The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[Silverstreak]

So it was in development even before the listings of Ultra Magnus appeared?

Correct.

So I heard an interesting piece of gossip that's a bit on the 3rd party topic.

Apparently, takara staff leaked the Snarl design out to 3rd party because they were pissed they weren't getting paid enough.

Looking at the mold it seems legit. Look at the legs.. they basically look like grimlocks, and it has a polish that even the scoria release doesn't have.

I highly doubt there is any truth to that rumour. Where did it start? That sounds like the sort of thing that, if you could spread about your upcoming release could greatly improve your sales if people were to believe it.

[JB0]

If there's one MP that's unlikely to happen, it's that. From what I've heard, HasTak no longer has the rights to that mold/design. The ONLY way to do it is unlicensed! And FT already did it. 3 runs worth. Even many of the diehard "official-only" collectors were swayed by it. What market is left? It'd be like doing an MP Huffer at this point.

Well, they didn't use the original mold for Alternators, or Prime, or Robot Heroes, or... you get the picture.

The original Astro Magnum design isn't trademarked, copyright doesn't really apply unless it's a reproduction of the original(which I'd totally buy!). Nothing stops it from being done, or Hasbro and Takara would be in a good deal of trouble.

Even if it was an obstacle, they could probably buy it outright for a good price.

I don't think ToyBox has any USE for Astro Magnum anymore.

What concept? Humming a tune, and owning the copyright for lyrics and musical arrangements is not one in the same.

Last time I checked a cartoon character was protected under character trademarks.

If he's homing an original tune, it IS copyrighted. Copyright is automatically granted at the moment of creation, though legally proving it may be difficult in this case.

Character trademark is a bit more complex than that, though I grant that Hasbro and Takara have trademarks on most of their Transformers back catalog at this point.

And unlike copyright on a toy mold, trademark DOES cover "that looks pretty similar". You don't even have to be the first person to do it to get the trademark. For an example we all know, see Harmony Gold trademarking "Macross".

Going back to the above example... ToyBox reissuing the AstroMagnum might actually set off lawsuits for infringing on HASBRO AND TAKARA'S trademarks, even though ToyBox CREATED the dadgum thing. Which would be hilarious. Wrong, but hilarious.

I'm SURE they'd set off trademark lawsuits if they reissued him in purple, again in spite of the fact that they created the thing in the first place.

Basically, I'd go after unofficial Transformers under trademark law, not copyright law.

And that's ALSO why the unofficial toys are named Citizen Stack and Mania King instead of Ultra Magnus and Galvatron.

It's harder to prove that plastic robot A's silhouette and paint job is infringing on the trademark of plastic robot B than it is to prove that they named plastic robot A Ultra Magnus. And yes, everyone knows exactly what he's SUPPOSED to be, but legally proving that would be difficult.

Also, if they're too blatant about it, Hasbro and Takara HAVE to sue, because you lose a trademark if you don't defend it.

Citizen Stack is actually playing dangerously close to the line in that regard, since Hasbro likely DOES own the trademark on a transforming robot truck named Stacks, though it'd be a hard trademark to defend since it's a generic word and I don't think they've used it even once since they bought Kenner.

(I say they LIKELY have the trademark since there was a lot less concern about every last name being trademarkable back in the day, and I don't have a Go-Bots catalog to check for little TM symbols.)

Anyways, as long as they aren't using the official names, it's probably better for Hasbro and Takara to ignore it entirely. The goodwill they will lose with the fans will cost them a lot more money than the very limited competition is.

Yes, they'll lose a few sales of MP Magnus to Citizen Stack, but they'll probably lose a lot more sales if they start firing lawsuits and make the fans angry. MOST of the people that buy the unofficial toys ALSO buy the official ones, and quite a lot of the official ones at that. It's rarely a good idea to anger your best customers.

[Scyla]

*snip*

Anyways, as long as they aren't using the official names, it's probably better for Hasbro and Takara to ignore it entirely. The goodwill they will lose with the fans will cost them a lot more money than the very limited competition is.

Yes, they'll lose a few sales of MP Magnus to Citizen Stack, but they'll probably lose a lot more sales if they start firing lawsuits and make the fans angry. MOST of the people that buy the unofficial toys ALSO buy the official ones, and quite a lot of the official ones at that. It's rarely a good idea to anger your best customers.

For me it was never a question to buy MP-22 or Citizen Stack. If there is an official Takara product in the Transformers toy line I collect I will go for it and ignoring any unofficial product. I would love to see Masterpieces of the Feralcons, Dinobots and Stunticons but it is unlikely (i.e.is not cost covering).

I think no company will go into direct competition with HasTak yet. FT canceled their Masterpiece scale Soundwave clone and I also agree with Silverstreak that KFC would've never release their car carrier had they knew that Takara is developing a MP Ultra Magnus with an all-in-one transformation.

However I think companies get more daring as time goes by and HasTak does nothing so maybe someday they need to draw a line and shut this down. I however will still have my MMC Warper (best 3rd party toy in my collection) to swoosh around.

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

sooo i guess nothing new on the encore line... everyone's talking about 3rd party stuff on the first aprty thread, encore is first party, right

anyways, i never look at the third party thread. i only look here bc i'm only interested in 1st party stuff. taktomy should come out with a MP modern version of the rub on symbol to authenticate their stuff from knocks offs and make people feel good about owning 1st party stuff.

they should make some iphone app that can detect some hidden ink using the bar scanner app. lol

ah yes snarl and swoop... i remember them coming later as snarl was the first dinobot i played with at my friends house. really good memories.

Edited June 26, 2014 by davidwhangchoi

[Kurisama]

...taktomy should come out with a MP modern version of the rub on symbol to authenticate their stuff from knocks offs and make people feel good about owning 1st party stuff.

That's... actually an amazing idea.

[Scyla]

Well HasTak could buy the rub signs from Reprolables and put them on their products.

[JB0]

True story: I'm tempted to just buy a sheet of faction symbols and apply them to every device in the house.

Because I am a mature adult.

[Kanedas Bike]

sooo i guess nothing new on the encore line... everyone's talking about 3rd party stuff on the first aprty thread, encore is first party, right

anyways, i never look at the third party thread. i only look here bc i'm only interested in 1st party stuff. taktomy should come out with a MP modern version of the rub on symbol to authenticate their stuff from knocks offs and make people feel good about owning 1st party stuff.

*snip*

they should make some iphone app that can detect some hidden ink using the bar scanner app. lol

ah yes snarl and swoop... i remember them coming later as snarl was the first dinobot i played with at my friends house. really good memories.

Right? I thought I was the only one who felt that way re: current discussions.

And new rub-off faction stickers would be WIN. Loved those things as a kid.

True story: I'm tempted to just buy a sheet of faction symbols and apply them to every device in the house.

Because I am a mature adult.

Do it. Doooooooooo iiiiiittttttttt!

-b.

[mikeszekely]

Denver and Slag Barney are the only Dinobots that matter. Fact.

Fixed.

[Gakken85]

MP Magnus vs Citizen Stack---hard to have a debate about the two in a single area. No different over at TFW. The Citizen Stack thread can be mainly about Magnus at times, and vice-versa.

Doubt it. *Snarl* had a finished engineering design ready to go from the MP team? He's not even one of the original Dinobots. (see: first appearance) There's a lot more "top tier" characters to do in the MP line before him. It's a whole lot more likely that Gigapower (that's who made that proto) simply copied elements of MP Grimlock.

Looks like they were working on all 5. Maybe that was the one that leaked. I don't think our idea of who should be in the top tier of importance really matters. (Starsaber for example.)

Anyway, it's an interesting rumor.

[anime52k8]

Denver littlefoot and Slag Barney are the only Dinobots that matter. Fact.

Fixed.

if you're going to correct something, do it right.

[Gakken85]

Pics of the King re-issue up on ebay.

Looks identical to the first run from what I can tell.

[valhary]

I want this

[Benson13]

Would you guy buy a Hasbro Optimus Prime G1 type for $60?

[RD Blade]

You mean Commemorative Series? Comic Edition? Loose? MISB?

The 25th Anniversary Comic version from a few years back was about $60-$70 retail.

[Benson13]

You mean Commemorative Series? Comic Edition? Loose? MISB?

The 25th Anniversary Comic version from a few years back was about $60-$70 retail.

It's loose. Missing one piece, no box. Finding out more details.

[RD Blade]

Surprisingly, that looks to be the going rate these days. Could be increased nostalgia/demand due to the movie.

[Gakken85]

Loose G1's go from $50-100 bucks depend on the character, if it's complete ect.
Some go for more.

Most of the dinobots loose will fetch $100-120 bucks depending on chrome wear.

I know the headmasters will get $100+

If you're missing a piece you probably lose 20 percent of the value.

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

Could be increased nostalgia/demand

love original optimus: i hope you find a g1 prime Benson

[JET7]

dino bandwagon..

[abbadon]

Saw those in RCH as well. Nice Grimlock collection!

[jenius]

love original optimus: i hope you find a g1 prime Benson

Were the kids faces blurred out when that originally aired? It makes it kind of creepy. I also like the early Megatron.

[skullmilitia]

You Gus are crazy, I had a hard time selling a complete boxed G1 prime for anything more than 120$!

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

Were the kids faces blurred out when that originally aired? It makes it kind of creepy. I also like the early Megatron.

no, it was just that youtube vid ,

here's a collection of commericials with their faces intact.

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

I also like the early Megatron.

opss! forgot to mention that megatron was based off the marvel comic design. the comics came out first with the toys.

this was the first commercial ever. i remember seeing it as a kid and thought it was just for a comic book. i got really hooked. and i went out and brought the comic.

Edited June 27, 2014 by davidwhangchoi

[Gakken85]

Damn, Blaster was so out of scale

I like the idea of somebody doing a macross style video like those commercials, except the transformation takes 20 minutes haha

That megatron looks more like the Browning counterpart from Mico Change line. Maybe they got confused haha

Edited June 27, 2014 by Gakken85

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

Damn, Blaster was so out of scale

I like the idea of somebody doing a macross style video like those commercials, except the transformation takes 20 minutes haha

here's a macross design in one of those commercials

[Gakken85]

hah I love the clicky sounds when they put the gun in it's hand.

[Hikuro]

actually reason for the kids faces to be blurred is due to legality issues. They don't have permission to use the kids likeness. It's just easier. They've been doing the fuzzy face thing for a REALLY long time now when it comes to those old commericals.

[Mechapilot77]

man its a shame the animation in those commercials is better than most of the animation in the toons...which were mostly crap, although you'd get a nice sequence for like 5 seconds of good animation at a time once in while.

[Gakken85]

So check this out.

1. Random seller in Taiwan lists a MP08x with a "mystery accessory"

2. Now BBTS is listing this:

NOTE - 'Please Note: This version of the MP-08X is now available with a special 'Mystery Accessory'. We currently do not have any specific information about this accessory other than it will come in a relatively large additional box or package (currently estimated to be 3" x 4" x 4" in size). Unlike most other Masterpiece accessories, we are being upcharged to receive it. This additional cost and the increased inbound air shipping fee results in a $20 price increase over the version without the accessory.

This is what is listed on the preorder page on BBTS for the mystery accessory.

20 bucks for a throne?

Is it plastic? Is it cardboard?

I guess if it's that size and it holds his weight it has to be plastic.

[technoblue]

Could be interesting if it has a decent amount of detail, but I'm sticking with the vanilla MP-08X. I really like what Takara/Tomy did with this alternative color scheme and I think it's great to have another chance to pick it up. The unique packaging is another bonus.

As for cost, I think MP-10 (G1 Colors with trailer) still tops the chart as my most expensive Macross/Transformer purchase.

[anime52k8]

Is MP-08X worth $60 more than regular mp-08 with a crown and flame sword?

[technoblue]

Good question. I think so. What attracts me to the figure are the extra paint apps and the added detail in the sword. MP-08X also has the eye gimmick that MP-08 has, so I think the only trade off for either version is paint/parts (and price).

[jenius]

I think it looks WAY better than the standard release.