I was just adding to the pointlessness of this thread.

 

I look at it more as a quasi-symbiotic relationship. You can't dispute that the CC armor and combiner add-ons may have helped spike the consumer demand for Classics Ultra Magnus and the ROTF Bruticus/Superion sets.

 

A bit of a myth, because most of the movement on those sets came second-hand. They were being clearanced, and it was only the secondary market value that skyrocketed, of which Hasbro sees none of the proceeds. Once the toys are on the shelves, for the most part, it really doesn't matter what happens to them afterwards. Hasbro already made their money.

Of course, it doesn't actually hurt them either, because the toys still got sold. Hasbro was paid for their product by the retailers, they didn't suffer a glut of unsellable return stock.

 

Well put.



And Takara/Hasbro pump out stuff that is just as cool if not cooler than the "3rd party" stuff, and they have child saftey laws and a retail price budget to deal with.

 

the combiners were still available in retail when the kits were announced, they are the only reason i got them

 

But again, the toys were on the shelves. It means Hasbro was already paid. Your money went straight to the store, not to Hasbro.

It indirectly helps Hasbro, in that if their product is selling, the stores will order more of their stuff, yes. But given that the sets in general were eventually put on clearance, it doesn't really speak to the overwhelming success of that particular product.

 

Alright, to be fair, here's a date of releases plus/minus a month.

City Commander - 2008 09 (September)
Crossfire 01 Aerial - 2009 07 (July)
G3 Trailer - 2009 08 (August)
Defender - 2010 04 (April)
Crossfire 02 Combat - 2010 08 (August)
Protector - 2010 10 (December)

So an average of five months between projects?

 

5 months sounds very reasonable considering FP's size (I am guessing), and I suppose and assumed that they are not "full time FP designers", its something they do on their free time because they love it.

 

I'm just really glad that HasTak hasn't gone after any of the 3rd party companies so far. I really like the niche releases that would never happen officially. It's not as though I'm put off from buying official products either. If they released an official, classics style Ultra Magnus w/ armor, Arcee, Rodimus Prime, etc... I'd still buy it.

 

RID toys (the new molds anyways) are still my favorite ever. Omega Prime, and Rail Racer are just totally awesome molds.

Those three trains, are half the size of the new ROTF Devastator vehicles, yet they all have very posable robot forms, which all combine into a very solid giant robot. They sold them all individually, and I never heard anyone complain once, about not being able to find all three.

 

All I know is that it seems somewhat convenient that the Battle in Space pack was released practically at the same time as the Protector Armor...

 

I fully agree, but no one here is willing to admit that it's even remotely possible.
Why wouldn't Hasbro try and make money off the setup?

 

It's not about admitting it's possibility, it's that there's zero evidence to suggest that was the intent.

A more likely explanation? Trying to squeeze some extra profit from two (or three for Challenge at Cybertron) underutilized molds.

 

Me, too. I like that there is third party stuff. I just wish people would stop trying to bring it to Hasbro's attention. They know, and AFAICT they're cool with it, but if they acknowledge it officially... well, nothing good can come from that.

 

really its easy to point at Hasbro and criticise them but when you look at their limitations they work wonders

I think it was at SDCC or the last Botcon but either way they told fans of just how many boxes they need to tick to get a toy out

it must...
-fit the look of the line
-keep in mind how many other figures are similar in the range (e.g Galvatron was originally planned as a voyager but given how many other tanks were coming out in the same class and time scale he got sent back to the drawing board)
-weigh a set limit (due to shipping charges)
-physical size as each toy needs to fit into a uniform box
-paint app costs (takara seem to have a different system to hasbro after news from their last interview Hasbro tend to price up a whole wave to spread the cost while takara seem to take paint apps into account per figure)
-manufacturing costs (such as the time and labour costs needed to put them together)
-material costs

and I'm sure their are more

As for how Hasbro see 3rd party toy makers I'd figure trailers and other accessory sets are fine but its the full figures that I'd say might get under their skin such as the downsized MP convoy and MP cone heads.

 

So... Perceptor's chrome is the reason Jazz's back end is bare?  

 

I've noticed over the years that people will freely interchange KOs (Knock-Offs) and Bootlegs... These so called "third-party" companies are making KOs. If Hasbro may have let it slide with the add-ons like armor and weapons, since you need their figures to use them, but may take a different notice upon full figures.

All companies pay attention to their competition, large or small. If Hasbro feels that these third-parties are affecting their bottom line, things will happen. But also understand that actions within large corporations are typically slow, especially if the legal department is involved.

 

Jazz is his own damned reason, what with all his stripes and racing decals.

 

see add on kits are okay in fact i think hasbro could make a little money makeing generic guns are armor add ons

 

Not enough to bother.