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Crazy-Steve says:: Oversized bootlegs is correct. The Prime isn't even the same mold as regular Prime. I suspect it's an upsizing of that other bootleg Korean Prime that I found, with the addition of the electronics and G2 missile launcher. The speculation about it being legit arose from the box stating it was a product of Hasbro International, which is a non-existant company. I'm certain it's a bootleg." |
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Well, there you have it ;-) Or not. The saga continues:
Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2004 22:44:32 +0200 (MEST) Scavenged one of my usual Korean auction-sites for new Brave-ry goodness, and thought: Why not look a bit more into the TF selection at the place? I've found som 15-odd pics, and they can be found here: http://www.hum.aau.dk/~mslu97/ebay/Sonokong/ Generally, nothing new in there, but some nice quality scans to enjoy. :) EXCEPT... http://www.hum.aau.dk/~mslu97/ebay/Sonokong/Qual_OP.jpg People have always been wondering, whether the 2-up white korean G2 Prime was legit or not... I still have no clue, really, but look at the top right corner. There's a yellow "Q" in a red box, inside a white-ish logo thingie. Now look at this: http://www.hum.aau.dk/~mslu97/ebay/Sonokong/Qual_Sixshot.jpg See the logo again? :) No doubt that this last one is a bootleg, but I'm not really sure whether that Q-logo is a toy manufacturer or a quality control stamp of sorts...and even if it's the first possibility, then there's the whole connundrum(sp?) of Korean bootleg-companies going legit! Some bootleggers sometimes wind up acutally getting the rights to the stuff they've been bootleggin', and then start making the toys properly. The mystery deepens... :/ Heh, went through my "old" Sonokong product catalog from 2003, and found that exact Q-logo on one of the Brave giftsets. :( What this means? It means, that the Q-logo is most likely a quality stamp of sorts. Will have to check my own Sonokong boxes for that logo, but I'll betcha I'll find a few of them on there as well... But this also means, that the 2 TF's in question above have been through a Quality-check to be able to get that stamp in the first place. Or so it seems... :) A friend of mine, who's more adept in the Korean market in general than I am, told me that even though the molds seem legit, and the company seems legit, and the toy has the Q-stamp, it still doesn't automatically suggest that the whole operation is legit! It's bootleggers heaven in Korea, as there are rarely any actions taken against bootleggers -- and then they might even actually *get* the licenses in question, thereby making their productions "legal". The whole problem lies mainly with documentation. We do know that some Korean companies are legitimately(sp?) producing some properties (i.e. Sonokong and Young Toys), but we don't know when they officially got the license for it*. But does that mean that all the pre-legit productions are just as legit as the (now) ligit productions from the same company? No one really knows, sadly. * For Brave related toys it's a bit different: All boxes, regardless of manufacturer, must sport a small square sticker with Sunrise's copyright on it -- Sunrise being the animation studio, that owns the Brave characters. If it ain't got the sticker, it probably ain't legit. Martin, trying to restore his Flash LeoConvoy, after the previous owner decided to add his own detailing with a black marker and some silver paint... :/ And just for the fun of it: The Korean Sonokong box for the Brave-bot "Shadow-Maru", aka remolded/recolored Sixshot. I also have a scan of the Takara box for it somewhere... http://www.hum.aau.dk/~mslu97/ebay/Sonokong/Tak_Mega.jpg The one above here is nice too: A Japanese import with a korean sticker slapped on front. Can't tell if it's Young Toy or Sonokong, but I think it's a third party... And here's a Young Toys B'Boom: http://www.hum.aau.dk/~mslu97/ebay/Sonokong/Young_BBoom.jpg And my absolute favourite: http://www.hum.aau.dk/~mslu97/ebay/Sonokong/Son_Smoker.jpg Seems like Sonokong decided, that the Predacon/Decepticon forces needed a boost, so they brought in (brought out?) these guys -- notice the "D-13" numbering on it, making it a Decepticon release. The vigilant reader may have noticed, that the company logo on the CR products (red "SOK" lettering with 3 "leaves" above) differs from the pre-CR releases with a small Atom Boy-like face in an askew oval ring. That's just a simple logo-change for the company -- much like Takara has been through recently with their new red western-lettering logo. Enjoy!
Fighbird |
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1a. Re: Old Korean Micro Change Browning + Taiwan Gumkit Packaging Posted by: "Jeff" jmstein@gmail.com trefpig Date: Tue Dec 18, 2007 6:59 am ((PST))
--- In autocon@yahoogroups.com, "Maz"
That was the "Hasbro International" one right? I think that was ona number of bootlegs, then someone here enlightened us to it not even being apart of Hasbro or something, might have been Esteban?
Yeah, pretty sure it was "Hasbro International". I remember that at least being on the big white Optimus bootleg.
I've heard the rumor that Hasbro International doesn't exist, but that's a myth. They're a subsidiary of Hasbro:
http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Hasbro-Inc-Company-History.html
(near the bottom)
If you do a google for them, a lot shows up. The 90's Chinese releases of the '88 toys and Victory toys have "Hasbro International" markings on the box as well.
What's suspicious about the Hasbro International marking on the Korean toys IMHO is the low quality of the toys, the original molds, and the label being applied to a toy that had previously been released as a bootleg (the Taiwanese normal size Optimus). It just doesn't really seem at all the way Hasbro International licensees normally operate judging by the 90's Chinese releases.
During the time they were released, more and more toy companies in Korea were going legit (probably because of increased copyright enforcement). Several years before, Sonokong started licensing toys from Takara. And around the same time as the Korean G2 toys, Academy got the Gundam license from Bandai. It's possible that this company did get the license from Hasbro, but it really wouldn't fit the licensing norm. When both Sonokong and Academy got licensing agreements they were provided with the molds for the original toys. The same probably should have happened with this supposed Hasbro International licensee. I think it's probably more likely that they just put "Hasbro International" on the box to get stores to think they were legit and avoid copyright infringement enforcement.
After all, I think Young Toys was importing real G2 US overstock around that time anyway. (Hasbro has a long relationship with Young Toys dating back to the 90's Chinese G1 stuff being imported into Korea.) I guess there's nothing to stop Hasbro from letting two companies release G2 toys at once but it seems unlikely to me.
Anyway, that's my take on it. It's possible by some bizarre licensing agreement these toys are legit, but it doesn't seem likely to me. |
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