Transformerland.com

G'day all!

I was just browsing on ebay and i notciced the vast numbers of combiner rip-offs available at the moment.

What is the deal with these? I understand they aren't originals, but has anyone seen if they are any good, or what the look like compared with the originals?

It would be interesting to know, as a new collector such as myself could easily acquire one just for the thrill of having it.

But what are your thoughts and opinions? Not worth the postage? *grins*

Hello from Austin, Texas, Fade. Relative newbie here as well.

As far at the combiners go, there have been multiple repaints or unlicensed productions of Transformers through the years. Lines such as G2, RID, and Armada have recolored gestalts like Bruticus or Devestator and released them under new names. Generally speaking, I would say the the ones made by Hasbro are of similar quality to the originals, though I have not seen any of these outside the box. Just recently, there has been news of an upcoming Piranacon repaint release. Here's a link to a page detailing the history of these reissues.

www.geocities.com/futuristgroup/vgestault.html

Some of the combiners you may see may have been sold or produced in a country other than the major TF hotsports. These figures often times are manufactured using cheaper materials or have crazy repaints. Here's another page on that same site detailing this type of stuff.

www.geocities.com/futuristgroup/vjap.html

So overall, I would say that if you just want the fun and the figures and you don't want to have to spend an arm and a leg to get it, then some of the more modern Hasbro combiners will give you exactly that.

i would not recommend the knock- offs. the plastic quality is low, so it makes them brittle. also, the pieces often have mold release danglies, making it difficult or impossible to transform without some breakage.

So basically, you should buy the Hasbro repaints.

I have a knock-off chinese Megatron, and I must say that I'm very pleased and surprised with it. I'm not saying that it's great - but for the money it looks great as a display piece.

If you're like me, and you basically like TFs as display pieces, the uncrazily-repainted gestalts should do pretty fine. The only problem I've heard is that they don't come with the original handguns, which can cost a lot if you buy them individually.

I used to own a G2 hook, and the quality is pretty much identical to its G1 counterpart.

then agian, the original constructicons were of a very light, fragile plastic. as were the g2 ers. never figured that out.

I wonder how the new Universe Predacons are going to turn out

Here's my 2 cents on the generic gesalts.

I have the original G1 Devastator and I bought a yellow generic brand for $5
The original G1 has a little difficulty standing sometimes and can be quite a challenge to transform. The generic brand I bought is so weak I broke 3 constructicons on the first try. Then melted them to finish them off.

I also have a generic Superion. Silverbolts arms don't stay back in Superion mode, nor does his landing gear work, stickers are different, Another jet always has it's nose and tail fall off but it easily goes back together. Other than that I'm impressed. Pretty close to the original.

Then there is the generic Defensor. Some of the colors are off, stickers are different, but all in all not bad. Streetwise has his hood always falling off but easily replaced. I was lucky enough to find an original Hot Spot (fire truck) and the knock-off's connect to him just fine. I got a bunch of original accesories like the fists, feet etc.. from TRANSFORMERLAND
Wich answered my question about generics connecting to the originals.
The answer is yes but the original fists and feet all out of the generic brand guys.

Now I am thinking about buying one of those knock-off Abominus lurking out there on E-Bay. Looks pretty close to the original colors and I seen a pic that shows they all have their handguns to.

Trance, put an original complete Abominus up in your store before I make this attempt of buying another knock-off

Now when you say "generic," you're talking about the cheaply made, incorrectly colored, non licensced products, right? Or are you talking about Hasbro/Takara repaints, such as Ruination from Universe?

knock offs. we call infinite official recolours mold-flogging. there are plenty of threads around here moaning about that, too....

Knock Offs and Mold Flogging: Recieved. The lingo has been downloaded into my dictionary.

I have a Devastator copycat, like all those roaming around Ebay and it is...Let's say, not good. It's made of a very poor quality, so pass on it unless you want them to make customs or something. I use mine to scrap for parts for everything: Wheels, the Drum on Mixmaster, etc..

hey, welcome back dude!
i can guess about the fake devastators, the real ones had light enough materials. yeesh.

Thanks for the welcome....The wheels on this fake Devastator make somewhat decent replacements for Matchbox Regular Wheels. I have a box of beaters which need surgery.

ya i have thousands of rip off combiner teams they suck exept the devastator one i found thats pretty good