You are never getting that G1 Jetfire reissue, ever. For those unaware, while almost everything to do with Transformers is owned by Hasbro/Takara Tomy, the designs for the Jetfire toy is not, nor is the use of that specific Macross design appearing in media. Outside of Japan, that design is owned by Harmony Gold, a media holding company that is dealing more with real estate at the moment.
They have sued Hasbro on occasion before all in relation to Hasbro (or Hasbro license holders) releasing Jetfire products. Their contract was going to be finished in 2021 so nobody knew what would happen after that. Well, now we do, thanks to an article by
Den of Geek who posted the following announcement:
HOLLYWOOD, CA, July 5 – Harmony Gold USA, Inc. announced today that it has reached an agreement with the Japanese anime studio, Tatsunoko Productions, Co., to extend the worldwide, co-copyright ownership and exclusive management, excluding Japan, for its landmark anime series Robotech (including Macross, Southern Cross and Mospeada). This agreement was achieved after a lengthy negotiation and allows Harmony Gold to continue to exploit the animated Robotech franchise well into the future.
Tommy Yune, President of Animation at Harmony Gold, had the following to say:
“It’s an extension of all the current agreements [that were made public in 2017]. It’s a renewal but actually it’s an extension for lack of a better term. We renewed but we decided as part of our renewal to extend the agreement.”
“Harmony Gold and Tatsunko [have been] partners in this whole thing. For future product that we’re working on, the IP is going to be jointly shared by both companies.”
Frank Agrama, Chairman of Harmony Gold added, "Over the past 35 years we have been blessed to work with our friends at Tatsunoko on developing one the world’s greatest entertainment franchises. With our extension we look forward to the next 35 years of working with Tatsunoko and world class business partners on Robotech.”
Since Harmony Gold has solidified their claim to the Robotech/Macross IP, that at least means that there is no ambiguity in the long term ownership of the brand helping their partnership with Sony for a Robotech film.
