Repaint - Solarstorm (a.k.a. KO Classics Jetfire) => Solar Prime

Took a couple of days to repaint my KO Classics Jetfire, which the TaoBao seller wrongly deliver a white instead of orange. Initially thought will just repaint without taking out the parts, but realise it will be VERY ugly... so... Below shows the comparison. More about the KO later...


Very nice piece of KO. Although lesser quality plastics used, it is actually better to form the combination without causing so much strain on the Classics Optimus Prime's joints. Only very minor simplifications without any loss of function as compared to the authentic one... Oh, except for the loss of the helmet feature... Basic jet mode below...


Armoured Jet mode... Cannon flipping is manual...


Robot mode... With the lighter plastics, this figure is not as back-heavy as the authentic one... Other than the elbow swivel and knee swivel joints, most of the joints are quite tight, which is quite a surprise for a KO! Amazing... Made the (blue) antennas to be able to slide out for clearance when transforming to jet mode...




So how does he look when combining with my KO Henkei Optimus Prime??? Well...


Ready to combine!!!!


...phase 1! (hahahaha....) ...combine to form...


... Solar Prime !!!!!


Actually he looks funny from the side view, the head is too far forward! Hahahaha...


Awesome combination... Though be warned, KO + Authentic will result in a loose combination; KO + KO might be even a looser one, thus must tighten joints...

Side-Tracked: Recent Haul of TFs & Etc (124)- Crossover Iron Man (Car), DOTM Leader Ironhide, HA Soundwave, Generations Warpath, Crumple Face Ultraman

Received these stuff tonight from TaoBao... well, not all these stuff, as the 1st one is bought in Metro with 20% discount...

Crossover Iron Man (Car)
Chanced upon this few weeks ago but did not buy as there was no sales or offer price then. Did not recall ever seeing it anywhere else in retail (especially OG...arrgh...), so bought it. Was thinking of getting the Crossover Venom, but hate the protruding tongue, so put in back in the end... Price ~ $27.90



DOTM Leader Ironhide
Movieverse Ironhide (2007 - 2011)... Salute!...
Ok, gotten this after some struggling... Ironhide is not my favourite character to be a Leader class figure, but... anyway, the price drop is the critical factor that seals this deal... Price ~ $46.45



DOTM HA Soundwave
Sigh... Sigh... and to think I saw many pieces in TRU Paragon today... Sigh... Sigh... Price ~ $71.60



Generations Warpath
Wow! Gotten this at a "high price" compared to the lowest in local retail of $10, but still feel good, because I DID NOT GIVE MONEY TO SCALPERS!!!! Hahahahahahaha.... Refuse to buy at the ridiculous high price in CSC... Price ~ $24.95



Crumple Face Ultraman
This is so nostalgic!!!!! Crumple Face Ultraman!!!! Ugly but nice... Price ~ $8.65


Also bought a Ultraman Zero Twin-Slugger set but nephew was so excited when he saw it in the big plastic bag of haul, so give him 1st, and did not take a picture of it... Hope my next haul will arrive soon... Estimate next Thurs...

Restoration - KO RID Galvatron (a.k.a. Gigatron)

KO Gigatron!!! Very very nice robot mode, powerful and menacing look... The colours are also quite close to the authentic one... Many important joints are loose, so while transformation is possible, the alternate modes cannot stand/transform properly... Took some time to fix back most of the joints, while a couple of the joints are still not as good as I wanted, the transformed modes are at least quite stable...




After restoring this figure, I realised the official modes for this figure is somewhat ridiculous for most of the modes, for example below...

Bat mode... with nose too long that looks more like a pig's nose???


Flying Dragon... ??? what the... ??


Devil Ostrich (designer's own mode...).. at least it looks a bit funny...


Refused to transform the figure into the other "ridiculous" modes, eg, hand (??!!), elephant/mammoth (??!!), etc...

As with many people, I believe this should be the official "official" mode for Gigatron, at least for the beasts/animals modes... This is because I could not find other proper animal heads other than this mode's dragon heads... But in comparison to say, Doublecross, this is still a bad design. The heads are too big in comparison to the body, or rather, the body is TOO MINI !!!! The dragon arms are too small and badly designed ball joints make tha arms easy to pop-off... Not my most favourite mode, but still I will consider it as the official alternate mode...


Gigatron can also transform into a car (technically speaking, a land transport vehicle), which is one of the three non-beast modes, with the other 2 being the jet and fast-craft/boat modes... I feel the head of the jet is more like the Griffon head, so did not consider the jet mode... And I was thinking, if Gigatron can fly, why would it travel by sea? More relaxing? Lesser fuel needed, with the rising cost of oil?? Well, whatever... Anyway, quite a nice looking car with a sleek look...


Griffon! My favourite alternate beast mode... Simply because it looks good, in both proportion and aesthetics...



"I am 1000 Megatron! I am Gigatron! Hahaha...!!!"

Side-Tracked: Recent Haul of TFs (123) - DOTM Barricade, TF Prime Cliffjumper

Bought these 2 at TRU TP today, along with other hauls for Christmas presents... State of TFs in TRU TP is actually quite pathetic... sigh... anyway, glad to have gotten these 2...

DOTM Barricade
Actually was thinking of getting this piece some time ago, as seen on Youtube reviews that this is actually more movie accurate than the 1st movie toy... Cost approximately $15.50, after the 7% discount by using UOB Card...
Edit: Just a side note, the cardboard's printing is much clearer and darker than those sold in CSC's 1st floor central area... Not sure if this means the CSC ones are of different batch or...? Anyway, its the toy inside that matters most...


Posable! Looks like Barricade teleported out from the laptop screen, hahaha...




TF Prime Cliffjumper
Very scared that this will not have a head, as read in 1 forum, so was checking any ways to identify, on the internet, while choosing a piece. Realised that the head, or rather, the horns on the head, can be seen underneath the car, which you can see if you "peeped" through the bubble-pack. Toyed with the figure and was grumbling he has no weapon, when I found his fist to be able to flip, and the other hand a 3-barrel gun (or sort of, I presumed, hahaha...) Very nice looking TF. Did not go to OG to buy, as when calculated the cost, even with a possible 20% discount, might still even out with the parking charges... A very good TF with both modes looking great... Using a $10 Capital voucher and UOB Card, cost is approximately $15.90...

Side-Tracked: Recent Haul of TFs (122) - Galaxy Force Autolander (a.k.a. Brakedown), X-Transbots Wild Child / Explorer (a.k.a. Bad Boy)

Intending to hunt for a HA Soundwave at Orchard area today but plan was disrupted due to the MRT check... Went to Suntec but couldn't find any... Upon returning to CSC, gotten these...


Galaxy Force Autolander (a.k.a. Brakedown)
Yeah! Very happy to see this piece as I have been hunting for it high and low, even thinking of buying a loose one (I hate loose TFs... ) from TaoBao... So I glance at the price, satisfied at $20, picked and paid for him in 1 smooth flow, not much thinking, hahahaha.... Can finally replace the lousier KO that has no fist ball-joint and such... Only negative point is the blade doesn't stay down firmly when extended... Can be rectified....



X-Transbots Wild Child / Explorer (a.k.a. Bad Boy)
An impulse buy!!! Nothing else!!!!... I cannot explain how I can even take out $55 from my wallet to pay for this little third-party of a third-party... Must be impulse buy, hahahaha.... And come to think of it, must be the white and deep dark blue colours that charmed me into buying... very very nice colours... Size is that roughly of a small deluxe, and joints appear to be reasonably tight!!!! ...Ok, I have been too poison by KOs' quality, must not think every non-legit TF is loose-jointed... Now, 1 thing I HATE about this figure is that the FACE IS SEEN FROM BELOW IN JET MODE!!!!! WTF.... Why didn't X-Transbots makers retain the face cover gimmick (as in the original 3rd-party Jizaitoys's version)?... Need to think of a way... Won't be easy though, after examing him, especially if want to leave the front landing gear functional... But think can be done...

Update - KO Kabaya (Styled) Oversized Cassettes : Slugfest, Ratbat

Assembled these long due KO Kabaya (Styled) Oversized Cassettes - Slugfest and Ratbat. Very nice little sets, joints are tight and parts can be snapped quite tightly too. The molding is also "clean" and accurate, with almost no excess plastics on the sprue, amazing. The 2-colour kit makes the Cassette-cons look less monotonous, but the colours are not quite right for some parts. Anyway, I am not that bothered about this, as I totally like these 2 little figures! As they are made of the typical oily plastic material, painting is not recommended at all...

Edit : These oversized cassettes can fit into the KO Oversize G1 Soundwave that came out a couple of years ago (the one with a Ravage that has non-movable feet)...

KO Oversized Slugfest
The guns have design that looks nice with silver-chrome but looks like armadillo skin in this green colour. The head and tail connectors are not incorrectly shown in the instructions, and I spent quite some time figuring out, after many failed attempts. Printed out some stickers to make the cassette mode looks more realistic...


The spring-up bladed-spine feature is not here, instead, the dinosaur belly has a little handle that flips down and pushing it up causes the bladed-spine to rise up. Innovative!




KO Oversized Ratbat
Has been wanting to get a Ratbat, so when after assembling it, I just have to give it some stickers for its cassette mode (and also for Slugfest)... Very amazing transformation, with small parts (i.e. wing claws) that might be easily missed when transforming.


Ratbat in bat mode! After some time then realise the 2 "things" that points frontward out from the jet-pack are rifles/cannons!



Back view to showoff the jet-pack-rifles!

Side-Tracked: Recent Haul of KOs (121) - Transmutation Robot KO Hyper Red Jack Armor ( a.k.a. Sonicwave w/ Laserhawk )

Bought this Transmutation Robot toy at Funan today, at a offer price of $13.90. Not sure what this mold is based on though the Hyper Red Jack Armor from an old "Armored Police Metal Jack" series. Anyway, I thought since the other Transmutation Robot packaging that has G1 Star Saber is good, this should be good too. However, when I saw the transformation, I was disappointed, as it is a semi-part-former. The legs need to be detached for transformation... sigh... was thinking of throwing it away, but then suddenly, I realised the canopy-backpack attached to the robot's back can actually be transform into a bird-like robot similar to DOTM HA Soundwave's Laserbeak! Just need to paint some eyes at the "head"... Now that's cool... So decided to keep it and try to mod the legs to be fully transformable. Since this Transmutation Robot has a "Laserbeak" counterpart, I decided to name him Sonicwave, and his pet bird, Laserhawk... and give it to Crossover Iron Man (car)...



Hope my Taobao haul will be smooth, or even in time for Christmas... but seems unlikely... hmmm, nevermind...

Edit: WTF!!! WTF!!! Saw in forum that HA Soundwave is out in Metro at $39.90 only!!! And I had to order mine from TaoBao at (est.) $71 including shipping! WTF !!! WTF !!!! ..... Sigh... Sigh... even the $20 savings from Leader Ironhide and probably another $20 (??? Need to check if OG is selling) from Ultraman Zero Eye Slugger Twin Sword set won't be enough... Hey wait, lemme do my Math again... hmmm... maybe can... but still, sigh... fact is a good $31 lost... sigh... and have to wait after Christmas, as even till now the (loose) Legends Trailbreaker still not reached Shanghai warehouse yet... WTH... WTH... sigh... sorry, just to relieve my frustration and disappointment here a bit...

Restoration - Gun Max (Yuusha/Brave Series)

Restored my KO "Brittle Plastics" Gun Max from the Yuusha/Brave series. I have mainly tighten/loosen the joints for easier transformation and also removed all the cheesy stickers from it. Looks so much better without the stickers. A little surprise that the plastic material is not really that brittle as I initially expected, but definitely not as good as some other KOs. He doesn't come with the original accessories and weapons though. Below is KO Gun Max Amour (Gun Max combined with Gun Bike) in package.



Gun Max
Gun Max is naked!!! Without stickers, that is... Anyway, his arms look terribly small, and head too big. He looks blocky, but he has actually quite some articulations, in terms of head rotation, shoulder rotation, legs and knees can bend, and the feet can even flip a little (due to the transformation). So quite a nice little fellow, but again, weird arms proportion.




Gun Bike
So here is Gun Bike with Gun Max posing at the side. Gun Bike is quite a large motorcycle with 2 red siren lights at the sides. The handlebars can be lifted up/down, useful when posing Gun Max sitting on the motorcycle. The KO makers gave him a random rifle, I think, and with some enlarging of the hole at the side of the motorcycle, the rifle can be stored. Gun Bike is quite stable on the ground, due to the thick (THICK!) wheels it has.




Gun Max Amour
The main play factor is of course combining Gun Max and Gun Bike to form Gun Max Armour. The front of the motorcycle needs to be detached during transformation, but will be re-attached as the chest piece for the big robot.



Picture below shows the official transformation for Gun Max Amour, with the wheels showing obviously in front. While this saves space (at the rear) when displaying him, he kind of looks like... Mickey Mouse, especially if you look at the wrong angle...



I prefer to position the wheels this way. It makes him look much less hilarious and in fact a little resemblance to the Mospeada Cyclone amour bike style (see 2nd picture below).


Articulation wise, his head can turn, shoulder pads can tilt some degrees, but sadly arms can swivel only backwards though. Luckily the elbows can still bend. The legs are static, basically, with only the feet slightly able to flip due to transformation.

Overall, another "like" for him (especially without the cheesy stickers!)!!!

Restoration - KO Guard Diver (Yuusha/Brave Series)

Another super duper quick review of a Yuusha/Brave Series gestalt, this time: KO Guard Diver...

The members of the Guard Diver in vehicle mode... This is a very very old KO set, although it is packed in the bubble, yellowing of the white plastic parts has occurred...


...in robot mode. Material is of the typical "shampoo bottle" plastic (polypropylene???...), i.e. soft, flexible, invulnerable to almost all superglue except for the Selleys Plastic glue and some others perhaps... Painting is not advisable, as the paint will not adhere to this type of plastic surface easily... Restored all ratcheting joints...



The individual members...

Police Diver
Pinted the back windows purple as the stickers come in blue, which doesn't match the front windscreen originally factory-painted purple. Hope the paint doesn't comes off... The small gun can be attached on the top of the car, so no storage problem... The pegs-piece that attaches in gestalt mode comes misassembled, need to reverse it so that it does not slide and move...


Police Diver has weak robot mode, he has NO upper arms, just lower arms pinned to the side of the body! You will have to use your powerful imagination to think the sides as arms... not difficult, but I would prefer at least a simple shoulder-jointed arm... Police Diver forms the lower torso and thighs of the gestalt.


Drill Diver
A long drill vehicle, this KO Drill Diver comes in green, whereas the original is in orange. It came with molded slot holes for attaching jet wings (see Jet Diver jet mode) and I have to cut them off. His gun can be attached on the top of the vehicle..


Robot head is kind of small... and reminds me of Guy Hawk (Lio Kaiser member that forms the arm) head... Major articulations are the shoulders and knees... Drill Diver forms the right leg of the gestalt...


Jet Diver
Nice jet mode... except for the 2 obvious long pieces of landing gears that will transform into his robot arms... but nevermind, use your imagination, use your imagination... The KO makers are either lazy or blur to use the Drill Diver's part (the top piece with siren lights) on Jet Diver. Weird green piece appears and there is a gap seen... His white rifle is plugged into robot's fist below, making him seem to carry his rifle in jet mode similar to the (Macross) Valkyrie style...


Robot head is similar to Drill Diver's too, a bit too small... Jet Diver forms the left leg of the gestalt...


Fire Diver
Still don't understand what the wheels on his ladder are for... the ladder comes in all white, whereas the original has a black back piece. Fire truck looks ok, but the 2 big robot fists are too obvious!!! Not even an attempt to hide them... well, maybe the attaching of the rifles into the fists count???... anyway, it rolls... slightly...


Bot mode looks bulky, but really, is basically a brick with major swivel articulations at the shoulders and elbows... Fire Diver forms the upper torso and arms of the gestalt...


Now to the main feature of this figures, the combined mode....

Guard Diver
A tall gestalt, measuring 23cm from tip of head to feet. Guard Diver towers over Menasor and the other smaller G1 transformers gestalts... The members attached quite tightly, except for the gestalt's mid body (joints where Fire Diver and Police Diver attach) due to the flimsy flexible nature of the plastic material... Took a long time to rectify and till now, it still is not 100% secure, but will do... He does not have a well-sculpted, V-shaped body, but the broad shoulders make him look beefy... The only glaring flaw will be Fire Diver's fists appear again!!!!!!


Fire Diver's 2 rifles can be attached to his (Fire Diver) fists, and the other 3 members will combine their own weapons to form a slightly bigger rifle for Guard Diver to wield... Guard Diver can split open his legs and move his elbows as main articulation...


Overall, love this figure... hahaha...