Transformable Tomas
Review by The Enthusiast
The charm of Bootlegs and Knockoffs lies within their very human origins. Whereas established, licensed toy companies rigorously design, engineer, and manufacture a product, the bootlegger merely seizes the fruits of this process and duplicates it. While most wildcat toy manufacturers are content to churn out ersatz copies of previously released pieces, some choose to differentiate their product with a unique personal touch. More often than not, these personal touches are ridiculous, the arbitrary product of amateur designers. The gold plating, psychedelic stickers, targeted re-sculpting, and kit-bashing all reflect whims which would never see the light of day within the constraints of a legitimate business enterprise, and these touches contribute a unique personal and cultural imprimatur upon the trashy and disposable medium of the bootleg. Case in point: Transformable Tomas. Some Chinese bootlegger married the Thomas the Tank Engine character with a down-market train gattai. Genius.
(A tip of the hat to JoshB, who informs me that this toy is a boot of the Loco Squad).
Tomas comes on your typical Flea Market blister card.
The three trains of the original have been plastered with Thomas faces, each identical. While Loco Squad used multiple paint apps, different materials, and decals, Tomas is austere. No expense was spared to create a quality plaything. Did I say “spared?” I meant “spent”. There are a few silver paint apps, but it’s a very plain toy.
Tomas is a parts-former. The locomotives separate as shown.
Fists and legs flip out, things rotate outwards, the red engine turns into the torso and backpack. Assembly is easy and intuitive. I noticed some of the parts were assembled incorrectly.
The Tomas Bot is underwhelming. The absolute cheapness of materials and construction make a clumsy, slap-dash toy. It’s terrible. It falls over. It’s a brick.
The head sculpt is anonymous and gooey.
But Tomas possesses a lunatic charm all its own.
| Posted 26 June, 2010 - 14:58 by The Enthusiast |
Comments
12 comments postedThe hands look like they are on the wrong arms. I kinda like this guy, it's like Tomas, if he were made as a Japanese kid's show.
yeah, there are definitely some build issues with the arms.
The little engine that could...KICK ASS. Tomas the Train busts onto the scene with his partners to combine and bring the pain to random alien forces!
Man, everyone else always finds the best bootlegs...
a freind got me a variant of this on a trip to hong kong, the stickers were applied and he had gold instead of silver, plus light and sounds! (a train noise that runs for a minute-ish) but the plastic is almost see through. awesome cheap tat
Great stuff! If only someone was to make a quality version available.
So stuipid it's AWSOME but the design reminds me so much of liner Dagwon
No evil can stand up to my "Henshin"
I am waiting for the My Little Pony combiner with comb weapons.
This toy is sure a joke XD
And it's a boot of Loco Squad? Didn't realize it earlier...
"henshin!"
"transform and roll out"
My father works at a PBS television station. They air childrens' educational shows, such as Seasame Street, Mr Rogers, and--of course--Thomas the Tank Engine.
This was my Fathers' Day gift to him last year. (Take note that this was definately released before 2010.)
No matter how you put it together, the hands are never quite correct. You'd have to disconnect the hands and switch them.
Dad refused to do so because it would ruin some of the camp. Good ol' Dad.
I wanted a transforming Thomas, but after looking at your super clear photos of this thing (and seeing that it is indeed a bootleg of one of those "Interchanger" original designs) I'm beginning to think I really don't need one. There's a transforming Thomas out there that's not a partsformer-combiner, right? Just one loco that turns into a robot?
I came across a few of these recently. Packaged two different ways. Both in identical open front box's, one showing the combined Thomas and the other was three trains. He's labeled as "Super Thomas" and has same KO brand logo as the reviewed.
Same mold with more stickers and has a noise gimmick but still is what it is what it is, a xtreamly cheaply made toy.
I like this guy. I have fond memories of playing with my fathers Lionel train sets during.
Check the avatar.
I bought this exact one only my daisy train is purple instead of red. Also the pegs to plug the arms and legs into the torso are too small so they constantly fall off. Avoid this waste of plastic at all costs. There's a smaller version that's higher quality, get that one if you must have a transformable Thomas.