How.. how is this even close to being the same thing.

I mean, I'm not even taking sides in this whole thing, but that is a terrible comparison.

 

Well here's hoping that Hasbro's response is to create a more aggressive collector-targeted product line.

A: It's something Pete would know about
B: Having a steady pipeline of "toys fans want" would do more damage to the 3rd parties than anything else
C: We've seen that once a comparable Hasbro product is unveiled (Look at Wreck-Gar), any corresponding 3rd party offering evaporates
D: Hasbro's now had 3-4 Years of observing (and probably doing a little business model projecting) to see what kind of premium-price-point product might be viable in the marketplace.

I've never really thought it was probable, as Hasbro's resources are already dedicated to creating retail-based product that is very profitable for them, but IF they're talking about waging war with the 3rd parties, this COULD be the lowest hanging fruit for them.

Millions of Dollars fighting legal battles vs. Millions of Dollars developing new assets, generating sales in a niche market, and earning the good will of a smallish, but valued, customer base

I know which I would choose.

If I was betting though, I'd put my money on them shutting down the pipeline via online retailers by strong arming them with threats of no longer offering Has/Tak product. ABSOLUTE path of least resitance, but I don't think it'll make a huge dent.

D/L

 

Also, to those of you worrying about TFC Hercules, it's supposed to be completed around April of next year. I would imagine that IF they are a target of this as well, they would have enough of a counter-argument to support their 51% rule that they'd be allowed to continue business until a decision is made in court, and that could take many months or longer.

Or I could be totally wrong.  

 

well if crank and structor come out in time we could always have two exgravers and structors   i reckon Hercules will be completed before any storm hits tho

 

This is the only way 3rd party groups will be put to an end. Seeing as Hasbro can not produce everything we want as fans, I say 3rd party is here to stay.

 

well if Hasbro produce enough toys for collectors that will take sales from 3rd parties and may make it unprofitable for 3rd parties to make toys therefore putting them out of business, and as Hasbro produces toys for collectors it leaves less items that most fans want for 3rd parties to make

 

You know, I still would've been interested in seeing how FP's Junkion would've panned out, regardless of the official release.

 

Having learned that Warbot could've made it into Wal*mart and given that Exgraver shares only certain details of the character he's based on, I'm not worried about Hercules.

 

Oh I agree, it'd have to be a VERY aggressive and BEAUTIFUL product line to sink the 3rd party guys entirely. Something like Mattel's Monthly subscription model with a tacit promise of "We're making EVERYONE in a consistant scale, just stay with us."

And even then not everyone would be happy  

But if they managed to drive enough of our dollars out of the "gray-market" the 3rd party guys might not feel like bothering any more, and things would slowly dry up.

Or not  

But, for sure, IF Hasbro wants to wage war, THIS is the war I'd love to see them fight. Good for all of us. (Except the 3rd party guys and their starving children, I suppose)

I agree, and so would I. ESPECIALLY given the troop-building aspect of Junkions, I'd still buy at least one FP Junk regardless, but that really DOES prove the point that all it takes is a little competition from Uncle Potato Head and even the least-grey 3rd party guys will decide it's not worth the financial risk.

D/L

 

Truth be told, the only people that are directly affected by the Third Party companies (from a lost revenue point of view) are the customizers/Radicons that work on commission.

Ask yourself, would you rather pay $1000 to $2000 for a custom Devastator, or $600 for a huge TFC Hercules that's just as large and has better durability, better quality, better joints, no paint rubbing, etc?

 

I'm not worried about Herc.

I'm a little more concerned about iGear's Ironhide, Ratchet, and minibots, not to mention anything else in their long-term plans (Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, Megatron, potentially ALL the first season Autobots).

I really, really want those! But then again, I'm not THAT concerned, either. I have a feeling iGear will weather this storm, if these rumours and speculation come to fruition at all.

 

The only reason FP's Junkion would have worked is because the mould belongs to a group of Junkions not to a specific character.

Word is FP's Junkion is still on deck (i've heard it here and their but can not confirm it) and I hope it does.

FP's original design was Wreckgar, Female Junkion, Old Male Junkion. All they need to do is change Wreckgar to random young male Junkion and people will buy them up.

Imagine this army -Wreckgar, Scrapheap, The American Junkion, 4 unique MaidenJapan Upgrades which you can mix and match into countless Junkions and then you add three new mould Junkions for variety.

Damn I got excited writing up that list...FP Please put out your Junkion.

 

probably require more than 1K for a commissioned Devy that looks nearly as professional as TFC's. You are looking closer to 1.5K to 2.5K, I'd say, and it will still be reuse of other molds.

 

iGear clearly couldn't give a fuck - they've just this minute updated their Facebook page with testshots of Rager and Spray!
Have to admit I'm concerned about their Ironhide and Ratchet purely because of what they did with Faith Leader and the Seekers putting them directly in Hasbro's sights.
Eh, we'll see.

 

Worst-case scenario: I will save a lot of money.

 

As it's been said previously, iGear's Ironhide & Ratchet pass the 51% rule so those particular figures wouldn't get them in trouble. The only way they wouldn't get released is if the company itself is shut down due to what came before (seekers, mini-Prime, etc).

But it's the same as TFC Hercules, any potential litigation would likely be held up in courts for months and during that time they'd be released (I would imagine).

 

I agree if Hasbro really wanted to kill 3rd party companies it would just take releasing the same characters that 3rd party companies are doing. $60 or more from a 3rd party company for a character you want or just $12 from Hasbro for that same character. Yea I'd wait for the cheaper Hasbro release.

 

How is that a worst-case scenario?  

 

Yeah, that's what I was thinking as well. I'll still be happier having them in my hands, even if I'm not putting too much stock in all this speculation.

Even providing we get Ironhide, Ratchet and the rest, it'd be a shame if iGear shut down, with all that talk of doing the entire '84 Autobot cast...