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KOtoys shut down?


Backfire

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Im not sure if their numbers would be the same as hasbros. It would be cool if some of these folks got a liscense though.

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I ordered two figures from them about two weeks ago, so i'm hoping they at least send them out to me...

 

The order I made from them 2 weeks ago recently arrived. So it's probably on the way.

 

Please note that KOtoys never closed completely, they just removed all the Hasbro and Hasbro KO items. You can still get X-Transbots, third party items and KOs of third party items.

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Well it looks like we won't be getting the Galvatron figure now. What probably pushed Hasbro over the edge was the use of Autobot symbols on their Not-Powerglide. Just my .02

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Good riddance. No loss to me since I don't collect fake rubbish. (legit or nuthin'!)

 

Where am I supposed to get my cool (KO) variants to add to my collection of originals that Takara/Hasbro didn't make???

Like what?? Everything I've wanted I have a legit version of.

 

Apparently they flew too close to the sun. Those new cassettebot knock-offs are what set off Hasbro, or so I've read.

 

I think KOToys was too involved in the production of such high quality knock-offs. It's one thing to just sell the toys, made by whoever, but quite another to follow the progress of the the from idea, prototype, and finished product.

Selling counterfeits is illegal and morally dubious too. Although yeah, getting involved with the manufacturing is higher up on that evil ladder and it makes sense to target the source. I guess counterfeit sellers are like dealers, whereas the manufacturers are their source.

 

 

Actually, you'd think maybe that would happen. So KOToys made a successful web page business selling some remade toys that Hasbro and takara didn't bother to make them selves. You'd think maybe a little bell or light bulb (oh wait, traditional light bulbs are illegal now arn't they?) would go off and they'd realize HEY, old school collectors are eating this stuff up. We could make some money if we sell this stuff?

 

I'm just pissed because there were more variations they could have made for us that Hasbro and Takara were not going to. I'd want a BLUE Bluestreak classics toy, Just have to paint one my self.

How many kids and even collectors would honestly want to blue variant of Universe Silverstreak? The original Bluestreak was NEVER released in blue - only on some photos and box/tech specs art (based on the Diaclone colours which Hasbro clearly decided not to go with). It'd be a small and limited niche market. Might work as a limited exclusive, like eHobby Prototype-Colour Astrotrain... but I don't think it'd work as a mass-produced store release.

 

Having said that, it couldn't possibly sell any worse than all those endless stupid Bumblebee and Optimus Prime repaints that Hasbro keeps flooding shelves with *sigh*

 

But still... just because HasTak are making decisions we don't like, doesn't justify giving money to thieves IMHO.

 

I think as long as the other stores focus mainly on the third party products they should be OK.

Yeah, Hasbro doesn't care about third party products.

 

I think KO toys would have been ok if they had just kept making variations like Deep Cover.

What do you mean by that? Because there already is a legit Deep Cover... unless you mean they're making their own original variations like a "Classics" Deep Cover?

 

Deep Cover based off G1 Sideswipe mould = counterfeit

"Classics" Deep Cover based off Universe Sideswipe mould = not counterfeit

(because a counterfeit is defined as something illegitimately produced and fraudulently passed off as genuine - you would have to be unbelievably ignorant to believe that a "Classics" Deep Cover was legit! :P)

 

Do I care about ever getting a Classics Deep Cover or Sunstorm? Nope. I'd rather see Hasbro focus on releasing Classics versions of other more iconic G1 characters like Gears, Laserbeak and Buzzsaw... oh, and freakin' release Rumble and Frenzy already for crying out loud!! (the United mould already exists - USE IT!) And would it hurt for TakaraTOMY to re-release those toys?? Apparently they sold like hotcakes in Japan and are hard to find there too...

 

I get frustrated with a lot of HasTak's decisions too... doesn't drive me to support IP thieves though. I just boycott toys that I don't like and hope that they shelf/peg-warm... every time I see someone buy another Bumblebee repaint I keep thinking, "Stop that! You're encouraging them!!"

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I think it was more of the KOLD Series. Gen Zhao was not making the needed modifications, Just straight up using the same mold the original's were made from

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I'm just pissed because there were more variations they could have made for us that Hasbro and Takara were not going to. I'd want a BLUE Bluestreak classics toy, Just have to paint one my self.

If Hasbro and Takara did this, though, people would be complaining about too many repaints... :)

I don't think so. People don't mind repaints per se - so long as they're done well and are meaningful. Look at the Seekers - they tend to sell well and are popular with fans. "Meaningless" or "random" repaints are the ones that fans complain about; like all those different and rather pointless repaints of Bumblebee.

 

So it depends on the nature of the repaint. I fear that a blue Bluestreak may be too obscure and have too limited of an appeal factor to be viable for Hasbro to produce as a mass released product - look at Acid Storm. The toy is based on that green Rainmaker who appeared in one scene in one episode of the G1 cartoon series. Or heck, Sunstorm - originally an eHobby exclusive toy based on that orange and white flame-throwing Seeker who appears for a few seconds in "More Than Meets The Eye Part 1" (he was part of the barricade who tried to stop Wheeljack and Bumblebee from delivering Energon rods back to Iacon). These kinds of toys may be very popular with the higher end collector market - and as such, work well as limited exclusive toys, but not so much as mass released regular store toys. I use Acid Storm as an example because that toy peg-warmed really, really badly!

 

Acid Storm should have been done as a convention exclusive and Thundercracker should have been released as a regular store exclusive (I know Thundercracker has since come out as a regular store release in Generations - but he should have been given priority over Acid Storm for a regular store release).

 

I think a blue Bluestreak would work better as a limited exclusive figure; convention exclusive, online exclusive or maybe even store exclusive. Shattered Glass Thundercracker is an example of this -- his awful Action Master inspired colours would only appeal to a limited number of people. Actually, I saw a friend's SG Thundercracker IRL last Sunday... the first time I'd seen one of those toys IRL... his colours are even MORE garish than Action Master Thundercracker's! <gasp> He'd go well with a loud Hawaiian shirt..

 

But hey, a blue Bluestreak released as a common store release would still make WAY more sense than another freakin' Bumblebee repaint!!! I got nothing against repaints per se... it all depends on how the repaint is done. I'll buy a good repaint that appeals to me, but meaningless pointless repaints that hold zero appeal to me I'll skip... and in terms of toys that are released as regular store releases you need to consider which repaints would appeal to the general consumer market (i.e. children, casual collectors who aren't hardcore fans like us etc.)

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I'm just pissed because there were more variations they could have made for us that Hasbro and Takara were not going to. I'd want a BLUE Bluestreak classics toy, Just have to paint one my self.

If Hasbro and Takara did this, though, people would be complaining about too many repaints... :)

I don't think so. People don't mind repaints per se - so long as they're done well and are meaningful. Look at the Seekers - they tend to sell well and are popular with fans. "Meaningless" or "random" repaints are the ones that fans complain about; like all those different and rather pointless repaints of Bumblebee.

 

Hasbro has said in the past that they don't expect people to buy multiples of the same mold anyways.

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Hasbro has said in the past that they don't expect people to buy multiples of the same mold anyways.

 

I find that contradictory by them. If they don't expect people to buy multiple variants of the same mold... why do they keep making multiple variants? Yes, I know, it's to help pay off the tooling cost for that mold. But that statement is beside itself.

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