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JB0

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Everything posted by JB0

  1. JB0
    Well, what if the runabouts are Super Danubes instead of regular Danubes?
  2. JB0
    "Enemy Strike Jet(tm)" I... I'm not sure that's trademarkable? But keep reaching for that dream, Mattel.
  3. JB0
    They can call it Viacable!
  4. JB0
    Very nice!
  5. JB0
    Same boat I'm in.
  6. JB0
    Nope. The "garage kits" still abide by rule 1 of unlicensed merchandise and don't actively wave it in the rights-holder's face. I confess to being unaware of the connection between Calibre Wings and Black Aces. I think you've really misunderstood me. I'm not saying Calibre Wings are evil thieves that must now be burned at the stake. I'm saying they made a poor business decision that might have serious legal repercussions for them. That's fair, but poking the bear just seems like a really bad idea. I guess if Big West was just completely ignoring them and the company is mostly just one guy, I can see him getting mad and just seeing how far he can push before Big West actually takes notice of his existence.
  7. JB0
    As I said. Rule 1 of unlicensed merchandise is you don't tell the rights-holders you're doing it. Also, the only explicit trademarks on that are the BFGoodrich tires. It is obviously the Mad Max car, but legally proving that it is the Mad Max car instead of just coincidentally similar AND that the Mad Max car design is actually copyrighted is a higher hill to surmount. It doesn't say MAD MAX on the side or anything, it could be ANY Ford with a scoop on the hood. Calibre Wings talked to Big West. And then when Big West said no, they told Big West they were going to do it anyways and announced it in a very public manner. And used clearly-documented Big West trademarked names and copyrighted designs. The pilot labels on the cockpit and pilot figures inside it are what I'd call "enough rope to hang them". Without those, Big West has nothing, but Calibre Wings is apparently insistent that the cockpit say SHIN KUDO and EDGAR LA SALLE in tiny letters. That's where the difference comes in. They stepped out of the gray area and into a more clearly defined territory, and made sure everyone knew they were doing it. By abandoning all pretense of making an original design that is coincidentally similar, they did most of the work FOR Big West's lawyers. I wish them the best of luck, because they need it. I'd argue Big West DOES have something to lose. Harmony Gold is an adversarial licensee who has on more than one occasion attempted to use the smallest of levers to wrest control of the entire Macross franchise away from Big West, and continues to file trademarks solely for the purpose of interfering with Big West's business. Any license extended to someone with a Harmony Gold license could be used as evidence that Big West acknowledges the legitimacy of Harmony Gold's expanded rights and broad trademarks. Were I in Big West's shoes, I'd take a similar hard-line stance to Harmony Gold licensees.
  8. JB0
    And I judge no one for that. I can be excited about the drama without also hating the folks that just want cool toys to whoosh through the living room. I think they would've been better served by letting an unrelated third party (that they bribed under the table) create some aftermarket pilot name decals, and made the pilot figures DYRL-style instead of Zero-style. And, you know, NOT used actual Macross Zero footage to promote the release. They can get a DYRL license through HG if they don't have one already, and the pilots would be "close enough, I guess". Then they could just declare it a low-viz Macross F-14, like their existing black+red "stealth" F-14. Big West would still be apoplectic, but they'd have a harder case without any explicit Macross Zero connection. I mean, Big West doesn't own the idea of a gray F-14. But that's all water under the bridge now. (They really never should've talked to Big West in the first place. I'm going to assume they were simply unaware know how bad the relationship between Big West and Harmony Gold is, and believed securing a Macross Zero license would be as easy as getting the SDF Macross license was.)
  9. JB0
    Not gonna lie, I'm mostly watching this thread to see how much excitement the "not a Macross Zero release, honest" release generates. Regardless of my opinions on if this is a cool release or not, I think it is an incredibly bad move for the company. Rule 1 of releasing unlicensed merchandise is you don't tell the rights-holder that you're going to make unlicensed merchandise. Especially when the rights-holder is actively antagonistic towards another company you do business with, and just itching for an excuse to sue everyone associated with them. Right now, I'm just curious who will move faster. Will Big West sue Calibre Wings before or after Harmony Gold cancels their Robotech license? (I have exactly zero idea how their Tomcat license will be affected by this. There's clearly some franchise activists making sure that Northrop-Grumman is aware, but I don't know that they actually CARE about decades-old cartoon rights disputes. )
  10. JB0
    That is exactly why I clicked into the thread.
  11. JB0
    Well how else are they supposed to sell you Yet Another Optimus next year if this one's perfect?
  12. JB0
    I just barely dodged being stuck with my high school nom de plume, "Jack Daniels". I thought it was hilarious at the time for some reason.
  13. JB0
    Dark Forces used LucasArts in-house JEDI engine. It is very very far past what Wolfenstein 3D was capable of, and even a good deal ahead of Doom. JEDI is roughly analogous to the BUILD engine used in Duke Nukem 3D, though the two have diffrent strengths and weaknesses.
  14. JB0
    Dark Forces was the bomb. Dear Disney: BRING BACK KYLE KATARN! Sincerely: An old fart.
  15. JB0
    I punched a dinosaur to death once in Star Wars.
  16. JB0
    In before someone gets rid of the dirt and repaints the head for a Leader-1 custom. (Yeah, yeah, wrong jet. I know.)
  17. JB0
    The only FarCry I've played is Blood Dragon.
  18. JB0
    At least they're being honest about their recent work?
  19. JB0
    I hope in true inept fashion, the big unveil is the Back to the Future Transformer that sold out in seconds a week ago.
  20. JB0
    Oooh. That's very tempting.
  21. JB0
    Oh my, that's adorable.
  22. JB0
    I am just assuming this Starscream toy will be slavishly toon-accurate, omitting any detail that would be visually interesting... And that it will nonetheless be based on his appearance in the most toy-accurate episode they can find, so his entire robot torso will just be hangin' out on the underside of the plane like the best toy engineering 1983 had to offer.
  23. JB0
    Don't forget how they were hyping the show as having Star Trek's "first black female captain", the press kept insisting that meant both first black captain and first female captain, the studio did NOTHING to correct that misperception, and Sisko and Janeway fans just seethed in rage(not that either of them was technically first either).
  24. JB0
    I just love this picture. It implies that Menasor doesn't so much transform as he does "dress himself", and it makes me smile to imagine him picking up his shirtsleevebots and putting them on.
  25. JB0
    They copied the X-Wing books, and did it badly.
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