Does 3rd Party MP bothers you?

[Rev]

I love my 3P stuff. Quakewave, intimidator, Hexatron, Bovis, Apex and Gem.... Love them all. And I love the MP line as well. It is good to be a fan of transforming robots right now.

[Robimus]

Originally Posted by brr-icy

oh, and the Lego brick design is not copyrighted anymore.

Apparently neither are Transformers

[AeroShake]

Originally Posted by brr-icy

if the company can pull it off, sure. but there's quite a bigger risk i/p wise if you're going mps since they need to be accurate. no fudging it

Exactly this. Quakewave is pretty damn good but it's not like Fans Toys are going to make a killer enough profit to count as "competitive" for Has/Tak. After all, it's THEIR stuff that take up toy aisles at General stores and TRU, Not Fans Toys or any other 3P company.

Of course, the world of toy business is one big shade of grey. There is no black and white.

[Dragon Knight]

So long as it's not igear ripping off pre existing Masterpiece designs...

[Darth Cylon]

Originally Posted by AeroShake

Of course, the world of toy business is one big shade of grey. There is no black and white.

The adult toy business is booming thanks to 50 shades of grey...

[SleeplessKnight]

Hey, what does everyone think of this hypothetical scenario;

Lets say Hasbro comes out with a figure that is almost exactly like a 3rd party figure with only minor differences for lowering cost of tooling and maintaining North American safety standards.

It would be obvious that this "offical" figure was copied or reverse engineered from the original 3rd party figure.

How would the 3rd party creator or even the fans react to this? Would the 3rd party be flattered and do nothing? Would the 3rd party send Hasbro a C&D letter only to have Hasbro send a C&D letter back with a note that said "thanks for doing our work for us suckers!" Would fans embrace the "official knockoff" of the 3rd party?

[protoform_ironhide]

Originally Posted by SleeplessKnight

Hey, what does everyone think of this hypothetical scenario;

Lets say Hasbro comes out with a figure that is almost exactly like a 3rd party figure with only minor differences for lowering cost of tooling and maintaining North American safety standards.

It would be obvious that this "offical" figure was copied or reverse engineered from the original 3rd party figure.

How would the 3rd party creator or even the fans react to this? Would the 3rd party be flattered and do nothing? Would the 3rd party send Hasbro a C&D letter only to have Hasbro send a C&D letter back with a note that said "thanks for doing our work for us suckers!" Would fans embrace the "official knockoff" of the 3rd party?

It is kind of hard to answer your question. I doubt Has/Tak will do anything like that

If they really do it... I cannot imagine...

[MULTIPLEX]

IMO the only thing "masterpiece" about these 3rd party figures is the size and price tag. And even size is not always to true. Too many examples of this to mention of so-called MP not-[insert G1 character name here] being way out of scale.

And I'm sorry but the whole point of the masterpiece line is to be as true to the look, feel and scale (post MP-09) of the G1 cartoon as possible and that includes the transformation.

Some of the 3rd party companies think more joints and steps to transform or bigger size means it's masterpiece worthy. Completely the opposite IMO. The masterpiece line is a perfect example of less is more. And also, die cast does not a masterpiece make.

One of the best parts of the MP line is the seamless transformation. Its logical. I read the instructions once and thats it (ok fine MP-05 is the exception). I didnt even have to read MP-08 Grimlocks instructions.

I'm sure you guys can come up plenty of examples of good 3rd party so-called "masterpieces" like Quakewave but they still aren't true Masterpieces because they aren't made by Hastak!

And to the OP, regarding the MP line being threatened by these 3rd party companies, not in the least. Competition is always good. If anything, it give Hastak more ideas and chance to hear the fandom response and really give them what they want. Fans wanted more MP Autobots, well they got them didn't they?

[protoform_ironhide]

Originally Posted by funkmasterke

The only thing that gets me with 3rd party figures is the price. I don't understand why people pay so much of an unlicensed figure. I understand paying around $100 for a MP style figure like Quakewave, but I don't see why anyone would pay these prices for voyager sized figures.

This is one thing that 3rd party companies bother me.. These so called company just pop up from nowhere and charging the collectors premium, but these things are not even licensed...they didn't spend a penny on a license.. They are probably not even fan-made. I feel sorry for people who fell for them... Many collectors has been brainwashed by 3rd party stuff.... Like that Orion just came out recently, it is seriously terrible looking. And that Jetfire Masterpiece wannabe. Someone said it is how he looks like in the cartoon just makes me heart break.. That's not how Jetfire should look like...is he? Now I hope Takara released a MP Jetfire and show those collectors what is Jetfire supposed to look like..

[UltraMarknus]

It really all comes down to this. If hastak were REALLY bothered by 3rd party companies. They gave the resources to have shut them down. Whether they would be in the right is irrelevant because I don't think the third parties would have the resources for a drawn out legal battle with that giant.