UN Spacy Posted March 22, 2017 Posted March 22, 2017 Not supporting this...but if this is prevalent with the Transformers/Gundam market it was only a matter of time. http://m.intl.taobao.com/search/search.html?q=macross KO Quote
505thAirborne Posted March 22, 2017 Posted March 22, 2017 So are these just bogus listings or is someone actually/physically making unlicensed toys? Quote
Mommar Posted March 22, 2017 Posted March 22, 2017 it's hard to tell given the prices for each one are different from each other. Quote
anubis20 Posted March 22, 2017 Posted March 22, 2017 They are preorders for bootleg copies of the VF-1 Arcadia had a recent post about it on their site. http://arcadia.ac/user_data/notice5.php Quote
big F Posted March 22, 2017 Posted March 22, 2017 (edited) So when this happens to Hasbro Takara they have the weight of a bank vault full of cash, and expensive lawyers to throw down a challenge to the IP breaches. How well financed is Arcadia ? This could break them if it gets outta hand. Edited July 19, 2017 by big F Quote
UN Spacy Posted March 22, 2017 Author Posted March 22, 2017 Been reading some comments on IG and FB. I can't believe some Macross fans are gonna buy this crap. Quote
dizman Posted March 22, 2017 Posted March 22, 2017 I'm surprised there is a big enough market to warrant reverse engineering the V2 VF-1 but then again when a real Max 1J is going for $600 I suppose there is money to be made. Guess we all have to pay a little more attention to what we buy these days. Doubtful that Arcadia will pursue legal action, I don't think Takara pays it much attention either with the transformers KOs. Quote
derex3592 Posted March 22, 2017 Posted March 22, 2017 I can't wait to see and read the horror stories of breaking parts and people crying about quality, and it will be the exact same people that cry about Arcadia pricing. Quote
Tking22 Posted March 22, 2017 Posted March 22, 2017 I don't bother with 1/60 anymore, but if the quality is decent I'll grab a few as gifts for friends. A lot of my friends always liked my 1/60 stuff, but screamed like girls when I told them prices, and now the prices are even worse. I've never shied away from KO or third party, so I'll give one a whirl someday after a review. Chances are good RocketPunchArmy will review one when they're available, he always reviews KO Transformers and other stuff. Quote
HardlyNever Posted March 22, 2017 Posted March 22, 2017 This broke about a week ago in this thread. There is pretty good discussion on the pros and cons, and it seems like most people are wanting to wait and see (at least I am). For my part, I don't have a lot of love for Arcadia, but I have serious doubts about the level of quality on these knock-offs. Quote
big F Posted March 22, 2017 Posted March 22, 2017 Hasbro Takara have made examples of a few KO producers. They don't bother so much with the crappy look a likes or the over sized KO's As they are obviously not genuine. Quote
spacemanoeuvres Posted March 22, 2017 Posted March 22, 2017 Yeah, I'm curious. Will be hard to resist purchasing a KO just to check quality. Would be nice to have a KO to play with while keeping the real thing behind glass (on display). Quote
spanner Posted March 22, 2017 Posted March 22, 2017 not that I want to support a KO toy manufacturer but it would interesting to get a hands on with one to see how well they are made? Might be good for spare parts though! Quote
Slave IV Posted March 22, 2017 Posted March 22, 2017 Will see how it goes. MP Transformer KOs have often been better quality than the originals and if that's the case here and Arcadia does not reissue M&M, the KOs will be very tempting. Quote
amptor Posted March 22, 2017 Posted March 22, 2017 Looks good to me. Valks are being way overpriced lately. I'd like to see some at decent prices. Look at the current bandai offerings. Really miniature valks at the steepest of prices. I'm not too happy with that. Count me in on some bootlegs. Even Yamatos had problems with yellowing and broken joints. I doubt this will be a bad thing. Quote
spanner Posted March 22, 2017 Posted March 22, 2017 I guess.. and being so cheap will be a better option for customization! rather than using expensive genuine / originals. Quote
spanner Posted March 22, 2017 Posted March 22, 2017 there have been knock off's of the original 1/55 scale toys yes? Quote
frankell05 Posted March 22, 2017 Posted March 22, 2017 The issue is that the bootlegs will have the adverse reaction of causing the originals to go up in price, if the original manufacturer has to now deal with losing business to bootlegers. I use to not care about bootleg stuff, until i realized amazon and ebay have become a mayor detriment to medium business catering to collectors and smaller groups in general. to the big companies it may not brake them, but to to other companies , it can cause major damage. I have opted to buy from reputable sources, including movies , books , etc,just cause because I want them to still make stuff. same for book stores and comic stores. (even though though the stuff is more expensive, amazon doesn't allow you to brows through a book the way you can in a real bookstore, or talk to real people) Its tempting to get stuff at cheaper prices, but in the end the quality will probably be crap anyways. Quote
treatment Posted March 22, 2017 Posted March 22, 2017 2 minutes ago, spanner said: there have been knock off's of the original 1/55 scale toys yes? Yes. Joons and stuff. There were also bootlegs of the the 1/65 Bandai Macross7 toys, which were actually better than Bandai's own toys, iirc. Quote
Slave IV Posted March 22, 2017 Posted March 22, 2017 18 minutes ago, frankell05 said: The issue is that the bootlegs will have the adverse reaction of causing the originals to go up in price, if the original manufacturer has to now deal with losing business to bootlegers. I use to not care about bootleg stuff, until i realized amazon and ebay have become a mayor detriment to medium business catering to collectors and smaller groups in general. to the big companies it may not brake them, but to to other companies , it can cause major damage. I have opted to buy from reputable sources, including movies , books , etc,just cause because I want them to still make stuff. same for book stores and comic stores. (even though though the stuff is more expensive, amazon doesn't allow you to brows through a book the way you can in a real bookstore, or talk to real people) Its tempting to get stuff at cheaper prices, but in the end the quality will probably be crap anyways. Nothing to argue here and you should do what you do. I'll just say that whatever happens, sombody will still make stuff for us to buy so I'm not too worried about it. I just see it as competition. There is a basic rule in business that asks the question, "is your business easily duplicated?" It's on them to deal with it and we are just part of the market that dictates what the value of anything ends up being. Quote
neoexcaliber Posted March 23, 2017 Posted March 23, 2017 (edited) 2 hours ago, Slave IV said: Nothing to argue here and you should do what you do. I'll just say that whatever happens, sombody will still make stuff for us to buy so I'm not too worried about it. I just see it as competition. There is a basic rule in business that asks the question, "is your business easily duplicated?" It's on them to deal with it and we are just part of the market that dictates what the value of anything ends up being. Why are you not taking intellectual property into account? We're not talking about duplicating a business but duplicating unlicensed products by piggybacking on legitimate investments by the rights holders and licensees. The main reason these toys are so appealing is because they're tied to a media that we're fond of. The media gives these toys value and by stripping away a part of their incentive, you're discouraging the holders and creators of the franchise even if this particular instance doesn't do much damage. I don't know if toys contribute that much to Big West's coffers but that would just make it easier for them to cut off that segment if it's no longer profitable. That being said, I do understand there's a demand that the rights holders are not fulfilling but I see bootlegs as a short-term fix with long-term effects. There's no stopping bootlegs. We can't even stop piracy. Edited March 23, 2017 by neoexcaliber Quote
Slave IV Posted March 23, 2017 Posted March 23, 2017 (edited) 3 minutes ago, neoexcaliber said: Why are you not taking intellectual property into account? We're not talking about duplicating a business but duplicating unlicensed products by piggybacking on legitimate investments by the rights holders and licensees. The main reason these toys are so appealing is because they're tied to a media that we're fond of. The media gives these toys value and by stripping away a part of their incentive, you're discouraging the holders and creators of the franchise even if this particular instance doesn't do much damage. I don't know if toys contribute that much to Big West's coffers but that would just make it easier for them to cut off that segment if it's no longer profitable. Because if you are a business that takes advantage of low labor rates in a country that doesn't care about your "intellectual property" rights then again, it's on you to calculate the risks involved. Edited March 23, 2017 by Slave IV Quote
Loop Posted March 23, 2017 Posted March 23, 2017 (edited) I know Arcadia is a smaller outfit and may not have the resources to fight this at all, but I wonder if Big West would get involved in any way? I also don't think I will support these at all, I already have all the original v2's from the Yamato days and also have the Arcadia duplicates so I dont really see a need for them in my case. Edited March 23, 2017 by Loop Quote
Cowboy17 Posted March 23, 2017 Posted March 23, 2017 predicting this thread is gonna get ugly... Quote
treatment Posted March 23, 2017 Posted March 23, 2017 16 minutes ago, Loop said: I know Arcadia is a smaller outfit and may not have the resources to fight this at all, but I wonder if Big West would get involved in any way? I also don't think I will support these at all, I already have all the original v2's from the Yamato days and also have the Arcadia duplicates so I dont really see a need for them in my case. Like I said in the Arcadia-thread when this news was first reported, it'll be interesting to see what and how Arcadia is gonna respond to combat this issue. Not really sure BigWest or any entity can do anything about the problem, anyway. Bootlegging Macross toys (or any Macross-related stuff) ain't exactly a new phenomenon. Quote
sh9000 Posted March 23, 2017 Posted March 23, 2017 KO company, do the 1/60 Regult and 1/60 v2 GBP Armor. Quote
neoexcaliber Posted March 23, 2017 Posted March 23, 2017 (edited) 2 hours ago, Slave IV said: Because if you are a business that takes advantage of low labor rates in a country that doesn't care about your "intellectual property" rights then again, it's on you to calculate the risks involved. IP protection should go both ways, especially when it comes to media; the rights holders and those who consume the media. Surely the fans have a part to play as well. The onus cannot lie with the licensees/rights holders alone. Edited March 23, 2017 by neoexcaliber Quote
hachi Posted March 23, 2017 Posted March 23, 2017 11 minutes ago, neoexcaliber said: IP protection should go both ways, especially when it comes to media; the rights holders and those who consume the media. Surely the fans have a responsibility as well. The onus cannot lie with the licensees/rights holders alone. Well, it's China so... Anyway, personally, I wouldn't go for KOs. I prefer legit when it comes to toys. But if they're better than the real ones wouldn't one be tempted? Quote
treatment Posted March 23, 2017 Posted March 23, 2017 18 minutes ago, neoexcaliber said: IP protection should go both ways, especially when it comes to media; the rights holders and those who consume the media. Surely the fans have a part to play as well. The onus cannot lie with the licensees/rights holders alone. Well, the fans wants to consume some stuff and are ready and willing to pay for it. In fact, pretty much begging for the stuff. The "rights-holder" does not offer the stuff and seemingly continually ignoring the fans about it. So, then, now what? Do you expect the fans to just continue to be ignored and just twiddle their thumbs about it? Quote
pengbuzz Posted March 23, 2017 Posted March 23, 2017 1 hour ago, Cowboy17 said: predicting this thread is gonna get ugly... You may be right, but I really hope it doesn't go that way. As to the topic at hand: while it's tempting to go for a cheaper valk, I just would not be able to bring myself to do it (had I the funds). Quote
spanner Posted March 23, 2017 Posted March 23, 2017 im just keenly curious to see if they have actually made any improvements to the original design! Which I kinda doubt anyways.. So maybe I'd pick up one for that reason. And or maybe to customize.. Quote
seti88 Posted March 23, 2017 Posted March 23, 2017 (edited) TAMPO. Darn arcadia should have addressed that hole long time ago. As long as original toy companies maintain their engineering standard, they should be ok. I tried some gundam KO's kits but went back to bandai because of the fit/finish and proportions. That being said, KO's are competing more with toynami and HG, since they might have similar quality 'plastics' but slightly better execution/proportions. C'mon HG where is your weight pulling now huh. Edited March 23, 2017 by seti88 Quote
treatment Posted March 23, 2017 Posted March 23, 2017 lol! It'll so damn hilarious and rather quizzically ironic if these upcoming KOs proves to be Toynami/MPC KOs. AHAHAHAHAHA!!! Quote
jvmacross Posted March 23, 2017 Posted March 23, 2017 2 hours ago, sh9000 said: KO company, do the 1/60 Regult and 1/60 v2 GBP Armor. no, seriously....it'd just cost a dollar! LOL! Quote
seti88 Posted March 23, 2017 Posted March 23, 2017 13 minutes ago, treatment said: lol! It'll so damn hilarious and rather quizzically ironic if these upcoming KOs proves to be Toynami/MPC KOs. AHAHAHAHAHA!!! 5 minutes ago, jvmacross said: no, seriously....it'd just cost a dollar! LOL! Quote
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