The Junction (Thomas and friends)

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by jjwankenobi

no doubt the thin ko plastic has been improved in your versions!

How would plastic quality improve with a repaint? It's the same crappy KO quality plastic underneath it all.

Originally Posted by Tekkamanraiden

I'll give you it has the same basic idea but it looks like crap.

wow, thanks for the constructive criticism. ROFL...

Originally Posted by jjwankenobi

They're two they're four they're six they're eight
Shunting trucks and hauling freight
red and green and brown and blue
they're the really useful crew


All with different roles to play
Round Tidmouth sheds or far away,
Down the hills and round the bends
Thomas and friends

Sorry...just had to.

My 3 year old is obsessed with Thomas right now. I even bought him the Voltron-esque combimer I found at Soul of Anime here...he's actually scared of it. Not to mention James (the red one) shattered into a couple pieces when dropped onto our hardwood floor.

frenzy_rumble, no doubt the thin ko plastic has been improved in your versions!

Thanks. on that in a second...

Originally Posted by Prowler

How would plastic quality improve with a repaint? It's the same crappy KO quality plastic underneath it all.

The plastic quality is NOT crappy. it's in fact as strong as any other plastic on a TF. Only the shells of the trains are thinner (maybe 1mm) than anything from Hasbro/Takara/other "non-crappy KO quality plastic". beyond that most of the parts are filled and/or backed with styrene and fixit sculpt.

[Prowler]

I doubt that. KO's are called KO's for a reason.... cause they are knock offs of another product. some KO's are better in the fact the parts are not warped and fit snug together, but as for plastic qulity, pretty much all KO's are cheap plastic. That's why they are cheaper than the real thing.

The only plastic that would be the middle ground from KO and the real thing would be what Fansproject uses, But to say KO quality plastic is slightly less equal to Hasbro/Takara, is just wrong.

I'm sure all the styrene you added did little to reinforce the actual plastic strength.

[CobraCommander]

I like it... I like it a lot

Originally Posted by Prowler

I doubt that. KO's are called KO's for a reason.... cause they are knock offs of another product. some KO's are better in the fact the parts are not warped and fit snug together, but as for plastic qulity, pretty much all KO's are cheap plastic. That's why they are cheaper than the real thing.

The only plastic that would be the middle ground from KO and the real thing would be what Fansproject uses, But to say KO quality plastic is slightly less equal to Hasbro/Takara, is just wrong.

I'm sure all the styrene you added did little to reinforce the actual plastic strength.

no. Actually many "KOs" use the same blend of plastics. However, manufacturers of KOs sometimes use crappier molds, typically plastic instead of steel. (Shorter runs, cost less, less than perfect end product) This leads (sometimes) to poor alignment issues and blemishes in the plastic. Another giveaway that something's a KO is the poor screws (which in this case have all been replaced) Trust me, working with plastics day and night for years now, I know what I'm talking about. I wouldn't build from nor sell a crappy quality plastic custom, and at the same time have been researching heavily quality issues and mold options as I approach something possible "mass-produced" in the near future.

[Uberman]

In this case it's an unlicensed product. Plastic's probably no worse than a Crossover, and those are 'official' Hasbro products.

[And they're cheaper mostly because you're not paying the above-the-line people, not because the quality is lower.]

[JaySmith]

Originally Posted by Uberman

In this case it's an unlicensed product. Plastic's probably no worse than a Crossover, and those are 'official' Hasbro products.

[And they're cheaper mostly because you're not paying the above-the-line people, not because the quality is lower.]

EXACTLY. Because realistically what exactly is this a knock-off of? It's not like this was ever released through the manufacturer that produces Thomas the Tank Engine products to my knowledge. If anything this is actually an original mold even though it comes from a third party company.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by frenzy_rumble

no. Actually many "KOs" use the same blend of plastics. However, manufacturers of KOs sometimes use crappier molds, typically plastic instead of steel. (Shorter runs, cost less, less than perfect end product) This leads (sometimes) to poor alignment issues and blemishes in the plastic. Another giveaway that something's a KO is the poor screws (which in this case have all been replaced) Trust me, working with plastics day and night for years now, I know what I'm talking about. I wouldn't build from nor sell a crappy quality plastic custom, and at the same time have been researching heavily quality issues and mold options as I approach something possible "mass-produced" in the near future.

Wow? Really? I'm sure anyone who's had a KO in their hand can attest to the poor quality of plastic. Either it's softer or more brittle but it's rarely close to the actual quality of a Hasbro product. Yes it may be an "original mold" but that doesn't mean it has grade A plastic quality.

And to all those that think I'm just ranting an raving here's somone else that seems to have purchased the figure this is a repaint of (and don't deny it because you can see it's the same looking at the engines, not the new head and joints ya added) and reviewed it. Seems like they say the quality is bad, and it's a KO..... Hmm.... makes you think eh?

http://www.redshirt.co.uk/toys/super...ormable-tomas/

and I quote
"Make no mistakes, this figure is cheap as hell. But I have had worse, and let’s face it, the reason this is awesome is not because it is a quality figure, but because it is Thomas and friends combining into a super-robot."

I get it, you don't like people questioning your work....especially since it seems you're just here to try and sell your figures and don't want people questioning it's likely poor quality but the fact that you're trying to say it's not to not hurt your sales is just wrong.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by JaySmith

EXACTLY. Because realistically what exactly is this a knock-off of? It's not like this was ever released through the manufacturer that produces Thomas the Tank Engine products to my knowledge. If anything this is actually an original mold even though it comes from a third party company.

Oh and for your "exactly is this a knock-off of?" question, I present to you Brave Liner Dagwon

http://wingsabertoyz.blogspot.com/20...ies-liner.html

[Uberman]

Originally Posted by Prowler

Oh and for your "exactly is this a knock-off of?" question, I present to you Brave Liner Dagwon

http://wingsabertoyz.blogspot.com/20...ies-liner.html

Because... it's a train?

I'll own it as my own semantic take on the term, but for me a KO is a direct stealing and/or dumbing down of a mold somewhere at the factory level. Maybe that's more of a bootleg. But heck, what the crap do I know.