KO Korner: Double Dragon (Monsterbot Doublecross)

I can't exactly remember when or who I acquired this nice little piece from, but it's one of the few boxed G1 Transformers KOs that I still have in my collection. From what I can tell, this is a Korean release and is obviously based off the Autobot Monsterbot, Doublecross. In small print across the bottom it says Dae Dong Co. The box is made of a very thin/cheap cardboard. The colors are still quite vibrant. The large black front at the top of the box translates to Tususa Ssangyong Robot, however I'm not sure how accurate that is. The diagonal font across the middle reads "Dragon, the son of fire, who fights for justice!" "He came to us to preserve peace on Earth."

The figure comes nestled inside a very cheap plastic tray. This insert is so brittle you have to take the utmost care removing or inserting the figure. The plastic in the bottom of each recessed area is very thin. You can see the figure comes bundled with two accessories the original Doublecross did not come with, a large red sword and a blue shield. I have no idea of these accessories were "borrowed" from another toy release or are unique to this release. The sticker on the shield appears to be some type of unicorn?

Double Dragon comes molded in a very bright huge of blue, red and yellow. The plastic quality is surprisingly better than I expected. It's not oily or too light feeling, but of course not on par with the plastic Hasbro/Takara were using at the time. The only paint apps are a small black blobs of paint on the eye visor, eyes of the dragon heads and nostrils. There are 3 stickers pre-applied to the chest, but the adhesiveness of these is all but gone on my copy.

Once you wield Double Dragon with his weapons, it's a great looking piece. If you prefer a gun, you're in luck has he can also wield Doublecross' original white blaster.

You may have noticed the lack of wings on Double Dragon and those wouldn't be the only changes made. Other than the missing wings, the top half of the robot is molded very closely to that of the original. The front of the shoulders are missing the raised circles and there are some molded details to the abdomen area that are missing (replaced with the sticker). Even the dragon heads are very close to Doublecross. The KO obviously does not contain the sparking gimmick of the original so you won't find that mechanism inside the dragon heads. The trigger fin on the back of Doublecross has also been omitted on the KO.

The major differences in the mold comes in the bottom half. Double Dragon features a set of generic robot legs and does not have the ability to transform at all, thus no dragon legs or tail halves. The upper legs/thighs however do seem to be the same.

Overall I find this KO to be a quirky, charming addition to my G1 KO collection. I wish that it had the ability to transform, but it's unique colors and weapons helps it stand out as a highlight piece. I haven't really sought out this figure on the secondary market so I can't really comment on it's availability or price, but if you are a fan of KOs in general or just a fan of the Doublecross character, I do recommend this toy.

KO Korner: Dinosaur Corps Tyrannosaur FS-204 "Goryu D-322"

One of the hard things about collecting vintage toys for myself is knowing that in some cases I have chunks of plastic sitting on my shelves that can bring in a decent amount of money. The vintage Japanese Transformers G1 Dinoforce toys are just one example of toys I bought for song and eventually sold.

I was planning to do something really nice for my wife and I's 10th wedding anniversary a few years ago, but like any father with kids I was low on money. My wife really wanted to go on another cruise so we started to price them out and it was clear I was going to need to make some sacrifices in order for this to become a reality. As much as it pained me to sell my complete, individually boxed set of Dinoforce Pretenders I knew they would fetch enough for me to pull off a really nice gift for my wife.

A few years later I really got the itch to replace them, but like many things I've sold in the past the current prices were just too prohibitive of me doing anything. After all, it's hard enough at times to keep up w/ the current Transformers toys and my other hobbies, yet alone go out a chase some hard to find elusive TFs like the Dinoforce toys. I was aware that there were at least two different KO versions of these toys that were produced in the 90's that share the same size and a very similar color scheme to the originals. With a little searching I found that these toys appeared to be originally available in parts of Italy, particularly Greece. I eventually found a Greek eBay seller that had one of the boxed specimens for sale. These toys also came packaged in a blister card, but many of the colors on the dinosaur shells had been altered whereas the boxed version seemed to resemble the original color scheme more. After I moved some items in my own eBay store, I finally pulled the trigger and purchased my first Dinoforce KO, Tyrannosaur FS-204...or better known as Goryu.

Ironically enough Goryu was the last Dinoforce member I purchased to complete the set and now he's the first of the KO versions to be bought. I'm still unsure of the company that made, or should I say knocked-offed this figure. I was surprised however at the quality of the packaging and overall quality of the toys themselves. That made swallowing the 3 digit price tag a little easier!

You can refer back to my original review of the vintage Goryu Transformer to compare the two, but you should see that this packaging somewhat mirrors the original. While the art for "Dinoking" is very striking, I do miss the individual art the authentic packaging offered.

Instead of an actual instruction booklet enclosed in the box, the simple transformation sequence was printed on the back of the box. Towards the bottom the rest of the Dinosaur Corps team was displayed. As a reminder, you can click on these pictures for an enlarged view.

Here's a close up of the sticker on the back of the box, I'm assuming Zaharias is the company responsible for these Dinosaur Corps? Notice how the R is backwards, just like the R in Toys R Us. Coincidence?

Additional shots of the packaging

Long gone are the days when Transformers, or even KOs were packaged in styrofoam. These Dinosaur Corps figures come a very cheap, flimsy plastic tray. One end started to rip as I tried to pull the tray out for the first time. The figure and the dinosaur shell are housed in their own compartment in the tray, along with a section for the weapon, combiner part and sticker sheet.

Contents

The first thing I notice upon removing the toy from it's packaging is that the dinosaur Pretender shell wasn't oily to the touch! While many Transformers collectors may not have had the chance to own or even handle the Dinoforce toys, collectors should be familiar with how certain pieces on G1 Pretender toys (Monster Pretender shells) are oily to the touch. Sometimes it's just the arms of the humanoid/monster Pretender shells, but the Dinoforce shells are notoriously for having that oily or sticky feel to them. I suppose this is due to some sort of chemical breakdown of the plastic or the chemicals in the plastic reacting to the oil in our skin. Whatever the case, this t-rex shell wasn't oily or sticky at all.

The other thing I noticed pretty quickly too is the excess plastic on the horn of the shell's armor headpiece. I'm not surprised, after all this is a KO. From what I can tell from my own pictures and from my memory, this toy is pretty spot on for the original. The colors of both the robot and the shell match well. However the chest of the shell isn't painted gold like the original. Even the stickers match the originals, minus the Destron symbol of course.

The shell functions the same as the original. The combiner foot pegs onto the back of the dinosaur. There is also a smaller peg hole for the hand gun if you wish to plug that in. The figure itself fits inside the shell just fine and is just as snug as I remember the original being. The hard plastic cover is a tough fit however on the shell, but I never at any time felt the side tabs were going to break as I put the cover on or removed it.

 

The robot itself is pretty underwhelming...just like the original. Plastic quality is rather good and I didn't find any defects on the figure. Even the splash of red paint on the robot's face was applied pretty good. To this day however I'm still unsure of what the alt mode is supposed to be.

Just like the original, "Goryu" forms the left leg of "Dinoking". I couldn't find anywhere on the packaging if the combined form was given a new name like the individual members have.

Since I purchased this figure, I've been able to acquire two more boxed versions of the Dinosaur Corps. They don't appear to pop up for sale very often so it may be sometime before I'm able to complete the set, but it sure is nice to know that I've purchased 50% of this pretty cool combiner team for about the same cost as one of the vintage pieces commands now on the secondary market.

Is it the same as owning the original? Well, no. However there are times when you as a collector just has to make sacrifices and cut corners where you can. I don't regret selling the original vintage pieces as it was worth the gift to my wife and the time we spent together...but I do have to admit it's nice to "almost" have these toys back on display in the collection.

KO Korner: Transformers G3 Inferno

In my years of collecting Transformers, I've come across some wild knock offs (KOs). In the later years of my collecting I've even started to search out particular Generation 1 KOs to add to my own personal collection. I've obtain many that I really like, however this one has got to be one of the most intriguing I've found.

When I used to frequent the forums over at TFW2005.com, I had heard other members talk about a G3 Inferno. I had no idea what they were talking about. I knew Inferno had shown up in the G2 series, mostly unchanged from his G1 version; but G3? Years later I actually ran across a eBay listing with a Buy It Now so cheap I couldn't believe my eyes. I quickly bought and paid for the item, even though it was incomplete. I had posted on TFW about my latest finding and believe it or not, but someone had the blue "wing" accessories I needed to complete the figure! He didn't really want to give them up as he had hoped to find the figure himself, but I eventually wore him down and he sold me the parts. I proudly present in all his garish colored glory, G3 Inferno.

I've also heard that some fans refer to this figure as "Crapple" or "Grapferno". Some archived threads mentioned this was a very common KO in Canada. I can't comment on that as I know this is the only specimen I've ever seen for sale.

I'm not sure why I like this guy, but I do. I do find the color choices to be odd, yet they don't look that hideous to me. The touch of blue helps break up the red and yellow, odd choice but still effective.

His head appears to be unaltered from the original G1 Inferno head, yet it's cast in solid black plastic with no paint apps. Now the lack of paint apps doesn't surprise me since this is a KO after all, but why black? His fists and gun also seem to be 1:1 replicas of the original accessories.

I feel as if I lucked out a bit as the joints are fairly tight. He holds together great in both modes. No mold flashings or cheap feeling plastic either. Rubber wheels too! Even the chromed parts still look pretty good. As expected though, there aren't any markings on this toy so I have no idea who made it or when it was made.

As you can see, his water squirting cannon from his G2 release is also present. I didn't test it, but it appears to be fully functional. I was always more of a fan of Grapple than Inferno, but I guess I kinda get the best of both worlds with this release.

G3 Inferno has quickly become one of the centerpieces of my G1 KO collection. I have no idea of it's secondary market "value" as I really don't care. I just enjoy owning this great conversation starter! Good luck if you are trying to locate this figure. I haven't actively looked for it, but when it was it took me a good long time before I stumbled across the one eBay listing that I purchased. Hope you enjoyed a look at this eclectic piece of Transformers G1 KO history.

KO Korner: G1 Transformers Triple Metamorphs 368 B Cobra / "Battletrap"

It's been awhile since we've visited the KO Korner so let's push past all of the authentic Transformers and the 3rd party stuff and look at an interesting knock off of G1 Transformers Battletrap...or at least half of him.

I've found that these Metamorphs branded Transformer KOs are some of the best on the market.  Usually the plastic is of better quality than most bootleg toys and the color schemes are interesting.  Sometimes they are drastically different like "Quickmix" I reviewed earlier this year while others are subtle changes from the original G1 release.  The latter is the case for this one half release of the Duocon, Battletrap.

Not surprisingly the original G1 box art was used on both the front and back of the box.  The only alteration I can see is the added cobra snake on the copter portion.  I have no idea if the jeep portion of the toy was colored like the G1 release so I can't comment if the colors are toy accurate.  I'd love the pick up the other half, but I'm not holding my breath of ever finding it...or the other Duocon, Flywheels.

Cobra, as he is now called, looks very similar to Battletrap, but there are a few changes.  First off the decals.  You've got the appropriate cobra sticker on the wing, but there is also a clear target reticule sticker on the center cockpit panel.  Speaking of the cockpit the whole think is painted a light shade of purple...which I really like.  The more obvious changes are blue plastic used for the center portion and the added gun sculpted onto the nose of the helicopter.  The guns underneath the wings have also been extended from the G1 release.  These changes give the copter a much more menacing look in my opinion and look really nice.

The last change that I noticed is on the underside of the 'copter.  First of all the colored piece of plastic is orange versus blue.  You may also notice the lack of springs here as well.  With both G1 Duocons when you placed the two vehicles together and pressed down, they would merge together and pop up into robot mode.  The KO loses the spring, but transformation isn't really hindered by this.  The last change I noticed is the lack of the peg hole for the original weapon to be pegged in.

I grabbed the bottom half of my G1 Battletrap to get a better look at the helicopter's portion of robot mode.  Combined together it looks pretty good, but you can tell the shade of blue plastic is darker than the G1 toy.  It's almost a purple blue.  The head sculpt is identical to the original, but you can see there is a lot of over spray of silver paint on the face.

Comparison time!  What good is a review of a KO if you don't have the original toy to put side by side?

Which look do you prefer?

New tail fin stickers!

Here is a better look at the bottom and the missing springs.

I know a lot of Transformer fans could care less about KOs, but I find them intriguing and fun.  I find the characters that these Taiwanese or Chinese companies decide to knock off equally interesting.  Perhaps one day I'll find the other half of Cobra or my namesake (Flywheels), but for now I'll just have to settle with what I've got.  In a lot of ways I like this helicopter better than the authentic version.  He's better armed and has a better look in vehicle mode with the addition of the purple on the cockpit.  I wish the blue was more in line with the Hasbro version, but that is a small complaint.  

I've got a really interesting piece that I'm working on for the next installment of KO Korner that I'm excited about sharing with everyone.  So if you're into KOs or just a fan of a certain TF leader then make sure you keep visiting the blog for the next entry.

KO Korner: Super Scramble Basebot G1 Transformers "Menasor"

If you know me very well then you should know that I like the older odd Generation 1 knock-off Transformers.  I'm not talking about knock-off toys where you can't tell the real deal from the fake.  I'm talking about the higher quality 80's Taiwanese toys.  I don't own many thanks in part to other collector's like myself swooping in and snatching them up or driving the price up higher than it should be.  That said today's post is one that I've been waiting to share for awhile now.

Back in the early days of the Internet...well at least early to me I ran across images of wildly colored G1 Transformer Stunticons.  I wasn't able to find any information about the toy for many many years, but the same image always popped up when doing a Google image search.  For me at least it was one of those items I thought I'd never see in person yet alone own.

When I was forced to move my collection to another room in the house it forced me to move a lot of items that had previously been buried away in my crowded closet.  I remember acquiring this item from another fellow Transformers fan for a decent price...much cheaper than I'd image it could fetch on eBay.  I don't think many people have seen this piece so I wanted to share him w/ the masses...or at least with the people that click on and read my humble blog.

Super Scramble Basebot.  I have no idea who made it and when it was released, but I'll go out on a limb and say its of Taiwan origin and probably circa the 90's.  Right off the bat and G1 TF fan should recognize this toy as the Stunticon combiner/gestalt Menasor.  Some may even get the use of Scramble in the name.

The Stunticons will always occupy a special place in my childhood memory...even though I never owned all 5.  Wildrider was the first Stunticon I owned followed by Drag Strip.  I believe I traded something (maybe a few lunches?) in elementary school for Breakdown and Dead End, but I never had Motormaster.  I also like this set for the outlandish colors.  I've been thinking about where to display him now that he is free of his box and I think I've decided the best place for him is to work him into my (crowded) G2 collection.  Why not?  He's got the requisite gaudy color scheme!

Notice the names?  Can we call those names?  What was this mystery company thinking?  I would have even preferred Engrish versions of the original names!

For a knock-off toy I've got to say that the packaging is pretty nice.  Not only does the box have a black plastic carrying strap on the top, but you get this pretty cool looking scene on the back of the box!

If you are familiar with the G1 Stunticons then there aren't any real surprises here outside of Motormaster...or Container truck as he is called here.  That said this will be more of a photo gallery than a traditional review although I will point out certain quality issues here and there.

Container truck (Motormaster) looks surprisingly good in these colors.  I'm a little surprised his trailer wasn't painted silver since he sports the red and blue on the cab of Optimus Prime.  Quality here is really well.  Notice the bull skull on the sides of the trailer?  All of these "Stunticons" feature it.  It replaces the Decepticon faction symbol.

 The base mode is still present and at first glance it doesn't look any different than Motormaster's.  The little "chest car" is even included.  Upon further inspection of the toy however you'll notice one small change...

...the inclusion of the spring loaded launcher!  One of the reasons the Japanese version of Motormaster is so sought after is this reason - the launcher.  For whatever reason Hasbro removed the spring loaded launcher feature for release outside of Japan.  I never understood this as it works really well with the little "chest car".  I was totally surprised to see that this KO had this feature.  I never knew this and I'm sure this comes as news to other fans as well.  I guess this mystery company was able to knock off the original Takara mold at some point in time.  The only quality issue I wanted to bring up are the arms.  I found it really difficult to free up one of the arms to fold down when transforming into base mode.  It could be just my specimen had this problem, but I felt I was going to break the toy trying to free this one side.  That said I don't plan on transforming him into base mode often if at all.

I never thought of this until now, but doesn't "Motormaster" almost look like some Shattered Glass version that the guys at Fun Publications & Botcon would dream up?!  He just looks heroic with these colors.  He comes with the same large gun and sword only the gun is now a purplish blue and the sword is black.

Next up is Tying up car (Dead End).  The dark burgundy color has been replaced with a brighter red.  The plastic seems to have a slightly cheaper feel than "Motormaster".  It's not bad, but it is noticeable.  The window paint apps aren't very sharp looking as they have a sprayed look.

I never was a fan of the vehicle guns, but for completionist sake I wanted to include a few pics w/ the gun attached.

See how shiny the plastic looks?  This is an indication of the quality of the plastic.  Again, it's not bad...it's not dollar store quality, but it isn't Hasbro quality either.  The joints are really good and the stickers applied very easily.  The only paint app in robot mode is the silver applied to the face.  I tried to get a close up, but the focus on my camera didn't want to cooperate with me.  The paint is a little sloppy, but almost expected.

Destroy car (Wildrider) is my favorite.  I love this mold -- even in these colors.  I like how the center of the hood is still a sticker like on the original.

You would think his vehicle gun would be yellow instead of red since he doesn't have red anywhere else on the toy...or maybe I'm just overthinking things too much.

A few quality issues here.  First and probably most obvious is the sloppy paint app on the face.  Horrible!  Also the fist peg on the gun is slightly undersized and just wants to wobble around in hand.

Poison gas car (Drag Strip).  Talk about a loud looking Transformer!  I always loved this toy as a kid and I still do.  The stickers are dead on for the originals, though I think I applied the "racing stripes" incorrectly.  Oh well.

At least his vehicle gun "blends" in with the other colors.  No issues with the gun, in fact it plugs in very tight in the back (no jokes here please).

Decent facial paint app here, but like with "Wildrider" the gun's peg is undersized for the fist.  I could barely get him to hold the gun to snap the picture.  It appears the fist hole may be too shallow.

And finally we have Cross county car (Breakdown).  I'm sure the likeness to the Generation 2 Botcon exclusive toy was not intentional...or was it?  You can see the silver paint on the windows has taken some abuse and started to scratch off.

Of all the silly vehicle guns I like this particular mold the best.  Not sure why so don't ask.

There may have been some similarities in vehicle mode to the Botcon G2 version of Breakdown, but those similarities end here in robot mode.

While there are some shortcomings with this set the group still looks pretty awesome.  Enough about the individual toys you want to see them combined, right?

Behold!  Super Scramble Basebot.  Not bad, eh?  I'm still getting that Shattered Glass vibe however...

Comparison time!  OK, there really isn't any comparison to the real deal.  Of course with this being a Scramble City combiner you can rearrange the 4 smaller TFs into any configuration that you want.  I just decided to assemble him like I had my G1 Menasor.  The combiner parts are very close in color to the original, although you can tell them apart when side by side.  I really like the fact that the sword is black instead of chrome.

You never know what kind of quality to expect when buying old knock-off toys such as this, but I'm happy to say that this is one of the better old school KO Transformers I've seen.  If you aren't turned off because it's a KO the colors may do it for you, but it's these eclectic things that make this piece so attractive and desirable to me.  I hope you enjoyed this look at a rarely seen piece of Transformers KO history.