Well think of it this way. Had Zeta stayed on the market and if the hasbro campaign failed, then its quite possible Hasbro would have blamed them *because to hasbro it could not had been the fact the product itself was flawed* and would have taken action against them in retaliation.

Now that Zeta has voluntarily taken itself out of the equation, if the hasbro one fails then they cant blame anyone except themselves, plus they are less likely to take action because the Zeta was courteous and respectfully withdrawed when they saw it was hurting hasbro.

So if we want corestar within the next few years we better damn well hope the haslab one succeeds. lol

 

depending on the number haslab finishes with... zeta is still affecting the haslab crowdfund. Why? because 90% of the people still think zeta's will happen and wont go back to Haslab unicron due to that belief. The damage was already done the second zeta showed their finger snap teaser 2 months ago. now if it falls several hundred short then its fair to say zeta had no real effect on the outcome.

you cant go back once pandora's box has been opened.

 

True, really at this point they are just trying to do what they can to avoid Hasbro pulling a Bandai on them. I doubt anything will happen if Unicron gets funded, Zeta only needs to worry if the project fails.

Something people have not considered, as far along as core star was, If Zeta themselves do no produce the figure then it is entirely possible they sell the CAD files and molds to someone else who will in order to recoup R&D losses. So think Jinbao, Weijiang, MFT, YesModel, KBB, Lewin, etc.

 

Can't really un-see corestar. It looks just fantastic and is miles ahead of haslab. I'll personally now wait for zeta and not settle on a more expensive inferior version of the character.

 

Am I correct that the 官方 used in Zeta's post carries the connotation of official as in, authority (e.g. "the official" or "the authority") not "official" merely as "legitimate?" If so that would definitely suggest someone "in authority" contacted them. I could be totally off though, I'm not remotely fluent at all.

Either way, I still have no dog in this fight and hope both still happen. I want Haslab's to happen for the sake of the backers who clearly really, really want it, and I want Zeta's to happen for those who prefer that design, pricing, and scale as well.

I think it's very premature to infer this is the beginning of Hasbro cracking down more on 3P, or that the Zeta will never exist. Hypothetically, if it is though, I don't see the outcome being more large scale products from Hasbro or TT to fill the 3P void. I see the more likely outcome simply being we just don't get those harder to design, niche characters at all. From anyone. From 3P out of fear, and from HasTak out of the desire for mass market profitability, which does limit what they bring to market, both which characters, and their scale and complexity.

So I don't think cheerleading for/defending one side or the other really helps anyone, IF that's the case, personally. (Again I think it's premature to say it is.) Because I totally support HasTak's rights to go after them, but if it's the beginning of a new norm or broader approach, it's not going to have good outcomes for collectors with specific hopes. It won't be a case of HasTak killing 3P and then making those products themselves. For many of them, they simply won't exist.

I don't think that's what's happening here though. I think it's more likely a request, met with professional courtesy, and specific to this one situation. Granted as always I could be wrong.

 

I hope Zeta pulls through and makes their Core-Star at least taller than the combiners while still keeping that reasonable price tag. I love that 25th Anniversary Unicron but seeing that Zeta one, I just want it.

 

Best thing Zeta can do is back down.

Now let's hope Hasbro's campaign works. Because what Zeta can't do is erase the big fat target they painted on their backs that says "BLAME ME FOR YOUR FUCK UPS!!".

If things go ok, after a few months of cooldown, we can expect the Zeta Unicron to resurrect like a phoenix.

 

There wasn't that many who dropped when Core Star was announced. And we have no clue who dropped for other reasons.

Most *aren't* backing Unicron because they don't think the cost is worth it. Not because not anything anyone else did.

 

Wow I things here are getting heat huh?

Ok then, here's what I agree:
- Zeta was doing this for a long time and planned to reveal it UNTIL Hasbro announced Unicron (according to recent poster)
- Zeta lied low to finish Haslab's 1st deadline. Then they resurface showing the prototype.
- Then Hasbro extended the deadline with a Galvatron gummy fig
- Zeta can no longer postpone the project and have no choice but to proceed since they have commitments to the production crew.
- Hasbro took noticed since some backers backed out. In fear of not reaching 8000 mark.
- Hasbro haven't done enough marketing ploy to boost the backers rating.
- Haslab Unicron while BIG BUT have an ugly back and exposed shell kibbles
- Zeta Core Star have clean robot mode, slapping Has-Tak's designers
- Zeta's time of unveiling (while inevitable) is not right since there's on going campaign by the official product.
- Has-Take made faulty QC of their products be it $100 above or below. In my experience, MPM-4.
- Another faulty products? MP36's barrel craking, BW Megs crotch, MP-44 knees, TR Trypticon's hips, MP Dinobot, etc.
- I would like to add TFU 2.0 Deluxe Galvatron. Why the "popping joint" became a part of the design? Stupid.

here' what I don't agree:
- Hasbro taking down of 3Ps for good.

More 3Ps the better because they provide another alternative for fans to buy regardless of the risks.

Hasbro can't take out 3Ps. Why?
Remember WJ M0-1 Commander? Has-Tak somewhat reversed engineered it and applied in their own Evasion Prime figure.
Sometimes Hasbro needs an "inspiration" from the 3P's brain cells if their brain cells can no longer function.

Did you think MP-36 didn't took a page from Apollyon's? Even a little? Like 1%? Come on.
Again, don't forget WJ M0-1 Commander.

And they haven't made an MP Galvatron which is long overdue. But we have FansToys Sovereign to FILL IN what Has-Tak CANNOT PROVIDE.

I hope this is just Has-Tak's C&D to Zeta. And not total declaration of war on 3Ps.

 

To add to this, Hasbro actually once in a while hires 3p designers.

 

You heard it, folks. A moderator has officially given us permission to panic if Core Star gets cancelled. Everybody get your molotov cocktails ready.

Yes, affect is always a verb. However, effect can sometimes be a verb meaning "bring about." As in "to effect change," or, "The removal of Sun of the Empire's YouTube video and the subsequent rumors effected a panic among the third party Transformers fans who were hoping to own Core Star." When used as a verb, it is pronounced with a long 'E'.

 

They can take out 3rd parties and have rarely gotten involved, only against KO companies. The biggest one who just vanished was Igear, who went from one of the biggest players to basically nothing because, well, they got on Hasbro's list and all of a sudden just vanished

(also I personally found Hasbro's the better looking of the two simply because it looked so much more weighty than Zeta's)

But eh, third parties gotta remember to lay low. If you do stuff Hasbro doesn't do, you don't get hit. That's why FT was smart to cancel their Soundwave back in the day when Takara revealed theirs. But Zeta played chicken with the battering ram that is the Hasbro legal team, and Zeta lost.

 

This says more about the site owners/admins being weak, easily scared of bullies, and not the actual legalities of reporting news. They can send C&D all they want, but it's just meaningless paper.

Related: Disney Sending Out DMCA Notices Over Pictures Fans Took Of Their Legally Purchased Star Wars Toy

Fan site owners need more balls, and to tell overzealous corporate legal teams to pound sand.

The only party that really matters is the party that owns the photos. Not some pissed-off non-rights-holders (of the photo, not the content). Editorial use, not commercial. Reviews, news, and parody are fair use exemptions.

I'm not aware of an inanimate object (non-human) having right to publicity/privacy rights. See also: Publicity

 

So ZetaToys misstepped when they decided to go ahead with their reveal while HasLab's campaign is still in progress.

But who else other than me thought HasLab has a decent chance of meeting its goal by the original deadline and is virtually assured with the extension?

I didn't expect HasLab to run out of backers. Instead, we are now in the dead zone.

 

Originally, I thought it was pretty much guaranteed. But given that we are still only 2/3rds of the way now, I don’t think that HasLab had ANY chance of funding within the original timeframe.

I do still think that it’s likely to get funding within the extension, however it’s kind of gone from a slow crawl up to an almost dead stop now.

With many crowdfunding project though, the magic happens in the final week, so there is still all to play for.

 

hasbro is holding back the NA vendor order numbers for some reason. but the NA group is all of the major players we all know and love.

now if you add them into the pool of overseas vendors who go into the buy. i am sure they will and have hit the goal behind close doors.

 

Αnd if they dont, they can always push it further back to Christmas..... 

 

For anyone wanting a tl;dr update to skip the unending torrent of inane speculation;

- Zeta keeping head down
- Won't see release at current time according to awful computer translation, it's been "aborted"
- Number of suicides by people trying to figure out what's going on after countless pages of people repeating same points and finally giving into the urge to get a Kurt Cobaine haircut has hit double digits.

 

This project is nice, but Zeta needs to keep full focus on what they find best, make combiners. We need a Zeta Stunicons, Protectobots, Terracons, Technobots, and any other teams that are missing.

 

No more Stunticons


I beg