KO Korner: Metamorphs Jack SL-SS01A (Transformers G1 Action Master Rad)

I had such a great response from my last Transformers G1 KO review (thanks to Maz for all his Tweets!) that I couldn't wait to share the next piece from my personal collection. However due to other projects going on in the background it'll take me a little longer than I would like to get the photo shoot ready and completed. However while digging through the 1.5K pictures I already have just waiting to be edited, I ran across another G1 KO to share. Not quite as exciting as some of the others I own, but nonetheless worth sharing.

Ah, Action Masters. The Transformers that don't transform! I know these toys created a lot of division within the TF fandom, but I always liked them. While I never owned any as a kid in the 80's, I guess I can appreciate them as I've always been a fan of 3 3/4" action figures like G.I. Joe. Not saying that Action Masters are my favorite G1 TFs, I don't loathe them like some fans do.

I've seen these KO Action Masters before on eBay before I started to collect G1 KOs, but of course when I was ready to make the purchase it took me awhile to track one down. The thing about a lot of these KOs is they are almost always found overseas, particularly in Italy or Australia. This means I pay more for shipping than what I pay for the actual toy at times!

You may recall the original Hasbro G1 Action Masters figures came packaged on blister cards, so I find this box packaging to be a little appealing. Unlike many packaged G1 KOs I own, this box doesn't really borrow any aspects from the original packaging, opting to go with dare I say an original design?

    

Now you may be wondering what Jazz is doing on one end of the box Jack comes packaged in. It appears the same style box was used for that release as well and perhaps Jack and Boa were released at the same time?

One top of the box you can also see the shared packaging design with Boa's turbo skate board. Hopefully one day I can track down this other Metamorph Action Master release.

Inside the box you'll find a very then and flimsy plastic tray housing the figure, it's Targetmaster like sidekick and his weapon. No sticker sheet or instructions were inside and my specimen was sealed when I purchased it.

I always did like Rad's sculpting and his partner, Lionizer was in my opinion one of the better Targetmaster like partners for the Action Masters. Rad, er, Jack traded his red for orange. To me he looks like he should hiding inside Groundbreaker's Pretender shell with these new colors. His unnamed partner wasn't changed much from his G1 predecessor.

     

I should mention that the spring has been removed from "Lionizer" so now when you disengage the animal head it just drops. However when you put him in Targetmaster mode he does clip together and hold his gun form just fine. By the way, Rad's gun is the same as Jack's, just a shade darker.

Orange or red, what's your favorite color? Looking over both figures in hand I really can't find any changes to the mold itself, however as you can see the KO figure is slightly shorter. The quality of the plastic used for this KO release is actually quite nice. It seems to have a glossy shine that the original doesn't have, but it doesn't feel cheap and the joints are tight...then again I purchased it sealed.

G1 KOs aren't for everyone, as Action Masters aren't "real" Transformers for a lot of fans. However I found this release to be have some charm, got it for cheap and looks good alongside my other G1 KO Autobots.

KO Korner: Triple Changer Dunebuggy (Transformers G1 Sandstorm)

At some point in the last few years I've found myself collecting vintage Transformers Generation One knock offs. I'm not exactly how I ended up on this road, but it's been a fun ride. Not only do I find it fun collecting these oddball items, but I also find it fun sharing my discoveries with the Transformers community. I know not all people care about knock-offs and that is why I've kind of narrowed my scope of collecting these to vintage G1 molds.

My latest G1 KO acquisition is one that I've seen a few times on eBay, however the high price tag has always kept me a bay. A few weeks ago however a seller in Italy posted a sealed specimen that I was going after. Sadly I was out bid and the toy sold for near $90. A week later the same Italian seller listed another version. This one had been opened, but was complete with unused stickers. This one ended up with a slightly wallet friendly price and I was all too happy to be the high bidder.

After waiting a few weeks it arrived. Triple Changer Dunebuggy, No-6727. Trying to find out information on toys like this is basically a dead end road, having based on the packaging and the number the toy received I'm going to say this toy falls under the KO banner, Metamorphs. I could be wrong, but if I am does it really matter?

As you can see Dunebuggy here, aka Sandstorm, features a box layout very reminiscent of his G1 self; complete with the Start/Finish transformation sequence on the top of the box.

  

Thanks to Botch the Crab and his awesome Box Art Archive, we can see side by side the KO and the G1 artwork. I can see a few small, subtle changes, but overall it appears original art was just recolored for this KO release.

You probably have noticed by now that the image of the toy doesn't exactly match the toy inside the box. The box art features primarily teal and pink, while the toy samples sport more of green, blue and some pink. Even the 'Finish' step on the top of the box shows two different colored figures. The sample used for the packaging even shows the helicopter having the normal 4 blade rotor. Now whether there are variations to this KO I have yet figure it out. Personally I like the blue/white look a little better and I'd jump at the opportunity to pick up this mold in those colors...if it exists.

I love how the layout for the original instruction booklet has been shoehorned onto the back of the box. The 1986 box art found on the back of many Transformers seems to be unaltered for the most part. In a way it's a shame because I've always liked this battle scene, even if there are a few errors to be had. Botch the Crab again supplies an unaltered view of the epic battle scene here for your viewing pleasure.

Enough of the packaging though, let's get this brightly colored toy out of his cardboard prison! Inside you'll find the toy is housed a very cheap, brittle plastic tray. I was afraid the end was going to fall apart in my hands just trying to remove the tray from the box.

Located right on top of the figure was a little plastic insert that seemed to help stabilize the figure inside the tray. Underneath the figure were a few sticker sheets and his gun.

The first thing I did after getting the figure out of the packaging was to take these horribly curved sticker sheets in between some heavy books to try and flatten them out. Most of the stickers appear to be replicas of the original G1 stickers. I doubt I'll use these stickers as I have no idea 1) if I can get them flat and 2) if their quality is any good or not. I may have to eventually pick up some Reprolabels for Sandstorm. The sticker sheet in the lower right corner goes on the top rear portion of the helicopter. This gives it the white lines you may be familiar with on Sandstorm.

The other thing I noticed after some hands on time with the figure is the helicopter has 3 blades as opposed to 4. Well actually I noticed this when I got Sandstorm off the shelf for a few comparison shots. I thought the helicopter looked a little "off". I can't decide if I like the 3 blade look better or worse than the regular 4 blade layout.

Outside of the change to the rotor blades, I couldn't find any changes to the mold itself. Surprisingly the plastic seemed to be of good quality. The figure held together really well and I didn't feel like anything was going to break off while I moved parts around.

The thing I've heard many people already mention about this figure is how it could be a great stand in for a G2 Sandstorm or maybe even an evil Shattered Glass version. However when I see teal, pink and purple on a transforming helicopter all I see is Spinister.

pic courtesy of TFW2005.com

OK, it's not a dead on take of the colors, but it's close enough. Coincidence? The KO's packaging doesn't really have a date anywhere on it that I can find, but my guess is the KO was released after 1988 when Spinister was originally released.

I could handle the helicopter's color scheme, but once I got him transformed to dune buggy...well it's a whole other story! Look at all that pink! Maybe if the wheels had been cast in another color plastic it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe the black windshield and window stickers would help break up this Willy Wonka inspired color scheme? Transformation to helicopter to dune buggy was fairly painless. Everything went back to where is should go and the parts that clip together seemed to hold just fine.

Remember how I mentioned that the plastic quality seemed fairly decent and how smooth the transformation from each form was. Look at his right arm. See how it looks a little different? Yeah, well I spoke to soon. While transforming it from dune buggy to robot mode the right arm broke off at the screw. I swear I didn't feel anything break or even notice this until I tried to flip up the arm and fold down the fist. 

Thankfully it looks like it was a fairly clean break and I've the part drying with a little super glue as we speak. I really wanted to finish with the photoshoot when I discovered the broken part that I went ahead with the photos of the figure as-is. 

Believe it or not, but this is the first G1 KO that I've had break on me. I'm really hoping that glue does the trick because this figure is becoming one of my favorites in my KO collection.

Now what good would a review like this be without some comparison shots with the original mold?

While I had the figure in each form I poured over the toy looking at each piece carefully to see if I could find any differences. Other than the obvious missing copy right stamp on the bottom of legs, I could find anything different.

Even the gun mold is the same from what I can tell!

While repairing the broken arm I did notice the screw used was slightly different than the one in the G1 toy. The screw in Sandstorm's arm has more of a shield around the head of the Phillips screw where as the KO's Phillips screw has a larger head.

I then looked at the screws on the wheels and noticed that the rear wheels both share the same type of flat head pin, but the front wheels of the KO have a Phillips screw. The center hole on the KO wheel also seems smaller. Could they have by chance cast a new wheel mold?

I realize that some people reading this may be thinking "why did he purchase that ugly thing?" and others may be thinking "wow, this is kind of cool!". I guess for me the thing that makes this and other vintage G1 KOs so fascinating is the uniqueness of the figure. Whether its the background of the toy, the packaging, mold changes or just out there color schemes; collecting these G1 KOs has been a fun journey and one that I don't plan on stopping anytime soon.

I do ask that if anyone reading this knows anymore about the background on this release or knows if the blue/white version was also released, I'd love to hear from you. Please drop me a line and let know.

And the Winner is...

Last week I posted some photos of several of the items I've had just sitting in my room waiting to be opened and reviewed and asked you, the reader to decide what I open next. Across many different social media platforms the answer that I kept seeing was the non-TF product. While some specifically asked for the Metamorphs Triple Changer "Sandstorm", I'm going to assume the other votes were for this same toy.

I've already begun the photo shoot and will start editing the photos this weekend, but a little accident happened during said photo shoot so I need to get that corrected before I can continue. I hope to have the final post up this weekend or the first of next week.

Thanks to all that voted. If this is the item you were most interested to see, stay tuned!

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.