3rd Party Masterpieces - Just expensive fakes?

[metacooler]

Hey guys,

There are a lot of 3rd party companies making "Masterpiece Transformers" and more coming each month. I have to say that for me, I can not understand why people buy them. Before you blow a gasket, hear me out. I am not saying it is wrong, I just don't get it. I remember when I was six years old and it was Christmas morning. All I wanted was a Transformer, nothing else just a Transformer. I wrote a letter to Santa asking for one, I begged my parents for one. On Christmas morning I ran down to the tree and ripped open all my gifts and finally the last one was the right shape and size. "Oh my god, it's a Transformer jet I know it!" Picture if you can a six year old boy having his dreams crushed. It was not Transformers Starscream it was Jet Robo. Wait what? Needless to say I am still ashamed by the way I acted that day.

Enough with the story telling here is my question... what is the difference between Jet Robo and Apollyon. Isn`t a knock-off just a knock-off and not a real Transformer? I understand people buy them because they want a figure of a character that is not made by Takara. I just do not agree with paying premium prices for a bot that is not made by Takara-Tomy-Hasbro. When I saw knock-offs at Woolco when I was a kid I said that`s fake, don`t want it. Why is it different now? Will they hold their value like authentic MP Transformers?

[Sir Prime A Lot]

Transformers are just knockoffs of Diakron, Diaclone and Microman.

[pandaprime]

I'm sure that Takara-Tomy-Hasbro has to follow more safety regulations for their figure manufacturing than 3P companies. Safety first!

[Bountyan]

What premium prices? Third party "MPs" are practically the same price as if Takara did them. Apollyon is only $150. People buy them because they look like the characters and they want the characters. It's not complicated. Which company it is making the figure holds little to no value to me. If I'm using your analogy it's like third parties are giving you a present that's 90-100% what you wanted while HasTak isn't giving you a present at all.

[Whisky Tango Foxtrot]

Jet Robo? You mean Fitor? That was an awesome toy. Sure, it was small and fairly simple, but it looked cool and wasn't a partsforming mess like Starscream was.

[jjwankenobi]

By Jet Robo I think the OP is referring to pre-Transformers, Diaclone era G1 Starscream.

Anyways... Let us clarify something here: Apollyon, Quakewave, Kronos, Iron Dibots etc. They're Third Party toys made to fill in the gaps in the MP character lineup that HasTak hasn't gotten around to making for whatever reason.

The G1 Shockwave, Sunstreaker and Reflector I got off iOffer are KOs. "Fakes". These serve a similar purpose as 3P products: they are made in place of reissue gaps.

Why do I wait with great anticipation for my Apollyon to arrive and why does Quakewave stand guard aside my 5 MP Seekers and Soundwave? Because I want an MP Megatron that's in scale with MP 10 and Shockwave is a core 'Con IMO.

Why do the fake, shoddy quality G1 Shockwave, loose jointed Sunstreaker, and falling apart Reflector share a Detolf shelf with my vintage and reissue G1s? Same reasons the 3P MP Products share space with my official releases.

Yes, they are expensive. But no more expensive than official releases. Are they worth it? That depends on the collector. Is it blasphemy? The answer is irrelevant. For once as a TF fan I can actually get almost exactly what I want. Official or otherwise.

Think of it this way. Rather than hope for HasTak to give you what you want (like your 6 year old self hoped for) you can get it through a 3P company (like the grown up child you are now).

As for holding their value, tentatively I'd say yes. (Quakewave seems to have appreciated in value based on universal acclaim.)

[Sun Swipe Prime]

If something is to be called a fake, then there should be an original. These 3rd party products are all original designs, so they're not fakes. They're definitely IP violators, but they're not fakes.

The difference between G1 Starscream and a KO is a stolen design. It's a knock off, a reproduction of a an existing design.

Take a look at it another way. If someone photocopies a picture of Optimus Prime, it's a reproduction. You might even call it a knock off.

If someone decided to draw their own picture of Optimus Prime, with their own unique pose and composition, would you call that picture a fake?

These 3rd party products, as mentioned above, they fill in a gap in the collector's market, gaps that Hastak might not ever fill. They'll never make an upgrade kit for the energon combiners. They'd never go back and make a Voyage Onslaught to go with the FOC combaticons.

Combiner wars, was this HasTak's response to the realization that people were throwing down throusands of dollars to get some decent G1 combiners?

Was the sudden ramp up of MP figure production a response to 3rd party companies showing them the large and profitable collectors market for this type of product?

On both counts IMHO, I think it was.

[Rev]

OP, how many of these fakes have you handled?

[steamwhistle]

Along the same line of thinking as Bountyan...

Primarily, I want the character which I have seen on-screen and in comics.

For a lot of 3rd party Masterpieces, Takara/Hasbro has not released a version of the character.

For other items, if there is both an official HasTak release and a KO, I will always opt for the official release. I would get the official Ultra Magnus over any 3P offering.

If there are "identical" KOs, as seen with MP Sideswipe, I would almost certainly prefer the official release, but if pricing is just too ridiculous, I would definitely consider the alternative of a less expensive KO, if it was of good quality.

Most of us have probably seen the KO of G1 Devastator (in various colours). I picked one up in ChinaTown years ago for $12. For $12, it was awesome, and I could let my young nephew play with it without caring. Of course, it didn't take long for me to find it broken.

[Megatron75]

Originally Posted by Sir Prime A Lot

Transformers are just knockoffs of Diakron, Diaclone and Microman.

Well...not really knock offs. The early Transformers are technically "rebranded" figures originally designed by Takara under their pre transformers Diakron, Diaclone and Micro Change lines.