Hasbro Answers Your Transformers Questions 2009 Part 4

We got a little bit of gore in resolute... Poor dead Bazooka!

Whoa, Hey..

Intellectual Proberty is Hasbro's business as much as toys are. Face it We love the mythos and characters more than the toys. If not then any transforming robot toy would do.

Hasbro protecting it's property is not a slap at those who would make quality Transforming toys but the only action they could possibly take to insure the brand stays profitable. IF HASBRO LOSES MONEY ON TRANSFORMERS THEY WILL STOP MAKING THEM.

A point could be made that by making inferior Transforming robot toys that Hasbro would lose sales and therefore lose money so competition from Fans Project can only result in better toys. Truth is Fans Projects is on a very slippery slope and they know it. They don't actually call City Commander: "The Ultra Magnus Trailer that HASBRO shoulda made in the first place".

Point is don't jump on a company for doing what it should be doing to continue making money. Hasbro jumped on the Diaclone toys 25 years ago, came up with a backstory that we as fans fell in love with and now Hasbro is making money on it. Fans Project didn't invent the mythos so until they officialy liscense the property they are not allowed to make Springers or "Triple Changing City Enforcers" that look like Springer.

Sorry to the folks at fans Project or those who love their products but Hasbro has the law on their side.

Greg Lombardo made a solid point at Botcon during the Panel Q&A on Saturday. Fans Project has never approached hasbro about officially licensing Hasbro's stuff.

Shouldn't Fans Project approach Hasbro and ask permission to use their characters? You know... since Hasbro aren't the ones mooching off of someone else's property? Maybe if they, or any similar type group, wanted to make something that "Hasbor will nEvEr MaKeS" but officially went thru hasbro's licensing system and got Official backing... this butt-hurt discussion would not be happening?

But maybe asking for permission would just make too much sense... sheesh.

Your point about public domain is kind of silly. That's like saying that Mattel should have lost Skeletor since it took them X amount of years to remake the line... How pissed would fans have been if ol' skullface could no longer be the villain in the show/toyline because Mattel didn't have the foresight to keep their IP in check? A lot of people are probably pretty happy that Mattel kept that name around... Just because hasbro doesn't have any current plans for a Proper Springer, doesn't mean that we'll never get one... And i'll wager that when we do get one, it'll be pretty nice - and safe for kids (Something that Fans Project can't promise.)

Thanks for the heads up, but it's still incomplete in that it only compiles this series of Q&A but nothing asked in prior iterations (ask VP), Botcon, or interviews and provides only links (that could go dead at any time) to the answers.

From my experience with Warner Brothers, in relation to a certain Hanna Barbera show, I wouldn't take their cooperation for granted. More than a few companies are predisposed to implement a Soviet-style "scorched Earth" policy. While I can't put Hasbro in that category as I haven't asked them, their policy on accepting an ideas is similar to the comics industry's "don't call us, we'll call you, and throw away all submissions in the meantime."

There are many reasons for not leaking information about stuff too early. For one, people may hold off buying things that are sort of cool because something awesome is coming. It's good for us, but not for them. For example, if we knew about the premium toys from the first movie as soon as Hasbro probably knew they were going to make them, they would probably have a ton of non-premium toys that hadn't even made it to retail, and they would have a pretty big issue. Another reason is that if they announced that they are making THE GREATEST TOY EVER (whatever that might be), and then have to cancel it because it's not practical, etc, then there will be a huge fan backlash. It's much better for them (and for the fans) to wait until they are at least pretty sure it's going to happen before they announce it.

Bad analogy FTL. No, it's more like going to a fast food restaurant, and complaining that they serve so many burger. They are going to serve what most people (kids) want and will buy (or get their parents to buy). They will also have some alternatives (higher end products) for people who like other things/are more health conscious (collectors). But that's a minority of their business, so it's the minority of their menu.

Your anology would be if you were automatically charged for and given every new toy that came out, and most of the toys were ones that NOBODY liked. It doesn't take long in this fandom to realize that no matter how lame a toy is, there will ALWAYS be those who love it.

But there is a huge cultural difference between the US and Japan. AFAIK, the collector to kid purchase ratio is very different there, so it is much easier to justify such things.

If the air freshener is generic, for any car, then there is no licensing issues. It would be like buying generic action figure stands. These aren't generic, they are figures based on Transformer characters (equivalent to making a new car that looks like a Mercedes). Add ons require you to have purchased the original, so I'm not sure that they are really an issue, except when based directly on Hasbro designs (like the Animated humans or AllSpark)

Fair point, but Hasbro is a completely different entity than the comics/animation industry. At the panel, it was distinctly said (i was sitting in the front row) that FP has never approached Hasbro to obtain any form of approval or license... by that statement, i think it's fair to say that it's on the potential licensees to get in touch.

I mean, i don't know much about the toy industry, but i've heard rumors over the years that inventors and such come along to pitch ideas for hasbro to use. Assuming all of that is true, i don't see what all the fuss is about FP or some of the other guys contacting Hasbro... if these people took the time to do things legally, they could hypothetically have corporate backing and still be allowed to 'give the fans what they want'...

I think we should make an online petition to Fans Project to contact Hasbro and make their business legitimate...

Like?

You noticed that too?

GARAGE KITS:
Autoscout Cassette set
FP Defender
FP Protector
FP Collector
FP Warbot

ENCORE:
Encore 16 Combatrons Box Set
Encore 17 Steeljaw/Ramhorn/Ratbat/Slugfest

HENKEI/OTHER TAKARA:
Starscream’s Ghost
Device Label Blaster

ANIMATED:
Electrostatic Soundwave/Ratbat
Arcee
Rodimus Minor
Cybertron Ratchet
Cybertron Ironhide
Fugitive Waspinator
Hydrodive Bumblebee
Blackout
Wingblade Optimus Prime
Thundercracker

ROTF:
Bludgeon

UNIVERSE:
Hardhead (Wal-Mart exclusive)

TFCC:
Punch/Counterpunch

Oh yeah, and the reissue Insecticons. Gotta add to the swarm!

SUPPOSEDLY the creator of the "OMFG NOT ARCEE" kit claims he went to hasbro and interviewed with them and showed them his product and he claims they said "we'd obviously developed our own intellectual property" and allowed them to sell them legally.

You can read the spin here and draw your own conclusions...
Legal

So there is precedent even if the person who claimed it is highly suspect. So getting the product licenced may not be totally out of the question.

I see. Except you making all these comments about how the movie line isn't what you want, and then buying toys from that same movie line tells Hasbro you're willing to put down money for the movie line anyway.

You can say you bought Human Alliance toys because they remind you of Alternators. Bottom line is, the retailer counts the sale for Movie Transformers, which gives them one more reason to order more movie toys from Hasbro.

But what is the message you're trying to convey by saying you think the movie toys aren't good, then declaring in the same post that you're buying movie toys?

What point are you trying to make by accusing the fandom that they're "complacent and take whatever Hasbro gives them" when you do the same thing?

If you want to give Hasbro incentive to produce toys you want to see, a poll isn't going to do anything. You're probably going to make an effort to convince the retailers to stock the toys you want, simply by buying more.

It might not have been feasible. Universe 2.0 came out while Transformers Animated was on the air. The people the Transformers team have to answer to may not have seen it as practical to have a second cartoon show while Animated was still being made.




Wasn't bad ratings the reason why Animated was cancelled?

Ever notice that somewhere between 90 and 100 percent of "Hasbro is an evil corporation that treats its fans like crap." can be boiled down to "I'm not getting exactly what I want." ?

Yeah, it's a kind of disappointing Q'n'A. While it can be said that questions more likely to get a real answer should be picked, It's also clear what many fans want to know, and the questions themselves send that message, whether they are answered or not. (besides, just because a question is not answered once, it doesn't mean it will never be answered). Also there's no guarantee that any question will get a direct answer. I suppose the responsibility falls on whoever picks the final questions to send out. Too bad we can't send in five questions, and the Hasbro reps pick which three they feel like answering.

Sorry, but how old are you? Are you even aware of what state Transformers was in 10 years ago? Clearly not, because if you did you would KNOW how much Hasbro has come to embrace and support the fan community. We are still secondary to the main audience (kids), and that's justified by the sales - they do have to pay their bills, after all. But they have also given us things that a decade ago none of us could have ever dreamt of.

I know my post will probably be drowned out, but I had to comment on this:

TFviews News Hasbro Answers to TFviews Questions #4Bwah? A company was able to TM "firepower"? And it's protected to the point where Hasbro can't use the term to describe the level of their characters'... firepower? Weird.

Does this mean that no other company can print "bumblebee", "shockwave", or "mudflap" on packages?

Actually, he's a G2 Skyjack homage. But the point still stands.

Yup, that's precisely what it means. Or to be more specific, no other toy company will be able to use names like "Bumblebee", "Shockwave", or "Mudflap".

Heck, Hasbro only reacquired the copyrights to the names "Bumblebee" and "Shockwave" recently. That's why there wasn't a single Bumblebee toy from 1989 until 2006 and why Shockwave toys were called "Shockblast" until Animated.

I'd like to know which company is the one that trademarked "Firepower".

As names of characters, sure. But I'm not saying Hasbro should be able to name a character "Firepower". I find it odd that they can't talk about a character's "firepower". In a similar vein, I can't believe that another company couldn't mention a toy truck's "mudflap"s on the packaging.

That's a good point. Of course, I don't really know all the specifics of legal copyrighting so all I can really do is speculate.

Hasbro's answers always suck.

Only because none of them are ever "Blot, the best transformer ever, is getting ten new toys this fall. In fact, he's getting a cartoon show too. Stay tuned for Transformers: Blot, only on this station!"

hmmm not vastly imformative , i think if the guys who make the city commander armors and other upgrade kits willbe okay as long as thats allthey make it items that require figures to use them, if they cross the line and make figures then trouble will come swift and hard