ROTF Sideswipe & 07 Bumblebee BOOTLEGS Comparison Shopping Guide

[GenZhao]

KO Bootleg Sideswipes and Bumblebees have began to circulate through out china.  They are sold for around the same price as the original and have the ability to easily be passed off as original.

I have bought these specifically to let people know about them and protect those from being ripped off.  I hope this guide helps identify some people passing these off as real.  KOs should be sold AS KOs (I wont be stocking these in the store, but if you want one you can special order it through me)

I have in package photos of the Black version of Bumblebee and can take him out of the package if someone else has a real black on and is willing to take the same angle shots of their legit one for a comparison guide.

As for sideswipe I have one MOSC and one loose, so i have done a thorough investigation of the actual Sideswipe, but not of the package itself.  If someone has a legit package that they know is legit (bought from a MAJOR Store like Walmart or TRU) then we can also compare out photos, just let me know (contact me by email at contact@kotoys.com)

OK to the comparison

The major differences seen on the KO:

Slightly brighter silver paint
Less Translucent Blue Windows
The wheels are a darker black

The Dark Blue metallic painted areas are glossy (where as the KO is matt/flatt)
There is a circle on the left legs thigh (center)
some details are slightly off (the spokes are sharper on the KO and not as round, etc)



Picture 1

The KO in its alternate Car Mode


KO on the right, Legit on the Left


Notice that it is more difficult to see through the windows on the KO


The center of the Rims is Less Defined, not as sharp.  The wheels are also darker on the KO but it is hard to see in the lighting of the photo.


You can see a slight difference in plastic color, which in hand is barely noticeable, but unlike the black, the lighting really brings out the difference.  (win some loose some...)




Detailing on the KOs arms are not as sharp and defined in the spoke area and it has biger and bulkier balls instead of the more separated sharper details


The KO Package


The Back of the KO Package


The Bottom of the KO Package






The KO in Robot Mode










KO Stealth Bumblebee (there is also the Premium version of BB)



KO Sideswipe Bot Mode on the Left, Legit Hasbro Sideswipe Bot Mode on the Right

[Shadowstitch]

Wow... that's ridiculously similar...

But honestly I'm not surprised it looks so close, considering Hasbro's actual toys have such piss-poor QC they might as well be bootlegs to begin with.

[hoshi_1123]

it's really hard to tell between the two.. & to think they used the tomy talara sticker on the packaging! how did you know it's a KO bro? Isn't that just the Takara version?

[prawisucia]

woww... that looks like the real one.
it'd be hard to differ the KO with the real one in the sealed packaging.

[GenZhao]

it's really hard to tell between the two.. & to think they used the tomy talara sticker on the packaging! how did you know it's a KO bro? Isn't that just the Takara version?

well i know because im told when im buying it, it costs slightly less then the real one  (just like a buck or 2) and the lady who must be part of the people who are bootlegging them showed me a loose one a few weeks before the packaged KOs hit the market.  

So ya, they say so openly.

Also notice the black screws on the KO where the real one has silver screws

stickers are easy and cheap to make.    If you want 1000 pcs of those stickers I could find out how much

[quattro]

almost a photocopy there. that KO is a must have for Ko collectors