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Post by shaxper on Mar 29, 2007 22:21:30 GMT -5
I know there's been a lot of speculation about the quality of the new repro G1 TFs from China. We had a whole thread on the Swoop remake alone. Well, I finally got my order from China and wanted to let everyone know how the quality was on the rest of these guys.
G1 Black Optimus Prime
The box is EXACT. I couldn't believe it. Right down to the copyrights, cut-out robot points, and the infra-red coded abilities graph on the back. Even the inside was perfect - the styrafoam insert and the instruction manual were identical to the originals.
The toy is just as exact. Other than the fact that this version is all black, the quality, die-cast content, rubber wheels, and even the joints were perfect. I can't find a single thing wrong with this guy.
The only difference between this and the original is that no stickers come affixed to the toy. They all come on sheets, which makes the product look a little depressing in the box. Once you add the stickers though, this thing is PERFECT!
One thought: The black version didn't seem to come with the two long gray stickers that go beneath the windshields on Prime's chest. I don't know if this was just the case for the black version, or if it applies to the regular version too.
Buzzsaw and Laserbeak
Absolutely exact replicas. Impossible to tell the difference. I noticed that the cassette cards all seem to say Frenzie and Laserbeak, even when Rumble or Buzzsaw are included. This problem aside, the card and toys are identical.
Rumble and Frenzy
Nearly identical. It's possible these guys are a little looser than the originals, but I don't remember the originals well enough to make that call. There's no major QC issue. They just aren't as tight as Laserbeak and Buzzsaw. I've noticed that some of their smaller arm stickers come off quite easily and may need to be reglued. The strangest and most noticable difference between these and the originals is that these guys WILL NOT fit inside of a G1 Soundwave. They're just slightly too wide. It's weird that this is not a problem for Buzzsaw and Laserbeak, but it is a problem for Rumble and Frenzy.
Ratbat
Nearly perfect, and the card is correct (it doesn't say Frenzy and Laserbeak). Ratbat seems a little looser than I remember, but it still G1 quality. He also suffers from the Frenzy/Rumble problem of not fitting inside of a G1 Soundwave, unfortunately. Other than that, he's nearly indistinguishable from the G1 original.
Hope this helps in your decisions to buy or not buy these guys!
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Post by shaxper on Apr 1, 2007 1:51:23 GMT -5
Against my better judgment, I decided to open one of the bootleg Swoops today, and I have to say that I was surprisingly pleased. I didn't have any of the previously mentioned QC problems other than the fact that one of the wing holes is too big to hold a missile launcher. Also, I can't seem to find the eye stickers on the three included sticker sheets. Everything else is absolutely perfect. The reproduced TF catalogue included within was a very nice bonus, as well.
So I'm still feeling very confident about these Chinese KOs. No, they are not 100% perfect, but they're as close as any unofficial reissue is ever going to get. In some cases, I think these guys even did a better job than Hasbro/Takara did with their official reissues.
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Post by novabeam10 on May 7, 2007 16:27:42 GMT -5
I got a chinese ratbat the other day, it is a bit looser than I thought but still displays well, I don't mind the thickness bit as I delegated soundwave's deck to lazerbeak and ravage. I really am hoping they "re-release" some of the autobot cassettes (and hoping against hope for the 2 autobot dinosaur combiner cassette teams to be among them.) I am really hesitant about calling these KO's or bootlegs in a way as theyre so damn near perfect! flaws would be expected yes but these are so close to the "true" g1's that I'd actually buy them if they were of harder to find character and are of G1 quality
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Post by shaxper on May 7, 2007 21:22:23 GMT -5
I thoroughly agree with your sentiment. Given the choice between these guys and official reissues, I'd choose these.
I haven't heard any news about Autobot Cassettes yet, though, so it may be a while. For right now, I think they're just gunning for the more popular/sought after characters. The combiner cassettes might be a tad too obscure for their target audience.
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Post by novabeam10 on May 8, 2007 12:06:43 GMT -5
True but I'd love to see them here in one way or another. Guess I'll do my voodoo chants for a while longer to get them and big powered to see the light of day again
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Post by shaxper on May 9, 2007 1:09:37 GMT -5
True but I'd love to see them here in one way or another. Guess I'll do my voodoo chants for a while longer to get them and big powered to see the light of day again I'd love to see the Silver chested version of Big Powered get reissued one day, though it's more likely that this KO company would eventually re-release the "movie" Ultra Magnus ehobby exclusive, which was close--but not exact.
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Post by novabeam10 on May 21, 2007 14:09:10 GMT -5
oh that big powered, I was referring to the 3 micromaster bases (dai atlas road-fire and sonic bomber) that combined into that friggin big ship My bad I forgo about the diaclone one >_<
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Post by shaxper on May 21, 2007 21:41:16 GMT -5
I never saw the combined ship mode. Do you have any pics? I love my Dia Atlas, but I never liked Sonic Bomber much. I've never seen road-fire.
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Post by novabeam10 on May 22, 2007 15:14:52 GMT -5
www.fortunecity.com/lavendar/manwood/484/TF/Zone.html its the best I can do. I had hoped that I could collect every micromaster set made (am not concerned with the japanese colored versions of some just wanting every mold atm) but I realized that having those three and grandus listed as micromaster bases would make this near impossible (the reissue star convoy helped)
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Post by shaxper on May 22, 2007 21:32:22 GMT -5
www.fortunecity.com/lavendar/manwood/484/TF/Zone.html its the best I can do. I had hoped that I could collect every micromaster set made (am not concerned with the japanese colored versions of some just wanting every mold atm) but I realized that having those three and grandus listed as micromaster bases would make this near impossible (the reissue star convoy helped) Yes, I recall that image now. I guess I didn't remember it because it didn't impress me much. Unless you're trying to complete a collection (which you are), I think you only need Dia Atlas. He's impossible to find cheap, but there was a very nice Takara Brave repaint of him released in Japan in the 1990s. I obtained it for $90, and I like the new colors much better. I believe it's called Brave Mightgain. Try looking it up.
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Post by Great Kaiser 2 on May 22, 2007 23:08:54 GMT -5
Will the Ratbat cassette fit into a reissue Soundwave or Soundblaster?
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Post by novabeam10 on May 23, 2007 16:45:05 GMT -5
I've seen the repaint, looks good but I am wondering if it had all of the parts like the TF one? I know the grandus repaint has different parts and I don't know if it can combine to star convoy the entire big powered 3 pack is about 700$ though I have seen dai atlas for 150$ loose complete
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Post by shaxper on May 29, 2007 23:00:29 GMT -5
Will the Ratbat cassette fit into a reissue Soundwave or Soundblaster? Unfortunately, no. I've seen the repaint, looks good but I am wondering if it had all of the parts like the TF one? I know the grandus repaint has different parts and I don't know if it can combine to star convoy the entire big powered 3 pack is about 700$ though I have seen dai atlas for 150$ loose complete I have the repaint, but I've never owned the original. Tell me what parts it should have (or, better yet, provide pics) and I'll tell you if mine has them.
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Post by Great Kaiser 2 on May 30, 2007 13:57:04 GMT -5
There is a China reissue bumblebee right? Does anyone have pics of that? I heard rumors of Devastator being reissued by China. Is that true?
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Post by novabeam10 on May 30, 2007 15:22:18 GMT -5
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Post by shaxper on May 30, 2007 21:52:59 GMT -5
There is a China reissue bumblebee right? Does anyone have pics of that? I heard rumors of Devastator being reissued by China. Is that true? Different manufacturer. It's practically identical, except that it has a keychain ring attached. They reissued all of the original G1 Minibots in the same way. The links don't work, but I went to the site and looked up Dia Atlas. Hard to tell from the pics, but it looks like, at the very least, Dia Atlas came with a gun that the Brave recolor doesn't have. There may be a sword too? Anyway, that site does have a better image of the combined vehicle mode, and I think it looks awful. Did you see it?
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Post by novabeam10 on May 31, 2007 9:41:30 GMT -5
I really gotta stop posting image links. I don't think the dai atlas recolor would be too much of a difference (i could get the other parts from a the cheap KO version) sky garry's brave recolor looks like it has everything the normal g1 has (all you'd need is a repro set of stickers to turn him into an autobot) the grandus brave though looks like a lot was removed from it. SA for the jet mode, its meh at best but I rather have all the figures in base mode than combined into that monster
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Post by shaxper on Jun 3, 2007 14:58:14 GMT -5
Having both the Sky Garry recolor and the Dia Atlas recolor, I can sincerely say that I regretted purchasing Sky Garry. The colors are just awful. It really bothers me. But I think Dia Atlas looks much better recolored, so I highly recommend him.
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Post by novabeam10 on Jun 4, 2007 14:28:10 GMT -5
I'm kinda partial to the new colors myself it fits to star convoy in a way. I have yet to see a dai atlas recolor pop up on ebay. KNow of any import places that carry (or may carry) the sonokong ones?
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Post by shaxper on Jun 4, 2007 21:04:28 GMT -5
I've seen them pop up on ebay for around $90. One of my suppliers has a few, but he's asking entirely too much for them. I'd wait.
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