I have an original MISB near flawless Swoop that I've been wanting to have AFA graded that was purchased in maybe 1999 or 2000. A quick recent Ebay search shows a flood of reissues even with the 1984 date. My question is will AFA be able to tell the difference? Why would they make a reissue virtually the same? Hopefully there are differences. What's the story with this?
they'll be able to tell the difference yep!! but at the same time, I believe AFA WOULD grade a knockoff swoop as well. so be sure to let them know its an original
MISB collectors are still screwed. AFA has been known to let KOs slip through to be graded. Also, there will always be suspicion if you try to sell it. I always assume a MISB Transformer is a KO now (if a KO has been made for it). I'll never buy another MISB transformer again.
If you know what to look for, it's very easy to tell what is or is not the genuine article. There's a sticky thread in this forum that's a great resource. Don't give up hope!
Because 'collectors' are willing to give their money to a company that has done little more than copy someone else's hard work and innovation because obtaining an original in new condtion is too 'difficult'.
my thoughts exactly. I don't even consider misb tfs that have kOs. Like cyclonus or the cassettes. Afa does grade these KOS as "china variants"
Has G1 Ultra Magnus been KO'd yet? I really hope not.. I'm starting a character collection of Ultra Magnus through the ages and I'd hate to land a KO that I thought was original...
Cyclonus isn't a knockoff. I'm going to be writing an article about this for TF Pulp shortly. Basically, in the 90's, Hasbro made a run of G1 figures for release in China and Korea (yes, Korea). People have been calling the Chinese ones knockoffs, but they're real. Quality just isn't as high as with the original run. As others have said, it's not THAT hard to tell the difference between the knockoffs and the originals. You just have to know what to look for. IIRC, with Swoop, the rubsign is on the wrong side of the wing. They haven't made a knockoff yet that doesn't have some obvious flaw AFAIK. Just to run down the list: Optimus -- too many differences to count on two hands Beachcomber -- errors on the back of the card Laserbeak/Frenzy -- errors on the back of the card Ravage/Rumble -- errors on the back of the card Ratbat/Frenzy-- variant mismatch: silver weapons w/ painted details; no real Ratbat/Frenzy every came that way. silver weapons correspond to sticker details on the real thing. gold weapons correspond to painted details on the real thing. Bumblebee -- placement of punch hole and bubble Swoop -- rub sign on wrong wing There are more differences than just the ones I listed, but those are the ones I use to tell them apart.
I just got a KO swoop with a thermal sticker so just lettin ya know....I thought they didnt have em.....like the 1st or second releases, but this one had the therm faction symb...... The pleats in the back are a dead givaway as well, I believe 84 swoops had a SOLID back not perforated. Someone mentioned the bottom left.....DINOBOT BOBARDIER SWOOP..... was supposed to have diff spacing? The box on mine just looks like absolute dookie breath, im talkin moisture stains INSIDE but, you know.......I can smell the printer ink.....lol. I think...
Thanx everyone for the info. I knew knockoffs existed but thought this may have been an actual Takara/Hasbro reissue that was made virtually the same with 1984 date and all. I was wondering why Hasbro would do that. My Swoop is case fresh plucked out of a factory sealed case more than 7 years ago and will grade extremely high when submitted. It scared me to think that there could have been a Swoop out there exactly the same. Glad to hear they would be able to tell the difference. Knock offs have come a long way in the last 5 years in the Transformer world. I've stayed away from them now I'm going to do more research.
Hes got it on "HIS" right wing...........wich I think is the side it should be on.... Looking at it in the box, its on the LEFT \side..and hold on a sec... to be exact his CHIN of the syb is facing FORWARD......not back.... or is it supposed to be on HIS left...??? His right wing.....right? or dude at KO factory put chin facing forward on purpose! http://cgi.ebay.com/G1-Transformers-Dinobot-Swoop-100-complete_W0QQitemZ190120264624QQihZ009QQcategoryZ4696QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem http://cgi.ebay.com/Transformers-G1-Dinobot-Swoop-NEAR-MINT_W0QQitemZ290127209831QQihZ019QQcategoryZ4696QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Im not dyslexic am I?
This is absolutely not a true statement. I know it sounds like the run of the mill back in the day tale, but... I personally bought stickered Ratbat/FrenzyII MOSC, and they had gold weapons. I only discovered that there were painted versions in around 2000.
