Anyone looking to get this figure, I'm selling mine.

 

With respect, it wasn't the contoversy around Nicee's sexiness that caused Big Firebird to change tack. They're still happy to produce sexy bots:

[Pre-Order] Big Firebird Scientific Catgirls Sunflower

What compromised this toy and toyline was, bizarrely, Studio Cell Unicron. If Zeta Toys hadn't made the audacious decision to compete directly with Haslab's Unicron, Hasbro wouldn't have come down on them for IP theft and scared Big Firebird into scrapping their Arcee head and subsequent line of Hasbro-inspired fembots. It's a shame, because (asthetics aside) I think Nicee is a well-designed, well-built toy, but I doubt this company will thrive if they divorce themselves from the Transformers brand and fanbase.

 

Sorry if I'm late to the discussion, but what's the story on this EX-01 variant?

[PRE-ORDER] Big Fire Bird EX-01 Plus Mooka Arcee

It's obviously a repaint of Nicee, but the alt mode looks slightly retooled.

 

She's a sexy racing robo-maid

 

With all due respect, that's not what the company or those familiar with their thinking have said.
It has been unequivocally stated that it was the backlash and people flipping out that influenced their decision-making.

 

Some transfans don't like (or can't be cool around) da sexy.

And that's sad.

 

BFB has never solicited "Windblade".

ShowZ is just doing as ShowZ does, and immediately slapping up a placeholder pre-order the moment they catch a whiff of something. They have absolutely nothing to do with BFB.

 

Really? I'd be interested to read this unequivocal statement, if you can find it. In any case, it's easier for them to blame their critics for their change of tack than to admit they're scared of Hasbro. In the end, you have to judge them by their actions, and their actions are: continue producing sexy bots but steer clear of the Transformers IP.

 

That may very well be true. However, all we know is what's been said. Not saying you're wrong, just that there's no hard evidence backing up your logic.

 

Well, other than BFB doing absolutely nothing to shy away from the sexy, as Autotot clearly stated. Everything that BFB's working on other than the Bird//Binary stuff has boobs and "skin", almost gratuitously so. So they're obviously not cowering to the internet Puritans.

All signs point to them shying away from legal conflicts. Again, because they have actual legitimate projects based on their own, original IPs already in the mix, they have a lot more to lose from a legal kerfuffle than of your typical 3rd Parties, with their anonymous leadership and mercenary design staff.

 

Yeah, legally, 3rd party has always existed in a somewhat precarious grey area, and with Hasbro's recent crackdowns on Wei Jang and Zeta, 3rd party companies have good reason to be extra cautious. And I don't think Big Firebird are the only ones. It would explain why we're getting far more stylised representations of old characters and attempts at new ones. Unfortunately, I think this will be the norm for 3rd parties for a good while now.

 

I think that's also going a bit far in the other direction. Slavish G1 certainly isn't going anywhere in the 3P industry either, with FansToys, MMC/Ocular Max, and X-Transbots still chugging along with their normal fare.

IIRC, the WeiJiang raids were actually Disney-led, with them KOing some Hot Toys Iron Man stuff or something like that.

Hasbro themselves have been notably chill about the whole industry, except in the few odd instances where they've been directly provoked (Zeta going up against their flagship Unicron HasLab project, and a long while back, there was iGear trying to sell their MP-3 KOs. Otherwise, direct Hasbro action has been few and far between).

Honestly, BFB probably would've been fine releasing Nicee as per her original concept. But the WeiJiang raids were very fresh at the time that they finalized their release plans with her, so they probably didn't want to poke the dragon while was still in alert mode. And then as that decision passed, and other opportunities solidified, it's really not necessary for them to piggyback on another IP to sell their own product, and can instead work on bolstering their own portfolio.


These new companies intentionally diverging from G1 seems more their own prerogative. For Dreamstar, the movie-verse aesthetic plays very well in China, so I think they're attempting to play in that area, rather than try to fight in the over-crowded and over-competitive G1 marketplace.

And for the completely original Chinese designs, it reads very much as Transformers fans simply trying to do their own thing because they're enthusiastic about the design process, and revelling in the creativity of their original works, rather than being tied down by trying to replicate somebody else's creation. I wouldn't be surprised if the Chinese government might also provide some sort of kickbacks for that sort of work as well, for promoting "Chinese exceptionalism". Same thing with TFC recently getting in cozy with the Chinese military.

 

Yeah, G1 is always a tempting fruit for a 3rd party to reach for. I meant there was a general tendency towards caution for the reasons we've discussed. Even with the examples you mentioned, FansToys are releasing their Soundwave under a different company name (Robot Paradise) and MMC have started a new line of less-Hasbroy toys (Infinite Finity). I agree that Big Firebird was perhaps overly cautious, but I'm not a flegeling company working in an already dubious legal area. I wish them well, but time will tell how well they'll do without the Hasbro-inspired stuff.

 

Hence why I said no hard evidence, not no evidence.
For me however, that's not quite enough to overturn a direct unambiguous statement by the company as to their reasoning. It just means taking that with a grain of salt.

 

You can believe what you want, but people lie, actions don't.

 

I just don't know how you came to assert that Puritanical backlash had anything to do with their decision-making, when 90% of their output absolutely flies in the face of that.

 

I do not assert that. I only said that the company does assert that and I lack any factual basis to say they're lying.
Again, taking their statement with a grain of salt.

 

Duh. We all know this.

 

See the difference is that people only made a huge stink about Nicee and not BFB's other products is because Nicee was 100% based on Arcee. They could care less about sexy OCs the company makes, but when they made a sexy take on an already existing character they like then they throw a hissy fit.

Honestly, I feel it's both the fear from Hasbro and the online backlash to Nicee are reason BFB is abandoning making TF characters. Not just one of them.

Umm... their other figures released have sold out everywhere. Nicee, Kalavinka, and the Magic Henshin Series robots. So clearly there is a large audience that is buying them and they'll likely survive.