That, and for some reason, people are ok with buying "4th party" but poo-poo buying a KO. It's mental gymnastics for fanboys.

"4th party" is just KOs. Doesn't matter if it's a KO of Hasbro or 3rd party toys. Addon kits for official or 3p are also 3p. Official product can be 3p as well, for instance, the ThreeA Bumblebee movie figures are all third party, since Hasbro doesn't have control of the company. What we commonly call third party is technically "unlicensed third party product". Similar to off-brand video game controllers in the 90's.

Not everyone understands. It's often asked by people. It's fine in the forums, but it's confusing to rational, sane people outside of the fandom. Tell a family member you just preordered a 4th Party Shockwave and they'll look at you like you are speaking gibberish.

 

No, that would still be a 3rd party. It would be a 3rd party to the primary manufacturer/consumer.

 

For fucks sake. 4th party=KO because STORES named it that. We simply go with it. No one cares what term it uses as long as the product exists.

 

I thought 4th party were KO's with upgrades like IT and THF. As already stated, they are KO's and nothing more.

 

Don't be ridiculous, people already think I'm speaking gibberish any time I talk about the fandom, whether I go into any of the specifics of 1st, 3rd, or 4th party. Ironically, its the "rational, sane people outside of the fandom" who typically think my 1st party releases are the cheap KOs, not the actual KOs themselves. 

 

Nope. A lot of search engines flag KO and knock-off, also, a lot of people feel guilty for buying a "knock off". They feel fine buying a "4th Party".

It's like going to a 5 star restaurant and looking at the menu... which sounds yummier? Chilean Sea Bass or Patagonian toothfish? Rocky Mountain Oysters or Fried sheep testicles? Pate de fois gras or inflamed fatty goose liver?

All marketing.

 

SO HOW 'BOUT THAT ZETA TOYS/STUDIO CELL UNICRON FIGURE

 

See that's what I thought but then I looked into it. Um... not because I'm a nerd with too much time on my hands. It was a for a very important reason. Really.

I care. The stores can call it whatever they want but that doesn't mean that I'm going to.

 

We are in agreement but did you mean to respond to another member the naming choice by stores? I personally could care less what they are called so long as they are not listed and sold as official products. And this is someone that buys from all pools i.e. Official, 3P, KO's, 4th, and if they one day exist, 10th party products.

Anyway, I'm a bit concerned with the two package deal with this Unicorn. I'm already being bent over a chair on the shipping issues (movement and added cost) so I hope this doesn't screw the low prices we locked in with free shipping before everything went up in pricing and then the loss of air shipment.

 

Oh don't you bring Transformers Satan into this discussion! You know how religious talks go here!

 

I assume ShowZ is gonna just collect the head and body and ship them together? They mention in the write up that it will come with the head. Hopefully I’ll be able to ship it to Canada by the time it releases

 

If I say Studio Cell's name three times in front of a mirror will that make him get released faster?

 

Only if you have a picture of his Harbringer, Hot Rod, behind you.

 

Do it in a room with a lot of mirrors for added effect

 

The biggest issue people have with the parties definition is that there are different usages for the terms. There are 1st, 2nd, 3rd party for competency (self, family, institution), 1st, 2nd, and 3rd party for software (1st: Sony, 2nd: Insomniac - owned by Sony, 3rd: Capcom), and business risk management has 1st party to infinity party, all based on businesses that represent your business interests at various levels.

It gets really confusing WITHOUT pirates muddying the waters. ARRRRRRR!

 

Third party is a good thing in all other industries except the Transformers fandom.

 

Tell that to video game companies in the 1990's - 2000's. Nintendo and Sony were at war with 3rd party accessory companies making $20 controllers, $10 memory cards, $5 cables, etc. They both had ads in magazines reminding buyers to look for the "OFFICIAL" seals on product. They had all the magazines doing articles about how 3rd party product use voids system warranties, and could negatively affect gameplay. Finally, they gave up and made licensing agreements with Pelican, Madcats, etc. Figured it was better to get a piece of the pie than waste millions on an uphill battle.

Also, 3rd party is a good thing in Transformers, too. Wizards of the Coast do the Transformers card game. That's a 3rd party product. ThreeA does 3rd party product. Super7's retro transformers are 3rd party. Hasbro just doesn't allow shape-changing Transformers 3rd party product. That falls on the unlicensed third parties outside of Hasbro's control.

 

Wasn't the term third party in the game industry for developers other than the system manufacturer?

 

"Anything is good as long as I benefit."

Any objections?

 

I'm ready to pre-order this guy. Does anyone happen to have a handy list of all the websites that still have it available for pre-order and/or which is the cheapest option.