Hi everyone, just thought I'd post this. I've seen a couple others before but not for this much, enjoy. [EBAY]270152118551[/EBAY]
I just sent a friendly message to the seller letting him know that it was a knock off. I guess I'll see what his reply is.
To one of the newbies to collecting it might, never say never. Know how I can say that? Cuz three years ago, before these were discovered to be KOs, I bought one for $110. I didn't want to spend that much and I'm an idiot for doing it but it was the only Triggerbot I needed and to find him MOSC like I did (I'm talkin' mint minty mint mint) was something I didn't run across all the time. So I bought. Of course then it was announced he was a KO but what could I do? So I opened him The quality on this particular KO is actually really good. If you find this KO for cheap I'd say go for it. I wasn't disappointed.
The triggerbot is not a knockoff. It was made by Hasbro in 1994 for the Chinese market. The people who "announced" that it was a knockoff didn't know what they were talking about
There are misspellings on the card and the copyright information has been blacked out on the front of the card (cuz it wasn't licensed by Hasbro or Takara). Sorry, but that's a knock-off.
Okay, I'm pretty sure there is copyright information on both the Chinese and US versions: Chinese: http://www.geocities.com/oblivionsboxes/windsweeperb.html US: http://www.thetoyheaven.com/images/items/tfafawindsweeper90bk.jpg (The Powermaster-year Transformers that were released by Hasbro in 1994 in China have "Made in China C-somenumber" and the Triggerbots have rub-signs) If yours is somehow different, I'd like to know more about it :>
Apparently pictures are harder to find online than i thougtht. But I saved your PM and once I'm back in the states, get a place to live, and get all the TFs back out I can scan my Backstreet card. And in looking around and reading a few articles I'm thinking maybe now mine could be an official Chinese release. Although I'm pretty sure it's not. I just remember finding misspellings on the Backstreet and Beachcomber cards (I bought both at the same time from the same ebay seller).
The beachcomber is almost definitely a knockoff. I'm 99% sure your Backstreet is the real 1990's Chinese release, though, as it never had a bootleg of it made to my knowledge.
It would be nice if someone from Hasbro or Takara made an official stance on these so-called Hong Kong Specials, to say if they were indeed officially licensed for the chinese market nearly 10 years after everywhere else, or to say that they are unlicensed knock-offs, albeit of a high quality. Different people have different views on the validity of these pieces, and it would be cool to know for sure.
I'm writing an article about them. It should shead a lot of light on these imho. It will be on TF Pulp in probably about a week.
I wrote the article about how Chinese TFs with the sticker in the corner are real: The Little Sticker in the Corner: The Truth about Early-1990's Chinese G1 Transformers Toys Enjoy
Finally, a decisive explanation for a lengthy debate whenever the subject arises. Thank you for this insightful documentation. It really helps out.
Excellent article! There is a lot of evidence that points to these being completely legit. I reckon someone should ask Hasbro at the next convention panel for straight up confirmation that they licensed the toys in China. Then no-one would be able to argue against it ever again.
