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Post by cheeseontom on Apr 11, 2017 2:53:28 GMT -5
I have just made a rookie mistake!
I'm still fairly new to all this so I hope you can all forgive me?
About a month ago I was browsing on ebay when I saw an HMM Saber Tiger going for about £40 inc delivery. I thought at the time that this is one hell of a bargain, I can't miss it and so I ordered it.
It arrived yesterday, filled with my usual excitement I tore into the package and to my surprise it wasn't quite what I was expecting. It was clearly a bootleg!
I have done a bit of research into it and it would appear I have been fooled into buying a BT black knight copy of the original.
I'm sure a few of you will have seen these before. I was going to send it back, but I thought I might as well build it and leave a few comments on here if anyone was interested in how it went.
First impressions are that the plastic isn't as good a quality, however the pieces seem to go together ok, had to sand down a few bits but I fit together reasonably well.
I have pretty much finished the head and torso, just the legs and weapons.
So far I'd say it's ok and just by looking at it you couldn't tell the difference. It's only when you pick it up and start trying to articulate it you can tell something isn't quite right.
Will post some pics when I get home.
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Post by shovelchop81 on Apr 11, 2017 3:25:08 GMT -5
Interesting, I've got two BT kits to build yet and was thinking of picking a few more up before they sell out but being lured into the Gundam PG world by KO's already! LOL. Got a Daban PG Banshee Norn on the way with weapons accessories kit and LED set. Should be 18" tall when built!!
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Post by Hanyoutai on Apr 11, 2017 4:13:20 GMT -5
Bootleg kits on Ebay are usually clearly marked, so it's easy to avoid them if you know what to look for. Here are some popular bootleg groups that you'll see on Kotobukiya kits. If you want to avoid bootlegs, do not buy anything that has this in the title. Also good to check for their logo, printed on the box if the seller is using their own images.
Black Knight (Shortened as BT, not BK)
STK (Does both HMM and D-Style)
Dragon Momoko (Did some D-Style Bladeys)
Hong Lei (Did a 1/108 scale (smaller) HMM Blade Liger)
Most of the HMM bootlegs are pretty poor quality in comparison. It'll go together, but usually not well, or without a decent amount more effort.
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Post by cheeseontom on Apr 11, 2017 5:41:37 GMT -5
Interesting, I've got two BT kits to build yet and was thinking of picking a few more up before they sell out but being lured into the Gundam PG world by KO's already! LOL. Got a Daban PG Banshee Norn on the way with weapons accessories kit and LED set. Should be 18" tall when built!! It isn't the worst to build, just not as nice. Best example is the cover for the ears didn't quite fit onto the head so had to sand a bit off. I've been drawn into gundam as well just because the they are so much cheaper! The 1/144 scale is nice alongside the zoids. They can use them as a mount. Looks awesome! |
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darksoul
Lance Corporal
add zoids from here, add zoids from there.. and look, how thin is my wallet now :D
Posts: 70
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Post by darksoul on Apr 11, 2017 9:17:21 GMT -5
I have one, and already built it  for what I know, it have harder plastic than koto, less minor detail and hard to assembly ( you shoud do some extra work like scraping & fitting part) but your hard work paid by it's sturdy joint. I have BT saber tiger & Kotobukiya shield Mk-II which I usually change pose. BT still sturdy as usual, but my shieldy joint rather weakened, so now I limited it to standar pose |
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Post by Maethius on Apr 11, 2017 12:19:29 GMT -5
I think posting warnings and even detailed reviews of bootleg kits is a good idea for two reasons:
1) showing the poorer quality is a good reminder to buy pure.
2) for people like me (customizers who often buy kits just to tear them into bits for use on a dozen different projects) it can give us a look an an option that doesn't involve dropping $120 just to use a couple of pieces.
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Post by cheeseontom on Apr 13, 2017 12:26:56 GMT -5
Ok. So its built. Yes it's poorer quality. But it is definitely sturdier. My older models need careful positioning or they will sag. But I can see this staying stiffer for longer, quiet in the back. Most parts clipped together well, though some took some brute force, the only bit that really annoyed me was the ears.
I don't think there was any detail missing really. I'm actually quite impressed. There is a liger zero Jaeger available and I have been looking at modding a liger zero so might use that as a base!
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Post by shovelchop81 on Apr 13, 2017 12:42:18 GMT -5
Ok. So its built. Yes it's poorer quality. But it is definitely sturdier. My older models need careful positioning or they will sag. But I can see this staying stiffer for longer, quiet in the back. Most parts clipped together well, though some took some brute force, the only bit that really annoyed me was the ears. I don't think there was any detail missing really. I'm actually quite impressed. There is a liger zero Jaeger available and I have been looking at modding a liger zero so might use that as a base! I've been looking at the BT Jaeger too, got the BT Panzer and BT Blade Liger with Van's colours and Leon's in the same kit. Those are the KO's I've got so far, except for the Perfect Grade Gundam that arrived today, had to pay import tax which sucked! Looks amazing though, the box is bigger than the HMM IK PK but smaller than the HMM Gojulas Ogre, looks just like the original, heavy duty with a plastic carry handle. |
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Post by LunarEchoes on Apr 13, 2018 20:40:23 GMT -5
I got a BT Jaeger, the clear version, I only have the head built so far. I'm not sure if this is an issue with this bootleg series, or just coming from China, but a lot of the pieces broke off from the frames upon taking them out of the plastic. Of course, the box itself was badly damaged in the shipping process so I wasn't happy about that. I guess the BT kits aren't bad for bargain hunters but I too was unaware at the time of the bootleg status
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