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Originally Posted by wervenom
Agreed. I don't think they are in trouble. Maybe certain companies have slowed down but there are many others coming out and filling in gaps
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Originally Posted by Dangard Ace
From what I hear Toyworld is laying low after brazenly showing off their Bumblebee movie Optimus at the same toy fair as 3A BB Optimus. 3A apparently told Hasbro and Hasbro told Toyworld to knock it off. Same thing that happened to FT's Grinders G1 head. Dx9 is apparently focusing on Legends scale under another name right now. Magic Square or MechFan or something starting with M. I don't collect Legends so don't remember exactly. MakeToys who the hell knows. They keep their cards to their chests but I think their crowdfund Sunstorm and its qc issues may have hit their pocketbook hard. GT no idea, their stuff looked cool but not enough for me to buy.
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Originally Posted by Soundwaves
Let's also not forget that the films that really kicked this hobby into high gear have slowed down as well.
This leads to lower sales across the board.
This is why 1/2 of my local TRU's TF section is now fortnite.
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Originally Posted by GotBot
Just market cycles. If anything, I think they are becoming better and comparatively way more affordable
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I think the change in release rate for certain companies is noticable, especially compared to 1-2 years ago, but I remember a time when 3 months between releases felt fast and overwhelming!
At one point the MP thing was an absolute ARMS RACE in the 3rd party world, EVERYBODY seemed to make some kind of MP and that has definitely slowed compared to before...BUT if you look at it on paper, things are still humming along nicely.
Here are a couple companies that I noticed are releasing very frequently:
-Fan Toys (about the same freqency as the last couple years, there is a thread over on TFW where they are actually counting the release rate and it's impressive)
-New Age Toys (rumors this is a DX9/UT spinoff as others mentioned)...they make kickass legends and they are coming out at an amazing rate
-Magic Square - The release rate seems to come in fits and spurts but if you look over the entire year it's pretty awesome and hard to keep up with. Again, it's legends, so if you aren't into legends, then you may notice the change in rate
-Iron Factory-IMHO they are THE player in legends...they are just awesome, and releasing fairly routinely
-KFC/Transbots -Ok, maybe they don't release everything they tease and it may not be the fastest company, but they DO deliver nice stuff on a regular basis, definitely an important company in 3rd party
-GT is releasing their 'not defensor' albeit a bit slowly
-MMC is definitely still in the game, and releasing at a pretty nice clip in both CHUG and MP-ish (Ocular Max)
-Don't forget Fanshobby...why does everyone forget Fanhobby? They need more fans, lolllzzzz...I think their stuff is fantastic!!!
-And there's still a decent mix of KO-ish stuff which I won't elaborate on...
So overall I'd say:
-Fanstoys, Transbots/KFC, Ocular Max and Fanshobby are still very relevant and releasing routinely for MP
-MMC for CHUG...otherwise CHUG is pretty slow
-Iron Factory/New Age/Magic Square will keep your legends line bright and new
So maybe the issue is less MP and CHUG? That combined with 3rd party getting a couple of shots across their bow makes things FEEL less bright and shiny?
