The Energon Pub

Desslok2201 wrote:

mooncake623 wrote:hmm.. I wonder if Ebay listings will in the US will get taken down

Considering that even when the topic was hot, MP05 Megatron was never taken down, I really can't see that this will.

The 'issues' surrounding the two are completely different and I don't know if there's actually any legit legalities around selling Exhaust, but I know a lot of MP-05 listing have been canceled by eBay. Doesn't stop people from listing them, and they may or may not get a sale through, but eBay does shut them down when they're made aware.

Kibble wrote:

Desslok2201 wrote:

mooncake623 wrote:hmm.. I wonder if Ebay listings will in the US will get taken down

Considering that even when the topic was hot, MP05 Megatron was never taken down, I really can't see that this will.

The 'issues' surrounding the two are completely different and I don't know if there's actually any legit legalities around selling Exhaust, but I know a lot of MP-05 listing have been canceled by eBay. Doesn't stop people from listing them, and they may or may not get a sale through, but eBay does shut them down when they're made aware.

Maybe I phrased it poorly. What I intended to say was that MP05 is a much bigger deal as far as being a handgun replica, and they're still readily available on eBay. Seeing as how you can find official Marlboro merchandise on eBay, and the trademark infringement issue was never really the problem with this item, I can't see a ban on it

Guitarbot wrote:Can anyone tell me where to order this from? eBay sellers seem to be a little sketchy and the prices are going up. Are there any Japanese shops that will export to the US? I can't find MP-23 Exhaust anywhere -RobotKingdom, HLJ, no one has it on their site?

Japanese retailers are keeping this low key. As Rated X mentioned, while USA retailers are spineless, the Nippon guys use discretion or are creative in disposing this hot potato.

fenrir72 wrote:

Guitarbot wrote:Can anyone tell me where to order this from? eBay sellers seem to be a little sketchy and the prices are going up. Are there any Japanese shops that will export to the US? I can't find MP-23 Exhaust anywhere -RobotKingdom, HLJ, no one has it on their site?

Japanese retailers are keeping this low key. As Rated X mentioned, while USA retailers are spineless, the Nippon guys use discretion or are creative in disposing this hot potato.

Not wanting to get sued is spineless? What kind of world do you guys live in?

mooncake623 wrote:

fenrir72 wrote:

Guitarbot wrote:Can anyone tell me where to order this from? eBay sellers seem to be a little sketchy and the prices are going up. Are there any Japanese shops that will export to the US? I can't find MP-23 Exhaust anywhere -RobotKingdom, HLJ, no one has it on their site?

Japanese retailers are keeping this low key. As Rated X mentioned, while USA retailers are spineless, the Nippon guys use discretion or are creative in disposing this hot potato.

Not wanting to get sued is spineless? What kind of world do you guys live in?

Just paraphrased what X posted MC. Our "sources" on the otherhand emailed me that they just don't want to attract too much attention. That's "creative"I won't say who the source is but I don'tlook a gift Horse in the mouth Like others want to Jump on.

Btw, more pics of the real Malboor









Using the pics btw for my decal guide.

[quote="fenrir72"][/quote]


are you using that ocean decals that was posted a while ago? are those really Hasbro licensed? Heard somewhere that they weren't.

mooncake623 wrote:

fenrir72 wrote:

are you using that ocean decals that was posted a while ago? are those really Hasbro licensed? Heard somewhere that they weren't.

Yup. Ordered Wheeljack set version 2.

Unless those manufacturers have cajones made of steel to be outright printing fonts on the package claiming to be licensed, I'll have to assume they are or licensed for Asia use. And they all look sooooo good MC.



Pain in the @ss to attach unlike reprolabels, but they have their own charm that modelers/customizers will surely appreciate.

mooncake623 wrote:

fenrir72 wrote:

Guitarbot wrote:Can anyone tell me where to order this from? eBay sellers seem to be a little sketchy and the prices are going up. Are there any Japanese shops that will export to the US? I can't find MP-23 Exhaust anywhere -RobotKingdom, HLJ, no one has it on their site?

Japanese retailers are keeping this low key. As Rated X mentioned, while USA retailers are spineless, the Nippon guys use discretion or are creative in disposing this hot potato.

Not wanting to get sued is spineless? What kind of world do you guys live in?

If you send me an e-mail with your order, I send you a paypal invoice, you pay me, and then I mail you a "brown box" with something in it, how can Phil Morris sue ? US Customs is not in the business of opening packages to look for certain tampos on imported items. It's not illegal to own a Marlboor Wheeljack in the US, it's just illegal to advertise it for sale as "childrens merchandise". Any item mailed as a "gift" has no classification and is perfectly legal to ship anywhere.

Fun Fact: Now defunct KO Toys was selling KO's of Hasbro molds for months after they took them down from their website using this method.

Rated X wrote:

mooncake623 wrote:

fenrir72 wrote:

Guitarbot wrote:Can anyone tell me where to order this from? eBay sellers seem to be a little sketchy and the prices are going up. Are there any Japanese shops that will export to the US? I can't find MP-23 Exhaust anywhere -RobotKingdom, HLJ, no one has it on their site?

Japanese retailers are keeping this low key. As Rated X mentioned, while USA retailers are spineless, the Nippon guys use discretion or are creative in disposing this hot potato.

Not wanting to get sued is spineless? What kind of world do you guys live in?

If you send me an e-mail with your order, I send you a paypal invoice, you pay me, and then I mail you a "brown box" with something in it, how can Phil Morris sue ? US Customs is not in the business of opening packages to look for certain tampos on imported items. It's not illegal to own a Marlboor Wheeljack in the US, it's just illegal to advertise it for sale as "childrens merchandise". Any item mailed as a "gift" has no classification and is perfectly legal to ship anywhere.

Fun Fact: Now defunct KO Toys was selling KO's of Hasbro molds for months after they took them down from their website using this method.

You said US retailers are spineless for not selling this. I'm saying why risk their business to sell one toy that people can get overseas? to make an extra buck is worth risking their business that is likely their means of providing for their family? So them chosing not to do this is considered spineless?

Everything you describing they shoudl do is shady as f*ck btw.

RSC wrote:Long time reader, first time poster.
Hobbylink just notified me yesterday. Should be shipping today!

We lost you in the exitement, welcome!

Still waiting to get word on my preorders from chimung...

shajaki wrote:

RSC wrote:Long time reader, first time poster.
Hobbylink just notified me yesterday. Should be shipping today!

We lost you in the exitement, welcome!

Still waiting to get word on my preorders from chimung...

Ditto Ages 3+.

mooncake623 wrote:

Rated X wrote:

mooncake623 wrote:

fenrir72 wrote:

Guitarbot wrote:Can anyone tell me where to order this from? eBay sellers seem to be a little sketchy and the prices are going up. Are there any Japanese shops that will export to the US? I can't find MP-23 Exhaust anywhere -RobotKingdom, HLJ, no one has it on their site?

Japanese retailers are keeping this low key. As Rated X mentioned, while USA retailers are spineless, the Nippon guys use discretion or are creative in disposing this hot potato.

Not wanting to get sued is spineless? What kind of world do you guys live in?

If you send me an e-mail with your order, I send you a paypal invoice, you pay me, and then I mail you a "brown box" with something in it, how can Phil Morris sue ? US Customs is not in the business of opening packages to look for certain tampos on imported items. It's not illegal to own a Marlboor Wheeljack in the US, it's just illegal to advertise it for sale as "childrens merchandise". Any item mailed as a "gift" has no classification and is perfectly legal to ship anywhere.

Fun Fact: Now defunct KO Toys was selling KO's of Hasbro molds for months after they took them down from their website using this method.

You said US retailers are spineless for not selling this. I'm saying why risk their business to sell one toy that people can get overseas? to make an extra buck is worth risking their business that is likely their means of providing for their family? So them chosing not to do this is considered spineless?

Everything you describing they shoudl do is shady as f*ck btw.

Already moot as many collectors would have found a way to acquire Exhaust but what you call shady, others will call creative means to circumvent the rules

As I am AGAIN going to hate myself in the morning, the root of what X posted was not to sell this cigar related merchandise to Minors. Agreed whole heartedly. Not a smoker btw. So to ensure that a minor (is it below 18 in the USA?), use a credit card to ensure so.

The transaction receipt will more or less ensure the seller has legally complied at selling only to adults.

Expecting mine in 2 weeks togther with the custom decals.

http://www.allspark.com/forums/topic/11 ... ?p=2867271

Exhaust's Bio courtesy of "Hydra"

" his character is pretty hilarious. He's an employee of "Marlboor Dynamic," a massive interplanetary corporation that steals secrets from alien cultures around the galaxy. His power, given to him by the research department of the company, allows him to "Quantize": convert his body into living smoke. His function is industrial espionage, and he gathers new secrets and technology for Marlboor. He acts like a suave, debonair spy, but the stress of his job is actually getting to him, causing a chain cy-garette smoking habit that the medical officer has warned is detrimental to his health."

So he's a spy. Kind of like SW (remember ep.1 MTMTE?) and Mirage.

Got my tracking number from my ebay seller in Japan. Overall, this is much less stressful than worrying about whether a store is/was going to honor pre-orders (which is why I waited so long to attempt pre-order in the first place).

I paid 96.00 shipped. A little more than I wanted - or actually did pay. The guy I originally bought it from in China I had it for 70 shipped.

mooncake623 wrote:

Rated X wrote:

mooncake623 wrote:

fenrir72 wrote:

Guitarbot wrote:Can anyone tell me where to order this from? eBay sellers seem to be a little sketchy and the prices are going up. Are there any Japanese shops that will export to the US? I can't find MP-23 Exhaust anywhere -RobotKingdom, HLJ, no one has it on their site?

Japanese retailers are keeping this low key. As Rated X mentioned, while USA retailers are spineless, the Nippon guys use discretion or are creative in disposing this hot potato.

Not wanting to get sued is spineless? What kind of world do you guys live in?

If you send me an e-mail with your order, I send you a paypal invoice, you pay me, and then I mail you a "brown box" with something in it, how can Phil Morris sue ? US Customs is not in the business of opening packages to look for certain tampos on imported items. It's not illegal to own a Marlboor Wheeljack in the US, it's just illegal to advertise it for sale as "childrens merchandise". Any item mailed as a "gift" has no classification and is perfectly legal to ship anywhere.

Fun Fact: Now defunct KO Toys was selling KO's of Hasbro molds for months after they took them down from their website using this method.

You said US retailers are spineless for not selling this. I'm saying why risk their business to sell one toy that people can get overseas? to make an extra buck is worth risking their business that is likely their means of providing for their family? So them chosing not to do this is considered spineless?

Everything you describing they shoudl do is shady as f*ck btw.

Whats shady about exploiting a grey area ? Politicians do it for a living. As I stated earlier, its not illegal to own (or sell) a marlboor wheeljack in the US. Its only illegal to advertise and market it as a "childrens product" in the US because it promotes tobacco. (according to phill morris who wants his piece of the pie) So if you do away with the whole "advertising" aspect of selling the product, you can legally sell it to adults in the US. (With paypal account being proof of legal age) Its that simple. So yes all these smaller retailers that are following bbts/tf sources lead are truly spineless and stupid. Its their profit loss, not mine. I got my classics Exhaust already. I dont collect MP.

Rated X wrote:Whats shady about exploiting a grey area ? Politicians do it for a living. As I stated earlier, its not illegal to own (or sell) a marlboor wheeljack in the US. Its only illegal to advertise and market it as a "childrens product" in the US because it promotes tobacco. (according to phill morris who wants his piece of the pie) So if you do away with the whole "advertising" aspect of selling the product, you can legally sell it to adults in the US. (With paypal account being proof of legal age) Its that simple. So yes all these smaller retailers that are following bbts/tf sources lead are truly spineless and stupid. Its their profit loss, not mine. I got my classics Exhaust already. I dont collect MP.

You forget, no matter how much you try and sugar-coat it, legally Masterpiece Exhaust falls in the "Toy" category, because Hasbro and TakaraTomy, down to their cores, are "Toys and Games" companies and rtegistered as such, end of story. No matter the audience (children vs. adults) or the intent (like collecting). There is a category for "Adult Collectible" I believe, but only for companies that produce those, and only those. Look at FunPub and how their boxes say "Adult Collectible" with an age to match.

You're right about it not being illegal to own him, but selling him in bulk as a registered store will get you in trouble. And don't even think changing a products' category will change that, in fact that would only add fraud to the offenses once investigations have been completed.

Could anyone with a Legal Degree (which means someone who actually studied law) come here and explain a thing or two?

Seibertron regular fenrir72 has shared with us that Hydra of the Allspark has provided MP-23 Exhaust's character bio. Many have assumed this incredibly cheeky bio comes as a result of his long stemming legal controversy. Keep scrolling to see the continuing comedy!

So, his character is pretty hilarious. He's an employee of "Marlboor Dynamic," a massive interplanetary corporation that steals secrets from alien cultures around the galaxy. His power, given to him by the research department of the company, allows him to "Quantize": convert his body into living smoke. His function is industrial espionage, and he gathers new secrets and technology for Marlboor. He acts like a suave, debonair spy, but the stress of his job is actually getting to him, causing a chain cy-garette smoking habit that the medical officer has warned is detrimental to his health.

Seibertron asks though: does this mark the end of the Exhaust Saga? Keep your optics peeled!

His collector coin was canceled.

Sabrblade wrote:His collector coin was canceled.

I think you're right, but I ca't find that info. I recall someone posting their invoice from RobotKingdom saying they will uphold pre-orders, but won't receive the coin. What I don't remember seeing, is that the coin was outright cancelled.

Would this be because Hasbro Asia has been handling most of the coins lately? And they were the first to drop distribution of the figure?

shajaki wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:His collector coin was canceled.

I think you're right, but I ca't find that info. I recall someone posting their invoice from RobotKingdom saying they will uphold pre-orders, but won't receive the coin. What I don't remember seeing, is that the coin was outright cancelled.

Would this be because Hasbro Asia has been handling most of the coins lately? And they were the first to drop distribution of the figure?

Yeah, the coins are Hasbro Asia's thing. Since they won't be touching Exhaust, he gets no coin.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Rated X wrote:Whats shady about exploiting a grey area ? Politicians do it for a living. As I stated earlier, its not illegal to own (or sell) a marlboor wheeljack in the US. Its only illegal to advertise and market it as a "childrens product" in the US because it promotes tobacco. (according to phill morris who wants his piece of the pie) So if you do away with the whole "advertising" aspect of selling the product, you can legally sell it to adults in the US. (With paypal account being proof of legal age) Its that simple. So yes all these smaller retailers that are following bbts/tf sources lead are truly spineless and stupid. Its their profit loss, not mine. I got my classics Exhaust already. I dont collect MP.

You forget, no matter how much you try and sugar-coat it, legally Masterpiece Exhaust falls in the "Toy" category, because Hasbro and TakaraTomy, down to their cores, are "Toys and Games" companies and rtegistered as such, end of story. No matter the audience (children vs. adults) or the intent (like collecting). There is a category for "Adult Collectible" I believe, but only for companies that produce those, and only those. Look at FunPub and how their boxes say "Adult Collectible" with an age to match.

You're right about it not being illegal to own him, but selling him in bulk as a registered store will get you in trouble. And don't even think changing a products' category will change that, in fact that would only add fraud to the offenses once investigations have been completed.

Could anyone with a Legal Degree (which means someone who actually studied law) come here and explain a thing or two?

Im no lawyer, but I see selling them through paypal no different to selling them out of the trunk of a car. When you sell through paypal, you are selling as an individual regardless if you happen to own a company.

No advertising = No company = Personal sale

Its been awhile since I read such an interesting bio

I doubt that we'll see a collector coin for Exhaust. My order was placed months ago, and only got an email this week, saying the distributor had canceled the coin, but did I still want my order. Of course, I said yes.

If The Botcon people were smart, they'd do a version of Exhaust out of the Generations Wheeljack mold.

RiddlerJ wrote:If The Botcon people were smart, they'd do a version of Exhaust out of the Generations Wheeljack mold.

Hasbro is the one getting the blunt of the pressure from PM. I doubt they'll ever have a hand in an Exhaust type figure again unless the homage is so far removed that it loses most of its meaning