3rd Party Masterpieces - Just expensive fakes?

[ironclaugh]

I'm a Transformers enthusiast and collector. I'm glad I live in a time with so much selection. We have so many companies designing and competing. They are all trying to make the best version of my favourite toys and I get to sit back and choose which ones I want to buy.

It's not the Beast Wars/Unicron Trilogy days where you get what Hasbro gives you. 3rd party companies are the best thing to happen to Transformers since Devastator.

[Omegatron]

Originally Posted by metacooler

what is the difference between Jet Robo and Apollyon. Isn`t a knock-off just a knock-off and not a real Transformer?

This is a good questions and I don’t really know the answer. I wonder if you would have disliked jet-robo as much if he was the same quality and colour as Starscream and came with decepticon decals. Did you dislike it as a kid because it was harder to pretend it was Starsceam or because it wasn’t made by Hasbro?

I think the question of whether a third party toy can be a masterpiece or not depends on whether you consider masterpiece to be a toy line or design esthetic with a particular price point. If it’s a toy line then only Takara and Hasbro products fit as they are the ones that are officially part of the line. If you think it’s a design aesthetic (detailed cartoon/ toy accurate toys built to “masterpiece scale”) then anything oh high enough quality will fit.

As many have said I prefer Hasbro and Takara products over third party when both are available. That being said some third party stuff is really nice and while I do agree it infringes on Hasbro’s intellectual property I don’t think it hurts Hasbro’s sales so I will buy some occasionally.

Ultimately I think this comes down to expectations. If you want Starsceam and get jet-robo you’ll be disappointed but if you go out of your way to deliberately purchase something you’ll get what you wanted even if it’s a KO or third party toy and you’ll be happy you got it.

[OLDMR]

Kinda feel that 3p have raised the bar over Hastak in some cases which make them legit to me.

[ironclaugh]

Agreeing with Omegatrons last point. I only buy the 3rd party figs I want. Also I have bought rudiculous KOs of G1 combiners and I love them too. Haha

[Soundwaves]

Totally fakes.

Fakes that drive the price for the real thing up.

I don't buy 3p.

They just aren't transformers to me.

Only a Hastak masterpiece transformer can be a masterpiece.

Anything else is just a knock off looking to capitalize on the success of the official line.

I lol when I see "masterpiece style" or something along those lines.

[elburrito]

A K.O. means "knock-off" I.e., a fake, infringes IP. 3rd party is an interpretation of someone else's idea. Totally ok. No IP infringement. Not sure why some of you feel obliged to "protect" some corporation. This is Capitalism! If 3rd parties were infringing IP, you can bet HasTak would do something about it. Remember the "Bronies" and "My Little Wu-tang"?

[Pascal]

I have yet to see an unofficial toy that duplicates perfectly the feel and engineering of a true TT masterpiece toy, but some of them are dangerously close. Close enough to be considered masterpiece toys since some of them are actually better than some of the weakest official masterpiece toys (thinking about Rodimus).

[MULTIPLEX]

They are not making Masterpiece Transformers. Only Hastak can do that. They are making Masterpiece-scale tranforming toys of our favorite Transformers characters. And seems like Hastak doesn't give a hoot (no law suits) cause like someone already pointed out, 3P is driving up the price of their official stuff. That means more profit for them. People are willing to pay premium prices for most of the time, not so premium product.

I was never open to the idea of 3P until I took a chance on Scoria. Let's be honest, I'll be 6 ft under when Takara decides to finally release an MP Slag. Anyways, I only buy some 3P if I feel it fills a gap in my MP collection cause this stuff ain't cheap and most of it doesn't really impress me. But I'm glad 3P exists and I have the option.

In the end, let your money do the talking. But it should go both ways too. This is why I didn't buy YOTG Soundwave or Takara MP-11SW.

[nervousviper]

^^ very well said Multiplex

[Blurrz]

I'm loyal to transforming robots, not a label.

3Ps don't need to deal with restrictions and guidelines that HasTak need to worry about. You pick up something like CW Air Raid and compare it to TFC Phantom, and yeah, you can tell there's a difference between that $15 Deluxe and the $100 you are dishing out for the 3P toy.

People can laugh all they want about 3Ps and say that they're fakes or KO's. But when the designs are coming from fans like you and me, or perhaps even ex-HasTak employees, I really don't mind. They have the ingenuity and the intelligence to craft something that, in my opinion, is generally on par or better than HasTak stuff.

So yeah, I understand when you want to stick to legalities and what not, and its noble! But hey.. does anyone really want to wait 30 years for HasTak to finish their MP Dinobots? There's a massive character roster to fill for MP and HasTak can't do it themselves.