Seibertron.com Energon Pub Forums

daimchoc wrote:

Rated X wrote:

I personally find it amusing how they distingush which 3rd party figures are modest IP theft vs. blatant IP theft. It's like one big joke. If your Fansproject or TFC, your blatant IP theft gets downgraded to modest IP theft. But if youre a small, up and coming company you get no love.

Well, TFC/FP at least is using a different name and they don't even use the insignias... Art Feather's BB is really that bold.

See thats where our opinions differ. Thats the kind of boldness I respect. BBTS and TF Source make more money from 3rd party items then they do from Hasbro stuff anyways. So they dont need to appease Hasbro. These companies target audiences are adult collectors. Let Toys-R-Us worry about keeping Hasbro happy.

Sometimes I wonder where the line is for things that are too far for BBTS or TFSource. KOs are obviously out, but what Delicate Warrior ok, but not Hegemon? How do the Impossible Toys products get a pass?

I guess it depends on the person and the character. Megatron's a flagship character. Arcee's not. May be that.

And on 3rd party stuff earning more $$$ than Hasbro / Takara stock ...

Fansprojects has made .... how many items? In their entire existence? Compared to just Hasbro's classics lines? (which sell out). Yeah, I don't care how much more expencive the price is, Hasbro stuff bring in more money. By sheer quantity it brings more in.

Rated X wrote:

daimchoc wrote:

Rated X wrote:

I personally find it amusing how they distingush which 3rd party figures are modest IP theft vs. blatant IP theft. It's like one big joke. If your Fansproject or TFC, your blatant IP theft gets downgraded to modest IP theft. But if youre a small, up and coming company you get no love.

Well, TFC/FP at least is using a different name and they don't even use the insignias... Art Feather's BB is really that bold.

See thats where our opinions differ. Thats the kind of boldness I respect. BBTS and TF Source make more money from 3rd party items then they do from Hasbro stuff anyways. So they dont need to appease Hasbro. These companies target audiences are adult collectors. Let Toys-R-Us worry about keeping Hasbro happy.

Sure.... Yet Art Feather is not selling their wares directly, and that product is basically a KO with updates. The base is that of the classics BB. TFC/FP doesn't use any of HasTak's figures as base. FP did have the add-ons, and the full figures that they made are from scratch. BBTS/TFSource/KapowToys all have ties with HasTak, so in essence they still at least, respect that connection. Unless you actually walk in their shoes (BBTS/TFSource), that line of thinking is not going to sit well with others.

Putting myself in the shoes of a retailer... I imagine there would be certain products that would make we worry about receiving a "cease and desist" letter. Art Feather BB would definitely be one of them.

Yeah, Art feather BB is a stright up KO. It's a KO done with skill, a re-shell many collectors will be interested in, but there's no fundamental difference between it and ... http://chimungmung.com/product_info.php?products_id=172 something like that. Not really. They both copy Hasbro's copyrighted toy and change it up. And not intellectual copyrights either - toys get copywritten based on scuplt. There was a whole craze when people found the Japanese patent office and "new" pics of BW Neo Unicron that way.

Hasbro contols .... how many products now? Transformers, GIJoe, My Little Pony (off the top of my head) and BBTS should give ALL THAT UP to please the 3rd party market and 3rd party fans? To be "ballsy"? Yeah, no. No, that'd just be stupid. There's no possible way all the 3rd party items combined makes more than all the Hasbro takara stuff combined. If Hasbro is going to boycott them for selling KOs then we should be grateful Hasbro doesn't boycott them from selling any 3rd party toy period! Because they really don't have to be nice and allow guys like BBTS that option. They can be total dicks about it and say "no 3rd party toys period or we won't ship to you".

Gauntlet101010 wrote:Sometimes I wonder where the line is for things that are too far for BBTS or TFSource. KOs are obviously out, but what Delicate Warrior ok, but not Hegemon? How do the Impossible Toys products get a pass?

I guess it depends on the person and the character. Megatron's a flagship character. Arcee's not. May be that.

And on 3rd party stuff earning more $$$ than Hasbro / Takara stock ...

Fansprojects has made .... how many items? In their entire existence? Compared to just Hasbro's classics lines? (which sell out). Yeah, I don't care how much more expencive the price is, Hasbro stuff bring in more money. By sheer quantity it brings more in.

Hasbro crap is just a small percentage of BBTS stock. Their specialty seems to be adult collectibles ranging from science fiction to comic book characters. Hand half of that stuff is 3rd party. TF Source might sell more hasbro stuff since it seems to be dedicated to only Transformers and related products. If it werent for 3rd party stuff, who would waste their time shopping online ? I can get all the Hasbro crap in retail.

Rated X wrote:

Gauntlet101010 wrote:Sometimes I wonder where the line is for things that are too far for BBTS or TFSource. KOs are obviously out, but what Delicate Warrior ok, but not Hegemon? How do the Impossible Toys products get a pass?

I guess it depends on the person and the character. Megatron's a flagship character. Arcee's not. May be that.

And on 3rd party stuff earning more $$$ than Hasbro / Takara stock ...

Fansprojects has made .... how many items? In their entire existence? Compared to just Hasbro's classics lines? (which sell out). Yeah, I don't care how much more expencive the price is, Hasbro stuff bring in more money. By sheer quantity it brings more in.

Hasbro crap is just a small percentage of BBTS stock. Their specialty seems to be adult collectibles ranging from science fiction to comic book characters. Hand half of that stuff is 3rd party. TF Source might sell more hasbro stuff since it seems to be dedicated to only Transformers and related products. If it werent for 3rd party stuff, who would waste their time shopping online ? I can get all the Hasbro crap in retail.

Your point is utter nonsense. They constantly sell out of Hasbro stuff regardless of your participation (and Takara, who you HAVE to import, although you keep on forgetting about them). I'd like to see some hard evidence of your point other than just what you suppose is true. Why would they turn away the TON of stuff they sell out of all the time, that arrives consistantly to import VERY pricy 3rd party stuff that MIGHT come in at some future point?

Gauntlet101010 wrote:Your point is utter nonsense. They constantly sell out of Hasbro stuff regardless of your participation (and Takara, who you HAVE to import, although you keep on forgetting about them). I'd like to see some hard evidence of your point other than just what you suppose is true. Why would they turn away the TON of stuff they sell out of all the time, that arrives consistantly to import VERY pricy 3rd party stuff that MIGHT come in at some future point?

So youre saying BBTS buys all that weird sci-fi stuff just to look pretty online ??? Have you ever seen all the s**t BBTS sells that has nothing to do with Transformers ??? Predator, Ghostbusters, Scarface, Gundam, Killer Clowns, Weird alien movie characters I never even heard of...

Has/Tak is by no means a lifeline for BBTS. Maybe for TFSource, but not BBTS...

All Im saying if I was BBTS, I would sell Art-Feather Bumblebee. And if Has/Tak had a problem with it, I would send them an e-mail with this:

I think it's time you stop playing backseat-driver and start your own online sales company: x-ratedtransformers.com

The domain name IS available...

BBTS wholesale is a Hasbro powerhouse.
You really think a handful of third party toys makes more money
Then cases of Hasbro product across all lines?

Yeah they sell other stuff, but your comparison is between Hastak
And Thirdpartys, in which there is no compare.
Third party is a very small niche market, and I'm willing to bet
The major e-trailers mainly carry them for the fans.
I bet you the margins are smaller then you think.

But your assumptions are merely that.