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Look on the back of your FOC figures, or any Hasbro figure for that matter, and it will say "Manufactured under license from TOMY Company, Ltd." AKA Takara/TOMY.

slimjim0 wrote:Hasbro uses Takara's molds, the original G1 figures say Takara Hasbro on them, somewhere down the line Hasbro separated from Takara (or vice versa) but Hasbro still uses all of their molds. You won't see a Hasbro figure/mold that's not also produced exclusively by Takara in Japan. With that said, all of the molds/figures should operate the same, but you're going to see massive amounts of redeco's, i.e. Takara Nemesis Prime (AM) vs. Takara Dark Guard Prime vs. Hasbro Optimus Prime (Voyager - Prime line) vs. Takara Optimus Prime (AM) and so on, and so on. But all of those figures are built from the same mold just look different. As someone pointed out above, Takara uses much less paint on their figures than Hasbro. Takara still uses the old school method on many of their figures which is stickers. I do like some of the Hasbro figures better because of this. I really think the whole fascination behind Takara products is two fold: the rarity and the exclusive figures that Hasbro might not offer, i.e. AM-19 Gaia Unicron. Hasbro still doesn't have a "Prime" Unicron and might not, so that's why I ordered it from Takara. I may be wrong on some of the above points, but that's how I see it! Anyway, hope this helps!

I'm afraid you have it backwards my friend. Hasbro owns the Transformers Brand and does most of the design work. Takara is utilized for their production facilities and are brought in every now and then to assist in the design process. This is why you don't see a figure released in Japan until after it sees release in the US - Hasbro gets first crack at the mold.

There are exceptions of course, such as the PRID Breakdown mold, which didn't meet toy laws in North America and thus could not be used, and the Masterpiece line, which Takara designs on their own with blessings from Hasbro.

And also, in the 80's when Transformers first hit the shelves in the U.S. Hasbro could not figure out how to design their own figures because of the intricacy of the parts. That's why they hired Takara to do all of them. Hasbro concocted Transformers after one of their guys returned from a business trip in Japan and saw all of these amazing transforming figures without a storyline. That's when Hasbro decided to breath life into them (good vs. evil) and design the cartoon, comic books and toys. Check out the documentary in DVD deluxe box set for the complete first 4 seasons of G1 Transformers. Hasbro had the idea for Transformers and Takara was already designing the toys. The success of Transformers was so fast and immense that they couldn't waste time trying to create their own. The first set of Transformers (G1 Starscream, Skywarp, Thundercracker for instance) were already existing molds/toys in Japan. Hasbro picked a handful of existing toys from Takara for "good and evil" and began designing the comic book and cartoon around them. That's why all three seekers were the same with different decos, to get it out fast.

And straight from the horse's mouth (Hasbro), they just said that "TOMY is the originator of the molds". Just got off the phone with them, no sh*t.

slimjim0 wrote:And straight from the horse's mouth (Hasbro), they just said that "TOMY is the originator of the molds". Just got off the phone with them, no sh*t.

Sure you did.

slimjim0 wrote:And also, in the 80's when Transformers first hit the shelves in the U.S. Hasbro could not figure out how to design their own figures because of the intricacy of the parts. That's why they hired Takara to do all of them. Hasbro concocted Transformers after one of their guys returned from a business trip in Japan and saw all of these amazing transforming figures without a storyline. That's when Hasbro decided to breath life into them (good vs. evil) and design the cartoon, comic books and toys. Check out the documentary in DVD deluxe box set for the complete first 4 seasons of G1 Transformers. Hasbro had the idea for Transformers and Takara was already designing the toys. The success of Transformers was so fast and immense that they couldn't waste time trying to create their own. The first set of Transformers (G1 Starscream, Skywarp, Thundercracker for instance) were already existing molds/toys in Japan. Hasbro picked a handful of existing toys from Takara for "good and evil" and began designing the comic book and cartoon around them. That's why all three seekers were the same with different decos, to get it out fast.

That part's accurate. The microman series was an ok seller in Japan at the time, but it wasn't going anywhere. Hasbro invented the brand/storyline around them and made them into huge sellers. The rest is 39 years of history.

And straight from the horse's mouth (Hasbro), they just said that "TOMY is the originator of the molds". Just got off the phone with them, no sh*t.

Oh? Who'd you talk to?

Hugh G. Rection, I have no idea some rep, call 800-255-5516. She spoke to a supervisor and then looked up some stuff on their "intranet". But, I'm not blowing smoke that was directly from them. This has always been the case. Hasbro outsources like crazy, they don't do any of their own sh*t. Not saying it's a bad thing.

And in response to the Breakdown and Unicron molds, why would Hasbro waste their time making those two molds exclusively for Takara/TOMY and never release them here? We outsource everything to them. If Hasbro proposed that to them they would laugh in their face. They can bang those out in their sleep for a fraction of the cost. Exactly why Hasbro outsources to them and they are the "originators" of the molds.

I just got off the phone with the President of Hasbro and he said "I design all the molds myself. Say 'Hi' to slimjim0 for me!"

GuyIncognito wrote:

slimjim0 wrote:And straight from the horse's mouth (Hasbro), they just said that "TOMY is the originator of the molds". Just got off the phone with them, no sh*t.

Sure you did.

Maybe you missed this above:

Look on the back of your FOC figures, or any Hasbro figure for that matter, and it will say "Manufactured under license from TOMY Company, Ltd." AKA Takara/TOMY.

GuyIncognito wrote:I just got off the phone with the President of Hasbro and he said "I design all the molds myself. Say 'Hi' to slimjim0 for me!"

That's funny, because I just talked to him and he said, "I can't believe GuyIncognito has been a member since 2007 and doesn't know this sh*t already!"

slimjim0 wrote:

GuyIncognito wrote:

slimjim0 wrote:And straight from the horse's mouth (Hasbro), they just said that "TOMY is the originator of the molds". Just got off the phone with them, no sh*t.

Sure you did.

Maybe you missed this above:

Look on the back of your FOC figures, or any Hasbro figure for that matter, and it will say "Manufactured under license from TOMY Company, Ltd." AKA Takara/TOMY.

So you confirm my initial statement that Hasbro uses Takara for its production capabilities. It says nothing there about who designed the thing to begin with, only who pumps them out.