It looks like the KO set sells in most places for the same price as one of the Iron Factory three sets, so if you did want to support the original creators, you could buy the (probably) two sets you were still able to get hold of and use the KO to substitute for the missing bots. Still giving money to IF, but not robbing yourself of a complete set either, at about the same price as the originals would have been.

 

I've only owned a few KOs in my time. One of them was KO Grapple. Aside from the whole lacking the paint so the parts would fit together tighter issue, he looked and felt very much like the real deal from Takara Tomy. So much so, I can't help but think he actually WAS a TT figure, perhaps a reject or a "lunchtime special". The paint he DID have was kind of gloppy and messy, plus his Autobot logo was slightly offset by just a hair or two, otherwise, he was fully functional and was more or less the same as the official original.

I didn't feel ripped off or anything, I paid like...$60ish, shipped, and it was more than worth the dough I thought.

Let's put it this way... If all of the MP KOs are like this Grapple was, then I have to say they're worth the money and you get a lot of bang for your buck. I'm okay with Takara Tomy's engineering failing at that price, I'm not so cool with it when it's $135-440+ (ouch)

 

Can someone explain the term "Lunchtime Special".
Is it when a official gets sold as a KO?

 

People don't want to call a KO a KO so have a notion that these are made in the off hours by workers to make extra money....

People don't realise that paint apps are automated (mostly) by robots .. robots don't slack off in their lunch breaks to knock out KOs. If every KO has the same wonky logo... That's not a human continually making them wonky suggesting it's an entirely different production line to Takara

But, people can believe these are takaras little side business if it makes the feeling of them buying a KO any better

 

Agree 100%. If anything, the MP KO figures usually feel like just slightly 'sloppier' official products. The parts-fit may be a little tighter or looser, the paint might be a tiny bit less smooth or precise... but you almost can't tell the difference. When I hold an official and a KO of the same figure, I can usually tell the KO just by the feeling of it, but it's not much of a difference. And of course, there are rare ones that are actually nicer than the officials!

My understanding is that some toy factories (usually in China) that normally do official products, and have access to the same molds and materials, sometimes do illicit limited runs of off-brand KO figures, maybe using spare parts or substandard plastics, but otherwise with all the resources of an official factory. The name "lunchtime special" seems to come from the factory workers making these runs in the off-hours between regular shifts (like over the lunch hour). I don't know if it's actually true tht things like this are produced over lunchtimes, but that's the way I've heard the term explained.

zmog

Is that actually true though?

We've seen many, many images and videos of toys being produced in Chinese factories. A lot of our toys ARE painted and assembled by hand (in an assembly-line process, though), not by industrial robots.

In some cases, KO items are made in lower-grade factories, or with cheaper materials and labour, and at an accelerated pace. But a lot of the time, the reason we see more wonky paint jobs and assembly in KO products, it has nothing to do with robots or humans being sloppy in the process. Those same wonky errors happen with official products too.

As it's been explained to me, the difference is in quality control (which is why people are always talking about QC). When they're producing for a major client (like Hasbro) there are certain standards that need to be maintained. Errors get corrected, and items that are assembled wrong or painted wrong get tossed.

For the KO market, that stuff doesn't have to pass the same stringent QC process or meet the same standards... so we get more wonky toys.

zmog

 

Brah, we're talking about transformers, not toyota.

Can you imagine a tiny automated factory line putting our transformers together? That would be so freakin cute... and absurd.

 

yeah as far as i know these little bots are all hand made. i dont know anyone that uses automation for there toys. even barbies have their hair hand set by humans.

 

Absurd ? I don't think you know anything about manufacturing. Whilst these might be assembled by hand they are most certainly not manufactured by hand. There are plenty of videos on YouTube showing manufacturing lines. Be it a car, toy or shampoo bottles, the process is no different. Machines control the industry as it's cost effective and efficient.

If you want to believe that every MP28's chest emblem was painted by hand then all the best to you. Amazing how they can get every single so one identical with a brush and spray gun.

 

Look up "tampography pad printing".

You're welcome.

 

Who is the cheapest and trustworthy seller of masterpiece shockwave on eBay?

 

Or I can buy the KO, and use the money saved to order upcoming products from them such as the DJD of which I already have bought Tarn.

 

Yeah I've recently bought enough IF figs to where I don't feel even slightly guilty. Can't wait for mine to arrive

 

Why not just search on Ebay. Sort the result list from cheapest to most expensive with the cheapest showing at the top of the list.
Then go down the line and check the seller's name. Compare the seller's name against this list: China Ebay Seller Check

 

I’ll pass that on. It’s for a friend who just got scammed. But to help him out what is the going rate for one so he’ll know the “too good to be true” price?

 

I'd just keep an eye on more reviews than prices. I've seen knockoffs from good sellers at 40$ before

 

For toys, it's mostly assembly by hand with the assistance of machines.

 

Tell that to the Bee KOs that had the same QC issues as the originals in the exact same spots....

The big tell sign in understanding if the KO is a KO is the moulding lines/marks and the fact that the KOs IF they are reversed engineered are around a mm taller than the original. If the so call 'reject' has exactly the same mould lines and proportions, there is something fishy going on. Stolen cads ala Megatron notwithstanding that is.

I dont care and I dont need to rationalise my purchases at all, but sometimes a couple things speak for themselves.
Also if you think that all of the parts are painted by bots you are mistaken and probably have no experience in model/toy painting, just saying.

 

One thing (aside from other stuff mentioned) is they can be ones that are not "replicas" but actual product that is a defect for any reason illegally taken out the door and sold without ever having been in a box etc.
Like my MP Grimlock for example. The normal size one, not the KO upscaled one.
No diff whatsoever to the offiicial one, just the price about 1/3 retail.

Or my delta magnus. That was bought many many many months before any hint of another company doing a replica version.
Just a loose official toy that for whatever reasons is considered a factory reject.
Both of those MP's that I bought have no obvious flaws that I've seen so far.

 

@stprime - I purchased my KO MP Shockwave from qintianyu-ming on ebay.

He arrived in a week and the seller still seems pretty legit.

 

i went with cloud 9 for my shockwave. idk if i ever get the tt ko.

i think they are all worth getting for the most part. below is a current list of my mp kos based on hastak mps. to be honest the only mp ko i have issues with are the old lambo molds. my mp14+ is meh, and my copy of mp 12 was/is shat (will still upgrade to mp12+ and add g2 and tiger eventually). the actual mp 11 tt ko is garbage when compared to my kbbs. well the tt mp 11 came in a weak state and i had to fix it up at tad. its now an okay shelf piece. id still recommend kbb over the tt ko. others recommend the bb7/yes models...

ill get inferno and grapple sometime after cny. im also still debating if i want a mp 1 ko or not.. its scale just doesnt fit with my collection. but i wouldnt mind one as a stand alone... maybe.. idk

mp 08 OS version
mp 10
mp 11 tt, kbb sw, kbb tc
mp 12
thf sonicwave
mp 14
mp 15
mp 16
mp 17
mp 18
mp 19
mp 20
mp 21
thf magnus
mp 25
mp 26 was sold, will order another
mp 27
mp 28
mp 30
mp 36
mp 39