Hello, you guys. A few days ago someone posted this picture I had seen before: http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c249/heroicautobot/DSC05974.jpg http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c249/heroicautobot/DSC05972.jpg If I remeber correctly this figure was released in Korea, by the tiem the oversized G2 Bruticus, but my doubts are about if these figures are licesed products, KO's or anything. Is there any info about it? And what about this OP? Is it a KO or not? ON the other hand, does anybody remember SONKONG the company that was releasing several BW II and BW NEO toys. They had Takara logos on them, so I consider them as originals. They also released several RID figures. Any pictures about them? Are they still releasing Tf's from otehr lines? Thanks a lot guys!
To my knowledge those are all knockoffs, including the white G2 Prime. And Sonokong is to Korea what Hasbro is to us, basically just a distributor for Transformers in another country, though less changes are made from Japanese to Korean packaging than to US. They release Transformer lines at relatively the same time that they're normally released. I dont know if they released the last three lines in Korea though.
Yup, what you posted corresponds to my knowledge also. The stuff that Sonokong released is almost similar in quality with TakaraTomy's products - from TFs to Braves. Unfortunately, I have yet to come across a detailed website that shows the similarities and differences between the Japanese and Korean lines.
I do have a friend who claims Sonokong's early attempts at producing Transformers was lackluster at best, apparently the Korean Magnaboss and Starscream and BB he picked up were floppy messes. That only seemed to be the case with BW2 releases, BW Neo Sonokongs I've heard good things about.
The most recent line in South Korea was Armada. They were released under the name "Transformers: Cybertron" though. They're more similar to the Takara release of the toys than to the Hasbro one, as well. The general concensus about the oversize toys is that they ARE knockoffs/bootlegs, as until recently, the South Korean government was very lax about enforcing copyright and trademark laws.
I have the Starscream and BB release. It's not terrible, but it does have it's problems. BB has at least one loose knee, and as such he cant stand unless he balances on the tips of his wings, so he always looks like he's leaning back. Starscream is the worse of the 2. One of his launchers wouldnt keep the missile in place, I ended up gluing it. His shoulders and elbows are pretty loose too (I cant remember if it's all of them or just one or 2) and he doesnt seem to have anything to keep his chest secured. Of course, considering how loose the knee is on my Hasbro RiD Scourge, these complaints dont seem to be exclusive to one country. I also bought the Sonokong Brave Maximus, and there doesnt seem to be any problems with it. As for whether or not they kept going after Car Robots ended, I know for a fact that they released the Takara (purple) version of Tidal Wave (which pleased the people who didnt like the green american version cos it was a cheaper way to get it than Takara's own). However, if they kept going after Armada, I dont know.
^ Similar problems with my Sonokong Starscream and BB, but I own dozens of Sonokong-produced Braves and am totally satisfied with them.
The only Sonokong TFs I ever got was BWN Big Convoy, RID Buildteam, and RID Railracer. All of them were top notch, exactly as the Takara versions. I heard they were actually made by Takara and just put in new boxes for the Korean market.
If you look at the sonokong figures themselves they have the Takara copyright logo and date on the figures...
oh yeah, I forgot I got the Sonokong Big Convoy too (I had a feeling something was missing). His left shoulder is pretty loose and his hips are a bit wobbly, but I'm still assuming most of the problems I have with him (and SS/BB) are common problems with the molds and not the fault of Sonokong
Hello, i live in Korea, so i can provide some answers. Sonoong were a knockoff company who eventually got the license from Takara to produce braves and later transformers. The Sonokong braves are everywhere over here and are great quality. Transformers are much rarer to come by, and almost completely unknown by the general public. The latest line to be released was parts of armada, in boxes that look just like the Japanese boxes, but with Korean text. The quality is fine. Only a few items were released, Hotshot, Ironhide, Shockwave,and Devastator are all that I have seen. The knockoffs are just that. They are unlicensed copies, but they are produced by ligit toy companies. Knocking stuff off is a way off life over here, and knockoffs of everything share shelf place with the more expensive originals.
Thanks a lot TwoKingMick your post got some interesting facts. So, the old G2 pruducts like the OP on the pcis and the voersized Bruticus could be consider KO's. Very interesting. Any inof about the old G2 releases? Does the Bruticus Oversized had any Takara or Hasbro logo?
I've never bought an oversized G2 bruticus, i think its a gaudy hidious thing. I'm fairly sure the oversized G1 bruticus has all the stamps removed, and it certainly dosen't mention HasTak on the box. But it's great quality, and was produced by a big toy company, the box has phone numbers and addresses, just no trademark info.
Thanks again for the info. The Bruticus G2 oversized was very old. ANyone has got a pic of it? I used to ahve it but I lost it. If I remember correctly it had the G2 logo over the box.
