Shockwave? Aerialbots? Constructicons? Insecticons? Stunticons? Springer? Galvatron? Ironhide? Ratchet?

I love how more and more 3rd party toy companies are catering to the fans of the G1-era, such as myself, with remakes of the much beloved original Transformer characters and retaining the designs of old. They definitely put Hasbro/Takara to shame. Granted, I've yet to purchase any of these 3rd party toys, so I don't know their quality in terms of sturdiness and plastic quality; however, from a visual perspective these 3rd Party figures BLOW away anything done from the official line of Transformers. In fact, it seems that Masterpiece is the only area of toy line that Hasbro/Takara has actually created for the G1 fans worth mentioning. In my opinion, even those remakes (classics, generations, etc) have failed to capture the true essence of the original G1 line. I only can't wait to get the Uranus figures when I start buying Transformer toys again as I want those to be my first G1'esque figures.

Anyways, I just wanted to show my appreciation for these 3rd party companies doing what Has/Tak is failing to do for us. Kudos to them. Any thoughts on 3rd party companies compared to Hasbro/Takara design of G1 Transformer remakes?  

 

Seems like the best way to make money. Give the people what they want and they'll be willing to pay a little more to get it...

 

Started with the FP Ninja Insecticons, and I was so impressed with the design and feel I've since acquired all the iGear Minis, Defender and some WSTs. Most importantly, I now have Arcee on my display shelf, something I'd never thought I'd see. Thank you, third party!

 

Personally I just find it rather sad and pathetic that people fall all over themselves for some overrated, eyewateringly expensive toys that are breaking all sorts of IP laws, while looking down their noses at all the stuff aimed at them by Hasbro/Takara, as clearly demonstrated by this thread. For me, MP Soundwave pisses all over any third party stuff from a great height, and he's not even out yet.

 

I started with 3rd party figures back when Defender first came out and I've been hooked since. That said, I never found myself giving up on Hasbro or Takara. I've enjoyed First Edition and RID Prime and the Generations line immensely. It’s a wonderful time to be a Transformers fan.

The 3rd party figures enhance our already impressive collections. As Transformers evolves continually into the future, the 3rd party companies offer update versions of figures we might not see produced just based on the nature of the industry.

 

(laughs) Why does it matter? Some folks like Prime, some guys like Beast Wars, others (like Y.T.) enjoy collecting Masterpiece and 3P figures. At the end of the day we're all mostly grown-ass adults collecting transforming robots.

 

It's all toys, bro. I'm sure folks from the outside looking in would find the fandom as a whole sad and pathetic man-children fawning over plastic transforming robots. Who gives a crap? Buy and enjoy what you like, and we'll do the same.

 

  holy shit, you mad bro?

Calling other collector's "sad and pathetic" is ... well ... sad and pathetic. 3rd party companies have made a product that caters to a certain niche, just like Hasbro/Takara have continued to make product to cater to other niches. Judging collector's for their interests is just not warranted no matter what your personal beliefs may be.

 

I'll spend more money on quality items than the sad and pathetic, eyewateringly terrible toys Hasbro shits into a package and releases at an inflated price. Sure it's IP theft but hey, if they can do it better than the IP copyright holder themselves I don't care.

 

I don't. It pisses me off. 3rd party should cater to haters and disinterested people. RAGE AT THEIR CHOICE!

 

Why wouldn't 3rd party companies cater to the fans? I mean that's why they are there.... To cater to us. To make stuff we want and then sell it to us and make money.

Holly shit could you imagine if they didn't cater to us?

 

I like it when they take constructive criticism and enjoy improving there products. It shows in there work, that goes a long way in the grand scheme of how quality perseveres.  

 

Aw, man, you just made me take a long, hard look at myself.   (Don't tell my wife I collect toys - they're, er, collectibles.)

 

I bet you hate Samsung too. And any car manufacturer other than General Motors.

 

I am a fan of transforming robots, not particularly fan of any company. However, I just want to say that if the market for adult toys was not profitable or big enough as some insist to say in order to support some big companies only making toys for kids, the 3P market wouldn't be growing up the way it is...

 

I love the 3p. Sorry swoop, while I appreciate where you're coming from, but this is a matter of opinion over right and wrong. If it were a matter of infringement, Has/Tak would have stopped it.

 

If you buy Takara stuff, and exclusives, then you can't really say that 3P are "eyewateringly expensive" because buying a Takara figure isn't really much cheaper than buying a third party figure. Same goes for exclusives. Hell, what about Takara exclusives! A 55 deluxe figure? Sure, why not. A $70 voyager, duh. Hell, a crappy bruticus costs $130. The third party stuff is expensive, no arguments there, but when compared to importing any other figures from overseas (as many of these third party figures are), the price difference is much less disparate than it at first seems. If we compare it to US Hasbro releases, then yes, it's astronomically more expensive.

 

same here, bar masterpiece figures, hasbro's been crap lately. i'll buy what's worth it to me

 

I like that you can have a direct relationship with third party companies, like how I can email one of the head dudes at MMC about a replacement part and get some customer service and leave feedback that I feel will get heard.

I know I could email someone at HasTak too, but I just like the more personal feel of the third party companies.