There was one seller Makeasy2u that had all three before they removed them. I got TT from him. Good feedback mentioned in this thread about him. Send him a message and request a side deal. I think somebody mentioned he got his for $32 shipped this way even though he had no ad posted. Tell him you want all three for $90 shipped. See what he says. Just make sure to mention you want a tracking number.
Pop the big pin that the back of the head pivots on first. The cheeks kind of just sit on the pins that hold the neck and lower head together so just pry them off gently and it will pop right off and the face slides right out. The lower neck pin did not want to budge so I left it, but was super easy to paint. The bottom pic shows the damage I inflicted trying to get the pin out, there is just nowhere to grab and a vice is useless. Here is the finished product http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/radicons-customs/957361-masterpiece-clampdown.html#post10070421
BTW, I shined my KO SS with a coat of Zymol and he shines like a new penny! It now has a real car shine. I couldn't be happier. I'm so glad I didn't get screwed with extremely crappy paint. Only one panel had a little bit of texture to it,but not bad at all. Most of my paint is near perfect and the shine really brings it out.
Broke one of the window hinges on mine. I can still get it to hold on in both modes but was a little bummed. I guess I'll be more careful now. Pretty glad I didn't break a real one for $100.
Got mine today. I could complain about a couple paint flaws, but the fact that it has far fewer of those than the official version I have is making me bite my tongue. Really, it's impossible for me to distinguish the two overall, aside from the different face. Even the box has the hologram sticker on it, which I wasn't expecting. My one complaint in terms of quality is the rear tires are pinned badly and are very wobbly. When he's in alt mode the tires sit at an agle because there is so much wiggle room. It's not the worst thing in the world, but I do wish I knew how to fix it. Happy overall though. I got him as a backup, and that's what he'll be. The official one stands pretty on display, this one gets manhandled and played with. If Hasbro ever releases Sideswipe I will get one of those, too.
Simple fix eriku. put the painted plastic side of the tire down on on a flat surface with the rivet side up. Use a drill bit and hammer to tap the rivet with a little force. Check it between strikes to see how tight it is. The back tires can come off the main leg with three screws. The fronts don't have to come off but it is really tricky getting to them. If your going the the MN meetup bring it along, I should be there.
Oof. Got mine today. Long story short it has serious paint issues, too thin here, too thick there, bubbles, etc. Head is perfect though, tight, no gaps much nicer than OG MP SS. Here's the thing though... I like it better than my legit MP SS. I actually messed around with this one and transformed it a bunch, heck my girl even had a go because the color was "cute" I forgot how much fun TFs can be when they aren't so precious. And MPs with their cost and rarity are too fragile these days. Now to paint him up in candy red and wait patiently for the KOs of Optimus and Prowl so that I can play, share and customize to my hearts content. PS: do yourself a solid and get yourself a set of the doctor WU DieCast pile drivers. They are awesome.
I got one (purposefully) and I couldn't be happier. There's nothing bootleg-y about it. Even the paint apps are perfect. PERFECT.
Nice post. There is another difference on the box cover which is a dead give away. The Black portion of the cloud effect behind the car near the front windsheild is more round on the KO. And near the tail fin the there is little fade/transition effect on the KO
Man, I was debating ordering one of these for the longest time simply because of the misspellings on the bumper, thinking they were all I'd be able to notice when I look at it. I finally pulled the trigger on this, and I am so glad I did. I have 20/15 vision and the misspellings aren't even noticeable when this thing is sitting just an arm's length away from me on my desk. In addition, the paint quality on this is much better than I expected. I'm not experiencing the paint flaking issues like a lot of people mention, and there are no scratches in the paint job at all. There are, however, a few splotches of paint and areas where it looks like the paint pooled up, as well as thin paint on the bonnet and one area on the shoulder where paint was chipped off, but apparently those flaws were common on the official release too and it's much better quality than many of the fully painted toys I've bought. I'll also echo the statement that this even feels official. Heck, this feels more solid than some of the Prime RID toys I bought last year. The details are all so crisp and the joints are all tight (tighter than most of my official toys, but not to a degree that scares me), and it just feels solid. I honestly don't remember it's a KO until I see the silly typos. In any case, as it has a chip on the shoulder, I was thinking of touching it up with some paints. Are there any known color matches for this guy? I was thinking Testor's Chrysler Engine Red would be almost perfect, but I'm going by memory since I'm away at school and don't have access to my paints at the moment.
I have the ko SS and Red Alerts and just got MP Prowl. Since I'm not familiar with the official SS & RA, are their boxes like Prowl's in that the background is matte, but the photos are glossy, whereas the KO's are solid gloss? If so, that should be another giveaway.
Got mine earlier in a local store for 30 USD. Joints are tighter than my legit MP Red Alert, and paint quality is better than on many legit ones on the feedback thread. Going back to the store in a couple of days to get Tigertracks.
I'm waiting for SS and RA right now. I ordered them last Thursday, so I'm hoping by the end of next week... If I like them, which I'm sure I will, I will probably order a TT too. They are the only MP characters I don't have, so these guys are going to go a long way in completing my MP Autobot display.
Awesome comparison, that must have taken some time! One thing though, with this point here: On mine both pins are the same size, the correct larger size that the authentic one has. Just pointing it out because I thought it was interesting, not to devalue your very comprehensive comparison. All of these really tiny differences are great because they aren't big enough to alter the look of the toy but are numerous enough to very easily tell if you have a KO or not.
