Found something quite interesting in my local 'Poundworld' shop - one of those places where everything is £1. Knock-off minibots! These come in packs of two, and appear to be approximately twice the size of their authentic Hasbro distant cousins. Pack 1: As you can see, the 'bot packaged in robot mode is a G1 Cliffjumper knock-off. There are some differences - the wheels are all-plastic and attached to the arms by means of a screw. The arms are simplified, and don't have the inner ends of the wheel arches moulded on. The colours are, needless to say, quite different and he appears to have an alternative head mould. The vehicle-mode 4x4 is unfamiliar to me - it looks a bit like Brawn but shares the CJ/BB-style transformation. Hmm. Pack 2: Knock-off Bumblebee ahoy! As with his CJ-esque counterpart, the mould is a little simplified, and appear to be around twice the size of BB himself. Once again we get a different head mode, and an unfamiliar vehicle-mode counterpart who looks like another 4x4 with a similar arms-out, legs-out, feet-up, head-back transformation. I've not had a chance to open them up yet, I want to get more photos and some scans of the hilarious 'Engrish' transformation instructions on the back. All in all, some odd little items!
Wow... I would love to see what some of the kitbashers who have been articulating combiner parts see what they could do with those... Cool find!
these are blown up kabaya kits, that's why the molds are different, brawn transforms like cliffjumper instead of like the tf-brawn. the engrish on back is HILARIOUS! i looked up some of those words and they exist, lol.
Awesome English indeed! All I know is my girlfriend would smack me good if I ever got caught using the word 'Circumgyrate"
My local Poundland be getting new TF KO's now. G1 Constructicons, Oversized Cybertron Legends, Undersized Cyb Brimstone with Legends Scourge + Leobreaker. Hooray for wierd KO's.
And for their next trick, they escaped their packaging! Here are not-Cliffjumper and pseudo-Brawn, fresh from the bubble: No sooner did 'CJ' come out of the bubble, than his right foot fell off! Due to an assembly error, the pin that helps hold the two halves of the foot together hadn't lined up, and the lower half had bent when screwed in. After rectifying this, he was able to stand on his own two feet. 'CJ's head isn't too far removed from the original's - I might repaint this guy into 'authentic' colours and make myself a giant Cliffjumper. The moulding process is very rough, judging by the 'flash' left over on the edges of the sections. Here's Brawn-alike! I recall there being, in Japan, a model kit of Bumblebee and Brawn that wasn't unlike this - you got all the parts on sprues, as a regular model kit, in unpainted black plastic and you could make yourself a Bumblebee, and a version of Brawn that was essentially a re-shelled BB. This came out back in the 1980s I think. Hubcap is looking at Cliffjumper and thinking 'They grow up so quickly these days. And they change colour too.' Last shot shows the not-Brawn in 'bot mode and CJ-esque in car mode. As you can see, the arms stay in position quite well, thanks to a tightly-fitted screw. Unfortunately, this is too tight and any attempt to pose the arm or transform him results in the shoulder 'twisting'. The plastic quite soft and I can see this snapping unless the screw is adjusted. Probably not all that suitable for kids, given their fragility, but these could make useful fodder for novelty kitbashes. You can't go wrong at the price either, with each 'bot working out at 50p (approx $1).
BumbleBrawn Cliffback Outjumper Hey I could go all day... Nice though, wouldn't mind having a couple!
Yea, I wouldn't mind snaggin a set of those either. Maybe some of the dollar stores here state side will be getting some of these in. *crosses fingers* I'm a sucker for KOs.
I find the packaging hilarious. 'Quick and Easy! Transfigurate the car' and 'Wheel forth undraw and circumgyrate 360' are the definite standouts here. Much LOL-age all around.
