G1 Dinobots... Help!

[theheretic]

The G2 molds do look better BUT I hate the colours and I can't find any silver versions on eBay. But I really want the G1 dinobots as they were the ones I owned when I was a kid. I know that the Knock Off's are very high quality and would satisfy my need to own the dinobots but the I can't stand that people make these KO/replicas in an attempt to pass them off as the real thing. I've got no problem with 3rd party companies making "not transformers" or enhancement parts for existing transformers. I could go on for hours about how KO's make me angry but I'd better stop now. LOL. So it's gonna be hard to find real dinobots I guess :-( Had a quick glance at ioffer.com and my heart sank as I saw just how many KO's there are

[d*r*j*]

Unfortunately for you, it seems that most of the more obvious differences were fixed, by the ko makers, in more recent versions.

[GoktimusPrime]

The G2 molds do look better BUT I hate the colours and I can't find any silver versions on eBay.

I have both G1 and G2 Dinobots - I don't find the G2 moulds any better than the G1 moulds.

But I really want the G1 dinobots as they were the ones I owned when I was a kid.

If you don't mind me asking, what happened to your original G1 Dinobots?
I still have all my childhood G1 Dinobots.

I know that the Knock Off's are very high quality and would satisfy my need to own the dinobots but the I can't stand that people make these KO/replicas in an attempt to pass them off as the real thing. I've got no problem with 3rd party companies making "not transformers" or enhancement parts for existing transformers. I could go on for hours about how KO's make me angry but I'd better stop now. LOL.

Most of us here hate KOs, so you're in plenty of good company

No matter how good quality a counterfeit may be, it doesn't change the fact that it's nothing more than a counterfeit - a fake. To me, it's about having standards. Put it this way - I would have mountainloads more respect for you in not having any G1 Dinobots, than if you were to have even one fake Dinobot. Preferring to own 0 Dinobots instead of 5 fake Dinobots tells me that you have discerning standards and honour as a collector which you are unwilling to compromise on. m(__)m

I personally don't collect 3rd party items either -- but I don't hate them like I do with KOs ("Not Transformers" are something that I neither like nor dislike - just personally don't care about them -- but KOs are something I hate with a passion).

So it's gonna be hard to find real dinobots I guess :-( Had a quick glance at ioffer.com and my heart sank as I saw just how many KO's there are

Perhaps online sources can't be trusted -- try frequenting collectable toy fairs and see what you can find. :/ If nothing else, you can get to hang out and socialise with fellow TF collectors. Another option is to look for loose Dinobots that look obviously pre-loved - but still in good condition. Maybe they're a bit faded or have sticker wear (you can always replace worn stickers with reprolabels). It may not be as nice as having a "minty" Dinobot, but at least there's better odds that they're legit. I dunno about you, but I'd personally rather have a slightly worn legit Dinobot than a minty fake.

But I have heard that some KO sellers intentionally 'fade' their toys to make them look worn. But if you find a Dinobot at a market or collectors fair and the joints feel a little bit loose to you, then that could be a good sign that it's legit. Alternatively, keep your eyes out on the sales section on this board -- you might get lucky and find someone selling G1 Dinobots. <shrug> I'm sure with patience you'll be able to track down legit G1 Dinobots.

Getting KOs is like taking the path to the Dark Side of the Force -- it's a quicker, faster and more seductive option, but in the end you're just gonna end up getting your limbs hacked off and spending the rest of your life as an asthmatic cyborg in a Stackhat. Yup.

[theheretic]

When I was about 11-12 years old we had a bunch of garage sales and being a dumb kid I sold alot of my transformers. I only kept a select few that included soundwave, blaster, Grimlock and megaton and a couple of other bits a pieces that didn't sell. Unfortunately in a burglary in (I think) 2001-02 I lost almost all the rest and didn't think much of it at the time other than being pissed off about it. Now all I have left from my childhood collection is an action master Grimlock and some broken random others like Motormaster and bits and pieces.

I've actually bought a high quality KO devastator because I thought it'd be cool to play around with and paint up. He seems to be almost a perfect replica of the original but I just don't like him because he is a KO. I won't even store him near my real transformers. He jus lays there partially dismantled in the corner of the room. I may eventually display him with my MP's pulling him apart but for now he can remain on the floor collecting dust.

I have ordered the igear seekers and I'm hoping they are nice. I loved the seekers as a kid but only ever had screamer.

I live in Ballarat ViC so bit of a journey to the toy fairs but I might make some every now and then. There's alot of G1 stuff I'd like to get again so might be a good way of getting it.

[GoktimusPrime]

Ballarat to Victoria... we have members who travel to the US to attend BotCon dude. The furthest I've travelled was to the Nexus Fair in Perth.

I had a KO Devastator once -- didn't pay for it, it was given to me as a gift... so I harvested it for spare gestalt parts that I'd lost until I eventually replaced them with legit parts. But the Constructicons themselves became part of pet habitats - like inside a fish tank or a mouse habitat. I've chucked them all out now. Here's a KO Micromaster Alan that used to live inside a fish tank... (again, t'was a freebie - Primus forbid I ever part with my own money for a KO!)


Just a suggestion: I don't know how much G2 Dinobots are going for these days, but maybe you could collect the G2 Dinobots first if they're cheap enough, and just have them as substitutes until you are able to collect the G1 Dinobots. That way you can hae them as stand ins to look at and play with until you can track down originals of their G1 counterparts. Then when you get the G1s, you can either sell off your G2 Dinobots, or do what I do and display your G1s in robot mode and the G2s in Dinobot mode (or you could go vice versa). <shrug> I'll pray to Primus that you might get lucky and stumble across someone trying to sell off a whole set of legit G1 Dinobots.

[theheretic]

Would sites like BBTS.com and tfsource.com be trustworthy in everyone's opinion?

[GoktimusPrime]

No idea. Never bought from them. I usually buy my Transformers from brick and mortar stores. Soz

[liegeprime]

Would sites like BBTS.com and tfsource.com be trustworthy in everyone's opinion?

Erm bought from BBTS before but, they're overpriced especially on G1 figs, so I avoid buying from them full price and wait for clearance sales instead. Havent bought from TFsource. If you gotta buy online - ebay sellers therawhyde is ok, though havent seen any dinobots figure from him for quite some time, mostly parts and accessories.

[Ultra Mackness]

Would sites like BBTS.com and tfsource.com be trustworthy in everyone's opinion?

I've bought stuff from Tfsource before and although the postage was pricy, the pakaging really was bulletproof (took me about 10 minutes just to get to the tfs inside!), but I've only bought new stuff from the (MPs, generations and rts) so not sure about their G1 stuff. You could try transformerland.com, I've ordered there a number of times and never been disappointed. He has lots of G1 stuff but his supply is sporadic.

[liegeprime]

A little warning though with transformerland is that they use stock photos, so read the item description as you might end up surprised that what you get is not what is in the photo. Only bought from them a few times, no problems but I definitely read their item description first.