Thursday 17 November 2011

Warning - Tekhnolog ZOD "15mm" Plastics

A range of Russian toys was recently brought to the attention of the TMP 15mm community.  They are from a company called Tekhnolog, supposedly for the ZOD 15mm battle game.  There are several different items available on eBay - mecha, flyers, tons of tanks, and an infantry sprue.  They certainly looked interesting - who hasn't thought about 15mm plastics?  So a few gamers (including me) took the plunge and bought a few items.


The results?  Pretty darn bad.  The detail is soft and the plastic is low-quality - I had several broken (and missing) items in the box.  The most glaring problem - all of the vehicles are roughly 1/144 scale, not 1/100.  The tanks are roughly the length of Matchbox cars, and the Mech hatches and cockpits are so undersized that even Games Workshop wouldn't try to sell them.   



Now, because some TMP'ers can't get past the "ooh, shiny!" factor, there are heaps of justifications on those boards.  Everything from "The mechs could be large battle robots" to "there are plenty of light tanks and tracks in the real world with an even smaller footprint than that."  Well, these aren't supposed to be Wiesel AWC- or FV101 Scorpion-sized vehicles.  These are clearly designed to be futuristic Abrams or Challengers.  Don't try to rationalize yourself into buying the tanks and giving them a different purpose - they just aren't worth it.  And maybe the Mechs could be used for conversions, but why buy these when we have so many good walker options in the 15mm market already?

I have contacted the individual selling these, both via TMP and eBay.  I asked that the listings be changed from 1/100 to 1/144, so they could at least try to be sold to the right people.  The seller simply said that the manufacturer claims these are 1/100, and has (inaccurately) listed more items since that contact.

And now we move on to the infantry.  Here's the biggest problem of all (credit to Mark H. for seeing it first):


Look familiar?  They should.  They are slightly modified recasts of Ground Zero Games' SG15-F01 FSE Legionnaires in Helmets.  


I wish I'd taken a detailed look at the eBay seller's feedback before I bothered with these.  This seller has already been caught recasting Forge World minis.  So it shouldn't be a surprise that they would steal from someone else - namely GZG.  I brought these to Jon's attention - he confirmed that he gave no permission or license for his minis to be recast by Tekhnolog.  Producing these figures is theft, plain and simple.  

Even after all this, I know some of you are still wanting to find a way to use them in your 15mm games.  People, I can't tell you how to spend your money - throw it away if you like.  But please think about these last few points before you do:
  1. This company (or someone at it) is a thief and a re-caster.  The infantry were stolen from GZG.  It's a good bet the vehicles are also not original designs - we just haven't yet discovered where they were stolen from.
  2. These are not 15mm vehicles or mecha.  Yes, I can read.  No, I don't care what the manufacturer says they are.  These are 1/144 vehicles, and you can't just say they are light tanks or robots and call it a day. And if you are a 1/144 gamer?  Even with the low price, these are flimsy and poorly-detailed toys compared to miniatures from Reaper or DP9.
  3. Yes, these are cheap.  How unlimited is your wargaming budget?  Would spending a single penny on these deprive you of a purchase from GZG, Khurasan, Rebel, Combat Wombat, Old Crow, Mad Robot, Critical Mass, Micropanzer, Astro Minis, or anyone else we see on this blog?  When it comes right down to it - who would you rather support? 
Cheers,
Chris

14 comments:

  1. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

    Fortunately I had not bought any of the tanks/mechs or figures.

    I am waiting for a parcel from this Ebay trader of the supposed 1/100 scale building kits.

    I will be interesting to see how good they are...

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  2. This is a crying shame for those manufacturers ripped off. Hopefully E-Bay MAY do something about them if enough people complain.I'll bet his service isn't a patch on GZG or Rebel Minis.

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  3. Shame about the copyright violation on the figures.. I was considering the building sprues, but I guess I'll pass.

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  4. Thank you for the warning. Would you mind revealing who this seller is so I know not to use that seller in the future?

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  5. @Ironmammoth - I imagine the buildings are fine, if they came out of the same factory as the IMEX kits. But I've made a personal decision not to support that manufacturer at all, even if it means never buying another Hexxagon kit.

    @Brian - Whoops, should have included the seller link in the article: http://www.ebay.com/sch/mrs-velard/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686

    @SpaceJacker - have you looked at Proxie Models' ruins? Even if you discard everything else, I think the Proxie ones are a much better option than the snap-fit ones from Tekhnolog.

    @Phil - this person is a reseller - doesn't claim to be directly associated with the manufacturer. Which is why they have so far refused my requests to relabel them as 1/144 items - "The manufacturer told me they are 1:100, and I put a ruler in the picture for your reference" is what I keep being told.

    Like I said on TMP last night - I could go into a Dollar Tree or Poundland and put a "1:100 SCALE!" sticker on any random toy. Someone can call an item anything they want to call it... certainly doesn't make it true. :)

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  6. Stealing other people's designs is despicable. As a great fan of Jon and GZG I would just like to urge our gaming community to avoid this manufacturer like the plague.

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  7. I know it’s a bit too late in the day to do anything about it but I have already bought four ruin building sprus from Tekhnolog via the buy now option on E-Bay, they took over six week to arrive but when they did arrive they were well packed and all of the parts seem to be present and correct. I had no idea that they might be counterfeit copies from another game company if I had known this I would not have bought them in the first place…

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  8. I say we take what he has done original and return the favor! All kiddin aside, repehensible! I hope this guy faces some serious consequences and that you can retrieve your money for this purchase!

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  9. Thanks for the review. And Russian plastics aren't that cheap anyway...

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  10. @Phil Curran i dought it very much, a reasonable sized group of us Battletech players started a campaign quite some time ago to try and get E-Bay to stop the selling of fake mech miniatures that have been flooding the market for the past eight to ten years now, and no matter how many times we have reported the sellers to them they have done nothing at all to stop there counterfeiting opperations even with solid evidence for back up...

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  11. Thanks for the warning. I shall steer clear...

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  12. Thanks for the warning. I was about to hit that "Buy it now" button, but something at the back of my mind said do a little research first. I'm glad I did.

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  13. I ordered the tanks...but only so I can wreck em >>

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  14. Unfortuantely I bought one set of the terrain and the minis to take a sample before doing research one late and bored night shift ...they now have a date with a pair of snips as wreckage markers though im sure I shall find somewhere to use those radar dishes.

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