This was bound to happen...gray market VF's?

[WaferMouse]

8 hours ago, mickyg said:

Do you mean DYRL hands?  The Micky Mouse (or "Clown") hands are the TV style hands.  The square profile fingers, or the more robot looking ones are the DYRL hands.

You're correct, I got mixed up editing my own post

[vfxraven19]

On 10/10/2018 at 5:29 PM, rdrunner said:

$50 a piece is a fantastic price for a KO. It has gone up from CNY 430 when I ordered to CNY 630 now. 

Yeah, I pre-ordered these when they were being mentioned (a while back). The seller I bought from said they'd be shipping this Month (Oct).

[Guyffon]

Looking at the head sculp, I wonder how they make the lasers angle out like that or was there a trick on my arcadia that I missed, mine is in fighter mode all the time so I might have missed that

[vfxraven19]

These are customer comment pics I found on Taobao, these are not mine.

[JET7]

Amazing.. Now, do a 1/48 scale perhaps.

[ralliart209]

Damn i wouldnt mind buying a KO to man handle and play with while my yamato/arcadias stay safe inside my detolf. also if it breaks i can save the shoulder hinges for my yamatos and also have some extra optional parts to put on them 

Edited October 15, 2018 by ralliart209

[jvmacross]

20 hours ago, JET7 said:

Amazing.. Now, do a 1/48 scale perhaps.

1/48 is too mainstream.....they need to supersize that sucker!

[nightmareB4macross]

That’s is awesome. Where on earth did you find this?

[jvmacross]

Here....they also have a huge G1 optimus....I only collect mecha from Macross these days but that this is worth the price.....makes my mpp-10 seem inadequate....

https://showzstore.com/lewin-resources-lewin-01-lewin01-mp-10-mp10-optimus-prime-oversized-71cm-w-led_p0817.html

[nightmareB4macross]

That figure of OP is one I have been debating since it’s debut. I’m not sure if I want this or not. It will throw off my collection of MP figs. If they released Mega to go with it. I would then buy into this sized figure.

[vfxraven19]

To those who ordered via TaoBao or ShowZStore or any other shop, did you guys receive your order yet?

My 3 just hit the overseas shipping warehouse and I just paid the freight which was about $52-ish, for all 3 valkyries. So a little more than $200 for 3, shipped, given that locked in the preorder price of around $50/piece, not too bad. I am hoping these will come in by next week.

[no3Ljm]

40 minutes ago, vfxraven19 said:

To those who ordered via TaoBao or ShowZStore or any other shop, did you guys receive your order yet?

My 3 just hit the overseas shipping warehouse and I just paid the freight which was about $52-ish, for all 3 valkyries. So a little more than $200 for 3, shipped, given that locked in the preorder price of around $50/piece, not too bad. I am hoping these will come in by next week.

I didn't order but I welcome your opinion about it.

On 10/15/2018 at 7:41 PM, jvmacross said:

Here....they also have a huge G1 optimus....I only collect mecha from Macross these days but that this is worth the price.....makes my mpp-10 seem inadequate....

https://showzstore.com/lewin-resources-lewin-01-lewin01-mp-10-mp10-optimus-prime-oversized-71cm-w-led_p0817.html

Well, it's cheaper than Hot Toys so that's a good deal.

 

[WaferMouse]

2 hours ago, vfxraven19 said:

To those who ordered via TaoBao or ShowZStore or any other shop, did you guys receive your order yet?

Mine's still in Pudong waiting for a flight.

[rdrunner]

2 hours ago, vfxraven19 said:

To those who ordered via TaoBao or ShowZStore or any other shop, did you guys receive your order yet?

My 3 just hit the overseas shipping warehouse and I just paid the freight which was about $52-ish, for all 3 valkyries. So a little more than $200 for 3, shipped, given that locked in the preorder price of around $50/piece, not too bad. I am hoping these will come in by next week.

That's a great all-in price, $200 for 3.  Mine has been stuck in "Clearance in Progress" for the last three days now, whatever that means.

[Sandman]

3 hours ago, vfxraven19 said:

To those who ordered via TaoBao or ShowZStore or any other shop, did you guys receive your order yet?

My 3 just hit the overseas shipping warehouse and I just paid the freight which was about $52-ish, for all 3 valkyries. So a little more than $200 for 3, shipped, given that locked in the preorder price of around $50/piece, not too bad. I am hoping these will come in by next week.

Hold on. You got 3 for $200? where did you buy yours from? The one i ordered like over an year ago has ended up costing me aprox $152. Honestly too much for a bootleg IMO. 

[jvmacross]

2 hours ago, no3Ljm said:

Well, it's cheaper than Hot Toys so that's a good deal.

 

Getting one?  I would but think I'd rather save the cash for the 1/6 VF-1S Cockpit plus all the M.I.A. 1/6 Robotech figs 

Edited October 19, 2018 by jvmacross

[vfxraven19]

1 hour ago, Sandman said:

Hold on. You got 3 for $200? where did you buy yours from? The one i ordered like over an year ago has ended up costing me aprox $152. Honestly too much for a bootleg IMO. 

I ordered mine a year and a 1/2 ago, at the time the seller's shop name was "Valkyrie Factory". He has since changed the name to Pigeon Pawn Shop. He even contacted me a few times via TaoBao chat and talked about Macross. The pre-order price was 390 CNY with a 50 CNY down payment. I went ahead and ordered 3.

[no3Ljm]

1 hour ago, jvmacross said:

Getting one?  I would but think I'd rather save the cash for the 1/6 VF-1S Cockpit plus all the M.I.A. 1/6 Robotech figs 

Love to. But I'd rather save it for future Macross stuff. Though if it's a giant Hot Rod/imus then I'm not so sure since he's the main TF figure I collect. 

 

[JET7]

Got mine. Arrived after a week or so. Thanks showz. Im ordering a strike ehem space set. 

The plastic quality is hmm lets just say like the bb7 seekers. (KO of mp seekers) 

[rdrunner]

33 minutes ago, JET7 said:

Got mine. Arrived after a week or so. Thanks showz. Im ordering a strike ehem space set. 

The plastic quality is hmm lets just say like the bb7 seekers. (KO of mp seekers) 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on it. Darn it, it doesn’t come with the TV focker pilot that I really wanted....

[Killaforevah]

3 hours ago, JET7 said:

Got mine. Arrived after a week or so. Thanks showz. Im ordering a strike ehem space set. 

The plastic quality is hmm lets just say like the bb7 seekers. (KO of mp seekers) 

How are the tolerances? Do the ratchets work? Any improvements from the arcadia? 

[Slave IV]

3 hours ago, JET7 said:

Got mine. Arrived after a week or so. Thanks showz. Im ordering a strike ehem space set. 

The plastic quality is hmm lets just say like the bb7 seekers. (KO of mp seekers) 

Thanks! And how is BB7 plastic compared to Arcadia's

[JET7]

12 hours ago, Slave IV said:

Thanks! And how is BB7 plastic compared to Arcadia's

Yes model/BB7 seeker plastic are kinda crispy... Yamato/Arcadia like a Tupperware lols. 

[JET7]

Tried the side covers on my yammie v2.. Fits like a glove.. Awkward color though. 

Refresh my memory.. Whats this two for? 

[WaferMouse]

Neck covers from the looks of it, to fill in the space behind the head.

[rdrunner]

14 minutes ago, JET7 said:

Tried the side covers on my yammie v2.. Fits like a glove.. Awkward color though. 

Refresh my memory.. Whats this two for? 

Yes they are neck covers. One of them has slots for the option part pilot seats to plug into in battroid mode. 

The white color of the side covers should be the same as the Arcadia (pinkish) white body colour. I’ll confirm when I get mine (only have the Arcadia -1S movie focker with SSP set). 

[Xigfrid]

First the DX Vf-1J and then this KO copy, I hope Arcadia already had plans to up their games and moves to VF-1 series in a third Revision, at least before Bandai does it in 1:60 scale

Edited October 20, 2018 by Xigfrid

[borgified]

Hmm... I might be interested in ordering one for the upscaled 1/60 eventual Thunder Hummer as I got two "unofficial" TFs from Show Z already.

[rdrunner]

On ‎10‎/‎20‎/‎2018 at 1:25 PM, borgified said:

Hmm... I might be interested in ordering one for the upscaled 1/60 eventual Thunder Hummer as I got two "unofficial" TFs from Show Z already.

They have put the price up by 50% since preorder... my preorder (before shipping) was CNY 430 and now it is at least $630.  The SSP is still the same price though (CNY 410 iirc)

[Vi-RS]

These KOs are getting better and better, and I wonder if it's the same tooling in China's factory that Arcadia hires to make their version.

[WaferMouse]

Mine arrived today, so here's my little mini-review. The "Bad" section will be longer but only because I want to be specific on the differences vs a 1P figure:

The Good:

Everything's complete and intact. No major blemishes, just a few small scuffs. Nothing is loose or floppy. It comes with more tampo than my 30th anni VF-1J. Everything transforms properly. I don't know whether modern Arcadia releases are coming with the cool neck/side covers, but it's a nice upgrade over my existing PT figure.

The Bad:

Tolerances are all over the place. I've seen photos of the back pack hinge breaking on the first attempt, and I thought mine was going to as well, but it eventually gave. Also the tabs that hold the chest and back together in F/G mode had some sprue junk on them, took a lot of force to transform but I suspect that will be easier now the junk's gone. I also had to take the left shin apart because there was some junk stopping the foot from getting past the detent, some light filing sorted that.

If the nose wheel turns, I don't want to twist it as hard as it needs. It doesn't seem as though the intake covers come off, but maybe I just didn't put enough effort into it. If anyone gets to the intakes, let me know!

The Ugly:

Mine was incredibly gappy over the hips in F mode when I took it out of the box. I haven't transformed it back yet so maybe it just needed some play. I'll take a photo if it's still the same when I put it back in F.

Conclusion:

For the price you pay (£100 for me all-in), this is really great value. Absolutely worth it for custom work, or if you feel as though you're missing a VF without wanting to pay Arcadia prices. I'd probably buy another if I saw one for Max, just so I could pair it with my V1 Milia.

Some people have been asking whether these are QA rejects, but based on the tolerances I'd guess that this run came from molds that were already spent by Arcadia standards.

I'll take some photos at some point.

Edited October 27, 2018 by WaferMouse

[borgified]

17 hours ago, Vi-RS said:

These KOs are getting better and better, and I wonder if it's the same tooling in China's factory that Arcadia hires to make their version.

I believe that this are the same molds. The original 1/55 Chunky Monkey was KOed by Joons (don't know if it was easier to spot the differences between the two or they where the exactly the same) and there are KO TFs as well (either upsized or made into Legends sized at roughly 4-10 inches) both official and 3rd party.

There are KO Figma's, Figuarts, Marvel Legends, Star Wars, Mezco One: 12 and the list goes on. I haven't seen a KO 1/6th figure yet (and will not be surprised if there is one floating around).

[aaajin]

7 hours ago, WaferMouse said:

Mine arrived today, so here's my little mini-review. The "Bad" section will be longer but only because I want to be specific on the differences vs a 1P figure:

The Good:

Everything's complete and intact. No major blemishes, just a few small scuffs. Nothing is loose or floppy. It comes with more tampo than my 30th anni VF-1J. Everything transforms properly. I don't know whether modern Arcadia releases are coming with the cool neck/side covers, but it's a nice upgrade over my existing PT figure.

The Bad:

Tolerances are all over the place. I've seen photos of the back pack hinge breaking on the first attempt, and I thought mine was going to as well, but it eventually gave. Also the tabs that hold the chest and back together in F/G mode had some sprue junk on them, took a lot of force to transform but I suspect that will be easier now the junk's gone. I also had to take the left shin apart because there was some junk stopping the foot from getting past the detent, some light filing sorted that.

If the nose wheel turns, I don't want to twist it as hard as it needs. It doesn't seem as though the intake covers come off, but maybe I just didn't put enough effort into it. If anyone gets to the intakes, let me know!

The Ugly:

Mine was incredibly gappy over the hips in F mode when I took it out of the box. I haven't transformed it back yet so maybe it just needed some play. I'll take a photo if it's still the same when I put it back in F.

Conclusion:

For the price you pay (£100 for me all-in), this is really great value. Absolutely worth it for custom work, or if you feel as though you're missing a VF without wanting to pay Arcadia prices. I'd probably buy another if I saw one for Max, just so I could pair it with my V1 Milia.

Some people have been asking whether these are QA rejects, but based on the tolerances I'd guess that this run came from molds that were already spent by Arcadia standards.

I'll take some photos at some point.

Thanks for the mini review. BTW, yours is £100 for just the valk, no strike part, right?

[rdrunner]

Mine also arrived today. 

Quick verdict: for about $80 including postage, this is not a bad KO copy for messing around when I can keep the genuine Arcadia copy in display.  There are a few noticeable differences in tolerance and finish. I will just focus on these: 

1. Leg fin parts do not line up well when they are not folded. Bigger gap than Arcadia or Yamato and the Fin feels slightly thicker. 

2. Wheel doors on each leg do not close up flushly. This may be a tolerance thing or the parts just need massaging in  

3. I can’t get the tabs that tab into the back of the legs in fighter mode to tab in properly. The alignment of the feet in F mode is a little off probably because of this.

4. HOW TO DISTINGUISH between a KO and genuine copy: look at the two pics of Battroid mode. The orange “lights” behind the shoulders are different in shape and colour tone. The KO one is lighter and the lights are slightly longer.

5.  The red “sights” of the gunpod are different - KO has a mold line in this piece where the Arcadia is completely smooth and the red is brighter in colour. 

6. Top down view of the shoulders show a little difference in the shape of the parts near the front hinge. KO is tapered and Arcadia has straight corners. 

7. Wing tip lights in the KO has matte paint, Arcadia uses metallic paint for the red and blue.

8. The clear parts near the wing root are well aligned and flush in Arcadia’s copy. The KO clear parts are not installed very well and stick out  

 

 

Edited October 27, 2018 by rdrunner

[WaferMouse]

1 hour ago, rdrunner said:

Mine also arrived today. 

Quick verdict: for about $80 including postage, this is not a bad KO copy for messing around when I can keep the genuine Arcadia copy in display.  There are a few noticeable differences in tolerance and finish. I will just focus on these: 

1. Leg fin parts do not line up well when they are not folded. Bigger gap than Arcadia or Yamato and the Fin feels slightly thicker. 

2. Wheel doors on each leg do not close up flushly. This may be a tolerance thing or the parts just need massaging in  

3. I can’t get the tabs that tab into the back of the legs in fighter mode to tab in properly. The alignment of the feet in F mode is a little off probably because of this

These specific things match my experience too, though I still want to try fiddling with it a bit more to see if I can get the legs flush.

3 hours ago, aaajin said:

Thanks for the mini review. BTW, yours is £100 for just the valk, no strike part, right?

That's right, just the figure with no packs from ShowZ.