KO MP21 Bumblebee by TAKASA TONY

[Sinnertwin]

eBay listings have surfaced for a KO MP21 Bumblebee

http://m.ebay.com/itm/271936653394?_mwBanner=1

[drifand]

Wow, I am actually just dismay that Takara has not bothered to take action against the KOs for quite a while now.

Makes my coming bluestreak feels worthless in some ways but I bought it because is original.

So why no KO starscream?

[5FDP]

ROTFLOL @ TAKASA TONY :D GOLD!!! Sounds like a character from the movie Goodfellas :p

[Handsprime]

But what does TAKASA TONY mean?


Toddler's and Kids are stupid a*****es. They only need yogurt

[GoktimusPrime]

drifand: one of the difficulties of taking legal action against counterfeiters is that they are often located in countries that don't really care about enforcing intellectual property rights or child safety laws, like China. :( Pursuing criminals across international borders relies on different countries' enforcement agencies cooperating with each other. Japanese companies like TakaraTOMY can file a complaint, but if Chinese authorities aren't willing to lift a finger, then there's little that TakTOM can do. The best thing that can be done to combat counterfeiters is for people to not buy counterfeits.


But what does TAKASA TONY mean?
"Takasa" means 'height' in Japanese, and "Tony" is an abbreviation for "Anthony," so... the company must've been founded by some dude called Anthony who's high. Up. :p

For anyone who may not know, "Takara" means 'treasure,' and "Tomy" is an abbreviation for "Tomiyama" (surname). :)

[Handsprime]

"Takasa" means 'height' in Japanese, and "Tony" is an abbreviation for "Anthony," so... the company must've been founded by some dude called Anthony who's high. Up.

Or they are finding a way to say that Tony was very high (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GettingCrapPastTheRadar) ;)

Still doesn't make any sense as what I said.

[griffin]

So basically, if you want to own a Masterpiece toy now, you must make sure you get it within 6 months of its release, or else risk getting a KO, as some people won't be charging the cheap price that gives it away. (some will think they just got a great deal on the real thing and then resell it as the real thing for profit)

[ampoldj]

I noticed this at ebay last Saturday and thought it is very cheap even free postage. But then i checked it why it is Takasa Tony brand whadda :eek:

Edit: with Battle Mask as well just like Wheel Jack with suitcase :)

[BruiseLee]

Had a look at the listing and others like it and they all seem to be using stock images. If the box is like the Wheeljack and Exhaust ko boxes, they should have Takasa Tony on the top right and a C where the autobot logo is on the bottom left. There was a pic of this in the KO Wheeljack thread. Some auctions say Takasa Tony which is the giveaway for people like us but none of them mention that it's a ko with some then even saying it's a Takara prod. Not a fan of ko prods and even less so when they word the auction so that less informed people think they are getting an official prod.

[drifand]

drifand: one of the difficulties of taking legal action against counterfeiters is that they are often located in countries that don't really care about enforcing intellectual property rights or child safety laws, like China. :( Pursuing criminals across international borders relies on different countries' enforcement agencies cooperating with each other. Japanese companies like TakaraTOMY can file a complaint, but if Chinese authorities aren't willing to lift a finger, then there's little that TakTOM can do. The best thing that can be done to combat counterfeiters is for people to not buy counterfeits.


For anyone who may not know, "Takara" means 'treasure,' and "Tomy" is an abbreviation for "Tomiyama" (surname). :)

But Bandai have heaps of Gundam that are not KO though I know some but besides that, their Soul of chogokin series (which is similar to a masterpiece) are not seen KOed.

And they are made in China as well. I just found it strange that on one end KO is done so easily and on another is not. Might be the material cost required to do a KO as Masterpiece are mostly plastic.

The other thing is, is not just Takara, is the brand VW in this case as well is being used.

Oh yes I don't get these KO when originals are just so affordable pre-released.

And thats another thing, most of these masterpieces have no limits on pre-orders unlike some of the Bandai toys like SOCs and Metal build gundams and Macross which were sold out in seconds.

I felt the way Takara should have tackled the issue was to get a second issue "build to order" and just let these online stores keep selling mps at a reasonable price. But thats me.

[drifand]

So basically, if you want to own a Masterpiece toy now, you must make sure you get it within 6 months of its release, or else risk getting a KO, as some people won't be charging the cheap price that gives it away. (some will think they just got a great deal on the real thing and then resell it as the real thing for profit)

The trend of waiting for an original release and reviewed before deciding to buy one has gone. The saving grace is that mps do not get sold out within seconds.

As suggested Takara should have left a period of time to build to order for the second batch of bumblebess etc...

[griffin]

Had a look at the listing and others like it and they all seem to be using stock images. If the box is like the Wheeljack and Exhaust ko boxes, they should have Takasa Tony on the top right and a C where the autobot logo is on the bottom left. There was a pic of this in the KO Wheeljack thread. Some auctions say Takasa Tony which is the giveaway for people like us but none of them mention that it's a ko with some then even saying it's a Takara prod. Not a fan of ko prods and even less so when they word the auction so that less informed people think they are getting an official prod.

So if the boxes have something wrong on them (hopefully intentional to help people spot the fakes), then that would be good if you see it in person... but listing the product with the official images is indeed deceptive without any mention of it being a fake, and I would hope people do charge-backs.
(out of packaging or an unsealed boxed toy would probably still be a risk if the toy is identical).

[UltraMarginal]

reported.

[CBratron]

I can't tell if he's using stock photographs for the product and clamshells.

[GoktimusPrime]

I thought that part of their decision to move manufacturing from China to Vietnam was to combat counterfeiters (the other being cheaper labour as Chinese cost of labour has purportedly been increasing), and MP21G is made in China. Other toys like some Bot Shots, Combiner Wars etc. have been made in Vietnam -- have these toys been counterfeited? :confused: Perhaps if/when MP production also shifts over to their Vietnamese factory then we might see a reduction in counterfeiting of these toys, I don't know. </speculation>


So basically, if you want to own a Masterpiece toy now, you must make sure you get it within 6 months of its release, or else risk getting a KO, as some people won't be charging the cheap price that gives it away. (some will think they just got a great deal on the real thing and then resell it as the real thing for profit)
Or wait for the local TRU release. It may be dearer than preordering from Japan, but at least you're guaranteed that it's legit. And TRU's prices for the imported MPs are about the same as what you'd pay for a legit one off the secondary market anyway; e.g. I paid $100 for my MP Alert off the secondary market, which is the same as what TRU charges for their imported MP Cars. Plus the bio/instructions are in a language that you can read. :o ;)

[ampoldj]

^Takaratomy mall has indicated MP26 Road Rage will be produced in Vietnam...so probably it should start with Tracks to avoid counterfeit on that mold

[griffin]

Or wait for the local TRU release. It may be dearer than preordering from Japan, but at least you're guaranteed that it's legit. And TRU's prices for the imported MPs are about the same as what you'd pay for a legit one off the secondary market anyway; e.g. I paid $100 for my MP Alert off the secondary market, which is the same as what TRU charges for their imported MP Cars. Plus the bio/instructions are in a language that you can read. :o ;)

Not really.
If there is an issue with quality from the KO compared to the original, someone could buy one from TRU, swap out the toy with the KO, seal it back up and then return it to the store for a refund.
It might be unlikely, but there is now no guarantee when buying one from any source once the KOs exist.

[drifand]

Not really.
If there is an issue with quality from the KO compared to the original, someone could buy one from TRU, swap out the toy with the KO, seal it back up and then return it to the store for a refund.
It might be unlikely, but there is now no guarantee when buying one from any source once the KOs exist.

May not be a nice thing to do. Not sure if it's already happening with some of the mp.

I actually thought someone may bought the tru for gok"s work and then swap with the normal jpy version but never thought of the Ko

[Sinnertwin]

They just need to improve security at their factories, regardless of which country they're being manufactured in.
You don't need an I.Q of 188 to figure out where the KO's are coming from

[drifand]

They just need to improve security at their factories, regardless of which country they're being manufactured in.
You don't need an I.Q of 188 to figure out where the KO's are coming from

You are wondering if they used the same molds? As I have read reviews stating they are different.

So maybe they could have bought an original and go from there?

Mp-10 was a different mold for their KO, but I am unsure about Bee.

[ampoldj]

MP10 was manufactured in Vietnam and the KO seems to be copied from the product itself due to huge discrepancies with measurements resulting to some very loose joints/parts that they need to tweak for new version updates.

[Sinnertwin]

You are wondering if they used the same molds? As I have read reviews stating they are different.

So maybe they could have bought an original and go from there?

Mp-10 was a different mold for their KO, but I am unsure about Bee.

They may be, but the order in which these KO's are getting released lately is too much of a coincidence for me to believe otherwise

[drifand]

They may be, but the order in which these KO's are getting released lately is too much of a coincidence for me to believe otherwise

Yeah, not sure what will Takara do about it. Its like they want to keep the mp line cheap but they have compromised a lot for it.

Is like Bandai have paid workers enough not to leak their toy molds.

[griffin]

They may be, but the order in which these KO's are getting released lately is too much of a coincidence for me to believe otherwise

My thinking (which is often wrong :p ), is that if these were being done at the factories, they would be hitting ebay at the same time or even before the legit toys get all the way to the Japanese or Hong Kong retailers.

Since they are taking 6 months after the legit toys are out, it would suggest reverse-engineering (broken down into all its parts and moulds made from each) and production from another source.
And if there are mistakes on the packaging, the people at the factory wouldn't be able to change the printing image.

The factory leaks are the small number of loose toys that show up on ebay before the toy is released... which would be when these "KOs" would be on ebay if they were from the factory as well. So changing factories and countries wouldn't stop the KOs.