Two weeks ago there was a eBay listing for a Human Alliance Barricade, something I wanted as part of my bayformers collection.

Now everyone here knows about the Human Alliance figures being extensively KO'ed and for the price of $58.95 MIB, I was almost 100% sure that this was one of them. Most sellers are usually very upfront about this and clearly mention if their item is a KO or original Hasbro release.

What made this particular seller (Victoria based, shipped from China) interesting was that they advertised their item as being branded and manufactured by Hasbro, suggesting a genuine item with model number Rd-24. Nowhere did the seller mention that it was a KO so thought it might be worth the risk for that price and if it happened to be a KO, I could blast them.

eBay listing: https://goo.gl/bf4AMu

I received the parcel on yesterday and although it was well packaged with bubble wrap and cardboard, the plastic on the outer box was broken.

http://imgur.com/0L0RPd7

After opening it, I noticed that everything inside had sticky tape holding it down with the Barricade and Frenzy being a little bit more securely fixed with twist ties. All in all the whole packaging seemed a little suspect, but nothing screamed KO. Barricade himself looked pretty good, but unless you knew what to look for, you probably would never realise you bought a KO.

I based my KO assessment off this TFW2005 thread and this youtube video.

And using the mould difference in the front grille section, you can easily tell between Hasbro and KO Barricade. This one had paint scratches above the front 643 number but the seller gets around this by quoting "Basic figures as per pictures (not hand painted collectibles!) so some inconsistency in finish can be expected.. May have some paint imperfections."

http://imgur.com/a/gs4LZ

Frenzy is also in poor condition and cannot stand at all and the thread suggests that floppy Frenzy is most likely a KO.

This particular KO also had a flaw in the front left wheel not reaching the bottom and hence not rolling with the rest of the car

http://imgur.com/a/PA0em

So, after gathering my evidence, I contacted the seller for an explanation and after giving them the photos, they said it might be a supplier defect and they'd issue a refund when I send it back.

I took things a little further and after mentioning eBay's policy of reporting counterfeit and bootleg items that bear an official trademarked logo (Hasbro), they stated that they genuinely did not know it was a KO and henceforth will not stock or sell such items, and also begged me to not report it to eBay as they might lose their trading account.

Their response:
Thanks for your reply, please don't report it to ebay, we didn't know it's a KO, and as you can see, we already don't sell it any longer. I'm so sorry for your time wasted, as we will refund you as soon as we receive it, and will not sell it any longer, could you please don't contact ebay?Thank you, really appreciate it. and I will send you a return shipping label soon, could you please print and post the parcel to the post office. Thank you.
Hopefully this stops them from selling such items and other people spending $60 on a poor quality KO that should in all honesty never have seen the light of day.

As of today, the item is listed as 'out of stock' so I'm assuming this worked