What is the quality like?Anyone have em?Thinking of getting myself a Mirage.

 

I have Scourge, Octane and Grimlock (had Devastator at some point) and other than the fact they were too "new" to be 80's, they are good to go.

 

Thanks!

 

I've had several in the past, with comparing them to an 80's version in similar condition, the KO's aren't on par as far as quality goes.

While they will look very similar in photos, joints are often loose, or not lined up properly, and with being a Transformer toy with many moving parts, this is critical if you want the alt modes to line up properly.

You'll also notice quite a few paint issues with paint that just rubs or flakes off with very little pressure, that's really hit or miss though. I've had some with no paint issues, and some with one or two painted areas that came off completely.

They aren't horrible, you get what you pay for, but if you really want quality, go for a nice minty original, they are worth the money. Or at least get a re-issue if it is available for that mold (which for Mirage it isn't sadly)

 

Recent G1 Shockwaves are almost better than the orginal. I have one that is a darker purple than the orginal g1 shockwave and man does it look good on the shelf.
Kids like to grab it up and occansional and run around with the loud electronics.

 

Does anyone have one of these KO Primes?

Transformers Autobot Optimus Prime Tractor to Robot G1 Reissue New | eBay

Are they decent at all, or complete crap?

 

first off they are not reissues as they are not from Hasbro or Takara.

The quality is decent to good.

 

i have shockwave, grimlock, sludge, snarl and swoop and they are all nice. wouldnt know they are ko unless i told ya.

 

When I first decided I was going to get back into collecting several years ago, I bought several KOs because they were new and I didn't know any better. Now I do.

Shockwave: He has a loose leg which doesn't allow him to stand correctly in robot mode and continually keeps falling over. His hose deteriorated in only a few months. In gun mode, the barrel is too heavy and his arms are too loose, with the result that he easily flops down like a flaccid penis in gun mode.

Wheeljack: Legs broke after repeatedly transforming him. There's too much of a gap between both spoiler pieces in car mode.

Optimus Prime: Will not fit together flush in truck mode. Launcher doesn't work in the trailer. In robot mode, one leg does not want to stay locked in place and keeps shifting backwards.

 

Knock off toy discussion belongs here, in 3rd Party Toy Discussion.

 

They're pretty garbage. Every one I owned had a major design flaw or quality issue. Save your money for the real thing. I ended up relaxing all of the kos after a while

 

I have the Mirage, it looks real good after reprolabels. Don't even bother with the labels that come with the KO, they are all horrible.

I remember not being happy out of the box. The 26 elf on the front was faded, the chrome has scuffs on it, but with the reproplabel 26 elf and the stickers on the chrome feet made it look way better.

I think the missile didn't fit well if i remember, but it displays fine. It also has paint on the sides and the red lines/white area on the from to the leg. I think the original had stickers there. The paint on mine was all good.

KO Mirage, TFC Hound


KO Mirage and Sunstreaker, Reissue Sideswipe and Jazz.

 

If there's no reissue and you don't want a loose beat up original, they're the way to go. I have a few and they range from ok (after some work) to excellent.

 

Thanks guys.Guess I won't be buying a KO.
Or maybe I will.

 

I've had a few that were pretty good. The main one I have though are the KO Dino cassettes and the KO Japanese Headmasters (Kirk, Lione, etc).

The moral of the story is, do your research before you buy any KO. Some are stellar others are dollar store junk.

 

Mirage is great.
Wheeljack (chipped feet) and Swoop (missle pegs too small for wing holes) are alright.
Sunstreaker (split tires, broken shoulder things, peeling stickers) is garbage.

God damn why won't Takara just reissue Mirage and Wheeljack already...*

*Don't give me that story about lost molds and tooling costs. They redid Hound and Soundwave, they can redo a few more.

 

Hasn't the AFA been duped by them?

If you're a bastard you could grab a few (they're $70 each), grade them, and resell them for $2,000.

 

The flaw in your plan is that they must use chap stick instead of glue for the bubbles because every single Wheeljack and Sunstreaker that I bought was banging around inside the box.

 

I had the Blue and Red Mirage ko's as well as the legit G1 - Quality is good - pretty close - stickers are lousy though...

 

I was shocked how good my KO Reflector was, although I did apply Reprolabels instead of what they supplied. All joints perfect, chrome is perfect, crisp colors, no stripped screws, great paint apps...was I just lucky?