MPM-5 Barricade already KOed

[griffin]

It seems that the turnaround for KOs is getting quicker and quicker, to the point of being available before the real toy is showing up in all countries around the world - as is the case for Barricade, which was only just found in North America recently, and hasn't even shown up here yet (if it comes here at all).

Seibertron have posted up some details and a photo (https://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/how-to-tell-if-your-mpm5-barricade-is-a-knockoff-and-what-to-do-next/41114/) of what to look for on the KO, which includes an outline printing of the "Police" word on the boot of the car in addition to the white painting of the word on the spoiler.

I don't know if the KOs are coming in boxes, but if they are, it may be necessary to avoid buying any Transformers toy from an individual now... especially ones from China, and especially if they are oddly cheap compared to legitimate sources.

[Trent]

I noticed a few quite cheap ones for sale on eBay that state that they don’t have a box. Obviously this is why.

[Magnus]

Mine has the faintly visible 'POLICE' tampograph on the boot lid, but I'm not sure what the author meant by the "C-shaped parts" in the crotch.

Looking for more info, I went back through the Seibertron forum thread for that news article (the MPM-5 discussion thread), and one user claims that KOs were out just before the official releases were. (https://www.seibertron.com/energonpub/transformers-movie-masterpiece-mpm-5-barricade-thread-t109206s150.php?sid=c82c26b0c97303c6082685a28b5488 44#p1954112) If this is true, then seeing as mine was an early in-stock eBay listing and it has the boot lid tampograph, mine might be a KO.

I tried to initiate a refund for a different reason - the right leg had a slight gap in it because the screws weren't fully tightened, and I can't tighten them myself because the screw heads were stripped - but the seller claimed they didn't make much money from the sale, so not wanting to press the issue, I just accepted a small partial refund. At the time, I thought this was just a manufacturing fault and had no reason to assume I had bought a KO.

[UltraMarginal]

This KO business is really getting out of hand.

[DELTAprime]

I wonder given how quick these KOs were out if they might be Lunch Time Specials?

[ampoldj]

Are these KO just the Hasbro ones, not Takara? :confused:

[DELTAprime]

Are these KO just the Hasbro ones, not Takara? :confused:

There are no differences between Hasbro and Takara's MPM 5 toy. The only differences with the Takara version is packaging with TT contact info and Japanese instruction manual.

[Slag]

This KO business is really getting out of hand.

Agreed. :(