With a slew of non-Hasbro TF's being released over the past few years, which company do you think will go too far and force Hasbro to sue all of these companies out of existence?

I think Igear. Yes, Teletran 1 isn't a full blown Has/Tak/Tomy trademark and I doubt that either company will make a Autobot Headquater Set (unless they Transform and are maybe Real Gear Style TF's) but now making scaled down versions of MP Optimus, MP Megatron and creating MP Coneheads and now even Predaking might be too far. Yes, Fansproject and Perfect Effect are starting to make their own TF's but they alter the robot mode look or alt mode

 

Why do you want to know?

I don't see the point in such threads, it's like poking Hasbro with a stick. The more you rock the boat, more waves are made.

I say - leave the whole matter alone, don't touch, it'll only stink in the end.

 

Totally agree  

 

I think there are fans that simply want to see 3rd parties fail and subsequently shut down by Hasbro/Takara (as is the case with KOs), no matter how futile their incessant questioning may be. I know there are brand loyalists on all TF-related forums that won't go anywhere near items that aren't official or properly licensed.

 

From what I have seen over time, hasbro seems to not care so much if these guys are setting up at Botcon obviously they didn't send some muscle over to trash their booths.

They have better things to use their money for than persuing limitless lawsuits on items that would make probably only make up less than 1% of Hasbro profits.

 

Probably iGear.

But only if they're capable of making enough money to piss off Hasbro which I don't think they're capable of.

This thread is going to end bad.

 

again, these companies are not "3rd parties". That would require being licensed, and legal.

igear is nothing more than a fancy KO maker.

while groups like fansproject are what's usually referred to as a "garage kit company", even though all their stuff is pre-assembled and painted.

 

WAAAAAAA WAAAAAAA WAAAAAAAAA

all the little babies crying about QUOTE " THIRD PARTY " QUOTE TRANSFORMERS......

If you don't like them, don't buy them. Quitcher Bitchin

 

Mature response. Thanks for contributing.

 

Yes, that is how I see these fan groups. They are just garage kit companies focusing on Transformers styled items.

Also agreed that iGear is the shadiest of the lot with their tendency to handle - even if only as a distributor - downsized versions of Hasbro products.

We are all entitled to our opinions. You don't have to be so rude about people who have a stance on something that concerns them. Don't expect everyone to rise up / down to your own personal standards.

 

yes, your 100% right, but people are now finally starting to not worrie so much about ko companies anymore. now i see them as the china encores/ reissues instead of japan. i normally wont buy ko reissues. but takara seems to leave out all of the good stuff like the g1 reissues of the dinobots, devastator, superion etc. those were my favorites as a kid. so i could not hold out and started buying all real and ko. but as far as going over the line. i can see hasbro shuting down a few here and there. but theres just too many sources out of the usa to keep them coming. we might just have to pay more for shipping. but they will always be made. as long as profits keep coming for the ko makers or third party makers as we call them now.

 

iGear are the only one pushing the rest are in a legally grey area that really aren't worth hasbro money or time doing anything about. So lets just leave the issue alone.

 

Hasbro isnt going to shut anyone down. they can't. for the same reason toy companies havent been able to stop KOs for the past several decades. and that reason is simply that china doesnt give a shit about copyrights and trademarks.

 

I hate to say it but KO discussion should go into the religion/politics category. You can't even discuss it without the thread turning into a 40 page "I hate your guts KO LOVER/HATER!!!"


Which is sad because fans need to know about this information.

 

I gear but as others have said there is little they can do outside whats already happening and thats forcing them to sell them themselves due to the online stores based in the US not touching them to avoid any potential legal issues.


IN order for Hasbro or Takara to be able to stop them they would have to be based in the US or Japan or elsewhere they could actually take legal action that would be effective.

I Gear is really pushing it I often wonder just how far they will push it.

 

Definitely this.

I look at it like this. Fans project and others enhance figures you already own, or make you purchase hasbro goods to further enjoy them.

Whereas Igear is more KO to make money, doesn't really care about quality or where it comes from. The scaled down MPs for example.

 

the worst thing is the ko companies are taking all my money. they need to stop putting out so many good awsome things at one time. i mean come on take it easy.

 

I'd imagine iGear would be the one to get slapped down because they're doing KOs and slight alterations of HasTak molds. While Hasbro probably can't take any action against them directly, I could see them asking/demanding that online retailers that do business with Hasbro no longer sell iGear products. IIRC, Hasbro did something like that with other KO makers a little while back, so it wouldn't surprise me if iGear pushes things far enough that Hasbro does the same with them.

FP, Headrobots, Unicron.com and the others are a different story. Many of their items require the purchase of some official TF product or another and they use their own, unique molds rather than just taking a pre-existing HasTak mold and downscaling it and/or making minor adjustments. Can't imagine HasTak getting too wound up about them.

 

Gotta go with iGear. They were already treading the line with the Faith Leader. The "MP" coneheads aren't any better.

If any company screws the Garage Companies as a whole over, it's gonna be them.

 

I'll say iGear.

Having said that, I have to ask this...

Why do people shake the angry gorilla's cage?