Chinese Vintage KO G1 Rotorstorms

G1 Rotorstorm is a great toy, a toy I discovered late. I'm not a great one for vintage G1 knockoffs, I'm not even a great one for Generation 1 at all these days, but I found these two irresistible. Last year a friend on holiday in China (cheers Pringle!) helped me bag 2 carded bootlegs of G1 Rotorstorm from the same era as the vintage figure's release. These audacious knock-offs come in a G1-like colour scheme and a much more removed white, red and green colour scheme, both with Autobot logos and one of them even having a Takara copyright!

A Big Reveal (Reprise 3) - UPDATED!

Normally it irritates the hell out of me when I finish an article topic, thinking it's definitive, only to discover something else or to have it brought to my attention. It happens a lot, there are always surprises, so why should I be surprised? I'm not, I'm also not irritated this time because I seriously love these KO Spanish minibots by Gisima, and while I haven't found a new variant (well...), there is something new to add to the "Big Reveal". What you see above are all the minis already featured in the Intro, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Finale, Reprise and Reprise 2, as well as an original Gisima store display slightly different to that featured in the previous chapters.

Oversized TF Prime Wheeljack Bootleg

I've mentioned this beauty a few times, so it's high time he got his own feature. As soon as I learned of the Chinese oversized bootleg of Transformers prime Wheeljack - possibly my favourite deluxe class figure ever - I raided Taobao to find one. The toy is roughly leader class size in height and has the exact same transformation and proportions as the deluxe, but of course is constructed from lower quality materials. It also comes in a hilariously inaccurate box. "Taikongshenrs", anyone? Truly, this is one of the best KO Transformers I've ever seen.

New Arrivals - Late October 2014

The curse is broken! I finally have in my collection an EZ Collection Smokescreen, the Takara Tomy version of the Cyberverse Smokescreen in show accurate colours, presented with gorgeous paint application. I had tried to get this figure from Asia on 3 previous occasions, one got destroyed and returned to sender, two got lost in the mail, and finally via Taobao I have this last variant of the mould I needed. Far too much hassle for such a readily available little figure. Then again, I wasn't going to pay $50 on eBay so...anyway, read on for the other new arrivals.

Bootleg TF Animated Goodies

My infatuation with bootleg Transformers Animated toys from China continues, and a shopping spree on Taobao has lead to a number of choice - and mostly utterly garbage- purchases, but what they all have is character, charm and comedy value. They were also all pretty damn cheap, well they were before internal postage, international shipping and agent fees. Then they were more than official figures. Great. 

Mould Completion (New Arrivals - Late August 2014)

A superb weekend of deliveries, both postal and in person, from friends and strangers. The theme is most definitely mould completion and variants from Transformers Animated to Prime, FOC and Generation 1. Variety is what it's all about when it comes to keeping the hobby fresh, but the fact is I already own every mould featured in this post. A leopard cannot change its spots, eh?