I won't say I don't care, but I'm nto much of a 3rd party guy. I check out most of the 3rd party stuff just to take a peek. The only 3rd party item I own is the War Ae for Generations/United WFC Optimus Prime.
LOL! Exactly. I too would prefer to get the one I really want, then going for the best value. You nailed it well bro.
Like illegal 3rd party products or not this is well said. Most people would prefer the one they really want that is why some do love the 3rd party products. But like hasbro/takara products there may be some high dollar molds i just dont want.
Exactly CHOICES. i said they're not for me but if others like them cool. Don't really like the lecture though. And yes i would prefer real toys over third party stuff every time. And with the whole 10 ugly girls etc crap u may want the really hot one but it's more realistic to just find one that you really like for the way it is, not the price tag. That goes for girls and toys lol
BOTH. You ever get introduce Classics Astrotrain to a hooker??? *I do not or ever will sleep with either Transformers or hookers*
It's a simple question with a simple answer. Are you the type of person who would like what you consider to be the BEST of a particular item/character and to get the BEST your restrictions on price are lessened? My collecting has evolved enough that I am now able to cut out significant Hasbro purchases because I know they will gather dust before long. The savings not buying them allows me to redirect more money to premium figures that I will cherish for a long time. Whether its a highly priced official MP figure, a commissioned custom work, or a 3rd party offering... its no different. Sure I run the risk of a particular figure being trumped by hasbro one day, but given the restrictions of a for-profit company i can usually get a good idea which items will stand up better to this over time. and if I am wrong? oh well, its a hobby. You pay to play. Now someone buy my armada/RID/TFTM/ROTF figures
Haters gonna hate re: 3rd party figures IMO. As someone who collects +$200 Hot Toys figures, the price isn't as much of a shock to me as folks used to paying $10-30 for off-the-shelf Hasbro stuff. But it is still sometimes hard to justify, considering the quality of the plastic, the overall size of the figures, etc. BUT, I am only interested in G1, and really only collect figures that look like cartoon versions of G1 characters nowadays. IGear and FansProject provide that to me while Hasbro/Takara won't outside of the MP figures (the Classics are sometimes very good at replicating G1 animated looks, but usually they aren't). Frankly, my interest in Transformers in general has waned significantly what with the Bay-Formers, "Animated," and half-way acceptable Classics/Universe figures being released officially. My interest is based on nostalgia, and the 3rd party stuff is reinvigorating my Transformers collecting interest from that perspective, so I'm grateful for what those guys are doing. Extremely lame, if true.
these companies are still milking fans for the characters they don't even have the rights to produce. its a pretty bad reflection on how hooked we are with these.
Lol! I admit this is so very true indeed. But hell, people love them and will buy them, hasbro dont care about them. So win win for both sides?
^ win win would be for tak/bro to swallow these little companies in then sell whatever they come up with.
The way in which certain 3rd party companies keeping crossing the line pretty much guarantees their eventual demise. There will be a day when HasTak yells "That's Enough!" & once the Legal Department do their thing - the 3rd Party Companies will be nothing but a distant memory. HasTak will stop looking over their shoulder - but we will be the ones who ultimately got screwed. Were HasTak ever going to design something as cool as City Commander? I shelled out for that very nice iGear Arcee because I realised that HasTak's design department were never going to give us what we've been asking for. It's only when these 3rd Party Companies are eventually put out of business that we actually realise what good they did... Come on HasTak! Take the ideas & the inspiration from FP's, iGear, TFclub etc. & build on them. Let your design department run wild! Do that & you'll have me as a customer for life.
Well, except for companies based in China like...TFC (isn't Igear too?) the land of free pirates! There will be no demise of them unless piracy/counterfeiting laws change in China. Which I don't think will happen, especially after having visited an over a mile long, multilevel underground mall of all counterfeit goods.
Aren't all the bigger 3rd party groups from CHINA? TFC is. iGear is. Fansproject and BTS?? Aren't they China based too?
even if these companies die out, i couldn't care more. maybe less. i'd buy devastator. they'll get my money, that's it. should i be thankful to them? they have my money. they should be thankful to me.
NOT GONNA HAPPEN....they been doing this forever has/tak cant stop em....theyve tried and cant reach em w/ the US/japan legal system..we even deal with it by not supporting em or support em...and any one who fills my bot needs gets my money..plain and simple... if has/tak steps it up and gives me what i want theyll get my money..i would perfer original stuff from them but if they aint producing then i aint buyin and im going somewhere slse...
^this 100s of movie figures does nothing for my collection, but 25 or so classics molds or animated molds do, so if 3rd party can fill holes in my classics collection, then so be it
