noctorro wrote:Okay, silly question, why don't big companies buy the rights to certain molds from third companies? They could recolour/mold heads to get a lot of fembots out there
I can think of a few reasons.
1. Technically some of these companies are commiting copyright infringement. Hasbro/TakaraTomy own the likenesses of almost every one of their characters, including Arcee, Optimus Prime etc. So by buying these molds they would not only be semi-legitimising and encouraging copyright infringement, but they would also be PAYING MONEY for something which, legally, they could just sue for and get for free.
2. These molds are not put under the same scrutiny with regards to safety as the Has/TakTom molds. Some of these molds would NEVER make it through drop tests and Warbots sword would have to be made from a completely different plastic, and probably blunted to boot. And you can't just pour a different plastic in the mold, it'd need to be a completely new mold. This is because different plastics become different sizes after they set.
(Interestingly this is also why you have to create new molds to make an all-plastic version of a previously die-cast or part die-cast toy.)
3. The physical molds themselves are perhaps completely different from the standard molds that Has/TakTom use. Different style, different machines they get used in etc etc.