The plane is pretty close to a valkyrie design. Still, any slightly sleek future plane with swept back wings is. If the colors are original macross, though, with that, a fastpack, and the similarity in the plane, they probably have a case.

 

So with new movie it would be enough to consider a product placement. I am still dubious about the movie. Unless the HG wishes to have products in the US markets is something to look at. I mean the Robotech might be a hint they are willing to expand to the US Markets. But so far they kept any Viri-tech toys and Valkyria models out of the US Markets. It is still shaky ground because there is no impact of profit loss. It is not like the Japanese consumers are buying US versions of Transformers.

 

Making threats on the internet is legally dubious as is making them in the mail or in person.

But go call them trademark trolls anyway   or at least tell to to actually release something or on simple terms put up or shut up HG.

Oh and Hasbro could always give the leftovers to some kids charity... not sure how the court would take that though.

Or if they really wanted to annoy them they could ship them all to Takara to sell on their website as a 'USA edition'.

 

I could see this going to Harmony Gold due to the likeness of the vehicle, despite its inability to transform. However, the issue here is, despite Harmony Gold currently owning the copyrights within the U.S., they've done little to keep the property alive, aside from releasing some videos for the home market and some new RPG books. It'd be very easy for Hasbro to show no maliciousness was intended on their part, but rather an homage to Hasbro's own trademarked character, assuming they still have the Skyfire trademark, so long as they can also prove little has been done on Harmony Gold's part to keep the license alive in the minds of the consumer market.

Copyright cases can be tried by jury, seeing as I've been on one (over drill bits of all things!)

 

Who is making threats?

 

I wonder about Classics Jetfire also, given how he has even a vague resemblance to G1 Jetfire it should've been enough to set Harmony Gold off if they really cared about their IP (like they now supposedly do). If they didn't even try at all to say Classics Jetfire infringed on their IP, then (in my opinion) they were negligent in defending their trademark. OTOH, the Joe fan in me remembers being screwed by SDCC exclusives the last few years and I hope Hasbro does lose some cash here.

+-MWG-+

 

Wonder why this never happened with Classics Jetfire.....

 

I blame the nosecone  

 

The problem isn't a new actor playing Rick. It's that NOONE, not even Harmony Gold (heard it 1st hand at a couple anime conventions), thinks that Toby is the right actor for the role, especially after Spidey 3. The problem is, he's the one w/ the money, & if that's his condition to pay...

 

If I had to guess? It's because this toy is MUCH more similar to one which they actually released due to both of them being vehicles for 3 -3/4 inch figures.. but the last time that toy was on the market was when it got re-released as part of the Robotech/Exo-Squad cross over toyline in the early 90's.

 

webmemes.org(facepalm)

 

I thought they did complain about classics Jetfire at some point as well.

 

Okay, here's my thing... The G.I.Joe Skystriker came out in 1983, the same year that Harmony Gold came into existence, meaning that the prototype and the patent for that toy probably predates Harmony Gold by about a year. So on the toy front, they have no ground to stand on. Of course there's the booster rockets, but they're designed differently from the original Robotech/Macross boosters, looking more like a secondary cockpit than how the originals looked. So there might be some grounds there, but that comes down to the next point... The color scheme. A color scheme that was approved almost 30 years ago, by Bandai. There has been quite a few Transformers that carried that color scheme that was released over the years, including R-Blade, Shattered Glass Starscream, Storm Jet, Skyblast and of course the Classics, Legends and Titanium Jetfire toys. So they didn't raise an eyebrow at those, and THEY actually transformed. So why now?

Maybe it has something to do with Harmony Gold's owner and founder being smacked with 12.9 million dollars of TAX FRAUD last October.

But I'm sure that's just a coincidence.

 

Wait, I see why Harmony Gold sued. Look at the tech spec on the SDCC toy box!



That's a Veritech in Battloid mode. They could win this suit!

 

So when is McDonnell Douglas and Grumman suing Harmony Gold for basing the VF-1 Valkyrie on the F-15 Eagle and F-14 Tomcat.

 

What exactly is that blot nebula thing a reference to?

 

It was mentioned in the Allspark Almanac - Blot Nebula - Transformers Wiki

 

Not really. That's the old box art from the original toy from 1984. It was approved for usage back then and it's approved for usage now. If it was new artwork that looked like it, then yeah... There'd be a case. But since it's just the original artwork... They can't "grandfather clause" this in.

 

I read the first few pages of this thread but it was just too much to read all the way through right now, but this does raise a question for me...

If Hasbro wins this, wouldn't it effect/undermine their stance on third party stuff? Seems to me like a case of the pot calling the kettle black.

Just to clarify; I have no horse in this race, I don't buy 3p stuff and have no desire for the SDCC figure...just a purely theoretical question.