I'm not quite grasping why people are carrying on about Hasbro not caring about collectors. We just got all kinds of cool stuff in the last couple years.
-Springer
-Blitzwing
-Swerve
-Cosmos
-Tailgate
-Skrapnel
-Skids
-Jetfire
-Hoist
-Traibreaker
-Sandstorm
-Chromia
-Arcee FINALLY!
-Whirl (with decals)
-Roadbuster (with decals),
-Metroplex (with decals) The largest Transformers figure ever made!
-Nightbeat
-Head Master Brainstorm, a Head Master!
-Target Master Scoop, dual Target Masters!
-Crosscut, an ehobby character. That's just fun.
-Doubledealer
-Combiner Wars
-Jhiaxus, with an appropriate face for the character.
-Armada Starscream
-Rattrap
-Tankor
-Waspinator
-Rhinox
That's just the collector oriented stuff I could think of. If there's not at least a handful of figures in there to love, you're doing it wrong.

 

speaking just for myself, ive gone almost exclusively 3P because I like what 3P is putting out and dislike what Hasbro is (except MP). So if there wasnt 3P then i would probably just stop collecting TF altogether. So in my case, 3P is keeping me interested in TF as a whole. Many people dont like the TF movies, but without it, I dont think there would be as much interest in TF as there is now. So even if u dont like the movies, one should still appreciate that its helping to keep TF thriving. My point is, Im not so sure 3P is taking away much money from Hasbro. And in fact may be helping to keep the interest on TF for some of us. So even if one doesn't like 3P, one should acknowledge that 3P is keeping some interested in TF where they might not have otherwise.

 

Hated 'animated' onwards because of the terrible art work, faces too long and bodies all screwed up lookin'. God, where did they get these artists, out of a alley way? Economic crisis? Sorry son I left that country before it happened so I wouldn't know. I shut my eyes to American news ever since. So if that's to blame. Its their own fault not mine!

 

I'm not a lawyer, but I did take a business law course in college and what I seem to remember from it was that if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and walks like a duck, it's a duck. As for unlicensed (I'm not saying 3P because it's inaccurate) stuff, I think there a few things to consider: I think it was fine when it started when there were only add on sets that enhanced the play value of existing figures. Things like Fansproject City Commander can't work without Hasbro's figure, so I don't think they cared. In fact, I think it probably helped sales of that figure. But then we started getting unlicensed version of complete characters. And there have been so many of them now that it really is getting ridiculous. Which leads me to addressing people saying that Hasbro would have pursued legal action if they could, that's not necessarily true. I mean, how much money is Hasbro really losing to these companies anyway? Probably not much and for a couple of reasons. 1, unlicensed toys are not mass produced. How many Feral Rexes are there out there, really? 300? 400? I'd be surprised if it was that high or higher. That's why those things are so expensive, it's because they have to charge that much to make up the cost of producing it. Which also means they aren't making huge profits from it. So, it's a small scale operation making very little profit. What's the benefit to Hasbro to go after such an operation? Nothing really. The production numbers are small enough that it isn't worth the time and money it would take to do so. They'd wind up spending more than it was worth. 2, there are so many different companies producing unlicensed product now that they're almost canabalising each other. I mean, there's already two different versions of Devestator from two different companies and a seemly endless slew of Dinobots in varying sizes. There's only so many collectors who are going to be willing to spend the kind of money these toys cost and so there's only so many that are going to sell. So with already limited runs and multiple other versions available, it's honestly not looking good for unlicensed companies at the moment. And, while it may not be cost effective for Hasbro to pursue legal action, that doesn't mean they have to tolerate seeing these things at their convention. And make no mistake, it IS their convention. FunPub is just licensed to put it on.

So, what does all of this mean for Botcon? It means that if it looks like chicken, clucks like chicken and tastes like chicken but doesn't have that Foster Farms stamp on it, it ain't allowed. That means if it looks like Megatron, but isn't licensed by Hasbro it's not allowed.

 

I absolutely hated Animated because of its art direction. It wasn't until years later I was finally able to watch it and tune out my dislike for the the way the characters looked to enjoy how well written and how good t he voice acting in it was.

 

Fixed.

 

The voice acting is one of the best parts of the series. My main gripe with it is the animation style. The character designs are alright, but they're not my favorite.
The voice acting was phenomenal and after rewatching the series, I have a new-found appreciation of the series.

 

The art direction in Animated was bad ass, and made the toys that much better! A high point for Transformers, for sure.

 

I think when someone says Hasbro doesn't care about the collectors they are referring to a collector quality toy. MP would be collector quality where as Combiner Wars is a basic toyline that uses older characters as reference. Look at the Power Rangers, masters of the universe, DC collectable figures, they are collector oriented.

 

+1.

Peaugh that was one of the smartest posts i've read.

Agreed. Hasbro has just been delivering so much goodies now for us, the least we should do is be appreciative that they're even doing this.

 

The comparison does apply because it is toy vs. toy. It doesn't matter how similar both options are.

As long as the options are legally sold, not contraband, not black market, not illegal, then it's toy vs. toy.

 

Points!!  

 

On the what is acceptable and unacceptable. As I understand it, FunPub didn't just say "you know what we mean". It also included an aside that says if you don't know about an item then email.

As far as confusion, are people really confused? Some maybe, but I'm skeptical about the majority.

And since we're at this point where the vendors should have already checked what they can and can't bring into the dealer's room, shouldn't we be asking the vendors what they are bringing and where they are selling it? *nudge nudge*

Speaking of, did I miss the post where a potential buyer finally gave a reasonable answer for what the big deal is? Why the option of buying in a different, non-dealer room location is completely unacceptable?

 

I'm not saying they don't care about collectors. Just that we're not the primary market. They make toys for children, first and foremost (which is fine!). They absolutely homage their past and try to make things that appeal to both, but the majority of their decisions are determined by "what makes children buy this".

Compare it third party toys, which makes toys for collectors as the main intent. Or compare it to the MP line, which *is* for collectors first (only?) as well.

The difference is "toys for children that others can enjoy" versus "toys for collectors". All of the typical collector-important decisions (size, scale, complexity, detail, etc) go out the window. And hey, plenty of collectors prefer Hasbro's new simpler transformations as well. But this is just all about the intent.

 

Yeah, I really think it's the best reinterpretation of the property, and the characters designs are imaginative and well-wrought. The toys are engineering marvels, and the finish of the plastic and the paint apps are examples of the height of what is achievable in toy design.

 

I loved how it took in nods to multiple eras of the franchise.

 

That's fine, they may not be losing your money, but frequently I see posts about how people will stick with their 3rd party figure, which tells me they might have bought the Hasbro version had that been the only option.

I see on various movie sites people saying they'll just download the torrent of X movie, and justify it by saying that they would never paid money to see it anyway.

 

Kinda works both ways really. On one hand Hasbro may have never done Combiner Wars if not for 3rd parties being successful at it and on the other hand Hasbro may have made more sales on a specific item if it were the only option. I can say that I download movies early at times, but if the movie is any good I end up either renting it again when it comes out or I outright buy it. Piracy has been around a while now and it seems to me that if the product is good enough, people will buy. The same can be said for transforming robots

 

Unless their agreement with Hasbro has changed, I'm pretty sure that any toys FP produces
still.have to adhere to Hasbro's rigid safety standards for legal reasons. Hasbro's name and logo is still on the packaging and it's their necks that are on the line if someone is injured playing with their toys.

As long as they have Hasbro's approval, FP can probably have certain product produced by a third party (legal term, not the IP-infringing kind) as they did with Boss Fight.

However, there is a huge difference between producing a fairly-simple shell with limited articulation and making a fully-transformable action figure. Aside from issues of complexity, the second case might be seen as direct competition.

Also, if you're asking if Hasbro would approve of FP asking FansProject, MMC, or some other company that is known for producing IP-infringing product to make them an exclusive transforming figure in the likeness of a Hasbro-owned character, I feel pretty safe in saying that Hasbro's answer would be along the lines of "Are you f&*@ing insane?!?"

-SS (and it could set a dangerous precedent if they allowed it and later took the 3P company to court over a separate infringement case.)