New G1 bootlegs "announced"

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Nevermore
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New G1 bootlegs "announced"

Post by Nevermore »

Mirage and Wheeljack, apparently.

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/showthread.php?t=130287
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/showthread.php?t=130398

Seriously, I'm feeling worried when bootleggers already feel the need to announce their rip-offs of Hasbro properties.
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Denyer
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Post by Denyer »

About time someone "reissued" them, legit or not.
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Post by Cliffjumper »

Sad thing being if Swoop's anything to go by, these'll fetch as much as the originals... Most reports of that one suggested it was so good it was a substitute for all but the most anal fans...
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Clogs
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Post by Clogs »

The Wheeljack would be very hard to spot as a KO on e-Bay, I think, since he is so good and the pictures on the site can be a little bit blurry. If I see something out of focus, I don't bother. I just assume that either the seller is as bad with their camera as I am or it's a KO, as it were, in disguise. So, I'm cynical; I can also handle 'suspicious bitch'.

By the way - I got gazundered on e-Bay! Put in a bid for a pretty nice looking Energon Sideways and got guzundered at the last moment. Uh? :wtf:
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martyboy70
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Post by martyboy70 »

Just a quick (and possibly stupid question)
I was PMing another member(Target) just an hour before I saw this thread about the very subject of paying crazy prices for scabby beat up incomplete Wheeljacks and Mirages as they wont be officially re-released(mold damage/loss-cant remember which)
So my question is:
If these Knock-off meisters sitting in some Chinese sweatshop with (Im guessing) primitive equipment can reverse engineer these guys why cant Hasbro or Takara do the same they would make a mint.
Ive not long came back to TF collecting and might be showing my ignorance but this is something thats puzzled me since I became aware of the situation.
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Denyer
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Post by Denyer »

As I understand it, Hasbro are reliant on Takara for retooling necessary to produce reissues. Takara rarely if ever do castings from toys -- I think it tends to be looked down on by the industry.

Feel free to correct, y'all...
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Post by ColdBain »

I think Denyer nailed it on the head, at least someone is releasing them. I like having my Transformers boxed (so that way I can store them easier) and it's a very hard (and exspensive) road getting a boxed G1 Mirage and Wheeljack.

I just recently got the knock-off Swoop, I'm pretty happy with the toy (despite a few surprizes, lack of the gold chrome and all that), what I like the most about the toy is it's G1 inspired box. The art work and style is spot on. I look forward to the prospect of getting more knock-offs of this quality (because let's be honest, some knock-offs are just rubbish).
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martyboy70
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Post by martyboy70 »

Can anyone tell me if this is likely to be a KO from the same or similar source


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... &rd=1&rd=1
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Post by Cliffjumper »

Yeh, that is indeed - http://tfarchive.com/community/showthre ... adid=30752

I think Backstreet (yeh, random as...), the rest of the Con tapes and Quake (or did I make that last one up?) have had the same treatment.

EDIT: The abbreviation "KO" is in the title :o Through £2.35 isn't bad - not much you can do wrong on a Beachcomber. Sadly, the rest of 'em don't seem to have got out in the same numbers... I'd go for Fakeswoop at around £20, but not the £45 some seem to be fetching...
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Post by Denyer »

Yeah, there are stacks of carded Beachcomber KOs out there. IIRC there are card differences on the back... don't pay more than a tenner in total for it.

(Beachcomber's not exactly rare even if not a KO, either.)

edit: Didn't AFA grade some of these?
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Post by Cliffjumper »

Originally posted by Denyer
edit: Didn't AFA grade some of these?


Yup, just on the off-chance they weren't enough of a joke already. IIRC, they had the same sort of misprints on the card back as Nevermore mentioned in the Swoop thread, and it got past the alleged experts who pour over these sort of things.

EDIT: Seller's a bit of a c*nt IMO for sneaking "KO" in like that... assumes a bit of knowledge on the behalf of the buyer that's perhaps a bit exploitative. I dunno, whenever I sell a KO I make it clear what it is but just talk the thing up.
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Post by Denyer »

Pore, unless that was intentionally Freudian...

Stuff on cards is harder to spot in some respects -- especially with huge runs made of the Minibots -- but anything boxed and in minty fresh, unfaded packaging is usually a total giveaway. People just weren't hoarding the things in airless, sun-free environments back in the 80s.
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Post by martyboy70 »

Originally posted by Cliffjumper

EDIT: The abbreviation "KO" is in the title :o Through £2.35 isn't bad - not much you can do wrong on a Beachcomber. Sadly, the rest of 'em don't seem to have got out in the same numbers... I'd go for Fakeswoop at around £20, but not the £45 some seem to be fetching...


:D Owned to within an inch of my life well spotted cliffy that will teach me to skip to the pictures and be dazzled by the price.
Only paid £5.35 delivered as i went with 1st class recorded rather than Next Day so not feeling TOO much of a muppet.
He also has a Ratbat and Frenzy set which would go nicely with my recently acquired tru Soundwave(yes the one with the fugly buttons.
Im tempted but Ive heard bad things about the Ratbat any opinions?
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Post by Cliffjumper »

EDIT: At Denyer - I dunno, just reading the back would seem to be something I'd expect for my $70 - http://www.toygrader.com/gradingcostpackaged.aspx - but then I'd just point my cock away from the MOSC toy if I was into that sort of thing and save my money, so what do I know?
Originally posted by Denyer
Pore, unless that was intentionally Freudian...


Erm, yeh, it was all a cunning joke. Proper debate etc, etc. and so on.

At Marty - TBH, a loose Beachcomber would cost £1-2 + P&P, and the thing does seem to be of respectable quality... me, I see nothing bad with decent-looking KOs as long as the price isn't exorbitant :) Ultimately things are worth what someone feels like spending on them... I spent a tenner on a bright red Gunnyr, I ain't owning anyone on this front :)
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Denyer
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Post by Denyer »

Originally posted by Cliffjumper
I dunno, just reading the back would seem to be something I'd expect for my $70

I was thinking about the average punter. There's no ****ing excuse for a self-proclaimed grading authority missing stuff like that. None at all.

Cards don't generally show up as discoloured and dinged up as badly as boxes. It's just that there are far more of the cheaper toys made and therefore mint and non-faded boxes are in a huge minority, so anything like that should be suspicious.
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Target
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Post by Target »

Do you think these KO's will just be on ebay? I really would like a nice wheeljack so might be tempted to bid, is that bad?? :confused:
If you can keep your head when all around are loosing theirs...you probably haven’t grasped the situation!!
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Post by RID Scourge »

I'd be interested in these. About the only three Autobot cars from the first two years that I don't have, but care about, are Wheeljack, Mirage and Sunstreaker.
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Post by martyboy70 »

At Target: this was the thread I was trying to tell you about it appeared about an hour after our PMs on exactly the same subject
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Post by Denyer »

Originally posted by Target
Do you think these KO's will just be on ebay? I really would like a nice wheeljack so might be tempted to bid, is that bad?? :confused:

I don't see it as any different to copying a book or song that the producers have kept out of print and are thus making unavailable for purchase.
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Post by Cliffjumper »

Originally posted by Target
I really would like a nice wheeljack so might be tempted to bid, is that bad??


Hasbro/Takara won't get any more money from someone forking out £40 on the original than they will from them buying a knock-off for half of that (especially seeing as, unlike with a book or album, there's minimal chance of these ever becoming avaliable again). The only people who really lose from something like this are wankers who find the value of their collection to be the sole comfort in their lives.
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