Hey guys,
My KO Cassettes arrived today and as promised here's a review.
These are repros of the super-rare C-121 and C-122 cassettes that are known to sell for several hundred dollars each.
After the 'miracle' Headmasters repros last year the Dino-cassettes were overwhelmingly good news for us hoping to get an accurate representation of the original toy for a reasonable price.
Note that I don't own the originals, so I am not able to confirm the accuracy of the color, boxes, etc.
Okay, let's start with the boxes, which IMHO are really charming:
These are definitely repro boxes, appear to be hand-folded with a very slight blurr to the images. The colors are bright and vibrant and the cardboard quality is good, unlike many KOs.
This particular release does have a flaw where the back of the box artwork is upside-down. I'm not sure when (or if) this will be fixed. Strangely, this does not bother me...
The back panel's artwork seems really strange and of poor quality--perhaps the original looked like this. I would expect the illustration of combined robot mode to be more vivid. The original Dino artwork, on the other hand is stellar and is easily the best part of the box!
Inside you'll get a plastic tray (original was foam?) with weapons and the cassette, a nice collectors card (which I'm assuming is not a repro, someone help me here) and some instructions that also feel very KO. You'll also get a mini tech spec reader which is cool.
You apply the stickers yourself. Fitment of the diecut is not great...Noizu in particular has overhanging decals. Again, being unsure of the originals in this regard as they might have had this issue as well. Thankfully some careful trimming and application will make all the difference.
The color of the Dinos are vivid, the plastic quality is great, and the joint quality is better than the 123/124 batch. The plastic does have that strange KO odor.
Gurafi does have a minor stress mark on one of his joints that must have happened during assembly. It is not easily visible and does not affect transformation.
I'm not going to beat around the bush here, combined mode is...um..odd. The head is well set-back on this figure and lacks any kind of face...he's kind of like a outdoor patio lamp or something. Oh, it's worth mentioning the chrome weapons are well done and peg in properly.
Overall I am very satisfied with this set. Sure there are issues but they don't concern me in any way...I am simply happy to get these. I really don't think anything better is coming soon unless by some miracle Takara reissues them.
The original design is quirky and charming...it's like Star Convoy...I love this figure for it's kitsch, it's history. The Cassette modes are great, the Dino modes are good, and the combined mode...is...different.
The price is right and the execution is good...not great, but good.
Here's what it boils down to: Some KOs give you just enough of a taste of the original to make you want the original regardless of price. The Raiden KO is like that--the color is just slightly wrong, it's missing the diecast wheels, the joints are just sloppy enough, the packaging sucks...just enough to make you crave the real deal.
The Dinocassette repros are not like that. They have satisfied my craving until when (or if) Takara reissues.
And that's a 100% win in my books.
More pics follow...
