Because it´s not catering to the fans apparently.

 

It's complimenting, not replacing.

I think FP Protector is the microcosm of this. It gives a really awesome looking Classics Rodimus Prime that sneakily turns a deluxe into a rather bulky voyager. Stylistically it isn't THAT classics like, but for now, it's effectively my classics Rodimus Prime.

If Hasbro came out with an actual voyager-class Rodimus Prime, where would that leave FP Protector? Probably not my Rodimus Prime anymore.

I think 3rd party is best used for what Hasbro can't or won't make, such as a very-G1 Devastator with large deluxe-class figures as components. Every one of the FP Devastator components has like, twice the plastic on it as many classics in order to increase bulk. With 6 components, it would be uneconomical for Hasbro to make it.

What I won't indulge myself in is 3rd Parties that don't follow the classics asthetic or do things that I think Hasbro will eventually do. Like the Sixshot coming out... it looks great, but the fact that Sixshot hasn't been made yet is weird and I think Hasbro will eventually fix it.

 

im so sick of these threads

anyhoo, if something i like is available for me to buy, and i can afford it or save for it, then i will buy it, simple as that. LIKE HOW NORMAL PEOPLE BUY THINGS

 

LOL I don't agree with a single thing the OP has posted in this thread so far.

The iGear figures replacing my Henkei Ironhide and Ratchet? Never. Those figures are GREAT.

Not that it's even a viable comparison, but I've got the Reissue Insecticons on display with my Classics and they suit me just fine. The chrome even helps it out on my primarily Henkei display. But I'm not seriously going to compare between a 1985 product designed in 1980 to a toy released in 2011.

And then there was something about getting something more from a Henkei figure for the price... you get a better deco, often more paint apps, and chrome. And don't give me that $40+, they cost $25 retail. Shipping costs bring it up to $40+ (Chinese factories to BBTS, BBTS to you). If you know where to go, you can get them for $30. I never paid more for a new Henkei figure (certainly paid more for a couple hard-to-find ones though).

And there's no way that products like City Commander, Protector, and Crossfire 01 & 02 sets can replace a Hasbro release when they helped drive the market for those products.

Just like any other market, these "3rd Party" Fan Companies will boom, crash, and whoever's left will still be nothing to consider by any Hasbro Bookkeeper or Financial Analyst. They don't cut into the market a single bit.

 

You kind of have to think of it this way. There's really no way that Hasbro/Takara can take a serious financial blow from these companies. After all, many of these products are add-ons to official releases, so a collector still needs to get the figure that Hasbro/Takara produced in the first place. Also, all 3rd party/unlicensed products are catered exclusively to ADULT COLLECTORS. They're out to meet a very specific demand that Hasbro/Takara can't or won't touch for obvious and not-so-obvious reasons. And we all know that adult collectors make up a small number of Hasbro/Takara's market. You have to understand that Hasbro/Takara have a very broad customer focus, with younger consumers at the very top of the totem poll.

 

so for 18$ more dollars you get chrome on basically the same figure? Why not just paint the part chrome on the 12$ figure?

I guess for me, since i like nice good looking robots, and not monster looking robots, i actually save a lot of money in the long run.....im not dissing hasbro, theyre just a little slow.....hasbro presents Bumblebee mumber 1,289 and MP Otimus Prime for the EIGHTTH time or whatever it is.....seriously its seems to Hasbro only BB and Optimus exists? In what world was Megatron ever Neon Green and white? Thats the problem i have with hasbro, TF world is super big and they focus on the same charcaters over and over again....

 

Which is why all the anti 3rd party rhetoric is getting increasingly pathetic.

If the 3rd parties suddenly developed the ability to mass produce on a very large scale, put their products in every major retail outlet on the planet and shift enough units to affect Has/Tak's sales something would get done.

That's extremely unlikely to happen so the 3rd parties will remain in existence.

Which is fine with me as I get to own some great unofficial products many of which are unlikely to get an official release in the style I'd be intrested in owning.

3rd party TF's aren't cheap but it's suprising how affordable things become when you remove the official lines from the equation.

 

That's a reasonable point, ok. The trend we see happening, is Hasbro creating character variety by means of mold repaints. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Personally I'd love to see the Darkwing/Dreadwing duo ( an example where it doesn't work imo ) been given their own proper newly engineered molds or any other of the post 1986 molds. Even IF Hasbro will do such a thing, they'll most likely be deluxe sized figures within the $15 range.

 

Third party products are just that - 3rd part ("unofficial"). It's riding the coattails of Hasbro and Hasbro's products at best, and is dependent upon the success/failure of what Hasbro is doing at the time, relatively speaking. Also, it's not as if 3rd party stuff has just sprung up - it's been around for quite some time. The scene has just exploded now. While relatively speaking on topics, that's a bit of what I see as well. There are a LOT more fans now than that of yesterday, and obviously a lot more "companies" springing up. I'm not going to say that it's precisely relative to ratio, because such is not the case. However, to say that 3rd parties are totally taking over an official line to the point of super-ceding it is just quite a bit too bold.

I do think what we can observe is that the Classics-Generations lines have created the largest market and opportunities for 3rd party items. However, price, availability, quantity, and quality (in some cases, not all) are just some of the hurdles that these "companies" have to overcome that Hasbro doesn't have to deal with a whole lot (sure, we do have instances like RtS Windcharger, but those are the exception rather than the norm). Until those hurdles can be overcome, this topic will not come to be.

Also, this is certainly more my opinion here now, but I'm one who doesn't have the goal to have a second, complete G1 collection with these "updated" figures. This is coming from someone who is giddy over toys such as the upcoming Black Shadow figure. I've seen a quite a few G1 collectors here recently pare down from a nearly complete G1 collection (US 1984-1990) to a more focused collection (whether that's G1 through Season 3 or G1 through "major characters", or what not). Also, I've seen some G1 collectors sell their collections to focus only on those updated Classics-types, or even move on altogether. The point I'm making here is that I see very few who want the whole US catalog of G1 from 1984 to 1990 + overseas exclusive characters, let alone those who want updates of the whole US catalog of G1 from 1984 to 1990 + overseas exclusive characters.

 

I don't think they're replacing them at all. I thing 3rd parties just add to the fun.

 

*cough* Masterpeice *cough*

If only.

 

I think this is simply due to Hasbro being a business first and foremost. What's the goal of a business? To make money. As collectors weather we like it or not those same characters that we see over and over again sell; kids LOVE Bumblebee and Optimus Prime. It's going to be a long time before we cases not 3/4 full of Prime or BB.

 

i agree with most people here. they compliment, not replace.

 

More like kids are 99.9% of the market.

Third party companies make the stuff that would be uneconimical for hasbro to make. Something like the TFC Herc would never get a release just because it is flat out too expensive to produce.

If hasbro could make more money by only ever making Optimus Prime figures, they would do so in a heart beat.

 

the two recent official figures, combine pretty solidly, if you shake hard enough, they'll come apart, granted one's a botcon/custom figure though

 

No doubt i completely agree with what you are saying....


Supersquad 7 well put....

Even if are only 10% of hasbro base, they do care to a certain exent, generations and rts tell us that..without a movie in the future, this is a crucical time for them..

 

Hasbro/takara could easily make a solid combiner but they don't do well on the market

 

Yes, I know about these guys....but basically, they're still repaints, which imo, kind of compromises the individual characteristics of the Dreadwind and Darkwing characters. Especially in Dreadwind's case, because imo, he's supposed to be a single engine jet.

TF Prime's Starscream is a F16, so we know, Hasbro can indeed come up with properly engineered single engine jet-transformers.

In fact, if Hasbro would come up with designated molds for Darkwing & Dreadwind, I'd prioritize their individual modes over combined mode. Have 'em at deluxe size price point, and it'll be more likely mass market is going to
pick them up. Until this doesn't happen, I'll stick with my G1 versions, gladly.

 

To Me I think 3rd Parties are just those Buddies that just only help..just to make your other friends(Us Fans) happy.

Example:"Headrobot's Bludgeon Up-Grade Set

 

The classics line has over 60 Hasbro/Takara released characters so far.

How many have the "third parties" done through their entire existence? How many can they do in a year, compared to Hasbro and Takara?

I do not see the day where my entire classics shelf is replaced by third party toys. I have 59 toys on that shelf, and only two are third party (munitioner and explorer). Even if I bought all the third party toys, It would take them YEARS to crank 59 unique characters out, and cost me thousands of dollars. and by then, Hasbro and Takara would have been able to add yet another 50 or so toys to that lineup.

the third parties are not in any kind of competition with hasbro. They depend on hasbro, most of them LOVE hasbro, because they're fans too. Even if they wanted to compete with hasbro, they can't. They dont have enough designers and the factories to come close to hasbro's number of figures released in a year, and they can't match the production numbers. They'll certainly never have shelf space in physical stores.