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Old 07-28-2020, 02:55 PM   #1
cr3d1t
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So I bought Mirage and Sunstreaker G1 KO's from ebay...

So after resisting for years I ordered G1 Mirage and Sunstreaker KOs from eBay. Mirage has been my holy grail because I never had him as a kid, and Sunstreaker is pretty up there too. What I got from the articles describing the differences between the KOs and the originals was that they were "good enough" even with minor differences. The pandemic weakened my resolve and I figured I'd take a shot. Worst case, I'd write down my experience since I can't find any recent reviews online about these guys.

I bought from a 1200+ point seller in China. This is actually the second time I tried to order these two. The first time was back in April and the seller scammed me. Got my money back, though. The second time I didn't go for the cheapest option, just the best seller. Ordered on July 5th, got it July 28th. The package was actually a styrofoam box wrapped in orange tape. Super mushy but actually good protection.

The TL;DR version is both figures have both issues that I've read about and have "new" unexpected issues that were disappointing. One was fixable, the other not.

Sunstreaker first: Generally what I expected. He has a brighter yellow and the car top is a clear plastic instead of dark. There's minor paint chipping on the left fender. Converting him to robot revealed that his arms don't swing out at all. They get stuck against the body frame and forcing them just made everything bend, which was worrying. I think mold degradation or just a bad mold copy made the parts slightly bigger and there's no more clearance. I had to shave off (marked in the photos) various areas for the arms to swing in and out more freely. Other than that one of the elbows is a lot tighter than the other, but that's no big deal. In short, he's not perfect but I fixed him and he's alright.

As for Mirage, I'm pretty sad. His chest and back are basically busted.I think the chest screw was put in with too much force and permanently bent those two parts. They warped pretty bad. I thought the original shiny grey chest piece was die cast? Here it's chromed plastic. For transformation, the wheel parts don't fold back easily without going at an angle and the folding the front onto the chest is stiff and doesn't feel good at all. Lots of parts with bad clearance due to the warping.

Since I figured he's already broken, I took him apart to look inside. It revealed a lot of defects like stress marks on the internal chest piece, screw holes, and misaligned parts. One of the black shoulder sockets has a stress crack.

What else? Wheels are pretty loose but I don't know if that's from the original design. The forearm pieces don't seem to fit very well. One fist doesn't align with the forearm correctly, like an imperfection to the mushroom peg inside. Probably fix that with a bit of sanding. I was thinking of getting a junker G1 and replacing the appropriate parts, but that feels like throwing good money after bad. And I think the color isn't quite the same. But it might not matter for the chrome/diecast parts.

I put him back together and asked the seller if I can get a replacement. Worst case, he says no. It's not the end of the world and I'm still keeping him in my collection.

That's it!
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Old 07-28-2020, 03:35 PM   #2
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Re: So I bought Mirage and Sunstreaker G1 KO's from ebay...

Quote:
Originally Posted by cr3d1t View Post
The package was actually a styrofoam box wrapped in orange tape. Super mushy but actually good protection.
LoL, I probably bought from the same seller, same shipping packaging. I picked up a g2 orange devastator gift set. The printing on the box is nice but the box is flimsy cardboard. Otherwise looks nice in the box.
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Old 07-28-2020, 11:28 PM   #3
cr3d1t
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Re: So I bought Mirage and Sunstreaker G1 KO's from ebay...

As an update to Sunstreaker, the missles and fists wouldn't hold in his arms. I opened them up and saw that the yellow pin mechanism wasn't cleanly cut from the sprue and the little nubbin' prevented the pin from moving up and down to hold anything. The photo shows the second one. The first was way worse. Snipped off the bit and both work great now.
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Old 07-28-2020, 11:53 PM   #4
MilanX3
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Re: So I bought Mirage and Sunstreaker G1 KO's from ebay...

Thanks for the review...was considering these as well along with the KO Dinobots. Cheers!
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Old 07-29-2020, 01:23 AM   #5
Thegamesend
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Re: So I bought Mirage and Sunstreaker G1 KO's from ebay...

I've bought a grimlock and cyclonus KO and I really just bought them to keep them moc, I'll buy these off you if you want lol
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Old 07-29-2020, 09:50 AM   #6
BoNKerS
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Re: So I bought Mirage and Sunstreaker G1 KO's from ebay...

I thought about picking up a Mirage, when I transformed my G1 to store it... He snapped in half just looking at it.

I may still grab one in future.

Appreciate the review on these.
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Old 07-29-2020, 11:12 AM   #7
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Re: So I bought Mirage and Sunstreaker G1 KO's from ebay...

Thanks for posting. Ive always thought about picking up a Sunstreaker (And a Sideswipe) to replace the ones I had as a kid. I can still remember getting them together at Zellers under the laws of toyland.


As for the Dinobots Ive had a set for years, and had no issues except the silver plastic is fragile. Sludge lost a clip the first time I transformed him.
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Old 07-29-2020, 11:25 AM   #8
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Re: So I bought Mirage and Sunstreaker G1 KO's from ebay...

I bought a KO G1 Sunstreaker.
I was super-pleased, and transformed him a few times without issue. A few joints were a little tight. The only issue was that one of his arms would not hold a fist/missile.

After some time, I decided to take it apart to see what was wrong. In the process, his right arm broke off under the dark screw (where the arm rotates forward/backward). On the dark plastic, the post (extending out to receive the dark screw) broke off the rest of the piece.
Disappointed, but just content to have representation until I can get a good fix or replacement.

I have a KO G1 Mirage supposedly on the way, and I'm hunting for Wheeljack and Shockwave. Then my main target G1 collection is complete. (Secondary targets will be combiners and Dinobots).

Sad that it's so hard to get these figures officially (without the ridiculous cost of authentic originals).
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Old 07-29-2020, 11:31 AM   #9
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Re: So I bought Mirage and Sunstreaker G1 KO's from ebay...

And, I have a few scam/incomplete orders from eBay.
Items undelivered (2 Mirage, 1 Wheeljack, 1 Shockwave).
For Wheeljack, the seller sent a female police Lego mini-figure instead.
Fortunately, eBay refunded me for these.
Anyone know if eBay just pays (as a cost of doing business), or if they actually do recover $$ from the seller? Just wondering...
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Old 07-29-2020, 03:47 PM   #10
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Re: So I bought Mirage and Sunstreaker G1 KO's from ebay...

Quote:
Originally Posted by steamwhistle View Post

I have a KO G1 Mirage supposedly on the way, and I'm hunting for Wheeljack and Shockwave. Then my main target G1 collection is complete. (Secondary targets will be combiners and Dinobots).

Sad that it's so hard to get these figures officially (without the ridiculous cost of authentic originals).

I also have the G1 KO Shockwave.. The clip on the battery cover was fragile and broke off right away. And one leg doesn't fully lock into place in robot mode. So he kinda has a lean to one side. But other than that he was great for the price at the time.
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