Aww man...it was just a matter of time before either Takatomy or Hasbro poured cold water on all 'unofficial' official third party kits, toys and add on's.  

 

I say it's about damn time! I HATE iGear. But then again, Hasbro and TakTomy dropped the ball on several things like the FP trailers and such. They should recognize the level of engineering some of the third party companies can do, and employ them! If not to make official TF products, then at least licensed ones.

 

Alright...my only concern is Botcon now and the flood of related questions

"Hasbro, Takara finally banned 3rd party products. Will you do the same? Right now, they are sold at BBTS, Tfsource, etc etc"


"Hasbro, can you please ban 3rd party products?"

 

 

It was only a matter of time.
The straw was broken the moment there were companies making steel moulds for injection moulding and not just resin

 

So you were against the FP trailers as well?

 

80% rip off, 100%, 1%, copyright infringments copyright infringment, cant say anyones any worse than the other, much less to blame.

Whats got two thumbs and isnt worried about it ?

This guy.

The names these companies are making for themselves.. they wont even need retailers at all. "Made in China", case and point.

 

Anyone asking this directly to Hasbro out of concern is a fucking moron.

As I said before, asking Hasbro specifically about third-party products is simply making them officially aware of them. Yeah, I know "They can't not know" blah blah, but there's a difference between a company being aware of something and having it rubbed in their faces in public.

 

I forgot about Faith Leader and such. Yeah that's dirty pool there, IGear.

What sucks the most about this is that unique molds produced by TFX and such are lumped into the ban (which I do most certainly believe will hit us as well). But on the flipside TFX was never a company owned by, licensed by, or working with Has/Tak so they are as guilty as IGear.

Sigh, I regret contributing to this problem by purchasing Protector and City Commander and Sidearm (not to mention mt G3 Trailer) they are fine molds that do not directly rip off and Has/Tak molds. But the fact remains that Rodimus Prime and Ultra Magnus have been trademarked by Has/Tak for over 25 years, and truthfully it was bad business to release these products.

That said, I am sad to see this happen, but even more sad, I am all for it because it's the right path to take by banning them.

 

Ummm where is he saying that?

 

Quoted for truth!

 

personally, they can't do a ban on the fully designed toys like PE's camera. Yeah, they are transforming robots, but they are not transformers, they just resemble something that's 25 years old or more.

Unless in Japan the copyright to the design is infinite, Tak/Tomy can't do a thing about that one...

now things that add on directly to otherwise copyrighted things, like the devvy sets, or even the city commander, protector sets that use pics of current products could get banned.

I dunno, I honestly think Tak/tomy is taking it too far. I'm of the opinion that most of the third parties create more demand for transformers, like rodimus, the prime molds and such because of the armor sets. I think that's why hasbro hasn't busted these companies themselves.

 

3rd party product has led me to buy a lot of genuine product, just so I could make use of the 3rd party gear. In my eyes, 3rd party drives sales as opposed to harming them. Dumb move on Takara's part.

 

the only part i don't get is the camera, why did it get canceled? despite the fact that it and the other's from the same company being based loosely on g1 characters, it is a totally original design, i see no basis to cancel those. now maybe the igear head, and the igear bee, being that they are possibly infringing on the copyrights, but the camera? takara doesn't own the exclusive rights to sell transformable toys...  

 

what? encline god banned to sell customs in canada anymore?

is that true???

 

Sure they can . That thing is Reflector! It has three bots that make one 35mm style camera and it's in Reflector's anime colors. That means they did not think up the character or the three bots combining to form one camera, or the color scheme.

It might be a cool mold, but it's not their idea, it's Has/Tak's and it has been for 30 years.

 

sounds like a blanket ban which may get refined in future

 

BigPete didn't he was against the trailers.


This all does suck. But at the same time, I can't blame or be angry at TakaraTomy for doing something like this. I love some of the stuff that 3rd parties come up with, and I'm happy to support the work they put into it. Heck some products for example accessories and upgrades, tend to drive up sales of the official products. However a few of the items that have been made tread dangerously close to encroaching to the IP. And all it takes is for the company i.e. TakaraTomy, to see that something might effect their bottom line, they will react.

 

ding ding. 10 points to driftx

 

One group I know, went to a lawyer to get their design checked out, found out their product would have a hard time losing in court if HasTak decided to sue them. And a lot of people on the boards were screaming it was too close to the original IP, but based on laws, it was different enough to pass easily. Remember, we are all transformer fans, and just because we *know* something is Reflector, doesn't mean in the laws it would still be the IP reflector.

 

yes but the idea of a transforming camera is NOT takara's idea  

the only basis for copy right infringment i see is possibly the colors, everything else perfect effect created themselves.

especially with the kingbat, the sun and night, and the shadow warrior two pack.

and if hasbro was to ban third parties stuff, i'd say they are a hypocrites...

after all unless i am mistaking aaron archer has a city commander...