3rd party TFs questions

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Rhymus
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3rd party TFs questions

Post by Rhymus »

Almost everything i know about TF toys comes from browsing TFWiki.net (supplemented by looking at MISB TFs on sale in toy stores and department stores, plus my collection, which might not be small but is miniscule compared to how many figures are out there).

In other words, i know almost NOTHING about 3rd party TFs.

So, some questions:

According to http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Knockoff, knockoffs are illegal, because they replicate the molds/designs for real TF toys. Are 3rd party TFs illegal? They might be original molds, but from what i've seen they still replicate the looks of real TF characters, and isn't that protected intellectual property too?

Then again, kitbashing is legal (isn't it?) and i think selling kitbashes is probably legal, and how different is that?

Well, legal or illegal--who makes/sells 3rd party TFs? i know, i know--3rd parties. What i mean is, are there companies known for making 3rd party TFs, or is each 3rd party TF pretty much the only TF design its designers produced? Do any 3rd party TFs get sold in stores (that is, actual buildings), or are they only available online?

One really specific question: TFWiki sometimes shows an ad for Reprolabels.com featuring (i think) a 3rd party Reflector. But the ad is not the best picture of the figure, and i'm curious what the full figure looks like. (Whatever you think of Reprolabels' products or business practices, for some reason i have the worst time trying to navigate their site.) The ad looks like this: http://www.projectwonderful.com/img/upl ... 472578.jpg
and links to this: http://reprolabels.com/Classics/
One shall stand; one shall fall; and the one who stands shall help the one who falls to stand once again.
--Rhymus (also known as STARS Commando 539, also known as transit)
Roadbuster
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Post by Roadbuster »

Knock Offs that blatantly copy or make use of an identical casting mold used by Hasbro (or stolen/borrowed molds) are illegal. iGear is in hot water for this right now with Hasbro over their recently produced PP03 series (or Masterpiece Seekers). With the only thing different is the hip kibble. It is extremely difficult to prosecute companies for copyright infringement when they're headquarters is in another country....especially a communist one like China where 99.9% of your 3rd party manufactures originate. They do not adhere to the same business principals that we do and Hasbro would have one hell of a time shutting these 3rd party manufacturers down because of it. Not only that but all a 3rd party manufacturer would have to do (in an international court of law....pffft...lol) is prove that their product differentiates from the original IP by 51% and they win.....simple as that. The most Hasbro can hope to accomplish is bully North American online retailers (like TFSource and BBTS) that cater to these 3rd party manufacturers by refusing to offer their product to them if they continue to deal with said 3rd party manufacturers....But then collectors will just import them from Robot Kingdom or some other other foreign online distributor. In short....there's not a damn thing Hasbro can do. Even if they were lucky enough to shut one down, they'd just reappear under a different company name and set up camp again.

EDIT: For some reason the actual characters names used by Hasbro are taboo and aren't used with other 3rd party products. But we all know who they are supposed to be. :P

That picture you're referencing is the Perfect Effect 11 Scouting Force Reflector. An awesome rendition of the original Reflector (but a bit smaller). All-in-all....I highly recommend checking it out. A solid addition to your Classics/Universe collection! :wink:

EDIT #2: There are LOTS of 3rd party Transformers companies....too many to be named here. But if you check out www.bbts.com or www.tfsource.com they have an all encompassing list there at your disposal. And yes....most 3rd party companies have more than just 1-2 releases to "hang their collective hats on." And yes....they are also sold at brick and mortal stores as it's been noted that China retailers are carrying/catering to a lot of the 3rd party manufacturers. Over here in the USA? Doubtful....online is the only option up to this point. Hasbro is probably the major reason for this.
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Rhymus
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Post by Rhymus »

Thanks for your reply (and links!), Roadbuster! i'll have to think about it a while to see if i can follow the logic (or if it's simply an illogical situation). As you say, we all know who they are supposed to be*--and not only are they recognizable imitations, the ones i've seen are often preferred for having greater accuracy or other improvements--so it seems to me that even if a 3rd party figure is at least 51% different from the TF toy whose character it resembles, the 3rd party figure still infringes on the intellectual property** of the TF character (and/or character model).

(*Name games with such characters as Silverstreak and Shockblast come to mind, but that's a whole different issue.)

(**IP = Intellectual Property. i figured it out eventually. Brain glitch--i kept trying to figure out why you were talking about Internet Protocols...)

It is also my understanding that designing a TF figure is the most expensive part of the figure's creation process, and my impression that authentic Hasbro/TakaraTomy TFs sell at lower cost than 3rd party ones because they can be produced and sold in greater numbers. So it seems to me that both Hasbro/TakaraTomy and the 3rd parties would stand to profit more if the 3rd parties would sell their designs to Hasbro/TakaraTomy for use as official TF products, which could then be (do i hear an echo?) produced and sold in greater numbers.

As C-3PO put it, "Sometimes i just don't understand Human behavior."
One shall stand; one shall fall; and the one who stands shall help the one who falls to stand once again.
--Rhymus (also known as STARS Commando 539, also known as transit)
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