I won't deny that third-party stuff is what currently commands my interest. It's all a matter of them producing toys of characters who appeal to me, though - Hasbro largely isn't at time of writing. The instant Hasbro starts marketing something that piques my interest, I'll be running right back to them. Their products' cheaper prices, wider availability and quality that equals whatever the third-party manufacturers can offer will keep me a lifelong customer. There is no such thing as copyright law in China.
But I called it golden age not because things get risen in value. I called it fandom golden age because we have tons of choices.
Hasbro is not dropping any ball. Hasbro owns the ball. All the balls. Look at the volume of third party toys put out in a year. Compare that to how many toys hasbro cranked outfor Generations and RTS last year, and what we paid for them. Look how many different segments of Transformers they're handling, and how many different types of fans they constantly cater to, the sheer variety in what they offer. The third parties can't touch that.
As I stated earlier, I am not against 3rd party stuff as i am guilty as anyone in supporting them. But I do see some die hard 3rd party people here who "seem" to take things personally when 3rd party stuff comes up in conversation. I don't think the OP is attacking 3rd party or even that it is discussed a lot on these boards. To me it looks like he just posted about his perception and asked if we think Has/Tak dropped the ball and what our opinions were. I don't know why people in the TF fandom take so much stuff so personally. I think you guys are missing the fact that even though, China has no copyright laws that doesn't mean Has/Tak couldn't drop the hammer if they so desired. If Has/Tak wanted to, they could sue and stop the imports from getting into USA/Europe/Japan via retailers. That leaves ebay (and they could probably even push to have ebay cancel auctions for the stuff as well just like ebay does with toys that look like real gun etc.) But even if this stuff is still available on ebay, it means an even bigger markup on top of an already stiff price tag. It would create an environment that would make many people not afford it and the demand would fall to a point that 3rd parties would be able to make enough profit to make it worth their while to make them. The bottom line, IF Has/Tak wanted too, they could ultimately put the stop to 3rd party stuff. Don't kid yourselves into thinking it's out of Has/Taks hands. But, as it stands, it looks like Has/Tak isn't concerned about what the 3rd parties are currently doing. So, it seems that those who like them are safe for now. And i agree with the previously posted sentiment. Can't we just enjoy both? I will.
There is always Beast Era and the 1000 Animated characters that were never made. Add to that Prime figures that will not be made (it happens in every series) and whatever future show Hasbro puts forth. Then you have weapons packs and expansion packs.... It's a large list but I can conceed that it can't possibly go on forever.....or can it???!!!?? p.s. Hasbro and Takaratomy with all them billions of dollars CAN put 3rd parties on life support, if not kill em all together. We want a collectors club that makes us fan choice figures. Hasbro doesn't want to do it BUT they instead ALLOW others to fill that void. We have a collectors club that gives us figures but we call it 3rd party figures and Hasbro is fully aware of it. Instead of slamming on Hasbro for not doing this or that, thank them for ALLOWING 3rd party groups to function as an official unofficial collectors club.
Yeah, I guess I was putting it mildly, to say the least! But they must be SOMEWHAT concerned, as the third parties are avoiding official names, Autobot/Decepticon symbols, etc. Of course they know a large part of their market is outside China, so... Could they really, though? Movie and music publishers have been trying to stop this sort of thing for years, to no avail. It's a losing battle and everyone knows it. No doubt Hasbro is playing it smart. Sure, the scale is much, much smaller than knock-off CDs and DVDs, but Hasbro's resources to deal with such matters are certainly smaller than the MPAA, film studios, and record companies as well. I think we're also forgetting that this isn't a particularly new problem for Hasbro and Takara. There have been knock-off Transformers for DECADES available in dollar stores and what not, and I'd hazard a guess that they probably generate considerably more revenue than the expensive, high-quality collector-focused toys we're seeing now.
You make a good point. I do think (and this just speculation), that most 3rd party companies are fans, and they probably changed from the official name out of respect, too. Ofcourse, the unofficial names are actually really creative and fun, for me anyways.
China is a big enough market for the third party products that these companies would not even need to sell to US retailers. If the imaginary hammer does fall it will stop a couple of hundred westerners on the boards buying, the other thousands of customers who live elsewhere will not care. Even I now buy direct from China without the middleman in US because it saves me money.
Uh, that I'm having fun and going broke collecting all the cool DOTM stuff AND 3rd party stuff like the not-insecticons, etc? ... Oh wait, I forgot; "MOAR LIEK HASBLOW AMIRITE!>1?? LULZ!!1!!". Sigh.
Perhaps Indeed. But the stuff they're fixing to put out in the streets in the coming months just wont due. I'm not a fan of Bayformer, the 3rd party exclusive$ are too much and I have no desire to purchase TFPrime figures. Which essentially leaves many people like myself in plastic crack "withdrawal". So people can speak up for Bayformers all they wish, I've heard it all before but they can't the deny the decline in....dear I say, "quality" with in this line over all? And the fact is if collectors are willing to pay $50 for 3rd party deluxe figures that would otherwise we around $12 or less if Hasbro did then there's obviously a vacuum somewhere.
Agreed. The sky is not falling, folks. The HasTak police are not out to get you or third parties. Even if retailers get hit with a C&D order, the Internet is a HUGE place and one company, even with its supposed billions of dollars (which I'm sure they'd much rather keep as profit than throw it away on useless litigation and hopeless enforcement), cannot police it in its entirety. Chillax, y'all. Life (and third party transforming toy robots) will always find a way. =)
Decline in quality? Is this an actual empirical examination of the line, or is it just pulled out of nowhere? As far as I'm concerned there's no drop in quality. We have to remember that we on the boards are the minority when it comes to the people buying this stuff. What we experience as QC issues is NOT indicative of a trend unless it's been actually studied in some form or another. I for one have only had ONE QC error in the last 2 years of collecting, and that was PCC Mudslinger. I have a hundred or more Transformers now and guess what? No QC issues. This includes ROTF, Movie 1, DOTM, Classics, Classics 2.0, some G1, G2, RtS, Generations, Crossover lines, 3rd Party and Cybertron Trilogy... ZERO QC ERRORS I might just be universally lucky and getting the good stuff but that just goes to show that just because there are those who do get QC issues, it does not mean any line is a QC mess. QC issues happen. What DO you quantify quality in DOTM anyways? As far as I'm concerned the figures pack great engineering in them, especially at the deluxe level. On par with the engineering of ROTF, which I felt was the pinnacle of Movieverse Transformers toys. They're smaller, but I feel that is only because of the addition of MechTech, which is a fairly weak and forgettable gimmick in my mind...although there are some GREAT weapons. Anyways, about 3rd Party...I buy 3rd party now because I love how different they are. I'm not a purist in any sense...I get 3rd party when they do something new with the figures. That's why I got Scouting Force X...that's why I got Fansproject Insecticons. That's why PE Frenzy and Rumble are in my POL, and I'll be getting 3rd Party until the day I die. It isn't that they're filling a niche for me...it's that they're doing something new with the figures. I'll say for the record that if Fansproject did the Insecticons like G1, I would have NEVER got them. Insecticons are dumb and stupid...what the hell is up with robots that turn into giant insects? Defeats the point of insects to begin with. Fansproject turned them into ninjas with ninja weapons....and holy shit, that hit all the right chords with me. That's what I look for when I get 3rd Party. Are they doing something that Hasbro would NEVER do? Then yeah, I'll get 'em for sure as long as they're awesome.
I wish hasbro was dropping the ball. Then we'd get them ugly figures off the shelfs. You are not the first to think 3rd is taking over. But step back, ignore the fact you go to a site full of transformer fans and look. -3rd stuff is big enough that hasbro has noticed them, and that's about it. - I think hasbro likes 3rd party people around to fill the areas they are not going to do anymore. -Hasbro is making money...and alot of it from bay-form toys. Because parents and kids are buying them. -Hasbro will contiune to make alot of money off you (or people like you). When you have your Devastator, and Ultra Magus, and Springer, and Reflector. You will fill the rest of your shelf space with Hasbro Primes, and BumbleBees, and others figures.
I applaud you for coming back in to the thread after so many responses. However it sounds like your argument now is just, "Hasbro is dropping the ball because they're not putting out anything I like and third party is too expensive." There will be more Classics figures soon enough. In the mean time, you can collect stuff you've missed, or save your money. Hasbro will sit cozily atop their piles of money, great, solid gold balls firmly in hand and shrug at your dislike of current releases.
Gold star for Captain Obvious! But in light of the thread at hand I put my Bayformer bias aside to ask Bayformer fans specifically what their take on this was since it's clear that the ROFT toy roster was greater then DOTM's around the same time. Say what you will on Hasbro raking in all that Bayformer money from kids. But does that make my question any less valid since you didn't see so many 3rd party exclusives not only taking up most of the news we get on the major tf sights but governing most of our attention as well. This was unheard of during the peak of Generations/RTS's reign a few months ago. Yet the line that makes the most money gets upstaged by fakeformers...? This is why I ask has Hasbro dropped the ball.
