I've seen this come up on a few threads now and thought it'd be interesting discussion.

These 3rd party toys walk a very fine line. I think as a whole theyve been a fun little fan thing that has kept excitement up for Transformers in general. This can't be bad for HasBro+Takara and is probably why they ignore it.

With the level of production some of these companies are now cranking up (such as Ft) they're getting the potential to be legitimate large businesses that could compete with HasTaks future business plans.

Practically every big character that isn't a car is being made by 3rd party companies with some, such as Ultra Magnus MP having direct competition.

Do you think it could reach the point where HasBro/Takara actually feel the need to do something about it? What could they do?

There's already thirdparty turtles toys being made, is this going to keep stretching to more toy lines?

 

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

Who's swaying they are? I don't think it's a big surprise that Combiner rage hit the 3rd parties 3ish years ago, and now Hasbro has given us Combiner Wars.

 

Hell, I hope this is the case. Hasbro has to be noticing that fans are spending insane amounts of money to get these rarer guys as figures.

 

3rd parties are like hydra heads. You chop one off and another one replaces it.

 

Can we merge this thread with:

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/trans...82-hasbro-designers-3rd-party-discussion.html

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/trans...asbros-official-stance-third-party-items.html

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/trans...ese-3rd-party-companies-places-sell-them.html

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/trans...on/607184-3rd-party-vs-hasbro-discussion.html

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/trans...ne-third-party-work-will-never-work-them.html

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/trans...ty-co-making-fans-more-happy-then-hasbro.html

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-3rd-party-discussion/375078-hasbro-fansproject.html

 

Im happy its not a monopoly for hastak anymore. Choices are a good thing.

 

You only need to chop off Keith's head.

 

I believe Shield are working on it  

7 years, hundreds of figures and counting and the heavy end of the hammer hasn't landed on anyone yet. The best Hastak have managed (publicaly at least) has been some Cease and Desist notices to retailers on a couple of items and trumping the likes of FT's Soundwave.

No guarantee that will always be the case but I really get the feeling if Hastak were going to end the 3P World by now they would have, and self-evidently it's still everywhere.

 

Most of the 3P figure are tied back to China. Their IP laws are a joke--no point in trying to pursue legal action there.

 

Also F hastak. Why are you interested in a company that didn't give you the figures you wanted looking like you wanted them to look? Besides the MP line hastak is a joke.

 

3rd party Turtles you say? Have a link for this?

 

I don't think it's something that HasTak really worries about. Reasons:

1. Different demographics - Hasbro is going for the mass market. Affordable toys for kids. 3P is more for adult collectors with money to spend. There is no way Hasbro is going to start making 3P quality figures aside from the Masterpiece line, and that's actually Takara that does the designs there.

2. Price range is completely different - $15 for a deluxe, $25 for Voyager, $50 for Leader and more than 2x for 3P offerings. Considering the demographics of who buys what, I think there is a clear separation and implied understanding that people are not going to leave Hasbro in droves to purchase 3P figures and encroach on Hasbro's turf.

3. Quality is different - Hasbro doesn't have the budget to spend on creating 3P-quality figures for the mass market. There's a reason why the plastic for the latest figures are more swiss-cheese like, or they are missing detailed articulation - it's all to keep costs as low as possible to fit an MSRP. The 3P guys aren't beholden to that and will do whatever they have to in order to create the best possible figure, and charge what they feel is the right price to recoup costs and make a profit, hence the higher prices. Even if they threw C&D's I don't think it would apply since its not at a quality that HasTak could provide on a constant release schedule anyway.

4. 3P provides Hasbro with ideas and the lay of the land. - I think Hasbro has benefitted having 3P to look to for design ideas and seeing collector reactions. I feel Combiner Wars came out of that, and I think the Generations Wrecker Voyagers were in response to FP's Warbot Defender.

And I think that's it.

 

Yeah, this too. That's another reason - HasTak can't even go after them since China treats IP laws like a joke.

 

They are waiting until I am satisfied, after that they are going to pounce hard.

Or so the joke goes.

 

FIRST GOKIN's Cerebral (Not-Krang) -


There's also a Shredder and Krang Walker on the way -

 

Hasbro/Takara know that the market is very specialist. Customers will always buy the official releases regardless of what they are spending on third party. Customers are more likely to restrict spending on third party than official releases. Judging by the quality of recent figures esp CW, they are learning from the third parties and copying them.

Its probably helping the resilience of the small dealers too, as they can diversify their range and customer base which ultimately boost official product sales.

Plenty of people with lots of money in this hobby so I don't the third party is an issue.

 

Can't we just put a sticky for this, 3p mp, 3p Dino's, and like .... Solve this problem

 

Whoa, whoa. It's not just Keith. RobotKingdom has a lot of the market cornered too. They own TFC and a few others. Not to mention, FansProject and MakeToys are their own separate thing altogether.

Everyone wants to blame Keith for everything, but it's absolute bullshit. He does own a few companies, yes. He does own the factory a lot of companies use, yes.

That does not mean he runs everything, controls everything, answers for everything. Hasbro hires the factories in Macau (well, used to), Vietnam and China, is it the factory's fault (or the owner's) that Hasbro hollowed out their figures or made bad design choices? Nope. They just do what they're told to do.

Same goes for Keith. Just because he makes items under his own brands doesn't mean he should be held responsible for what other companies have hired him to do.

People bitch about Mania King not having wrist swivels to. this. day. That's a Unique Toys design flaw, not a "Oh shit...Keith made it!" flaw.

I really wish you people would get your facts straight and stop making scapegoats out of those who aren't at fault. I hate all the fuckin' fingerpointing that goes on in this fandom and how horrible and entitled we are.

It's disgusting and makes me sick to my stomach. I hate it.

 

I think they'd tread very carefully, the Games Workshop v. Chapter house studios lawsuit was an example of how these cease and desist orders can backfire pretty badly for the big companies.