I have the yes models as well. Some parts fall off Iron Will because they didn't get glued together but thats it. They are really good copies (if they are actual copies).

 

I had a similar issue with the original.

 

That’s my assumption too. There is the NBK/JJ ones that are bad, and then the die cast warbo. Both in 1:1 scale.

 

Tin foil hat theory but perhaps

Keith owns the factory that makes both top 3p and quality kos and protects them from being ko’d

 

then why did it take so long for his own products to be on par material wise?

 

Who said so?

 

Then why is it still being made?

 

Poor design, cost cutting perhaps?

Either way it’s well known Keith runs a factory and the majority of 3p go through him. That much is not a tin foil hat theory.

 

I'm having a hard time thinking of a 3p company that hasn't had at least one and in most cases several figures KOd. Granted the marority are upscaled or poor quality, 1:1 quality 3p KOS seem to be rare.

 

The maketoys KO by Yes Model are quite good quality..likewise for the Feralcons KO & Leonidas KO by Neoart toys.

 

Keith is/was cheap, and had to be dragged, kicking and screaming, to manufacture figures that matched the price point he was targeting, perhaps?

 

It is curious though that 3p flagship toys usually don't get KOd. I wonder if it's a question of protecting the molds better, or leveraging power in the Chinese manufacturing community.

 

I suspect a lot of it is about opportunity cost.

Let's say I'm a group looking to make a KO for money. I can reverse engineer and ripoff the design of Apollyon, or I can do the same for MP-36.

3P toys (especially MP level) are a pretty niche product. I'd say that very few TF fans are aware of them other than nuts like us that spend time on these websites and social media pages that have 3P information.

So I can do a KO of MP-36, which even among casual fans is pretty well known, or I can KO Apollyon. Hell even if I was trying to market these things on eBay, I'm 100% confident that there's more random people searching for "Masterpiece Megatron" (and many getting fooled into thinking they're getting an official product) then looking for Apollyon.

Why KO the product that has less audience recognition when you can be making/selling a KO of the thing that more people know about?

Unless we subscribe to the 3P KO'ing themselves theory, which does a whole different set of math to make a decision.

 

The other thing to wonder about is whether these KOs are on store shelves in China and elsewhere in the Pacifc. And, then, how significant are the buys from Shenzhen malls, for example?

Even then, it doesn’t make sense to KO everything because that can then promote “analysis paralysis.” That’s why Costco and other warehouse clubs offer breadth not depth of choice, so that you do make a purchase.