Joking aside, in all honesty, I don't doubt there's at least some collusion on a factory level between the big dogs and the yappy pups. The proliferation of 'KO' Transformers and their speed to market - look at Barricade now and the Titans Legends debate last year - does suggest someone is making a quick buck off factory rejects not intended for retail.

Outside of that being a way of maximising ones losses and some likely sharing of designers, keep that tinfoil hat away from me.

 

That.

But tinfoil hats are SO fetching.

The sheer speed of beating Official Product to market with some extremely well-done supposed KOs is what gives me pause for thought. They really can only replicate the stuff with at the least early access to the official, perhaps even ripping off some molds I could accept. So while Hastak "involvement" isn't there, their "materiel" is. Probably.

I also don't doubt that some fraternisation has to have been occurring between some of the 3P Players and Official Info Sources at the very least. Fanstoys "knowing" about MP36 is a known example of foreknowledge being used to their advantage/Whateverthehellthatwas.

The other quirk isn't disputable. Bandai do seem to be able to keep a chokehold on their IP. Despite China. So a model for Hastak to follow if they ever really are bothered about IP Protection is there. That they obviously don't (and aren't the only Big Company not to do so) is where your choice of design and shade in tinfoil can have full range to indulge itself.

Secret Knowledge is fun.

 

@motorthing - on Bandai, the Cy-Kill faces that come with Bike Robo DX are not included in the packaging nor mentioned at all in any part of its packaging/instructions, just a baggie in the shipping packaging. Interesting...


..given that it's Hasbro who owns the Gobots these days.

 

It’s “only” -1 here today but guess who has to go to a mandatory outdoor team building excercise tomorrow. Yay!

 

And "Action Toy" had to actually go get a license from Bandai to make them - they've only got the license for one Machine Robo/Gobots Film, not the regular series or access to all the toy designs so that's not the pattern we've seen with Hastak IP. Bandai probably would have gone after Action Toy if they hadn't.

And as Action Toy are a bunch of Maketoys "affiliates" and they put the Designer's "handle" on the boxes there is certainly food for thought there. Bandai at least know who those guys are, so it's not like Hastak couldn't find them too.

And stop making that damned thing look viable for buying. I do NOT need to get into upsized Gobots......

 

Come now, PM Ironhide as least had elbows and a face




Now, Staxx can go fuck himself, the poor bastard's only facial feature is a nose, everything else it just, flat.

 

I felt the same way after playing Life is Strange, very annoyed I waited 2 years to play it....I might have gotten over it by now if I had

 

Shut the fuck up and go hit Kapow immediately.

 

Basket!!

 

Snow! As old as man itself! It's pretty much melted into icy sludge in Leeds now. Still enough to make a bus ride intolerable.

Bot of the day!
For me, Rewind is the best of the '86 Cassettes (Black's cooler than blue. Sorry Eject.) and the best of the TR tablets. The G1 isn't a patch on yer Rumble/Frenzy, but I still like him better than Ramhorn, Steeljaw, and Ratbat. Yes, I consider the G1 Rewind better than Ratbat. I love that the TR version has all that lovely IDW character, even if it's largely just down to his head sculpt. I can even forgive the silly hulk arms.

 

While that 3p conspiracy thread is a bit tinfoil hat, I'd genuinely love to know why Hasbro haven't gone after 3p companies. There are some quite obvious ways to at least make life difficult for them, yet they seem happy to let them continue. I've not seen many other companies with such a lassez faire attitude to ip theft.

 

Wideload should be a dump truck. I like Humvee transformers, but he needs to be a neon orange and blue dump truck.

I love a good conspiracy theory!

Photo of the day! No snow here at the moment (actually its a bit sunny), but I'm hoping there is a proper snowstorm overnight to safe me having to make a work trip.

Jesus, that thing doesn't have a mouth, because if it did, all it would do is scream

 

Funnily enough, Life is Strange is next on my list! Glad to hear it’s just as compelling.  

 

Probably because 3rd party products (the expensive, new mould collecter's figure's) don't really compete with Hasbro's output due to the price. KOs are a different matter.

 

It is quite compelling, although some of the dialogue is a bit clunky. Enjoy!

I was fiddling about again with POTP Starscream last night, thinking how it would make for a good Skyquake figure. Then it struck me. Because POTP is so short, it'll never happen now. No Knockout from Jazz, no Thunderclash from Optimus. No gift sets because of how poorly apparently they sell (aye right, try finding a TR gift set) and no FunPub giving us weird/ imaginative repaints in their botcon or TFCC lines. It bummed me out a bit.

Always the hope of the odd Hasbro exclusive like Arcee and Grosteque I suppose.

It is a shame, so much more that could be squeezed out of the line. War for Cybertron will need to be pretty special.

 

Ok, so since X-mas me and the Kids have been on a rediscovery of Beast Wars (not the most popular topic in here i know) and that's inevitably lead to digging out old figures - and discovering to various extents how good or bad these 20 year old toys were/are and how they have weathered the decades, and reassessing the MPs that I bought almost as a matter of course and pretty much put aside because there was so much else happening.

I'm glad I bought them now.

Rebuying MP Cheetor to replace the one I broke, and getting MP38, which I'd previously dismissed without comment, have just highlighted to me how much this series, and at least the Series One guys meant to me.


This thing is freaking gorgeous.



Like most of us G1 was what brought me here, it's the thing that hooked me, it's certain select Toys and Comics that still mean the World to me and always will do. It's Genisis. Alpha. But not necessarily Omega.

Beast Wars hooked Adult me. When G2 rather disappointingly fizzled away Beast Wars stepped in and is basically the reason why 49 yr old Me is still in this game. I wouldn't have been here for MP01, Binaltech, Car Robots, Masterpiece, Generations and everything that came with it.

So not for the first time, Optimus Primal really did save the future. Mine at least.

Trukk and Munky. Forever.

 

That stubble face actually had me checking the Kapow site! Sadly out of my price range but what a corker! Especially if they give Leader-1 the same treatment.

Well, Sod's Law innit? And it makes me the Sod, as I got in touch with ID Toys due to tracking still not being live when I checked this morning, only to have to send a grovelling apology as it just activated about Half Ten!
At least I can have a more relaxed wait now, eh? *Sigh* Typically the time something actually does go FUBAR I'm all chilled about it (and Andy steps up & sorts it out, bless 'im, meaning only a minor delay) and this time when I stay on top of it I end up hassling a poor, innocent retailer! D'oh!

 

This MP Cy-Kill has me thinking more along the lines of a robo Homer Simpson.

 

Well that's my good deed for the community done. Sent EvoChanger a couple of TF's for free as he was feeling depressed over twitter the other day. Leader Sentinel Prime was the main thing I sent him, but I threw in an AOE Voyager as well. Not saying what as I want it to be surprise...though honestly it'll probably be a bad one XD.

 

I think the key to understanding how 3Ps and KOers get away with it is down to location. I had a conversation with someone years ago about Japanese semi-official bootleg CDs and the gist of it was that there is basically zero enforceable copyright law there, and I get the impression that China and outlying areas are even worse.

I would think that if Hasbro were the parent company of Takara and they were both solidified as operating in the US, things might be a little different as far as making life harder for US stores to stock 3P and KOs, but because it's all far-east based, it's basically seen as fair game.

I mean, we KNOW employees and factories leak original designs for financial incentive and it's safe to assume that even for HasTak, design to factory time isn't exactly short, so it is entirely plausible that someone operating below the radar can get KOs or variations out pretty damn quick smart.

But, I do look good in tinfoil.