After thinking about it for a little bit, I don't think I like the segregation of 3rd party topics to here. It feels like it should be something to be ashamed of when segregated like this. To me 3rd party are as relevant to the franchise as Hasbro or Takara. Just my opinion no one asked for. Do with it what you will.
Counter suggestion: It's not a question of lack of merit, but rather 3rd party toys have in some ways exceeded Hasbro and Takara's offerings to the point that they deserve their own forum.
it says explicitly that people now have the option to remove third party news from the main page if they want. that makes it feel like they are doing this to please the haters. what's the old saying... haters gotta hate. some people get all worked up about 3rd party stuff, its their loss. im happy for 3rd party to be segregated. now no whiners have an excuse to even view a third party thread much less comment in it.
This was my thought as well. Of course, the fact that the 3rd Party stuff seems to get more people excited than the sparse Hasbro (I love Hasbro stuff so don't bother labeling this as Hasblow) offerings right now speaks volumes to the value of 3rd party offerings and their fanbase. I wouldn't worry about it overall though as the 3rd party haters are a pathetic bunch who now will no longer plague viable topics with their bullshit.
While we're throwing opinions out there: I like it, especially for the news aspect. I also like the fact that the haters can just stay out, like I stay out of the movie forum.
I think this sub forum is going to be a double edged sword. While it is nice to have a central area for all 3rd party items. However there is also a sad part to this whole thing. Problem is 3rd party stuff is usually one big tease. You get a tease image 1 year or more in advanced, then just hype and complaining for the next year about if or when this will ever come out. I just hope this doesn't turn into a bitching sub forum always saying things like: - iGear Sucks, they are KO - where is that figure, this figure that figure - what the heel they said this would be released by now - why is that figure so expensive - crazy devy sucks Etc. From just today, I have seen like 50% of all of the above.
We did have a lot of requests to get a section dedicated to 3rd party products. If we were looking to get rid of or hide something, giving it its own section wouldn't be the best way. We have enough members interested that a dedicated area started to make more sense. But we also recognized there were also a large number of people who wanted a way to not view the 3rd party news. We just decided to do both at once. So sit back, enjoy the new digs. Have fun with it and talk about the stuff that you all clearly enjoy.
Personally, I don't think it's anything to do with merit or whether they're better or worse than HasTak's stuff. It's just that the sheer number of 3rd party items, either out now or planned for the future, has reached the point where they're generating enough discussion to have a separate subforum devoted to them. I like that the 3rd party discussion has been broken off since, if nothing else, it's a little easier to keep track of things this way. Not sure how I feel about the "no 3rd party news" setting. On the one hand, coming back to the sheer volume of 3rd party stuff, the 3rd party news can be a lot to sift through if someone just wants to know what's going on with official releases. On the other hand, where do the specialized news settings stop? I mean, I don't care about the Kre-O line, so can I get a "no Kre-O news" setting?
I feel like the move of 3rd Party/KO toy discussions, is so that Hasbro has a lesser chance of catching wind of it.
For the record, I approve of the option to hide 3rd party news. That is a personal choice that I am completely behind. It's just the forum segregation that seems weird to me.
I think it was the right move to make a 3rd party only discussion area. Hell, look at how long it lasted and how much buzz the Hercules thread created! It dominated the News & Rumors section for months. What I disagree with is the "no 3rd party news in the news and rumors section." Really? That makes no sense to me. News is news. I think the mods are trying to "hide" the 3rd party news, but how is it different from any other piece of news we typically get? That to me is ostracizing the 3rd party groups. How often do we see a thread in the News & Rumors section saying "Classics [insert character here] confirmed!" and then five minutes later we have 3 threads in the toy discussion area reading "What do you think of Classics [insert character here]?" Why is 3rd party different?
I just get the feeling that someone will create another "pictures" thread, but for 3rd party products only. EDIT: Had I taken the time to look, its already been done...
I second this! now we dont have to hear from the people who cause problems. for some reason i think they will be in this section more now.. lol
i don't like the segregation cause i liked having all my 3rd party toy stuff right in the same section as the toy discussion. now i gotta go click around. no fun. same with 3rd party toy feedback
I'm just saying that its nice too have it all in the same section sense they are both toy related. im not THAT lazy to make a few more clicks..
Oh, yeah, I was just being an ass, sorry. I'm just used to keep millions of tabs open. I actually like the change for a lot of reasons; it keeps the haters out (unless they just come to troll), you can filter it out if you're interested in official stuff, and 3rd party threads tend to stay in the first page for too long sometimes (due to how early they start showing teasers), so they tended to clog up the news section, which was unnecessary. I can't afford much 3rd party stuff but I sure do like reading about them, and I hope to get the eventual green Giant release. I think everybody wins here, really.
