I'm suddenly reminded how history provides great insight into the future. Much like traders got sick of the king's taxes on tea trade in the US. I find that Hasbro is actively sending cease and desists for their "intellectual property". The area is grey because the 3p designs are original though they somewhat resemble a really poorly drawn toon and toy. Now they have shut down and tried to tax a fan driven book that helped capture the nostalgia and would serve as a great reference source for the fans.

Hasbro sat on their rights for for 25 years and chose to now make movies and characters that make me throw up instead of feel nostalgia. I'm sure I'm not the majority but it does make me mad that they could have made a great updated line with superior paint, materials and ingenuity. Or books with wonderful reference images, or a remake of the original series with better animation but they didn't do that and haven't allocated resources to do it. Yet they have gone out of their way to stop those that have.


I find myself wondering, why do we have to take it? Why not let them know we are not being adequately represented by their direction of the toys and media. They didn't make these more advanced 3p toys, they didn't try to promote the old days so why are they stopping those that are profiting or providing a service or product that is in demand? Not looking to argue about law because you have to look at how closely it resembles, certain things can't be protected and G1 patents expired. So what is Hasbro's purpose? I feel as if they just want to punish and do not realize the 3p unofficial movement actually expands the market.

It doesn't stop us from buying their products that we are interested in. Please note, Im not referring to exact KOs. Hasbro chose not to profit from this need to revisit the past designs except for the updated toys and movies but they stop others that are faithful to G1? It doesn't make sense but then again, neither did killing a successful toy line in the 80s. Bravo Hasbro.

I know you are watching, because your agents and attorneys have used this site for information to contact retailers and individuals so why not tell us what you are actually trying to do!

 

I am not throwing my official toys into the river!

 

I agree.


Hasblow officially sux

 

To play devil's advocate, what proof do you have that "Hasbro is actively sending cease and desists"? What do we know of ... one? And the unofficial photography book, how do we know for certainty something better is not going to come out of the situation if Hasbro stepped in?

It's ambitious to compare one of the most significant events in US history to third party toys. I'm not sure it's a case of "why are we taking this," but rather a situation where we've continued to purchase third party products for close to a decade now with Hasbro stepping in on occasions we can probably count on one hand.

 

To follow the analogy, I don't think it would be tossing what you already own, but rather those coming in as new shipments. And judging by how bare some of the brick and mortar shops I've been to & read about on the sightings threads are/have been, perhaps initiatives of throwing out incoming shipments have already been going on... and for quite some time, might I add. 

 

An anecdote regarding the impact of C&D rumors: I've been cutting down my collection a lot and was recently questioning whether I really need FT-20. I have the first half sitting here unopened and haven't picked up the second half yet. Even the rumor that Hasbro might try to C&D the project has changed my mind and encouraged me to keep it. So the threat of not being able to acquire it at some point in the future encourages me to collect more 3P figures than I would otherwise. It's like how the threat of stricter laws around a product or industry often boosts that industry's demand and profits. That's the effect of Hasbro C&D rumors, at least on me.

If it's Hasbro, that's easy: I haven't seen a single truly high quality collector-grade product out of Hasbro since... ever? Okay, maybe a handful of their Masterpiece figures would qualify, but the vast majority of their products are budget bin junk. Large corporations rarely, if ever, release something with the quality of a passion-led fan project like that photography book because their focus is on minimizing costs and maximizing profit. There is practically zero chance what was going to be a high quality photo book would get *better* by Hasbro getting involved with it.

 

Good one  

 

I approve throwing Bayverse toys in the river.

 

This.

There's a huge niche when it comes to nostalgia from our childhoods, and it seems a wasted opportunity. I first stumbled on to this site back in 2005 or something when rumors of a live Transformers movie was being produced. I was livid when those first designs were released. Never really came back here. What brought me back in curiosity? Scoria. That picture brought back a flood of memories that was impossible to resist.

If Hasbro would have done what they're doing with their Titans Returns line 10 years ago, man, lots of money I would have been dropping.   They missed my 30's when I had sooo much more disposable income.

 

This analogy... does not make sense.

 

I wouldn't take it that far man. This entire unofficial business flourishing basically because there is an untapped market niche that Hasbro and Takara either can't keep up with or don't think it is worth keeping up with. It's not just G1 flavor things either since people are going gaga over figures based on comic, movie, video game, and concept art designs. Animated and Galaxy Force are even getting high end collectible buzz.

They as a company also have an obligation to protect their intellectual property. Sure, maybe you think that they squandering it by not catering to yourself, but it's theirs to squander. The movies make the big bucks, and the high grade collectors market is a niche. Unfortunately for them, China exists.

 

I too have had enough of Hasbro sending me boatloads of toys I don't want to pay for when I don't even get a say in their Parliament of Plastic.

 

One online retailer for sure, and one shipment stopped in customs. We can probably count on one hand that we know of for certain but as of late there is a lot of curious questions as to where to buy certain toys, etc. Leaving the fans reference book, look at a very recent lawsuit Hasbro filed which is certainly harder to prove than a 3p grimlock. What makes you think they arent looking at closer connections to infringement if they are looking at further ones?

"Hasbro, the company that owns the Transformers, is suing DC’s parent company Warner Bros. because it believes one of the comic characters is infringing on its copyright. Specifically, they’re worried that consumers might mistake toys of the giant yellow robot Transformer Bumblebee with the teenage African-American heroine Bumblebee. It’s an easy mistake to make if you’re absurdly militant about intellectual property."

Sure it does, the english colonists left england to start making money abroad and the king said I have the right to tax your work profits. The colonists revolted even if technically, the king was the law. So how doesn't it make sense? Hasbro legally owns rights to things in the fan funded reference book and they say, I want my cut and control.

 

What does this have to do with 3rd Parties?

 

So the actual gripe with Hasbro is that it is behaving like a corporation...which it is.

If Hasbro is legally able to pursue C&Ds, I say why not pursue such action? It's in their legal right.

The OP and others are indignant that Hasbro is doing whatever it is empowered to do within legal guidelines...why?

If anyone is truly serious about what Hasbro has done in the past, is allegedly doing in the present, and potentially will do in the future with respect to challenging IP infringement...your gripe is with the laws that ALLOW Hasbro to act as it has. Don't hate the player, as they say, hate the game. Hasbro acts in accordance to what it believes it has the ability to pursue within the realm of law. If the laws were different, Hasbro wouldn't behave in the way it does.

I love 3P products. I own some. I will buy more in the future. I don't, however, make any illusion that these are legitimate products because if they were, 99.9% of them wouldn't be produced by Chinese companies who only do what they do because they can get away with producing unlicensed products. It's not that complex.

Hasbro doesn't enforce C&D orders, the courts do. Get pissed off at the courts. Oh, but people don't want to really get into the details of law because that would take away the ability to make easy pot shots at Hasbro.

There are many things I have criticized Hasbro(and lately Takara Tomy) for but among them is not operating like the corporation that they are.

 

3P makes money off of something that others claim they have the right to profit from. In this lawsuit, someone named a character bumblebee which looks nothing like TF bumblebee but Hasbro still sued them because of the name. Point is they are willing to push the issue for even the slightest remote possibility of infringing on their IP. So its safe to say they would fight went the infringement is even closer. They will go after retailers in the US or Canada but not in China simply because its more difficult. Since the unofficial book people are within their reach, they have latched on. I was simply showing how far they are willing to go.

Acting like a corp doesn't always mean its good just because its legal. I would have welcomed them using their own IP to make things we wan't.

 

To the contrary I haven't felt MORE like 3P is just spinning it's wheels as far as CHUG goes. Hasbro/Takara has been absolutely killing it for me the past few years.

 

Hasbro is aiming for a younger market plain and simple.

I have watched the cartoon about 32 years ago, and here i am buing things. They expect 5 to 12 years old today kids to do so on the future and sustain their incoming as long as possible.

I mean those companies owning millions , you can be sure they have made several market studies to see how can make more money..

 

So what happens if I walk into Walmart or Target, grab some crappy Bayformers off the shelf and toss them in the trash bin? Will Target stop carrying them, or just order more, leading to Hasbro thinking they are selling?

 

DC tried to steal a Hasbro registered trademark. Open and shut case. DC was wrong.