I just got back into collecting G1s again after several years absence and was looking to "upgrade" a few of my less than pristine older toys with cleaner figures however the other night when I started looking on Ebay I noticed some insanely low prices for "Authentic" G1 NIB figures on Ebay and that set off all of my alarm bells.

I did the research and see that this Zhong Jin company has been flooding the market with near perfect looking copies of some older figures which explains the "too good to be true" new in box figures.

But now I have to wonder just how many unscrupulous people have taken to attempting to sell these KOs out of box as "nearly mint original figures" with weapons and tech specs?

Or at the very least, taking the weapons out and adding them to authentic figures to try to sell the item as "complete".

Years ago, I originally spent months looking for a perfect condition Ratbat and now I see several "pristine" loose ones up on Ebay so you can see why I am a bit suspicious.

Should I just give up on trying to find decent condition authentic G1 loose figures? Or at least of the ones this Chinese company is making KOs of (Superion, Dinobots, etc.._)? Are these things good enough to pass as original figures? (at least to someone who may not have a confirmed original toy to directly compare it to)

 

A very dificult one. Just be very careful.

I've been caught out a few times with KO's.

I hate KO's of the original G1 figures.

There are a few tell tale signs on the boxes and toys, not sure about the weapons though. I'm sure someone could enlighten us on here.

 

Yeah, G1 KOs have become a real pest for collectors that want to keep their collection legit. I've been caught a few times, but gladly, I wrapped up my G1 collection before the flood of recent years. I wish you luck, don't give up.

 

Unfortunately for me, the ones I would want to add to my collection are the Constructicons (I have a G2 set and would like the original as well), Protectobots, the Dinobots and several of the cassettes so pretty much everything I am interested in has a high grade KO of it out there now.. :/

I guess that I should be glad that I already had Superion, Soundwave, Rumble, Ravage, Laserbeak, Overkill & Slugfest from years ago so at least those I don't have to worry about.

Edit: I just looked on Ebay and currently there are 3-4 loose, complete, mint condition, "authentic" Defensor sets for sale for between $150-200 each. Why is it I find it hard to believe...?

And the worst part is... It is possible that in some cases, the sellers themselves may actually think that they are selling original figures after having been duped themselves by other people... (this is making my head hurt...)

 

Give up? No. There are plenty of sellers on eBay and on TFW2005.com that can offer you what you're looking for while providing some trustworthy expertise that it's legit. There are certainly collectors on here that I'd buy from in a heartbeat and totally trust the legitimacy of the piece.

I wish you well on your collecting!

 

As always with any online purchase, do plenty of research and ask questions about anything you're not 100% sure about.
There will be people around here who will be more than happy to share their experience and knowledge with you to make sure you're not going after anything that's not the real thing.  

 

Another option is to look for non-internet ways of collecting. Local comic or used toy shops may have what you want, as well as making it to Botcon. Nothing beats being able to inspect the item personally before buying.

 

I don't mind buying a KO if I know it's a KO, since it serves as either filler until I can get the real one, or it's cheaper than the real one (like the KO of G1 Shockwave). However, people, like a few on eBay, who try to pass a KO as the real deal piss me off to no end. I've actually called out people at Trader's World for passing off KOs as the real thing.

 

Yeah, a KO that is advertised as such doesn't bother me as much as one that is being sold as the genuine article. I saw a KO Devastator gift set up on Ebay by a fellow claiming that it was made by Hasbro and the worst part is that he had a 2nd auction up with what looks like an actual vintage gift set from the 80's.

I'd bid on the authentic one but with the seller also listing KOs I'd be concerned that the actual toys in the original packaging had been swapped out for KO pieces.

 

If you want to be 100% sure you are getting legit pieces, you might want to check transformerland. Their descriptions are always accurate and they are great to deal with.

 

I have the high quality KO Springer, Superion set, and Reflector, and you would be hard-pressed to tell the difference between them and a vintage piece unless you have them side-by-side to compare.

And even then, going price for a complete Springer with good chrome is ridiculous, so $40 for a KO sounds great to me. Plus, who are you trying to impress? If it's good enough for you, and you enjoy it, who cares if it's vintage or KO?

 

What's the quality like on KO G1 Shockwave, and what's a good place to look? I know about KOToys, are there other sites as well?

 

iOffer.com, seller is t800Pro. Dude is awesome.

And quality on all of the three I mentioned was fantastic, and a buddy picked up their Gnaw, Octane, & Reflector, and they were all great as well.

 

I care.

I want a collection of vintage, original toys in good or better condition not a bunch of counterfeit pieces that come out of an unethical Chinese company which has no respect for other people's property.

As someone who owns a company which makes toys (well accessory pieces for D&D, but close enough) who has had to deal with people violating my copyrights by attempting to market knock-off versions of my own products I am not of a mind to support some overseas company which does the same thing.

 

It matters if one day you want to sell you collection. Some buyers would not be interested in the Kos and some buyers once they find out you have KOs wont even bother to look at the rest of the collection because they might think the rest of the stuff you have is fake. I have seen this first hand when people try to sell their collection that is full of KOs.

 

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/trans...ell-new-ko-reissues-apart-authentic-toys.html

THIS STICKY IS POSTED RIGHT ABOVE YOUR THREAD.

it helps you learn how to spot KOs from genuine figures.

just been there for ages...

 

Which is very helpful...

IF

You are buying the toys in person or have some really, really good photos to work from on Ebay. Unfortunately those two factors don't always apply.

And as I have said before, it gets worse when dealing with loose figures as the tell-tale signs may not be apparent at all from just a photo.

Seriously, the pictures of some of the loose KO figures look spot on especially if the image isn't super hi-res.

Can you tell a KO loose Grimlock from the genuine article from a less than perfect picture? I can't.