Knockoff Sunstreaker to be released

[kup]

There's a huge list of links to useful sites for ID'ing KOs on tfwiki.

Yeah but he means to have a sticky thread with such links handy and properly labeled. Myself, I didn't know the wiki had such links and would have probably never known until your post.

[Adzma]

All the more reason for me to stick with encore releases.

Agreed at least then we know that's it's not a KO

Sadly Sunstreaker's mould is own the list of rumoured lost ones so a reissue is unlikely. I wish I'd known about this KO earlier as I delibrately put off buying a Sunstreaker with the mindset "It won't be the last one I find."

Bah.

[Robzy]

This really sux!

[16364279]

a sticky on that topic would be a tip top idea

[liegeprime]

Erm So these KOs are they die cast? How the heck is it possible they CAN do these - mass produced as well. Its not like its just 1000 units nope its more than that from the looks of it. Meanwhile the real toy company doesnt bother to do so and we get excuses like - too expensive. What these KOers be millionaires then?? surely not. group VS years old established company = ???
having said this I do not condone KOs its just its frustrating the heck out of me that KOs seem to get the jump on TF wanted list more easily than the company manufacturing it itself. HasTak's just too slow.

[kup]

Erm So these KOs are they die cast? How the heck is it possible they CAN do these - mass produced as well. Its not like its just 1000 units nope its more than that from the looks of it. Meanwhile the real toy company doesnt bother to do so and we get excuses like - too expensive. What these KOers be millionaires then?? surely not. group VS years old established company = ???
having said this I do not condone KOs its just its frustrating the heck out of me that KOs seem to get the jump on TF wanted list more easily than the company manufacturing it itself. HasTak's just too slow.

I don't buy this 'too expensive' crap either. I have seen several G1 accurate KOs in person and they are indeed very competent with Die cast and not that different from Modern reissues as in they often have the same flaws when compared to the original.

I am not condoning KOs but if the small factory in China can mass produce them competently with no real issue and seemingly on a whim then it should be a piece of cake for HasTakTom who surely have more resources.

[dirge]

It's quite possible that the Chinese KO factories don't have to pay the extra R&D costs of ensuring the toy is _safe_. They may well use toxic paints (as an example) figuring the toy is unlikely to end up in the hands of a small child, anyway. I'm not saying this is the case, but the KO manufacturers would face lower costs because of the fact they're producing (illegal) items which are never going to hit toy shelves for children to buy. They only have to look quality, not necessarily _be_ quality in all aspects.

[GoktimusPrime]

Remember that legit companies have lot of expenses which bootleggers don't have to pay for. These include:
+ Legal costs. e.g.: maintaining/securing trademarks.
+ Marketing - this includes getting customer feedback, and we know that Takara actively does this. Previously they had those awesome self-addressed survey cards, now it's all done online - but there's a whole division of people who collate this data. There's also product promotion, such as running competitions (with highly sought after lucky draw prizes!) etc.
+ Production - HasTak would have higher standards of production than most bootleggers. Also take into account production run numbers, distribution, shipping etc.
+ Customer care - TakaraTOMY maintains two call centres (one in Tokyo another in Osaka) which are open Mon-Fri during business hours (except public holidays).
+ Running costs - TakaraTOMY employ a host of people to run their business on a daily basis including receptionists/secretaries, call centre workers, marketing, R&D, engineering, accountants, section managers, branch managers (Japanese companies operate through a strict hierarchical structure where there are multiple divisions each with their own manager and vice manager), interpreters (they would need Chinese interpreters to communicate with their factories in China and English interpreters to communicate with Hasbro), photographers etc.
+ Wages: I suspect that most TakaraTOMY employees would be better paid that your average bootleg worker. The bootleg execs are well paid - I've seen how they live - but I'm talking about your average Joe. And we have no idea what their worker conditions are like - they could be using child labour for all we know. In the Choice Magazine article that Tiby posted last year, factories used by Hasbro (and we know that they use the same factories as Takara) have relatively good conditions for workers by ETI standards. Some KOs might be produced in the same factory - but those would be more recent and current moulds, like KO ROTF toys. With G1 KOs they're most probably being produced elsewhere, so who knows what their conditions are like. (-_-)
+ Other fees: like retailers - HasTak need to pay leases for shelf location, especially if it's an endcap.
.....etc etc.
These are all big things to take into consideration.

From Wikipedia:
"[Bootleggers] see the possibilities of removing the middle men (i.e. the parent corporation) and marketing directly to the consumer."

HasTak's just too slow.

They would be slower. They have a lot more hoops to jump through, such as product meetings, seeking approval, gaining approval, R&D (yes, even reissuing an existing toy would have some R&D, _especially_ if the mould is at all damaged or deteriorated). On top of all that, they have a lot more formal procedures (and Japan is a country where there is a long series of formal procedures for everything) to go through.

They need to tread carefully to ensure that the won't make a loss from a toy being reissued. No company likes to see their product shelf warm. And because production cost is higher, the cost of their product is higher. This decision is a lot easier for counterfeiters because they know that with lower production costs, they can sell for lower prices and thus move more units. HasTak work within an entirely different budget structure... it's a completely uneven playing field as counterfeiters have an unfair advantage over legit companies.

As consumers, all we can do is continue boycotting KOs and hope that this will drive them out of business, which in turn will hopefully encourage HasTak to give us more legit reissues.

[Zippo]

Sweet, about time that Sunstreaker came out. Its been a year since I canceled my pre order for him (and that was open for a good 9 months).

[liegeprime]

Yeah I know what you mean Gok even drinking a cup of tea takes ages with all that hoopla ceremony ( inner me: Just gulp the darn cup already!!). Ah well i still stand by my statement though. They are just too slow. Good thing they pay attention though (TakTom, i dunno about the other one) to the end user. I for one certainly aint payin for no KO.