I’ve just recently decided to get into collecting the masterpiece/masterpiece like figures but I can’t decide to go for (mostly) official figures or go for KOs. I don’t have a problem with 3rd party figures, so being “official” doesn’t really bother me, it’s the quality I’m concerned with. I’ve had a MP-20 Wheeljack for months and only now figured out he’s a KO, and only from the box cause otherwise I’d assume he was the real deal. I’ve absolutely nothing bad to say about him, but I’ve heard most of the time KOs are just very hit or miss in terms of quality. The price range is also a little suspicious, with some KOs I’ve seen going for as low as $20.

 

what is your resistance to KO? Are you collecting to accumulate or some sort of hope for sale at a later point?
I gave up worrying about what I can sell this plastic for in years, and just realize I want to display/have -- and at that moment I gave up caring about real over fake -- and just go with what is more reasonably cost. If real is $20 more, I usually go that way, but once they get stupid expensive, its KO all day

 

Try to get official toys or original 3p items whenever possible, support the designers!

Also remember "cheap" could become expensive in the long run..

 

Get the official for the definitive version (eg, if you are a stickler for toon colored versions).

You can also mix similar molds (eg Sideswipe / Red Alert, Grapple / Inferno).

 

These are all for display, and I’ll admit I was kinda disappointed at first when I realized Wheeljack was a KO. But then I thought it over and realized it was dumb to be upset about that with how good of a condition he’s in. I don’t want to just put them on a shelf and just leave them there though, I’d want to toy around with them every now and then. I just don’t want issues like super loose joints or breakage or anything (which do happen on officials to be fair).

 

I went KO because the cost of it all when official is just ridiculously not worth it. There’s very little I’d go official for at this point, especially with the decrease in quality and increase in price.

 

It depends on the figure, there are very good kos and others that are rubbish. You also have to wait about two years for the kos to come out, and of course it also depends on what your pocket allows, for the ko you have to see reviews and be well informed of their failures. Ideally, you should combine them.

 

I’ve got all three (official ko & 3p) so I say go with what appeals to you. There are examples of “KO” that improve on the official eg Ultra Magnus and Megatron. I’ve heard the Tracks KO have rubber tyres too so there’s that if it interests you

 

My one bit of advice would be if you are going for KO seekers don't go for the straight KO (my Skywarp broke on first transformation). The KBB and BB7 are way more sturdy, even than the official ones that I own. I mostly get KO's for repaint characters, such as datsuns (decent), lambos (sideswipe not great, red alert better). I feel like I've given Takara enough money (hello MP-44 and MP-36) that I don't feel guilty that I have quite a few KO's. No way I'd be getting characters like Grapple otherwise.

 

Definitely...who wants to pay that price for Hound when he basically melts in your hand?

 

Doesn’t matter much to me but good to know anyways, I was hoping to get Tracks soon

 

Pretty much the same.
I'm all about giving the designers their due... But it also comes down to why I want the character, AND which bot best represents it.

I LOVE my Apollyon. And had NO desire for Taks Megatron. But then THF released theirs, in BETTER paint for 1/3 the price and it was a no brainer.
Never cared much for the Toyota vans, but I'm more than happy with my KO's, and the Hip-Skirt replacements are LIGHTS OUT!
I also have an original Beast Megs/Dinobutt & BA... but BOTH modes are so incredible, I wanted to double up. No way I was spending ANOTHER $600 for beast modes...
Que the KOs.
And then their are simply the 3Ps I like better, say MMC's Backdraft. Not even the Inferno KO will make me replace him (even tho that's NOT what you asked...).

Honestly, go with what you LIKE, what you can AFFORD, and mix & match that collection to your heart's content!

 

It depends, but usually it almost always comes down to price. I own both KO and official figures of characters(take Prowl for example), you can really tell the difference when you hold it in your hand, but that's typically the risk you take when you get KOs. Some others have notable differences like Shockwave, official version has regular friction joints for the legs sideways, while the KO uses ratchets.

Some quality differences but for they're rarely too different but for the most part I'd say go for official to support the official toys. Only exception I make for is MP-44 because fuck paying $500 for an action figure

 

I only buy MP KO's of KO's.

 

The KBB seekers are my biggest purchase regret. One came broken in half in a sealed box, one came with a mis-molded thruster rattling around in the box, and all of them were floppy and creaky. Couple years later they’re simply falling apart on the shelf. I tried to use them for alt-mode after getting the maketoys ones, but the landing gear and tail fins keep failing. I recently poured them all back in their boxes and realized they’d lost fingers when I wasn’t looking. I would never recommend them for anything other than parts for a planet junkion background.

 

I'm also doing a mix of MP/3P/KO & sometimes it's panned out, sometimes not. For me it kinda depends on the price of the KO + possible ebay scammer wasting my time + then finally the issue of china-shipping-during-a-pandemic vs what i can find here for legit MP used. I bought a KO Ratchet on Ebay for $40-ish plus another $20-25 for the SF kit, when it finally came in & some panels didn't quite line up due to flash/tab issues & more importantly one of the taillights was completely missing. That irritated me enough to just buy a legit Ratchet w/ SF kits already installed from a member here & i was done with it.

Only outright KO carbot(not counting "4th party") i'm currently using is Tracks, but that's simply because i don't care enough for the MP version to replace him with legit even though i've seen them really cheap. For the 4th party, I'm doing Megatron & Soundwave, along with half the seekers since Takara did such a poor job on maintaining the mold on their re-releases & then had the gall to charge $200-ish on top of it

 

Depends. I pick which version I think looks the best. That's usually third party, but not always.

If there is no good third party version and I really like the figure, I'll go with Hasbro/Takara. If it's some character I don't care about too much, then I'll look for a used KO.

 

I'm also new. Purchased the LT-02 because I could get it sooner, a pin fell out on the first day. I stuck it back in and its ok in bot mode but I have also seen others have issues with the legs popping off. I just received the MPM-04 and the LT-02 and accessories definitely look better, has more die cast and its bigger. I love it but I'm likely returning my KO because so far none of my other 8 official MP's have had an issue. If not for that pin falling out I would be doing the opposite but again it depends on your experience. I myself will be sticking to official masterpiece or a 3rd party if an official is not available. Currently have an FT-16M on the way, it could fall apart for all I care as there is not an official one to compare it to.

tldr: I love KO's and some improvements they make but I fear the quality is not up to par with the official masterpiece.

 

Sorry to resurrect a dead thread, but I just got into collecting MP Beast Wars and basically ALL I find on eBay are KO's. Is there an easy way to tell them apart? Differences in packaging, etc??

 

Megatron and dinobot KO’s don’t come in Takara packaging, primal and cheetor don’t have KO’s, Tigertron ko is completely different to TT packaging, and blackaracnia is a idk.