Sunday, December 23, 2007

Review: KO cassettes

(There are several sets kicking around the web. One is of Frenzy/Laserbeak; one is Frenzy/Ratbat and one is Rumble/Ravage.)


Frenzy and Ratbat

Price: $15.99 Usd on ebay (price fluctuates wildly. I got mine decently priced but I've seen them for as much as $40).



The Good:

(Frenzy)

- A pretty good representation of the original G1 toy.
- Sturdy (given his size and the mold's fragility).
- Weapons fit well into back.

(Ratbat)

- Has eyes on his head (my original G1 Ratbat didn't. Or they'd worn off already when I got it likely).
- Metal chest like G1 toy.


The Bad:

(Frenzy)

- Stickers are cheap. Arm ones came off easily (which is okay--I never liked those anyway. They don't help the toy's look in robot mode).
- No diecast feet (not a big thing either since the original G1 toys didn't always have those either).
- Paint on eyes is a little sloppy with the paint going off to the right on head a little bit. (Actually... didn't the original toy just have silver eyes? These have red ones! Maybe that should be under "good"?)

(Ratbat)

- Loose wing joints right off the bat (er, pun not intended :).
- Lost one of his ears immediately upon transforming him (I think this was a problem with the real thing too, though, as my original never had ears to start with).
- Left gun doesn't stay in chest hole as well as it should.

- Also, the card's plastic bubble was very slightly coming loose in the middle when I got the toys (I chalk this up to cheap glue).

Both toys have silver weapons, btw (some had gold in G1 and some had silver).

***

Rumble/Ravage

Price: $19.99 USd (boughten from www.agesthreeandup.com)



The Good:

(Rumble)

- Same notes as Frenzy.

(Ravage)

- Diecast legs.

- Missile launchers fit tight into body (I have never, ever had a KO Ravage do that before! It was always one tight, one loose.)

- Card for both toys was in pristine shape when I received it in the mail.

The Bad:

(Rumble)

- Same critiques as Frenzy.

(Ravage)

- Actually, I didn't find anything bad about him.


Conclusions:

- Frenzy, Rumble and Ravage are fairly solid KO toys. Ratbat is the worst of the four but even then, his original G1 toy wasn't that great either. (I don't own a KO Laserbeak so I have no opinion on him.)
- I would mildly recommend buying these if you need some replacements or just want extra cassette-like toys to play with. (Just remember: they are KOs, so don't expect superb quality).
btw... my very first TFs were KOs of Condor (Laserbeak), Robot (Frenzy) and Jaguar (Ravage). They were cheap but fun so to have new KOs of them is extra cool.


(Picture credits: Frenzy/Ratbat pic from ebay auction I won. Rumble/Ravage pic from agesthreeandup.com website).

No comments: