Click: http://toyarena.com/en-us/dept_7.html I saw a bunch of these different figures at a store here in Little Tokyo. Particularly the Megastorm, Garbatron, Magnaboss, Starscream & BB, and Big Convoy. The brand name on them was "Sonakai" or something like that. They had lots of these figures. Are they bootlegs? How are their quality?
No, they're the Korean versions . The quality is pretty much the same. Great alternatives for those who don't want to pay in full for Japanese Beast Wars
Sonokong and no, they arent bootlegs. Sonokong got the license from Takara to produce em for the Korean market Quality wise, pretty much like the Jap releases, and obviously, cheaper!
No, I think they are the real deal. At least if they say "Sonoking" they are. Made by Takara and distributed by "Sonoking" for the Korean market, i believe. From what i understand, other than the boxes being somewhat inferior, they are the same quality toy as the regular Takaras. Hehe. Garbatron.... interesting translation for Galvatron.
people say they are "pretty much" the same as the takara versions, but I have never been able to tell a difference between them. got the sonokong big convoy, and the takara big convoy, and I can't tell them apart.
well, the joints on the koreans from what ive read, sometimes are kinda loose, but im not sure But in the case of their version of Car Robots, they used the Hasbro altered molds (Black Convoy got his sword rounded, and Baldigus got the smaller Dolrailer rifle). Plus, i think other figures had different paint apps (Fire Convoy had red eyes, and english text on the cab)
I got a Korean Big Convoy; the neck ball joint was loose until I used some nail polish, but the rest were fine (some slight scuffing on the chest symbol aside, anyway). If you want a Big Convoy, I wholeheartedly endorse the Korean version.
Anybody ever do any galleries of those Auto guys? They look like they'd be pretty decent 'bots, but I've never seen any out of package.
Nevermind, should've known Seibertron would have galleries of them. Now I see why those Auto guys are so cheap.
Mine's the same. I should try the nail polish, then Plus I quite like the packaging of Korean version. I am keeping the box, which is unusual for me.
Sonokong's releases are every bit as good as the originals. Sometimes, the packaging isn't as good (you mention scuffing on Big Convoy's chest, I've heard the Sokrage Brave suffers the same issues. It's down to the way they are packaged.) However, for the price, they're a real boon. i can live with little changes here and there if it makes it cheaper and easier to pick things up.
To think of that, tech spec cards (if they were tech specs card indeed)that came with B Convoy were crappy. And they weren't even B Convoy's , though I got about 3 cards or so... Still, I love him and glad I could get him with a decent price.
Could I ask in what way? I didn't think Hasbro TFs were inferior to Takara to begin with. My U Nemesis Prime doesn't have a loose neck joint like my Korean B Convoy. Not meaning to start those Has vs Tak thing (or throw in Korean brand and start battle royal), just curious.
Well I'm not sure if you could really classify one being better than the other in terms of overall quality, but to a certain extent you can say one's better than the other in terms of plastics quality. Hasbro likes to use the really brittle gold sparkle plastic that with time shatters like glass. Such as on Armada Optimus Prime (Superbase version). Takara just used plastic that was either unfortunately colored or painted a garish yellow. (show accuracy and whatnot.) Things of that nature can make Takara figures slightly better than Hasbro. But overall, they're basically the same figures, same designs, and the same as Sonokong's. So all in all the complaints really have no reason to even be in existance.
Some of my Hasbro tfs must be defected or something... My Takara ones SEEM far superior to hasbro... Maybe I'm tricking myself because of the higher price...
Some would say Takara figures are nicer due to paint applications for the most part. (WTF? Seriously...who really cares?) Some are pissed about Vector Prime's sword being rubber for Cybertron, but plastic for Galaxy Force. Funny thing is...once left to air, the rubber stiffens, and unlike the handle of the GF version, no breakage. (which has been recorded on about 2 or 3 occasions with the GF version.) Basically, it's a crapshoot. You roll the dice and get a good one, or a bad one. It doesn't matter which side of the pond on which it's made.
