ROTF Manufacturer

LD2062 · Post by **LD2062** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 3:46 am

I noticed on some ROTF figures I got that now the stamps say Hasbro and Tomy. What happened to Takara?

Banzai-Tron · Post by **Banzai-Tron** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 4:00 pm

Nothing happened to Takara, really. In about 2006, Takara and Tomy merged. They decided to use the TOMY name internationally (because it is better known) and Takara within Japan. At first thought, as TF fans, you might not think of TOMY as having higher name brand recognition... until you realize that virtually ALL of Takara's star products are licensed out internationally (Hasbro in the US; GiG and MB in Europe, etc).

Silverbolt · Post by **Silverbolt** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 7:26 pm

That company also makes the famous tamiya model kits too

Hey while we're on the subject of product labeling... My BW silverbolt had kenner on the box. Don't they make MASK?

Banzai-Tron · Post by **Banzai-Tron** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 8:15 pm

Yes, Kenner made MASK. After it was clear G2 was an utter failure, Hasbro asked then recently acquired Kenner designers to revamp the Transformers franchise. Amazingly, they did such a good job with the figures that Takara licensed them! (Of course, the CGI was horrible, so after dubbing the first season, the Japanese then made two REALLY nifty cel-animated seasons as well as several Japanese exclusive figures.)

Oh, and NO, neither Takara nor Tomy has ANYTHING to do with Tamiya. (Okay, well they had *something* to do with them... but just a few collaborative efforts with Tak/Tom. Tamiya is it's own, VERY successful company.)