday, we really weren’t looking for it, so it is our oversight. Apologies for the unfortunate situation.
TFSource also mentioned that they will be taking action against the supplier of the counterfeit Metroplex’s.
We have filed a claim against the seller, as well as contacted Takara/Tomy with his name and address, as well as website, to report him for selling counterfeit products, as well as misrepresenting goods to customers as we have email communication stating that this was legitimate Takara/Tomy product.
The U.S. government recently passed stricter safety laws for toys in response to the millions of toys that were recalled last year due to lead paint. The laws are aimed at big toy manufacturers, to ensure that toys made overseas are adhere to the safety policies. Unfortunately the new laws are having a substantial negative affect on small toy makers, who can't compete with the added costs.
Under the law, all children's products must be tested for lead and other harmful substances. Toy makers are required to pay a third-party lab for the testing and to put tracking labels on all toys to show when and where they were made.
Those requirements make sense for a multinational toy manufacturer churning out thousands of plastic toys on an overseas assembly line, said Marshall. But a business that makes, for example, a few hundred handcrafted wooden baby rattles each year cannot afford to pay up to $4,000 per product for testing, a price some toy makers have been quoted, he said.
A revisement to the law is under consideration so that unfinished materials will be exempt from testing such as wood and fibers - cotton, silk, wool, hemp, flax, and linen. However, not everyone is satisfied that the proposal goes far enough to alleviate the burden on small toy makers. Because the exemptions only apply to unfinished materials, very few toy makers will have products that are entirely spared from testing, said Julia Chen, owner of The Playstore in Palo Alto, which specializes in wooden and organic playthings.
Already, some small toy manufacturers have announced that they will stop importing their toys to the U.S. or reduce their volume because they cannot afford the testing fees.
It is uncertain at this time what kind of affect these new laws will have on the small 3rd party Transformers makers, such as: Fansproject, Impossibletoys, or Justitoys. Because the toys are made from plastic, metal, and paint, they would not be exempt from the testing fees.
The product safety commission has until Jan. 5 to decide on the recommended exemptions.
The location for Botcon 2009 has been revealed! As released on Botcon.com and through members emails, the convention will be held in Pasadena, California! The event is scheduled to run May 28 through the 31st.
The following email was sent out to members of their collectors club.
This just in from the North Pole:
##Santa just announced the location of BotCon 2009##
BotCon 2009 will be in Pasadena, CA May 28th-31st!
We are working on some very special surprises as we know all of you are on the GOOD LIST!
Hotel and venue information will follow in a few short days!
Make sure to keep your eyes on our Events Section for further updates.
The Toy Gallery section has made it’s update today with the 2008 Botcon exclusive Starscream figure. Click here to view a total 90 images of this figure!
TF08.net has new images of the Transformers Revenge of the Fallen Legends Class Optimus Prime and Jetfire toys.
And this new images are very very spoiler heavy!
Spoiler:
They show off our first look at their combines form!
This is James over at BBTS (posting on behalf of Joel)
We have checked all of our stock and everything we have is legit and we are 100% certain we have no knockoffs because we buy from dealers we trust that get product directly from Takara. We were approached by the cheap 3rd party company that makes the knockoffs and we declined to buy them.
If you guys could spread this info around the boards we'd appreciate it since we don't post/read on all the Transformer boards.
Thanks and Happy Holidays from everyone at BBTS!
Stay tuned to seibertron.com for all your Transformers related news!
Youtube user gigasteam has gotten his hands on a sample of the previously seen Transformers Revenge of the Fallen scout class Forklift. After ranting about reviews of toys that haven't been released yet he gives us a good look at the toys Alt-and Robot-mode. See the video by clicking here or by scrolling down.
Stay tuned to seibertron.com for all your Transformers related news!
TFSource.com Stocking Stuffer 2008 Giftset has been revealed. Details from TFSource:
Happy Holidays! Now revealed, is the contents of the figures in the 2008 Stocking Stuffer Giftset! A G2 colored Desert Warrior and Ice Sculpture Jungle Warrior will be the giftset exclusives for this year. More details and bells and whistles are to come, including exclusive giftset packaging, so stay tuned. Unfortuantely a new WST won't be ready close to the holidays, and as TFsource has had a WST Stocking Stuffer for the past 4 years, we couldn't break the tradition! Also, Justitoys has announced that the WST Dark Retribution Giftset will be ready to ship within 1-2 weeks, so if you haven't preordered now is the time!
An annual favorite, the Stocking Stuffer Campaign 2008 is now available and ready for preorder! Limited to 500 pieces, each set includes both figures figures, and more bells and whistles that are yet to be announced. Requires purchase from TFsource or $40 or more to be eligible, other ordering requirements do apply and this set is available only while supplies last.
Keep in mind due to a delay the piece will not ship out until next year, we do apologize and as opposed to canceling the campaign knew fans would still want a set of exclusive figures and decided to still maintain the campaign even though it will ship late.
* Price and quantities subject to change. Shipping costs, taxes and other fees not included in cost shown. Refer to listing for current price and availability.
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