darkSpyro

As you know, in Asia, finding real 'landers that aren't insanely overpriced is a bit of a challenge (outside of Japan and Singapore). After what feels like years of combing Tao Bao, I may have found protos that actually work! But before going all nuts and ordering 10 or so, I just wanted to post here to get a second (and third and fourth and however many people post here) opinion.
Using Google Translate, It seems that these are guenine figs, they light up on a portal, and they have apparently functional RFIDs. The one black spot (anyone else suddenly thinking of Treasure Island?) is that the seller(s) claim they don't have the game so they can't guarantee in-game functionality, making me a tad bit suspicious.
But anyway, here are some links to this seller. If these are (mostly, anyway) legit, it could make 'lander-hunting in Asia so much easier! Y'all's thoughts?

http://item.taobao.com/item.ht...&id=20880411217

http://item.taobao.com/item.ht...&id=18693070976

http://item.taobao.com/item.ht...&id=18672538745

(they have every giant, those were just examples)

http://item.taobao.com/item.ht...=&cm_id=&pm_id= (the same seller I believe, and Ghoster Roaster!)

EDIT #1: Looked at some of the reviews. On one, it said that the person had initially bought two figures, and one worked in-game. 50% is good odds, considering the price!

Just curious on how far you've explored this. It took me forever to get through the checkout process but when I got there I noticed that the total price was 63.00 million yen and I only put a few things in my cart. No where on the individual pagess did it state that they were 6.40 or 23.00 million yen. Have you actually ordered anything from here before? I just don't want to have my credit card charged for an insane amount of money because I didn't understand the conversions correctly. Any insight if you have it would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

I have not personally ordered off Tao Bao before, I have a Chinese friend who is most helpful and does it for me. I'm going to order something else off Tao Bao soon, so I'll pick two of these up as well (probably Ninjini, Eye Brawl, and maybe Ghoster Roaster). Only one or two will likely work, but I'll only get characters I like so even only one working is a win!

WOAH! 2-4$ For a Giants Figure?That's an insane discount!

If this is legit, then a 50% chance of working is reasonable to me.

Indeed. Ninjini and Eye Brawl are the only Giants I want (along with Hot Head, but he's not as big a deal), so they'll come first. They also light up, so if they don't work I'll still put them on display and/or custom 'em.

I was just going to get the ninjini and the ghost roaster, I was just a little unsure of the finalization of the checkout process as is said my order total was 63.00 and then off to the right it said million..I didn't want to get charged an insane amount of money for just a few small characters.

Either a glitch or the cost of shipping (:P). If possible, ask someone who knows a lot of Chinese.
Now if only they had Scarlet...

Isn't there an "english" version of this? Or something that interprets this site? I thought I remembered seeing that sometime.

I posted this before but didn't hear from anybody.
I had seen a post awhile back where someone made reference to an error with the figure and it had fallen off the base in an unopened package. (Saying to myself now, "duh, at likely that the post was in the error thread") Then someone responded that they wish they had found that figure because it would be great for making customs. Anyway, I have a sprocket that is new in package that has totally fallen off base. I also have two Flashwings that are inside their boxes but each have a wing that has come off. Would those be of any use to anybody? If so let me know. They aren't of any use to me.

There might be, I can't seem to find it, but I'll look more.
Put it in the Official Customs thread, that's a better place for that.

thanks Doom---

Quote: shelly9871

I also have two Flashwings that are inside their boxes but each have a wing that has come off. Would those be of any use to anybody? If so let me know. They aren't of any use to me.

There's someone who goes by the name Jin Saotome (SURE of the first name, not so sure of the spelling of the last) who makes custom ARTICULATED Skylanders, like taking them apart and adding elbow joints and waist joints, so they can be posed in different ways. I've seen a video of his Scarlet Ninjini where she's holding her swords in different ways, and he has a DeviantArt account where he shares pics of his creations.

To me, a detached wing sounds like it's ASKING to be articulated to move. Too bad it's only one wing each, though. Jin could do something with it, as well as anyone familiar with how he does it.

As to the thread topic, I find it hard to believe that anyone is in a position where this site is the best bet? Would certainly help having a friend who can understand it natively... But Google Chrome has a built-in translator, not sure if it could manage this site. Individual listings, such as the ones shared here, you could just paste the addresses into Google Translate or Babelfish, steps of the order process you can copy individual text into those translators. That's how I (successfully) ordered from Amazon Germany and Amazon Italy, twice each, though this feels harder considering it's not even the same alphabet as English.

Jin Saotome is just a name he takes. It's not his real name xD

Gonna jump in here, but those won't work because their RFID chips are blank. They're similar to the ones myself and Matteo had on here where they light up but do nothing else.

Quote: niceguy1

Quote: shelly9871

I also have two Flashwings that are inside their boxes but each have a wing that has come off. Would those be of any use to anybody? If so let me know. They aren't of any use to me.

There's someone who goes by the name Jin Saotome (SURE of the first name, not so sure of the spelling of the last) who makes custom ARTICULATED Skylanders, like taking them apart and adding elbow joints and waist joints, so they can be posed in different ways. I've seen a video of his Scarlet Ninjini where she's holding her swords in different ways, and he has a DeviantArt account where he shares pics of his creations.

To me, a detached wing sounds like it's ASKING to be articulated to move. Too bad it's only one wing each, though. :) Jin could do something with it, as well as anyone familiar with how he does it.

As to the thread topic, I find it hard to believe that anyone is in a position where this site is the best bet? Would certainly help having a friend who can understand it natively... But Google Chrome has a built-in translator, not sure if it could manage this site. Individual listings, such as the ones shared here, you could just paste the addresses into Google Translate or Babelfish, steps of the order process you can copy individual text into those translators. That's how I (successfully) ordered from Amazon Germany and Amazon Italy, twice each, though this feels harder considering it's not even the same alphabet as English.

First off, I'm in that position. Amazon Japan is OK, but inconvenient. Second, a lot of things are buttons, which are images and don't translate. And a lot of people have said just using Translate doesn't work so well. I do use Chrome for translation, but I'd still rather my Chinese friend handle it (I can speak a bit of Chinese, but not read near as well).

I know I had a conversation with someone who sent me a message with an English translated version of taobao. I'll look it up and post tomorrow.
Regarding skylamders that I have with pieces coming off --if anybody has an idea who could use them please let me know. Like I said--I have no use for them.
Thanks all

Quote: TacoMakerSkys

Jin Saotome is just a name he takes. It's not his real name xD

That's why I worded it that way, "GOES BY THE NAME OF Jin Saotome", not "whose name is".

Quote: Kung Fu Man

Gonna jump in here, but those won't work because their RFID chips are blank. They're similar to the ones myself and Matteo had on here where they light up but do nothing else.

If people have reported that SOME work, then some work.

Quote: Doomslicer

First off, I'm in that position. Amazon Japan is OK, but inconvenient. Second, a lot of things are buttons, which are images and don't translate. And a lot of people have said just using Translate doesn't work so well. I do use Chrome for translation, but I'd still rather my Chinese friend handle it (I can speak a bit of Chinese, but not read near as well).

FYI, I worded it badly, I didn't MEAN I don't believe you, that was more like "Wow, that sucks". And obviously for YOU, if you have a Chinese friend who can handle it, that's the far better option, I'm talking about people like myself who don't. As for the buttons, for Amazons Germany and Italy I copied the text by "hand" into Notepad, then copied from there. MUCH harder here, of course. I used Character Map to get extended characters, here you would have to do it for all characters.

Yeah, it's fine. Also, my friend was gonna order some stuff anyway soon, so this is just an added bonus.

Quote: niceguy1

If people have reported that SOME work, then some work.

Actually that's the point: nobody did, other than they light up. Both the protos we had lit up just fine, but gave an error when trying to use them on a portal.

But hey if you want to give it a go. But then they wouldn't really be protots.

It's a catchy name. The seller states that they don't test them, but some work. One or two had reviews saying that half of the ones that person bought worked. Also, I might use one for my first custom if it doesn't work.

Quote: Kung Fu Man

But hey if you want to give it a go. But then they wouldn't really be protots.

Actually, I've been getting the impression that these AREN'T protos.... All the provided links look like they're real Skylanders, that's why I'm figuring it's likely they could work in the game.

That being said, I'm not touching these with a ten foot pole, I have options available to me which are far less risky. I'm just discussing the matter for the sake of people who might be interested in giving it a chance.

I know, but the nickname "Protos" works...

When ordering from China, never expect things to work and never expect a mint condition piece regardless of what the image looks like.
Legitimacy is up to you to research, sometimes they use stock photos or steal photos someone else took! Check their other items for consistency too.

You will need an agent(middleman service) to use Taobao (as I'm pretty sure you need a Chinese bank account), it's up to you to pick one. I personally use Taobaonow, but they can be kinda slow sometimes.

Quote: niceguy1

Quote: Kung Fu Man

But hey if you want to give it a go. But then they wouldn't really be protots.

Actually, I've been getting the impression that these AREN'T protos.... All the provided links look like they're real Skylanders, that's why I'm figuring it's likely they could work in the game.

That being said, I'm not touching these with a ten foot pole, I have options available to me which are far less risky. I'm just discussing the matter for the sake of people who might be interested in giving it a chance.

I've seen Clear Stump Smashes and Clear Prism Breaks on there along with the S1 Golds and S2 Gold Flameslinger (I own).

Quote: Okaps

When ordering from China, never expect things to work and never expect a mint condition piece regardless of what the image looks like.
Legitimacy is up to you to research, sometimes they use stock photos or steal photos someone else took! Check their other items for consistency too.

You will need an agent(middleman service) to use Taobao (as I'm pretty sure you need a Chinese bank account), it's up to you to pick one. I personally use Taobaonow, but they can be kinda slow sometimes.

I know, that's the primary reason my Chinese friend helps, she has bank account. I'm well aware of the quality of items here, but for $3 it's not losing much to try. Also, I haven't seen those photos anywhere else, and the seller's got good ratings and reviews.