Saturday, December 22, 2007

Review: KO Dinobots

As you may be aware, there has been a recent influx of Knock off Transformers from China. Some are of the mini-cars, cassette Decepticons, G1 Mirage, Metroplex (really!) and the Dinobots. I've bought a few and here's my thoughts...


Sludge

Cost: $69.95 USd at www.digital-toys.com



The good: A nice toy of G1 Sludge. I never had an original, official Sludge--just a KO from about 15 years ago (ironically). Unlike KO #1, this one has facial details (read: paint apps). He transformed fine and seems relatively sturdy (my old one had the arm snap off when I transformed him one time so I was really careful with this one).

The bad: For some reason, I keep getting these damn KOs with the toy separated from the cardboard backing (essentially, open within the package). The box itself is in pristine shape but the toy is loose inside it. I don't know if the original seller is doing this, customs or what. Maybe the glue holding the bubble on is cheap? (If you'll recall, the original G1 toys mostly had styrofoam inserts--these KOs have a bubble on a cardboard backing inside the box).
- Sludge is also missing his rifle. He technically is supposed to come with a long black rifle, short missile launcher gun and a sword. His rifle is nowhere to be found. The pics online have him with one so I assume this toy's gun is MIA. Was it stolen? Did it fall out somehow (unlikely)?

***

Swoop

Cost: $69.95 USd at www.digital-toys.com



The Good: Really, nothing...

The Bad: What a flimsy toy! I can only assume the original toy was a flimsy piece of crap too (design-wise). This has the addition of cheap plastics to compound the problem with standing up straight. The lower arms are snapped together and if you use too much force start to come apart (but can be pushed back together).

- Lousy toy and quality. Epitomizes the term "knock off".

- Gun and sword won't stay in right hand or right wing. They literally won't fit down like they're supposed to (but the left side's just fine).

- Missile won't stay in one launcher (springer/launcher piece loose).

- No stickers (should be there but missing).

- Loose from card in box.

***

Slag

Cost: $69.95 USd at www.digital-toys.com



The Good:

- Toy on card properly. Stickers included.

- Decent quality plastic on figure (despite tail piece breaking).


The Bad:


- Hand holes not drilled all the way through on top. I had to pry at them with the gun butt to open them up so I could put the gun in.

- Flimsy sword. Should be hard plastic but is soft plastic instead.

- One tail piece broke off on first transformation (can be reattached, I think).

- Launcher won't hold missile. Launcher piece loose.


Conclusions:

- Stay the hell away from Swoop!

- Sludge is probably the best of the three...

- One great thing is that the boxes are nearly indistinguishable from the original G1 toys! Great for nostalgia and use for tech specs, box art, etc. (just be careful someone doesn't sell you one and pass it off as the real deal).

Unless you never had the Dinobots as a kid (me) and need something vaguely resembling the real thing, I'd pass on all of them and save some money. For about $15 these *might* be worth it but not for $70. All they're good for, for certain, is a diorama with junked Dinobots and Shockwave/Devastator standing triumphantly over them.

(Note: The pics in this review were taken from the agesthreeandup.com website. Some are not 100% accurately representative of the final products).






(Three KOs and a G2 Grimlock)






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