I've never seen a set of Bowei blocks go for anywhere near what a set of the Asoblocks cost. When I was looking, the $9 - $10 set of Bowei blocks was the equivalent of a $40 set of Asoblocks (unless there are other KOs of Asoblocks that are CALLED Asoblocks that are selling high). The $9 ones are all over Ebay, have been for months. Buy them with confidence, you can't find a better deal. Please show us link that demonstrates how cheap the original Asoblocks are, because I certainly can't find it.
Yeah, I made sure to get the black ones, for exactly those reasons. I've never seen Asoblocks in the wild, but unless they're bought in Japan or at clearance prices, the import item prices will likely be prohibitive. Anyway, these ones are damn cheap ($9 shipped), so I guess we'll find out when they arrive. zmog
I'm referring to the actual double ball joints, not the socket pieces. So while you can paint the socket piece any colour under the rainbow, if you buy white, you'd gonna end up with a lot of white showing through because painting the 'ball' part of the joint would be stupid for obvious reasons. Hence, i recommend black. Also, i guess they've gone done a bit in price (i remember being linked to ones that cost $30 before shipping), and to be fair i got mine in an actual store, so maybe i got mine for cheaper than what you guys can over the net. I guess i got them cheap because i actually bought them in Asia, where practically anything is always cheaper. Although, i haven't seen one of the Bowei Block threads surface for a long while now, they only surfaced right around when the original Asoblocks came out, which was a hell of a lot more than a few months, which might explain why they were so pricey back then. If you guys can get them for $9, then it's not much of a loss either way.
Looks like they'd be best for necks and wrists. My junk pile gets me by for that. And of course Bionicle.
Maybe on a Leader Class? Asoblocks, and i assume these KO's as well, are way bigger than people expect. To put it in perspective the actual ball of the ball joint is about the same size as ROTF Hubcap's head.
Seriously?? I figured they would be closer to Zoids Blox joint sizes... but from what you're saying, they're closer to Bionicle joints (which are too big for most applications). Well, dang... zmog
Hey, who really cares about what i say anyways? I've never bothered to go waste my money on these KO's (i like my customs to have reliable quality), and they might be tiny. That would also explain the cost. But anyways, just think of the head of any scout class ever released, and that's about how big these things are.
Got my Bowei bricks from my Ebay seller today! Here's the deal... they're awesome! Put them through their paces, built some mechs, etc... they seem to be plenty tough. Don't know how they compare to their Diablock versions, but they don't feel like they're made of inferior plastic or anything. For the price (a 164-piece set for under $10) these seem pretty hard to beat! I don't want to directly contradict Treadshot, but they're really not very big. They are only a little bit bigger than standard Zoids BLOX ball joints or Xevox joints, and practically half the size of Bionicle joints. They are maybe slightly bigger than the typical ball joint you'd find on a Hasbro Scout or Deluxe figure. Too big for a Scout sized head ball joint, but only barely. Certainly not a bad size for limb joints on small-to-medium TFs, and the balls snap into the sockets very securely. I also like that they are designed to bend at a right angle in one direction... so they are pretty much perfectly designed for robot limbs like shoulders, knees and elbows. I find that the other plug-in functions are less secure (the hexagonal supports plug into the hex-shaped grooves on the plates), but this is less of a problem, since as a kitbasher, that aspect doesn't interest me. However, you can still build some pretty cool stuff out of them. In short, definitely worth picking some of these up while the availability and pricing lasts! zmog
Um, okay. I guess. Why not post one of them next to a ruler (Metric > Imperial), and then i'll tell you if they're the same size. I agree that they work well on deluxe class figures, i have no idea where you got the comparison with Bionicle from (those things are huge compared to these). When i said they'd be good for Leader Class in an above post, i was referring to a comment above that about whether they'd be good for necks and wrists. I think SMOG can confirm that for anything Voyager and Smaller, necks shouldn't be made from this stuff (there's a lot better), and wrists, i'd rather trash a Gundam for. The right angle bending is pretty cool, though it's kinda sad that you can only bend it one way.
I was thinking of taking some pics, but I don't have time right away... I wasn't comparing them Bionicle for any other reason than to give others a sense of their size... because most of us know how big Bionicle joints are. I think these would be fine for Voyager head joints (Alternators use joints about the same size), even some Deluxes. Obviously it depends on the project. But I really think that you can't get a better deal on small, highly functional ball joints in such quantities. Yeah... though sometimes it helps stability. And really, 99% of ball joints used on toys can't do a right angle in more than one direction anyway, so I guess it's not such a big deal. Bionicles are one of the exceptions, but that also makes their joints a little looser than others. zmog
LOL I can tell A1 is a little annoyed in just about every one of his posts here. I'll be picking these up. I'm running low on ball joints and the price is good. SMOG: I'm assuming you bought these through the eBay seller you linked earlier? I ask because I'm a little hesitant about buying from HK sellers.
Don't be, I bought both of my sets at different times from the HK guy and they arrived 7-10 days after I ordered them. You just need to make sure to tell him what color you want.
Yep, same seller as earlier. And yeah, what MegaMoonMan said... don't worry about HK sellers. I've been buying Gundams, Chogokins, TFs, other toys, gadgets, videos... all sorts of stuff from HK, and I don't think I've ever had a real issue (which is more than I can say for sellers in the US and Canada). I guess if anyone knows how to export their stuff, it's Hong Kong. The language issue can be a bit daunting... you can tell from their e-mails often that english is not their first language (or 2nd... or 3rd... ), but usually the transaction is straightforward enough that everything is communicated. Also, I find HK sellers tend to ship shockingly fast... though one thing to look out for is protection... the packaging tends to be minimal on low-price items. I've never received anything broken, but anything in a box (like these Bowei bricks and just about any Gundam I've ever gotten from HK) generally arrives a bit crushed. However, for big ticket stuff like Chogokins, the sellers are usually more careful with their packing. This seller of Bowei bricks confirmed with me after I specified that I wanted the black ones. I might order another set though... I kinda like them, and some white bricks would provide some contrast. zmog
Looks like the seller's away for a bit, but I left a note for making a future order~ Two black sets and one white ought to keep me plenty busy for a while, nuh?
