There is one thing I do not understand about some knock-offs. Example, a lot of the WST Transformers are not official or haven't been made by anybody else. For instant, the WST Devestator, Defensor, and other combiners. So, if these are "originals", how can they be called knock-offs? I have not seen any "official" ones from Hasbro or the makers of the official WST Transformers. So what gives?
It comes down to "knocking off" Hasbro's intellectual property. It would be like getting a talk show and doing David Letterman's Top 10 list.
I myself do not cosider the justit toys stuff and similar figures to be knock offs. Basically, I only consider figures that are made to be similar to current toys or made to look exactly like older toys (G1) to be knock offs. With that said, I do feel like justit and the others are kinda filling the gap for the small amount of people who want the toys they make
^This. well, i think that there is a mistake being made with the combiners. the WST combiners might be KO's of the Micromaster combiners (or Universe 1.0 sets). from what i have seen of them, i personally do not call them WST's. they are still KO's. as for the WSTs and their KO's, that's another thing. Really, WST's are such a small niche and my own desire to have new items, i don't nitpick over what's KOs with them. it isn't scientific, but works for me.
I really don't care much about Knock-offs as long as I Know I'm buying a Knock-off. That said, I plan on getting all of the WST Transformers no matter who makes them as long as they look the part, and help fill in gaps to the collection. I was impressed with m WST Optimus Prime and thus plan on getting more. I wonder if the WST combiners actually separate into smaller figures like their original counterparts.
Umm... JustiToys doesn't have any license from Takara to be producing and distributing Takara likenesses and trademarks. They're knock-offs. Also, you're contradicting yourself- "Basically, I only consider figures that are... made to look exactly like older toys (G1) to be knock offs." Undersized and oversized knock offs are commonplace. That's all they've done for their WST figures- make drastically undersized KOs of G1 figures.
Knock-off: a copy or imitation of something popular If it's the same design and not officially licensed, it's a KO...even if you change the size. What I don't understand is what does it matter whether you call it a knock-off or not? Are you going to buy or not buy based on whether or not you deem it a KO?
Pretty much anything not produced by Hasbro or Takara falls under knock off. So it can vary from the amazing quality of some of the third party stuff to cheaply made copies. Just because something is a knock off it doesn't automatically make it a bad product it just means that is not an official product.
Technically, you may be right, however, I do not care about being right. The way I feel about is the way I feel about it, so nany nany booboo
I disagree with this. You can debate whether FansProject and the like are breaking the law with their product, but they're original designs and therefore not KOs. Transforming Power Ranger or Macross toys aren't made by HasTak, but you wouldn't call them KOs...well, shouldn't anyhow.
There's definitely a distinction to be made between the cheap stuff pumped out in Chinese factories and the quality stuff made by talented fans. If you want a further distinction among the quality stuff, it's between things that are completely new designs as homages to old HasTak stuff (City Commander armor, Warbot Defender, Shadow Warrior) and things that are original molds but still designs taken directly from HasTak stuff (justitoys WSTs, justitoys MP Prime Trailer, masterpiece Megatron accessory kit, igear Elegy). Putting names to the three different categories is harder though. Nothing comes to mind.
