Seibertron.com Energon Pub Forums

Rated X wrote:Do you really support investors who buy and sell copyrights to characters that are 25 years old ??? They could care less about us fans. So I could care less about their wallets. I have the upmost respect for 3rd party companies because they give Hasbro/Takara a reality check.(No disrespect, but I feel somebody's gotta take on what Hasbro/Takara wont)

Are you serious? So you call yourself a fan of something that a company creates, yet you have zero respect for their intellectual rights? It's mind-boggling how so many people slam HasTak non-stop while calling themselves fans. Dudes, they created this stuff. They don't owe you "fans" because you like the things they create. This is a business. If you've ever run any business before, you'll know that it's impossible to please everyone. Everyone has his opinion of what's right. Contrary to what you may think, business entities don't exist to please you. And they most definitely have legal rights to things they create.

You need a reality check.

Oh yes, and the way I understand it, HasTak tried to bring out the Binal/Alter BB. They couldn't get the rights from Volkswagen. And then someone who doesn't give a crap about copyrights comes along and rips off their work, suddenly they're the saints.

tarZen wrote:They couldn't get the rights from Volkswagen.

That still makes me laugh aloud. Volkswagen is a German company. And yes, Germany does have a relatively recent history of being the agressor in two World Wars. But whether they like it or not, that's part of their history, and thus part of their identity. If they don't like it so much, then they should've changed their name or moved their headquarters to a different country.

I wish they'd just suck it up and get on with things, instead of drawing attention to the fact that they are still making automobiles that were used to chauffer Hitler around. Because that's all they're doing. I mean, who's going to look at a cute looking little yellow robot that transforms in to a VW Beetle and think "Hey up! Them Jerries are at it again." Get a grip VW!

Sodan-1 wrote:

tarZen wrote:They couldn't get the rights from Volkswagen.

That still makes me laugh aloud. Volkswagen is a German company. And yes, Germany does have a relatively recent history of being the agressor in two World Wars. But whether they like it or not, that's part of their history, and thus part of their identity. If they don't like it so much, then they should've changed their name or moved their headquarters to a different country.

I wish they'd just suck it up and get on with things, instead of drawing attention to the fact that they are still making automobiles that were used to chauffer Hitler around. Because that's all they're doing. I mean, who's going to look at a cute looking little yellow robot that transforms in to a VW Beetle and think "Hey up! Them Jerries are at it again." Get a grip VW!

Don't go there. I'm giving you fair warning. Germans need not be slandered anymore, wars are over. Let it rest, VW has the God given right to decline whatever they want when it comes to their business, If they don't want a transforming Beetle made then so be it, eventually HasTakTom will make a Bumblebutt that will be so close to a Beetle that it's painful, but just different enough to avoid getting sued. That's what they do, just hang in there & it WILL happen.

All legal issues aside, if this was a g1 accurate transformation and was the original VW Beetle design I'd be all over it.

I think with the VW Bumblebee Transformer thing, I can see where VW are coming from - apart from a small license fee they don't really gain from it. The car's not even in production anymore.

Forgotten wrote:

Sodan-1 wrote:

tarZen wrote:They couldn't get the rights from Volkswagen.

That still makes me laugh aloud. Volkswagen is a German company. And yes, Germany does have a relatively recent history of being the agressor in two World Wars. But whether they like it or not, that's part of their history, and thus part of their identity. If they don't like it so much, then they should've changed their name or moved their headquarters to a different country.

I wish they'd just suck it up and get on with things, instead of drawing attention to the fact that they are still making automobiles that were used to chauffer Hitler around. Because that's all they're doing. I mean, who's going to look at a cute looking little yellow robot that transforms in to a VW Beetle and think "Hey up! Them Jerries are at it again." Get a grip VW!

Don't go there. I'm giving you fair warning. Germans need not be slandered anymore, wars are over. Let it rest, VW has the God given right to decline whatever they want when it comes to their business, If they don't want a transforming Beetle made then so be it, eventually HasTakTom will make a Bumblebutt that will be so close to a Beetle that it's painful, but just different enough to avoid getting sued. That's what they do, just hang in there & it WILL happen.

My, my, hasn't somebody completely missed the point of what I was saying. Did you even read it properly? I wasn't having a go at Germany or the Germans. More a go at VW. I had read that their excuse for not wanting to allow Hasbro to make a Transformer in the image of their vehicle was that they didn't want it to be associated with war toys. That, to me, says that it is VW who are being overly defensive and struggling to let go of the past. I don't care either way if we ever get another Bumblebee figure in the guise of a VW Beetle.

As for the wars themselves, it would be next to impossible to erase them from history, so it is part of their identity. I'm British. Even now there are still a few small, left over colonies from when the British empire marched it's way across the world, capturing territories for King and Country. The purpose might have been to unite the world, but we were still invading other countries. What I'm trying to say is that every country has a dark history that it shouldn't be proud of. That doesn't mean you simply try to forget about it. If you woke up one morning and couldn't remember anything that had happened up until that morning, how would you know who you were? Like it or not, our history does define who we are, both the good times and the bad.

One last thing. You give me "fair warning"? That's a tad confrontational, and I don't appreciate that kind of language.

Jenus wrote:Ok well how about this then, check this link out below I just found by search Alt Bumblebee on google because it looked familiar to something I though I have seen before and I was right.

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/radicons- ... t-4-a.html

Now i-Gear is not only using 3rd party items, Hasbro/Takara products, but even the customizers of transformers and that was already shown with the conehead seekers they're working on.

I know that they could have bought the mold off him though I think they should really be giving him so sort of credit. Just getting tired of seeing unoriginal stuff through them, but it is nice they are able to distribute customizers items, again they really need to say who the creator was so that individual gets a certain percentage of the credit and not just i-Gear receiving it all.

I dunno, it uses the same transformation scheme which they both got from the Binaltech drawings, but that's about it. i-Gear's borrows the details a lot more. Oh, and also completely stole the Classics Bee head.

Primacron's Little Helper wrote:All legal issues aside, if this was a g1 accurate transformation and was the original VW Beetle design I'd be all over it.

I'd be more interested for sure, but I'm very wary of i-Gear.

Sodan-1 wrote:I'm British. Even now there are still a few small, left over colonies from when the British empire marched it's way across the world, capturing territories for King and Country. The purpose might have been to unite the world, but we were still invading other countries.

If you were really British you'd be too embarrassed to talk about the British Empire!

By the way they're overseas territories not colonies.

Primacron's Little Helper wrote:

Sodan-1 wrote:I'm British. Even now there are still a few small, left over colonies from when the British empire marched it's way across the world, capturing territories for King and Country. The purpose might have been to unite the world, but we were still invading other countries.

If you were really British you'd be too embarrassed to talk about the British Empire!

By the way they're overseas territories not colonies.

You know what I mean. And as for being embarressed, that just helps to prove my point.

Jenus wrote:

Gauntlet101010 wrote:If they're making it all themselves, exactly how it it stealing in this case? It might be based off the Alternators sketch, but .... so what? There's a BIG difference between making a toy based off a sketch or animation model and downsizing an existing one.

That said, I'm very happy with Classics BB. Easy pass for me. Unless it was like the G1 aniamtion model, I don't really see the point. The same people unhappy with Classics BB because it was "too different" will be unhappy with this one for the same reason.

Ok well how about this then, check this link out below I just found by search Alt Bumblebee on google because it looked familiar to something I though I have seen before and I was right.

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/radicons- ... t-4-a.html

Now i-Gear is not only using 3rd party items, Hasbro/Takara products, but even the customizers of transformers and that was already shown with the conehead seekers they're working on.

I know that they could have bought the mold off him though I think they should really be giving him so sort of credit. Just getting tired of seeing unoriginal stuff through them, but it is nice they are able to distribute customizers items, again they really need to say who the creator was so that individual gets a certain percentage of the credit and not just i-Gear receiving it all.

So I guess Arcee, the Quints, and WSTF Blaster and Shockwave are all much more original than this?

I have to agree with kirbenvost. They're based off the same sketch and, in the conehead's case, the same toy with the same overall idea. But thie BB looks very different in it's details. As for the coneheads, it's the same idea based on the same toy, so it's natural there'd be overlap.

There's a large tendency to snap at iGear for anything it makes, but in this case it doesn't seem to be any worse than any other 3rd party company. I mean this seems like a mass produced kitbash, but I don't see how that's worse than anything else made by 3rd party guys.

The worst part about this is that they're trying the fill the gap make an Alternator Bumblebee when Alternity ALREADY DID THAT AT HALF THE EXPECTED COST. For the projected price of this thing you could get both Alternity 'Bee and Cliffjumper!

Seriously: 0/10

If they do a Cliffjumper later: -5/10

zodconvoy wrote:The worst part about this is that they're trying the fill the gap make an Alternator Bumblebee when Alternity ALREADY DID THAT AT HALF THE EXPECTED COST. For the projected price of this thing you could get both Alternity 'Bee and Cliffjumper!

Seriously: 0/10

If they do a Cliffjumper later: -5/10

Agreed. Alternity Bumble & Cliff are definitely excellent molds. I don't have Bumble but I LOVE Cliff, he has a great sculpt(head) the body is perfect for the character(s) IMO. Perfect size too.

This is a worthless pseudo-knockoff and iGear is gonna ruin it, like Autobot032 said.

omega666 wrote:Hey Hasbro, THIS!

Hasbro has already produced a possibly literal ton of Bumblebee toys throughout the years. We do not need this one!

If they upscaled it to a 1:24 scale to go with the alternators and sculpted their own head, I would feel happy about getting one. I feel like a bitty 12cm robot isn't worth the expense.

That's assuming they're even making it, of course. Hasbro hasn't made any legal trouble, because realistically these 3rd-party companies making toys for a comparatively small adult fan base aren't depriving them of income, but will VW take kindly?

RK_Striker_JK_5 wrote:

omega666 wrote:Hey Hasbro, THIS!

Hasbro has already produced a possibly literal ton of Bumblebee toys throughout the years. We do not need this one!

Not really. You might be able to say such a thing about Optimus or Starscream, but Bumblebee - other than reproductions of his first toy incarnation for a keychain trinket - was dead in toy form from '95 (G2) to '06 (Classics). That's over ten years of no Bee. His Alternators figure never went beyond the drawing board, and his Titanium figure was nixed. Now, other than a Henkei rehash and the Alternity figure, its been nothing but varied MovieBees for the last few years. But for over a decade, the Bee was dead..toywise.

Though I agree, we don't need the one seen in this topic.

Covenant wrote:...was dead in toy form from '95 (G2) to '06 (Classics). That's over ten years of no Bee.

They started calling him Cheetor, then Hot Shot.

Search your feeling, you know it to be true!

I'm actually interested in this release. I always hated how Cliffjumper and Bumblebee had the same vehicle mode for the Classics line. But, I do have to admit that the modern beetle design seems too feminine. They should give him the oldschool beetle look (G1), which is a bit more grungy.

Covenant wrote:

RK_Striker_JK_5 wrote:

omega666 wrote:Hey Hasbro, THIS!

Hasbro has already produced a possibly literal ton of Bumblebee toys throughout the years. We do not need this one!

Not really. You might be able to say such a thing about Optimus or Starscream, but Bumblebee - other than reproductions of his first toy incarnation for a keychain trinket - was dead in toy form from '95 (G2) to '06 (Classics). That's over ten years of no Bee. His Alternators figure never went beyond the drawing board, and his Titanium figure was nixed. Now, other than a Henkei rehash and the Alternity figure, its been nothing but varied MovieBees for the last few years. But for over a decade, the Bee was dead..toywise.

Though I agree, we don't need the one seen in this topic.

Okay, but that's a lot better than Bluestreak or most other G1 characters. I also count the movie and TF:A to the total, btw.

I've been waiting 12 years for a New Beetle Bumblebee! I hope this is real and makes it into production, I will definitely get it!

I can't believe so many people are saying we don't need this. It's a Volkswagen. Hasbro even tried making it. To each his own, I guess.

Anyway, Classics BB is nice, WFC is fantastic, but for me, this will be the definitive update for Bumblebee. I'll get it in either scale, but I'm hoping it is deluxe so it will fit in with Classics. It really does need a new head, though...

Seriously, I'm as excited for this as I am Generations Jazz and Kup.

What even happened to iGear?