Thanks!!!!

 

After a cursory Google search, I've found several references to "third parties" in terms of manufacturing. Specifically, where the "third party" was involved in manufacturing the product with the consent of the first party.

Third Party Manufacturing

Third-Party Manufacturing— From Concept to Contract | Pharmaceutical Outsourcing - The Journal of Pharmaceutical & Biopharmaceutical Contract Services

What Is Contract Manufacturing? - Definition & Explanation - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

 

Yup! The term "third party" in no shape or form is used as a synonym for "unofficial." In most cases, the opposite is true. A licensed Transformers product not produced by Hasbro or Takara Tomy is simply an officially licensed third party product. As Chris said earlier, there is no such thing as a second party product.

I'd love to see a shift to a more appropriate term, such as simply "unofficial" or "unlicensed," but at this point, it's taken on a life of it's own.

 

WTF clearly means With The Family. Remember this.

Also, easy convention name for Rom The Spaceknight:
RomCon.

You're welcome.

 

The only "real" definition of the first, second, third party terms is the legal one - which is probably where you were given the idea that the customer is the second party. In that case, it's correct. In contract law, the first party is the originator of the contract and the second party is the signor. A third party is a party not involved in the contract, but one that still has some interest or claim on the contract.

I think you can see how this doesn't really apply to Transformers or IP.

There's other uses, mostly for information sources or commercial manufacturing that also don't apply.

Most other uses of 1st, 2nd, 3rd party terminology is kind of shoe-horned and not really correct. The video game development version (where Nintendo would be 1st party, a studio affiliated with or contracted by Nintendo for Nintendo publication would be 2nd, and a company not affiliated with Nintendo being 3rd) is the closest that applies to the TF situation.

The reality is that "Thirty Party" is a misnomer. Your use of "unlicensed independent transforming robots" or whatever is a much better, albeit awkward term.

Dr. Wu? HE'S FAT.

 

Sure there is. A second party product is one not made by the owner or originator, but still directly overseen or controlled by them.

You couldn't have a third party without a second.

Yes. Third party, in the TF situation, is misused, whether its licensed or not. But at this point, I think I'm tilting at windmills, and should probably just go back to trying to get people to stop saying that they "could care less."

 

Huh, I forgot I asked that. Its cool to hear why you guys do what you do. I personally create my own "personal podcast" as a way to enjoy what I love. I don't have any personal friends who are into this stuff so I record myself talking about TFs as a kinda "me time" activity. In preparation for my first TFcon I plan on making educational " tapes" for me and my dad to listen to on the drive to Toronto. He doesn't know a ton about Transformers so I thought it would be a cool summer project. I don't know if I'll ever release them anywhere else, but making them is the rewarding part for me. I think it's important to know where your motivations and interests are within our hobby.

 

That is not true. It's a misnomer.

It's like saying you can't have a third person perspective video game without having a second person view. This argument has come up for years in these boards, but there is no proof that this is a term that is ever used in this way. The only exception are articles about the game industry that specifically say the term is inapropotete but have caught on due to widespread misuse of a term.

In commerce, manufacturing, or anything else relating to a product, the first party is the company, the second party is the customer. The third party is a supplier, manufacturer, etc., that is a different entity from the first party. There is no second party product. That is how the system works.

 

FYI, there WAS a '2nd party developer" page on Wikipedia...and it was deleted due to being false info. It's now listed under the video game developer page as "Second-party developer is a colloquial term used by gaming enthusiasts and media." It was a term that caught on in gaming journalism becasue most gaming journalists were teenagers who had never attended any proper journalism schooling and applied the same logic. The term has never existed outside of that realm, and it's widely accepted that's it's an inappropriate usage.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202006

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third-party_source

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/third_party

You can certainly keep using "second party" in such a fashion, and some people will understand what you mean, but most will silently shake their heads and assume you didn't pay attention in class. In the same way that you can equally substitute their, they're, and there. It doesn't make it appropriate or correct in any fashion.

 

Gog, you forgot to drop the mic.

 

No one is trying to embarrass or own anyone, but around here, it's like you can't even discuss it because people just say "uh huh" and give you raspberries and don't actually want to understand why it's grammatically incorrect.

 

Speaking as a person who works for a company that makes licensed figures, "Second Party" is a term used rarely and when used it's only to describe customers. (That sounded way douchier than I anticipated. Alls I'm sayings is experience, yo.)

Whether you're licensed or unlicensed, you still fall under "Third Party." From my experience the term gets used more on message boards and fan discussions than in business meetings or official documents/contracts/etc.

 

Re: T.H.E. M.A.S.K.O.N.V.E.N.T.I.O.N.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XnS1BncrYM

 

Looking through his page on tfwiki, you guy's really aren't exaggerating about how little Inferno did in the cartoon. It's either "Inferno stood there in the background" "Inferno put out a fire" or "The Red Alert episode" Only notable thing he did of his own was be Firestar's boyfriend.

 

How about "The M.A.S.Q.U.E.R.A.D.E." for a M.A.S.K. convention?

 

White Wolf would sue faster then you can say "huh?"