September Purchase (2) - Bootleg DX Sengoku Driver with Lock Seed Holder Set

Bought this from Taobao.com at a price of approximately $43.40, inclusive of shipping (and 2 fake leather belts), through my Taobao agent... There was an earlier bootleg / KO version of the DX Sengoku Driver but was quite done badly, so one of the Taobao shop seller requested the manufacturer to tune up that driver, particularly the ability to activate authentic lock seeds (which was missing in the earlier version)... Apparently there was some miscommunication between them, as in the end, the manufacturer still left out this activation function, and instead added a small pin to be able to activate the "weapon mode" button of the authentic DX lock seed... However, this newer version is now more closer to the authentic version, with (supposedly) removable cutting knife, removable face plates, proper belt straps (but they are molded from another DX driver's belt straps) and connector, and such... There are some forum talks in the China sites that discuss how the lock seed activation mechanism can be done, so I am very eager to try to start doing that... hehehe ...

Here's the item's packaging box, and the last picture shows the de-tombed item... I believe it uses the authentic gift-set's design as reference... Looks good so far...





The main driver's body. Plastic material is almost similar to that of the authentic one - transparent/opaque dark blue at the correct parts, not brittle feel... In fact, when I look at the back, the details (less the Bandai words) are almost the same, right down to which parts are matte and which are shiny. Battery cover works exactly the same... The lock seed locking piece can also be opened like the authentic version to let the lock seeds be pulled out, in case the lock seeds are accidentally removed without opening the lock ...



As the inside the body seems to have some parts dropped out or such, I dismantle it to take out / repair any loose parts and at the same time have a look inside.... Turns out an extra piece of on-off switch cover is left inside accidentally... There should have quite a lot of space to put in the lock seed activation mechanism and also some sound chips to add / replace the bootleg sound (weird weird sword clashing sounds)...



Unlike the earlier KO version, this bootleg set comes with 2 interchangeable face plates (KR Gaim's and KR Baron's), just like the authentic version... Nice... But of course, just like any other bootlegs, do not expect this KO Baron's face plate to be able to work on the authentic DX driver to produce the KR Baron henshin music, as it uses the same mold as KR Gaim's... The drawing on each face plate is actually a transparent sticker..



The cutting knife is now "perfect" without joint lines on the blade. But this makes it less show accurate, as many episodes show the knife with joint lines as seen in the DX toy... But anyway, this cutting knife looks better to me... And it is made of hard plastic...


Sadly, my cutting knife is missing the 2 tabs at the side to lock it into place... Should not be too tough to make 1 though... Just need some time...



For the belt straps, the straps themselves seemed to be slightly thicker and less flexible than the authentic one. The buckle and straps themselves are actually molded from that of DX Double/W Driver's... Not surprising, as the manufacturer came out with quite good bootlegs of the DX Double/W Driver before... The connectors are very well made (though I have not try putting them into the driver yet...), and could even pass off as the legit stuff...




The lock seed holder is a bit lighter (I think), but still a relatively good bootleg. The back of the holder is actually more well-made than the front side... And the tabs are still spring-pressed to allow the lock seeds to be held securely..



And now, the lock seeds... I really don't like them... or perhaps just the sounds... I have strongly in mind to use their bodies (after some light mods) to replace some of my gashapon/candy toy lock seeds bodies... Yeah, I think I will do that...... There are only 2 sounds (same for all 3 lock seeds) - (i) When open the lock seed - " ~(lock seed open sound)~ P~i~n~e !" (ii) when the only small button on the back is pressed - " ~(machine start sound) Battle start! Y~o~u l~o~s~e..." Sigh... forever losing... hahahaha...


The bootleg Orange lock seed has transparent yellow plastic inside, and the stickers are not Orange's but Pineapple's... strange... maybe the manufacturer cannot differentiate between orange and pineapple... The bootleg lock seeds do seem to have retain the spring-flip function of the cover though...


..As well as the on-off switch... Nice... Notice the mold uses a 3 battery compartment as used in the authentic DX versions... The 3 back buttons are now reduced to only 1 (the middle one), the the other 2 are molded together with the main body... And NO SAD PAC-MAN !!!!!! hahahaha....



Overall, this is a very very very nice bootleg... More so if considering the very poor quality of the first KO version, this is indeed a very improved version... Will try to fix up the cutting knife's pegs and also the mechanism for activating the lock seed button asap... After all, Kamen Rider Gaim series will be ending this coming Sunday...