I only collect masterpieces. Hasbro/Takara doesn't seem to care or have the licenses to finish the G1 cast. 3rd parties are half of my collection. Since there will never be a masterpiece G1 Jazz or Cliffjumper, I'd probably stop collecting since I'd never have every G1 character.

 

I was tettering on the cusp of starting collecting GI Joe again some years ago, but Hasbro were being Di**s and preventing perfectly legal Hasbro International licensed Funskool Gi Joe items, by purpose or lazyness. Customs kept ceasing them - and despite the paperwork being perfectly legit people were bringing containers of the stuff in and getting it ceased. I think that whole situation, just put me off Gi Joe and I stopped buying it completely - both as a older toys and up the point it died a natural death - if i'd been feed a constant supply of interesting Funskool items that would have supported my interest - instead that lack killed it.

My interest (not a very high one already) in Movie toys is supported by KO a 3rd party offerings 1st - if Those stopped, my interest in buying official Hasbro Movie related products would likely totally stop too.

I'm already only buying Cyberverse as it's there. If they keep making mediocre toys like Cyberverse as their lead item I can see me being prepared to change over to the buying model I had for Nu-RID (which worked pretty well in general) which was ignore it completely and pick it up only when on sale or 2nd hand. Siege isn't a line I can even say I collect - as it's more like Chase than Collect as it's a complete pain to find anything - as NO ONE IRL stocks it (around here) - it's effectively an internet exclusive to me.

So if anything kills the idea of collecting official toys - it won't be my choice so much as it will be Hasbro's distribution reaching a point where the line effectively ceases to exist at the point the distribution becomes impossible - at least Transformers has an online presence - If you collected Action Man when that like was dying - it was impossible to find that at all - it died off simply as no one was stocking it even though the line was supposed to be around - it just wasn't.

Blocking Ebay is possible as I saw Netclow got some items pulled as they'd advertised them incorrectly as Transformers when they were not - so perhaps eBay might be bullying people into listing items by their 3rd party KO names - which does make them a little harder to find - I didn't even know BMB's Ironhide was out for that reason.

If something gets to expensive or becomes a pain to chase I will likely fall out of the habit of buying it - that has already happened with Mastermind Creations - they got to expensive so I stopped buying their stuff.

 

I only collect certain 3rd party accessories that work wth Hasbro/Takara products. I think if 3rd party figures were banned for sale by online retailers like BBTS, they could still be purchased and imported from China, but 3rd party accessories for HasTak items would still be allowed for sale at places like BBTS since you need to buy a HasTak product to utilize them. So that symbiotic type of 3rd party item would still be allowed, but original figures would not.

 

I forgot to say, let's fast forward three years and its 2022 and thanks to 3p, we have excellent representation of all S1, S2, S3, and S4. Pretend that Hastak won some type of international law suit ending 3p and the intellectual property vs products inspired by debate (or whatever you may call it). For me if all or 90% of all those characters are made, I would be done with G1. I will still buy Tfs made by Flame Toys, 3A, and Takara, and let's say Hasbro is still producing Tfs at the current seige line quality. I will not be buying anything hasbro, unless it's a decent citybot like Metroplex and crew or a combiner like CW Devasator (G1 design and aesthetics). I would end up saving a lot of money. The only things that I probably buy from Hasbro are select Star Wars pieces and if Hasbro ever does a G.I. Joe A Real American Hero Black Series.

 

Takara has taken too long to release bots I really want, so I'd be done at this point.

First Takara changed the scale after a few bots, then a few years later they changed the style and now their new sales gimmick is making 2.0, 3.0, and so on to ensure that the older releases now have a look that makes them more compatible with the newer releases. In a few years, we'll need Prime 4.0 and Megatron 3.0 to match their newest releases and they'll probably both be over $500 by then because why not.

I won't have a problem affording the inevitable Takara Optimus Prime 4.0 but I have drawn the line at this point. I passed on MP-44 and I'll pass on most if not all "updates" with the possible exception being the Seeker's, unless they're around a $300 price point OR a Third Party company makes a much better version first.

 

Currently a 65/35 split for impact/no-impact after a curious jump in the "no" category in the past couple hours, possibly from 1P-onlyists spreading the word to come vote here. Prior to that it was closer to 3 out of 4 that said it would have some impact on their collecting. It's nearly impossible for anyone who collects 3P MPs to not have an impact on their collecting if 3Ps went away, because HasTak so rarely puts out an MP anymore, and even fewer are G1 MPs, and of those not all are worth the increasingly exorbitant prices.

 

I voted no, because obviously there are some highly anticipated MP figures coming out. I wouldn't mind a Zeta defensor, but if that doesn't happen, I have to say 3P hit its peak about a year ago with me. Phoenix, Grinder....were checked off my holy grail.

I kind of still want Quietus,

 

No. Hasbro/Takara continue to create a product that me and my family enjoy. They hold the right to produce the product. I absolutely enjoy 3rd party figures but I have been always been surprised that they are allowed to produce them.

 

yeah i'd keep collecting. I'm not going to cut my nose off to spite my face. It would slow down but we're getting close to slowing down anyways.... we're about 2 years away from all the main season 1-3 characters being done in legends and Mp classes.

 

Very few people would do that and I think the OP clarified that wasn't what he meant with the poll. Rather, would it impact the speed at which you collect. And of course it would if you collect any 3P figures, because HasTak sure isn't giving any signs they would have any reason to speed up their MP release cadence. In fact, without competition, they might just slow it down further to eek out more repaints, reissues, and raise prices further.

 

Since a big chunk of the 3P offerings are MP and legends scale, of which I dont collect, it wouldn't affect me in the least if they went away.

On the flip side, i would ask if the 3Ps put out original designs of transforming figures would you still buy them? Or is the tie to the franchise that has kept you loyal to buying 3P?

 

I'd be into original transforming robot toy characters. For sure. So long as they aesthetically fit into the rest of my collection. In fact that sounds like a really really great idea!

 

I like Transformers as a brand, so I'm very interested to see what the ycan come up with with the brand. SO I'd supporting them as long as I can. For me, the 3Ps are not transformers

 

Without third party I'd probably be down to buying maybe one or two figures a year... I only really buy masterpiece scale (G1) and idw inspired figures so given there's very little of that coming through official channels my collecting would really grind to a halt. There's also the chance that if that were to happen I'd just lose interest and either just pack everything up, or even worse sell up and find a new hobby.

 

I am primarily a CHUG collector.
Occasionally I get a nice figure... made by 3P. If 3P was gone I guess I wouldn’t be getting those options.

At some point I’ll realize how self defeating TF collecting is.

 

Why would I stop? We've had it really good for a long time. If legalities put a stop to it then it is what it is. If Takara makes a good product I'm going to buy it. If that ever happened I wouldn't be surprised if we saw something positive like more official licensed 3p figures.

 

As others have said, it's not stopping out of some kind of moral stance.
It's stopping because you just aren't able to get what you want anymore.

I want all G1 Characters in a consistent size and scale (MP). I know that Takara is never going to give me that. Between BW, Bayformers and now random Japanese only figures, G1 is less and less of a direction for MP. They will never do every G1 character. NEVER.

So that means, if there are no 3rd Party MP's, I'm never going to get an MP Broadside, or an MP Abominous. I will never get to finish my collection. I'll end up with about 2/3rds of a collection (if I'm lucky).
And the occasional bot that Takara does release that meets my standards would never be enough to finish that collection.
So I'd just stop.
Keep a few of the highlights that I really like (My Primes and Megatrons, maybe Soundwave and the Seekers, the Dino's) and I'd sell off the rest.
It's like those folks who collect baseball cards or the like. Most don't want half a collection. I don't remember a catchy Pokemon jingle... "Gotta catch most of them"

I'd spend my money on something else, and chances are it wouldn't be a Hasbro or Takara product, so they'd lose what little they do get from me.

 

I said no. 3P was always just a way for me to plug in gaps where Hasbro was lacking. When 3P combiners were all the rage years before Combiner Wars, I was doing those guys for instance. 3P did Insecticons before Hasbro did the Generations ones, and 3P gave me my first Reflector before Siege came out. Gave me a proper Liokaiser and Sky Lynx. But what with Siege being so deliciously G1 I don't really have to look to 3P much right now, as Hasbro is doing a good job of actually doing characters that I want figures of. So, I voted no. I'm still more of an official collector than a 3P collector.

 

I love Transformers, I've seen the originals, I've seen reboots and I've seen incredible lows. 3rd party was a fresh take and shook everyone up. They made it so I could have a complete collection and figures I hadn't even begun to dream of.

You kill that, you kill probably 50-75% of collecting for me. Right now, official works because they're actually competing. Take that away and we're back at Has/Tak's mercy and let me tell you, that's not all it's cracked up to be.

 

Not to mention, getting that complete collection BEFORE dying of extreme old age!