I walked into Big Lots and I saw the biggest number of knockoffs I've ever seen in my LIFE. It was out of control! I managed to limit myself to 4 purchases, after an hour's deliberation. How is the quality on the following: KO Optimal Optimus KO TM2 Megatron KO Lio Convoy (w/ sparkles in the translucent parts) KO yellow/orange Devastator (smaller than normal- WST sized?) It's worth noting that besides the accurately colored OpOp and TM2 Megs, there was also a red white & camo colored OpOp and a black & grey Megatron. BTW here are the ones I passed up: RID Megatron Micromaster Sixtrain, Sixbuilder, & Sixwing (each with a 7th Micromaster!) BWII Heinlad (no alarm clock) Yellow Constructicon set (regular size) Aerialbots set (I have the Easter basket set- are these better quality?) Protectobots set Not-quite Insecticons set of 4 (bought them once- they suck) Not-quite Dinobots set of 4 ( Up-sized TM Rattrap 3 very Japanese-looking sets of combining robots (Twist&Change Super Hyper Robot- any info on these? I wanted one of them so bad) BW basic-size Sonar, Scarab, & Spittor This was the Glen Burnie MD Big Lots. Mostly I want to know the quality on the 4 I bought & whether I should return 'em, but more info's good too.
The micromaster combiners are of very good quality, nearly that of the originals. For $5, you can't go wrong on them. I have all the originals, and I bought KOs of all that I saw at Biglots. I then stickered them into the alternate faction of the originals, they display together nicely. I also have the Protectobots set, they are decent quality as well, but could use some paint. Why did they make the motorcycle's tires red?
Most of the BW KOs are pretty junky. Cheap plastic and won't hold up well. I've not seen the micro combiners with the extra bots. The full size combiners are all the same quality. Just my $.02.
DF: Most of these are familiar. Worth noting: -Quick Change's not-quite-Insecticons seem to be from at least 2 separate lines. There are several junky ones (the green grasshopper, blue/black beetle, red dragonfly, and yellow wasp, found in the multipack) and several that are actually quite durable and good (six-armed mosquito femmebot, yellow ant, green praying mantis, and butterfly). These last four are not sold in the multipacks, but individually carded, and I believe were also sold once as Insect2Sides during the BW era. I have looked in vain for the Insect2Sides moth among these. -KO "WST Devastator" is quite good. I have also found him in green, at Tuesday Morning stores. -The small Aerialbots have floppy arms. Most Quick Change stuff seems to work poorly where much friction is required. This is especially bad for the BW KOs, which rely heavily on friction-dependent ball joints. The G1 Silverbolt is not bad. His base-mode launcher functions. -The Protectobots and small Combaticons, I have found, are both of good quality for knockoffs, though not on par with the real thing. At 2/$1.99 they have great drone-army potential. -If you see the "Animal Robot Fighter" or "Ultra-Bot" (God Max KO), I recommend them. A.R.F. has weak individual robot modes, but an awesome gestalt, and the Ultra-Bots are good all around. I am very curious to see what this Super Hyper Robot is about, since I don't recognize that name.
I saw these at Big Lots! for $15 each yesterday (my apologies in advance for the crummy, blurry cell phone photos: I didn't get one, so I'm not sure if the center piece is even a TF (it looked like just a solid piece), but the arms are oversized Vector Prime Legends and the legs are oversized Sunstorm Legends. There are no fists or feet parts either, however it seems cool in its own right.
Well, like I said, I didn't pick one up, but from what little bit I could tell from looking at the toy, the plastic looks very brittle. That's just my speculation at best though.
If the beast wars stuff was from the animism defender line, you might want to check out at least the lio convoy. The plastic sucks, and all the features are gone, but its not a bad likeness of him, with glittery yellow plastic.
Yeah, that's a cool toy. The quality on those toys are pretty decent. Someday, I'd like to get an official version though.
The sets of five combining robots (such as drill tanks or red jets) are Machine Robo Rescue KOs. That's the 2000s sequel to Gobots/Machine Robo. I think they are available in three different sizes. No idea if they're any good. That one that there's pictures of here looks interesting, I haven't seen it before (but most described here I have seen). Might have to hit up Big Lots.
The Machine Robo combiners I do have and they're pretty cool. I'd recommend them, and from what I remember one could pick up for a pretty cheap price.
