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Post by anubis20 on Feb 6, 2017 12:52:01 GMT -5
Well KOB has the SOC beaten in at least one department and thats the leg ratchets.
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Post by S_Gokin on Feb 6, 2017 14:24:23 GMT -5
Well KOB has the SOC beaten in at least one department and thats the leg ratchets. also the waist articulation, i love them both each figure is unique in its own way |
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Post by S_Gokin on Feb 12, 2017 16:04:50 GMT -5
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Post by faelon on Feb 12, 2017 23:15:29 GMT -5
"And don't worry any customer service, they will be fully supported by factory as before."
That's not exactly a statement that inspires consumer confidence now is it! 'Never Fear! We've Changed Nothing!"
All the swords do look cool.
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Post by evanrue on Feb 13, 2017 3:13:33 GMT -5
The Dark Lion Force version doesn't really stand out, especially when the limb lions only have two colours (black and gold)... would be nice if there's some original lion colour accent on those black bodies. But the new head does look better. and those weapons are dope!
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Post by ninjarobot on Feb 13, 2017 9:14:19 GMT -5
I cant decide on this guy....should I get him or not. I have the KOB V1.
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Post by faelon on Feb 13, 2017 19:46:40 GMT -5
The black is a bit more drab and unexciting then I was expecting. You are right, it needed the pop of some Lion appropriate trim colors.
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Post by S_Gokin on Feb 14, 2017 8:19:38 GMT -5
im honestly not sure if i want the v2 regular version because i already own the first and the SOC just fills the need for Voltron
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Post by faelon on Feb 14, 2017 16:27:47 GMT -5
im honestly not sure if i want the v2 regular version because i already own the first and the SOC just fills the need for Voltron That's sort of the flaw in the product itself, and the fallacy in this threads title. KOB was never ever going to be a competitor to SOC. The economics don't work that way. It is similar to third party Transformers. Yes some people like them and collect them. But the number of collectors who will purchase a 3p over an official Takara Masterpiece release are so minuscule as to be completely negligible. By and large the 3p manufacturers are fighting over any leftover Collector spending money, after they have purchased all the latest first party official releases. And the 3p makers get brutalized in the quarters when Takara has multiple high end releases. The same thing happens here. MT might have done okay on the first release with nothing else on the horizon. But the moment the SOC was announced their market largely dried up. Bandai just sucked all the spending money out of the room. Between GX-71 and the looming GX-72, which will play to a similar core consumer base. KOB gets bought AFTER the collectors have bought the Bandai, Sen-TI-Nel and Fewture offerings that tickle their fancy. Not before or instead of. It's just how the consumer behavior for this sort of thing works. |
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Post by locidm on Feb 14, 2017 16:44:14 GMT -5
Even if I had money to burn, I would spend it on getting multiple copies of the SOC to display in both modes instead of buying an inferior and unlicensed product that one would have to purchase through obscure vendors that may or may not provide customer service.
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Post by treatment on Feb 14, 2017 16:51:07 GMT -5
Hmmm.
Is this truly unlicensed?
Or just unlicensed for USA-distro?
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Post by faelon on Feb 14, 2017 21:49:16 GMT -5
It's truly unlicensed. All Voltron/GoLion licensing goes through the US company WEP, which fully bought it from Toei some years ago. I believe Dreamworks can issue a sub license, but that is limited to their Netflix version of Voltron, nothing else. And Playmates has that as an exclusive.
As near as I can tell the KOB people had a brief neutral yet hopeful e-mail sxchange with someone from Dreamworks Merchandising about whether Dreamworks would be interested. That ultimately went nowhere as WEP was cutting a deal with Bandai. Further, and I have said this before in this thread, WEP is a US based IP holder. They act in certain predictable ways. They would never ever extend a license for the new KOB until they were paid in full for every one of the unlicensed Rev 1 KoB's produced. Cash up front. And guaranteed the economics of the KOB production would not have created enough margin to do that.
Look, here is one of the most obvious ways to tell that it is not and never has been and never will be licensed. Notice some of the photos and sample copy showing "License Pending"? All the chatter about waiting on final license approval? That tells you it's all bullsheet. See here's the thing. You don't try and get the license after production, because a signed license is a capital asset. When faced with the choice of "pay for the license, or pay for production?" If you are a sane or legitimate business, you pay for the license. Because the banks will then extend credit and financing on the basis of the license. It is a thing of value with an expected return. Without the license the banks aren't giving you much money, and what they might give you is on horrible terms. With the signed license you are a low risk. Without it you are high risk or unable to get loans. That dance we have seen where KOB has changed manufacturer names a few times? From MadToys to Infinity Gokin, to .Icarus, etc (I think I missed one?) That tells you that there is no bank financing. It's all coming from back end handshake deals and assorted friends family and partners. "Who can we get to give us money to finish this?" That tells you, no license.
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Post by treatment on Feb 14, 2017 22:20:21 GMT -5
Not sure, but I reckon that's rather just pure speculation at this point.
WEP's known to be quite litigious, but somehow we haven't really heard nor seen any C&D news against Icarus/United Gokin regarding their KOB.
Iirc, the previous owner of the KOB mould was served with a C&D or something.
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Post by locidm on Feb 14, 2017 22:37:49 GMT -5
A company doesn't change name just for fun. It does so when it faces either financial or litigation issues. The fact that it changed names after they announced that there would be an official product tells me the licensing is in all likelihood not happening.
But you are correct that we are all speculating at this point. Licensed or not its still inferior to the SOC in every way.
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Post by BIGFIRE on Feb 14, 2017 22:59:23 GMT -5
I had the V2 regular color preordered but I just asked for a refund. I'm tired of waiting and I think that I'll be satisfied with the SOC only. Even though I haven't gotten a chance to open mine it is simply beautiful!!
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Post by faelon on Feb 15, 2017 0:59:08 GMT -5
Not sure, but I reckon that's rather just pure speculation at this point. WEP's known to be quite litigious, but somehow we haven't really heard nor seen any C&D news against Icarus/United Gokin regarding their KOB. Iirc, the previous owner of the KOB mould was served with a C&D or something. It's speculation, but it is informed professional speculation. I've worked with overseas manufacture of Licensed (and unlicensed...) goods for a few decades. (yeah, my first job out of college had among other experiences, me getting to drive to the Federal Courthouse in NY to pick up the companies CEO and President. They had been popped by the FBI for importing bootleg Gobots. GOBOTS! Amazingly by the time I left it was a publicly traded fortune 1000 company. Same CEO and President.) So I am saying this as an informed observer. Nothing the KOB people have said to date regarding licensing makes any sense. None of it is real. None of it works that way. Do I know what is going on behind the scenes? No! But I do know when I am being lied to in areas that I have some good working knowledge. Could WEP grant a license to Icarus? Sure, maybe, if Icarus kicked enough money their way? But why would they? Doing so diminishes the brand and the other licensors and pisses off their big money licensors just as their product is going hot. They are likely not going to grant another license for that type of toy while both Toynami, Playmates and Bandai's licenses are active. It's not worth it. Part of the purpose of paying for a licensing deal is it restricts direct competition. That is an element of the value in it. Yes sometimes Asian companies will break things up or grant many sub licences without exclusivity clauses. Look at the plethora of Getters out there. But that's not normally how the US licensors operate. They like it cleaner. They almost always put a bit of exclusivity in how the subsection the IP in order to avoid challenges from licensed vendors. In this case WEP is tasked with protecting the IP that they have licensed to Bandai. Bandai can claim that KOB is impacting that license. It gets messy. So US IP holders keep things neatly segmented as much as possible. Will WEP serve a C&D? Likely not until it shows up on the shore of someplace willing to enforce it. Until then or until they can get it in hand they don't know that it is infringing. In many cases they wont bother, If the official product is a hot product they just have a quiet word with the merchants. (and yes telling your merchant to not sell a competitors product is illegal. Telling those same merchants that they will be cut off if they sell unlicensed bootlegs of your IP or product is NOT.) |
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Post by Holygrail on Feb 15, 2017 5:14:38 GMT -5
Call it what you want. Speculation is speculation. Without evidence there's no facts.....all that is just hearsay at this point.
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Post by S_Gokin on Feb 15, 2017 7:21:16 GMT -5
well i really dont think thats right, man the fact that when Bandai announced the SOC every one was comparing it to the KOB, because the KOB was the best Voltron on the market disregarding it was unlicensed KOB still do things that the SOC wont, like waist articulations, high kick pose and it come with 5 swords, MT took care of it in the robot mode while Bandai main focus was the lions and their accessories, im not saying the SOC is bad in robot mode i just find the KOB more playable, and this depend on the person and how he want to display his figures about 3p Transformers im not collecting them but some of my friends do, according to them some times the knockoffs are bigger and better than the original, at the end no collector will give heck if the figure is licensed or not, all we care about is the end product if any company right now will offer me a decent figure that they didn't get license for i will get it in a heart beat, if the owners are so stupid to see the real potential of the product or just been greedy that's their problem not mine back to the KOB many people includes members here skipped the official fully licensed Toynami 30th anniversary version in order to get the V1 KOB why ? because its just better from every angle and better value for money, same case happen with the EX Voltron but this time V2 KOB Sentinel and Fewture doesn't make Voltron, if im in the market for Voltron i will go with the SOC and the KOB but since i already have the V1 KOB i got the SOC so i get every Voltron worth getting on the market |
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Post by framigoiou on Feb 15, 2017 7:47:12 GMT -5
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Post by Powermaster X on Feb 15, 2017 11:16:06 GMT -5
they also said this bad boy comes with SIX swords and the sculpt is way much better than the older version SIX swords?!  I'm ready for KOB v2. Got my 2 SOCs, which I absolutely love, but the KOB v1 holds a special place in my heart (and on my shelf), and with an updated version of KOB, it will only complement my small collection of Lion Force Voltrons even more. 2x Panosh Place Voltron 3x LJN pull-back Voltron 1x LJN Assembler Voltron 2x Trendmasters die-cast Voltron 2x KOB v1 2x Bandai SOC Voltron 0x Toynami Voltron  |
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