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JB0

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Everything posted by JB0

  1. JB0
    Same.
  2. JB0
    There are definitely some visible similarities, but it could easily be parallel evolution rather than evidence of relation. Or, in light of current continuity, they could both be based on the same form of vajra. But that's just speculation.
  3. JB0
    Gerbils and squirrels? My dog's gonna grand cannon this mess if you ain't careful.
  4. JB0
    It could easily be that the protoculture initially thought that zentradi infantry was a good idea and changed their minds in favor of all-mechanized after the size decision was "set in stone".
  5. JB0
    In fairness, I'd put less weight on the YF-29 part of that equation and more on the Max part. He could outfly them in a literal cardboard box.
  6. JB0
    I like the way you think!
  7. JB0
    Same.
  8. JB0
    Eden 3: Eden 1, But Less Ragweed.
  9. JB0
    Dear Microsoft: Excellent. Now remake Rock&Roll Racing. You can afford to license the music.
  10. JB0
    And then a toy-style chest plate! Seriously, the chest plate is the most jarring part to me. But that's also a harder part to swap without explicitly considering partswapping in the design.
  11. JB0
    Given Hasbro's focus on price, I'd expect they would want a license to make their own VF-1. Which I'd be fine with, as long as they didn't try to tech up the skin with widgets like they did with Siege. I think they'd have to go through Harmony Gold. Far as I know, HG still has exclusive SDFM and DYRL merchandising rights outside Japan. This DEFINITELY won't sit well with Takara, no matter who they get the license from. Generations Jetfire is probably the closest we'll ever get. Le sigh.
  12. JB0
    I really hope this becomes a trend where there's an arsenal variance. Packing in both styles of weapons is really nice.
  13. JB0
    I'm really glad there's a toon-accurate Skyfire toy out there. Always thought Skyfire looked really cool. I'd also really like to see a modern VF-1 toy painted in Jetfire colors released in the crossover line, but there's pretty much zero chance of that.
  14. JB0
    Copyright is not as broad as all that. They can't use the specific molds of those toys without a license. Nothing stops them from making their own similar toy, as long as it isn't a direct 1:1 copy. The liberties taken with Roadbuster and Whirl were in the name of making them more resemble fictional depictions of the original toys. Were the original toy concepts anywhere close to as legally protected as you allege, the modern versions would not be changed enough to avoid issue. Classics Jetfire is a special case for several reasons. The Classics line was very much about not being slavishly accurate to the toon or original toy, but creating updated and modernized versions of the concepts. For a more slavish homage, they had the GI Joe Skystriker remold. (Harmony Gold DID file suit over that one, which isn't a surprise but also isn't strong evidence of anything.) The VF-1 design might be trademarked, which would gain it a much stronger level of legal protection. But it is the only one of the above designs that would have an active trademark(and frankly, the only one that would've ever been trademarked in the first place). Coincidentally, the VF-1 is also the only one that has any relevance to Bandai today. Odds they remember owning the Deluxe Insecticon molds are slim. Odds that they would notice a vigorous homage are even slimmer. Odds they could do anything about it if they did notice are very close to zero. ... And odds that they WOULD do anything about it if Hasbro steamed ahead without them are exactly zero. I'd actually forgotten until I was poking around just now, but they HAVE remade one of the deluxe insecticons twice(the first time as a ridiculous targetmaster partner, the second time as a surprisingly effective repaint of Shrapnel). http://tfu.info/1985/Decepticon/ChopShop/chopshop.htm http://tfu.info/2013/Decepticon/GenLegChopShop/chopshop.htm http://tfu.info/2016/Decepticon/CWChopShop/chopshop.htm
  15. JB0
    I mean, they've made updated Jetfire, Whirl, and Roadbuster before. Bandai owning the original molds doesn't stop them.
  16. JB0
    My insecticon wvs Shrapnel, but I think Kickback was the coolest-looking. And that one sure tickles my interest.
  17. JB0
    The most important feature! I actually like the extra lines and knobs in his boombox mode. They make him look more like a real boombox.
  18. JB0
    How different that might've gone if Sound Force had been active... Actually, ignoring that the entire thing is non-canon, could that have also been an impetus for the military's funding of Sound Force? The desire for a weapon more effective against the zentradi than reaction warheads, and that can't readily be turned against other humans.
  19. JB0
    Except the DS9 Defiants.
  20. JB0
    If the released toys look like that, I'm down for a few.
  21. JB0
    I dunno... with as much smug self-righteous arrogance as their leftovers display, the protoculture might've needed LESS Jeff Goldblum.
  22. JB0
    Also, Phantom Menace was NEW STAR WARS OMG! Lucasfilm and Fox weren't telling people to hit the theaters en masse just to watch the trailer. And they darn sure weren't telling Warner to advertise it in their ads for "competing" films("If you see one movie this summer... make it Star Wars. But if you see two movies, see Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me."). You can't exaggerate how big a deal it was, because things that actually happened sound like wild hyperbole. The hype was through the roof, and it was impossible for Phantom Menace to live up to it even if it had been good. I don't think the demand was there for a new Matrix in the first place.
  23. JB0
    So... did they ever explain how those prosthetic runes they were wearing were supposed to work? Because it seemed on the face of it to be an INCREDIBLY bad idea to wear prosthetic replicas of an organ designed to facilitate some level of empathic communication. My impression was that every windermerian they walked past should be going "wait, I can't feel their rune... is that actually just a chunk of plastic?", but no one blinked twice. I don't really want to just bag on the show for the sake of it, but that was actually the point at which I stopped cutting the writers any slack because it made so little sense, and I'd like to know if this is a case of "there is a perfectly logical explanation for why this worked that was buried in one of the tie-in comics" or if they really did just completely forgot that the windermerians don't wear costume jewelry in their hair.
  24. JB0
    ESPECIALLY if the resulting mess involves a protoculture relic that might cause galaxy-spanning disruption. Earth is going to want to have words with you afterwards. Lots of words. Most of them harsh, and delivered to the inside of a thoroughly unpleasant cell.
  25. JB0
    Yeah, I think that's one where the writers expect us to take away "Look at these windermerian jerks using legal nitpickery to deny our heroes their rights!" and didn't really consider what they actually just said was "our heroes are literally war criminals".
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