Help Identifying a Fake Metroplex Please – Worryingly Good if Fake

Hey guys

Update 1 03/02/2001

##I have updated this post to include images. If mine is a genuine one, then hopefully these images will help others for comparative purposes. If not and it is a fake, then they can be used for the same effect. After looking at it again today, it makes me wonder if it is just poor Takara QC on certain areas.##

Update 2 04/02/2001

##Post 26 by fosterlager includes pics of his genuine Encore Metroplex. Conclusion is that mine is genuine and the issues on the toy can be chalked up to poor Takara QC. I would just like to say a big thank you for everyone who has helped##

##Hopefully, this thread will still be useful as it provides some good pictures of the genuine Encore Metroplex’ s which can be used as a benchmark.##





Original Post

##I know there are a few posts and guides floating about as to fake Encore Metroplex’s and I have read them carefully today.

I have received my Encore Metroplex which, I ordered in the UK last week. The box to be honest looks good and genuine enough. There is a very slight double lining of the Greys which form the Grid, but the images are pretty clear and not fuzzy or blurred.

The borders around the Takara Tomy label are all even and white but the code on the back is H2208 which was used in the fake ones. It is embossed, has closely spaced lettering, thin letters but no rectangle from the stamp.

So for all purposes the box looks great and you couldn't tell really. It is certainly nothing like the 1st fake Kos, bar the serial number. I was going to keep this MISB but the serial number made me open it.

Inside the toy is in the plastic vacuum formed wrapping that seems to come with the real versions. It has the card inserts around the plastic mouldings etc. The Stickers look very good, nice and shinny etc in the pack and no graininess.

The Toy however just doesn’t feel right. The black chest areas are matt non painted plastic. I know the first KOs were painted gloss. The wheels have their stamped stud patterns in the rivets which is good. But the wheels are very loose and poorly fitting.

The toy does just feel very plasticy and cheap although most joints are pretty tight. Some of the parts on one of the legs are a bit loose at the hinges. The torso, middle section, around the waist and chest area does not feel as tightly fitted as it should be. A bit flimsy but not like its going to fall apart in my hands is probably the only way to describe it. The ratchet joints all work well though and again this could just be poor tolerances and Takara QC.

The big things are:

1)The colour transition from the white parts to the grey parts. Having looked at it again today in a better light and taken the photos, this isn’t as bad as I first thought.
(## I previously wrote## Most of it is a very Dull Grey compared to the white area of the heli-pad. See my photo below although I am not sure if this will come out that well. There is also a huge transition between the feet and legs in white and grey as seen on Loopy Details.com Fake Metroplex Review FAKE Transformers Encore 12 Reissue Metroplex Mini-Review | Core Articles)
2)The rub sign doesn’t work.
3)The stamp on the back says Takara 1985 made in china. My Omega Supreme has Either Takara / Tomy 2007 stamp identifying it as a reissue and dating it as recent.
4)The Plastic feels thin on the arms and legs and some things just don’t seem cut / fit 100%.
5)The two big red guns although matt feel very light and of cheap plastic.

If any of you guys have good photos of genuine Metroplex Encores, could you post a couple so I could see the back and stamp.

If this is a fake then they have dealt with all the previous issues which made it easily identifiable which is very very worrying. If not then I will chalk it up to poor Takara QC.##




I have now updated this post with some pictures taken today of my Metroplex and following the progress of this thread, these appear to be that of a genuine Encore Metroplex.

I don't have my Encore Metroplex handy so I don't know about the copyright, but I can verify that he has very thin (almost see through) plastic, especially in the red parts.

I'll check my 'Plex when I get home. I bought it from Hobby Link Japan and they have never sold KOs. I can't think of a more reputable Japanese-based retailer of reissues.

To answer your question, see this post.

I don't have an encore metroplex, but I believe the different colored plastic is a dead giveaway that it's a knock off.

Cheers for doing that.

Maybe as per lord ginrai’s post, if the plastic is thin, then they are just like that. I guess I was expecting something a little better. The quality isn’t as good as the Encore Omega Supreme or my original rubber wheeled Metroplex that I have owned since new. The quality is no where near that of the TFC reissues.

I will be pee’d off either way now as if it’s fake then meh, I will have to take it back and if its not, well I opened a MISB one for no reason. The latter will haunt me forever.

That post is no help, as you will notice from my post, those easily identifiable fake bits such as the glossy chest, plain rivets and poorly aligned texts on the box etc etc are not there on mine.

I do however have the Serial Number from the fakes, and what I think is sub standard plastic on the toy.

I had a question do you know how long ago this retailer's stock is from ?

They got it in a couple of weeks ago as far as I recall. It’s a long time since the launch to still have the fake box serial number, although snail mail from the suppliers could account for it.

I have no worries about the integrity of the retailer as I have never had probs from them before and would always be happy to use them.

In fact it’s only the niggles that I mentioned that made me question it.

It could just be down to the quality of the reissue not being what I expected it to be.

Your description sounds exactly like the Encore Metroplex I got from TFSource last month. I just assumed less attention was paid to QC on this one than on the original. I like the toy, but I did have the same feeling of "hrm.." when I was playing with it. It just doesn't have that solid and chunky feel of an 80's TF. And yeah, the wheels are pretty cruddy and about the wobbliest I've ever seen on any toy.