The Energon Pub

News Credits: 402 · Updated Oct 21, 2022

I would be more interested if Shapeways better quality materials were cheaper. As of right now, I ain't interested, but I'm keen to see where it goes.

Mon Aug 18, 2014 6:37 am

All I see from this is the prices of shapeways going up. Other than an endorsement, does shapeways really need hasbro to sell new heads and weapons ? On the other hand, hasbro is probally trying to buy into the biggest potential future competiter before it becomes a threat. The technology is still at its infancy, but if it could be refined to a point where you dont have to sand and paint the pieces, I could see it being a potential threat. I think Hasbro wants to establish an "IP" presence in the industry. That would mean any future printable figures would cost as much as store bought figures. This would place assembling these figures more as a craft hobby than a way of saving money. Just my opinion here.

News Credits: 226 · Mon Aug 18, 2014 8:01 am

I'd actually be okay with printing and assembling my own figures.

News Credits: 1 · Mon Aug 18, 2014 12:41 pm

Looking through the list of other brands, I can understand Monopoly: making the custom player token you've always wanted, be it a particular make of car, a Cobra Trouble Bubble, Donald Trump...a single piece far easier to produce than the myriad of interlocking parts necessary for a TF.

Scrabble, on the other hand...would the point be printing extra Qs and Zs to stack the bag? Seems a bit unsporting. Or can some printers create objects in candy instead of resin, allowing Chocolate Scrabble enthusiasts to expand into other flavors?

I'd be OK with printing some of my own toys, but I'd personally get bogged down in troop-building.

It'd be nice if cheaper printers reduced sweatshop labor, but the majority of that is still probably geared towards the garment industry. I'd also like to know just how closely the price of the resin is tied to the price of oil.

News Credits: 1 · Mon Aug 18, 2014 1:08 pm

But, look at it this way; if I can officially license that my 3d printed shapeways gun is for the new Generations Skrapnel, instead of calling it "Insect Robot Gun #1", I am more likely to generate traffic to my item.

Mon Aug 18, 2014 2:44 pm

Is this why I was able to order fists for my G1 Ultra Magnus (inner bot) today?

News Credits: 7 · Mon Aug 18, 2014 11:08 pm

Holy heck! :shock:

News Credits: 6188 · Tue Aug 26, 2014 1:00 pm

A small but significant update on the collaboration between Hasbro and 3D printing company Shapeways, thanks to a tip from fellow Seibertron.com user Autobot Genocide. It appears as though the initial licensing agreement worked better than expected, and Makezine reports the new initiative of allowing fan-made material to be designed and printed for a fee - check out more here and below!

Hasbro and Shapeways want you to profit from your fan-made artwork based on Hasbro toys.

The announcement is an expansion of the two companies’ new partnership; last month they launched a joint venture to allow select independent artists to post and sell their My Little Pony creations on their new collaboration site superfanart.com. The companies would split the revenue from art sales based on the kitschy, popular colorful horses.

[...]

"It was clear to me when we were only doing original work that the next big step is derivative work,” says Shapeways’ cofounder and CEO Peter Weijmarshausen, explaining the movement into a new area for the company. He also explains that the project came together relatively quickly, moving forward in just the last few months after some initial discussions with Hasbro at Maker Faire earlier this year. “Hasbro has the attitude to enable rather than disable,” he says.

News Credits: 8 · Tue Aug 26, 2014 1:05 pm

I was waiting on this to come up. Glad to see its beign handled tastefully,although I imnagine a lot of hurt feelings over raised licensing costs.

News Credits: 5 · Tue Aug 26, 2014 1:15 pm

I misread that first line as, 'Hasbro and Shapeways want to profit from your fan-made artwork based on Hasbro toys.' twice!
:ic$:

News Credits: 1 · Tue Aug 26, 2014 1:29 pm

i know this might be a stupid question but would this go for pretty much everything on Creative round up and all of them fanfics? :???:

Tue Aug 26, 2014 2:15 pm

I was under the assumption that "fan art" was always going to be considered fan art. Honestly I see this business collaboration with Hasbro as a downfall for fans. Expect to see the prices go up on anything that resembles Hasbro IP. Probably to the point where printing a full non assembled figure costs as much as buying a 3rd party figure. And that’s not including the cost of paint plus hours of sanding. In my opinion, Shapways sold out.

News Credits: 6188 · Tue Aug 26, 2014 2:55 pm

Autobot tap out wrote:i know this might be a stupid question but would this go for pretty much everything on Creative round up and all of them fanfics?

Nah, just on designs printed and purchased/sold via Shapeways. So figures, not visual art, fiction or the such.

News Credits: 1 · Tue Aug 26, 2014 3:17 pm

Convoy wrote:I misread that first line as, 'Hasbro and Shapeways want to profit from your fan-made artwork based on Hasbro toys.' twice!

I'm pretty sure that's how you should read it.
Once Hasbro has a foot in the door of the third party market it'll give them grounds to try and take control of those products and profits. Designers should probably expect an increase in cease and desist notices on products that "threaten Hasbro's market", unless one agrees to license their work out to Hasbro.

News Credits: 1 · Tue Aug 26, 2014 5:52 pm

MCutter wrote:
Convoy wrote:I misread that first line as, 'Hasbro and Shapeways want to profit from your fan-made artwork based on Hasbro toys.' twice!

I'm pretty sure that's how you should read it.
Once Hasbro has a foot in the door of the third party market it'll give them grounds to try and take control of those products and profits. Designers should probably expect an increase in cease and desist notices on products that "threaten Hasbro's market", unless one agrees to license their work out to Hasbro.

Maybe, but I think it'll still be a while before Hasbro can tell just how far its foot can get into the 3D printable market. There be much blurriness between distinct likenesses and same-general-ideas here.

I haven't bought anything from Shapeways or Renderform yet, and honestly haven't been following it that closely, but the first thing I will buy when I get around to it is that cassette scorpion. Though close kin of the IDW-esque Rewind in the thumbnail, could Hasbro really do anything about that particular item? Stinger only exists in an early draft of the TF:TM script, without so much as concept art for this or any other toy to bear a distinct likeness to. Just a quick description of something that never officially existed.

Expensive gestalt teams are the 3rd party items that get the most attention while Impossible Toys is going out of business, but the stuff they made their mark with might be most relevant here. If it's a design from TF media that Hasbro never has and never will touch in the official toy department (Quints, Prime hand blasters), what exactly could Hasbro do, and would they even bother? Also, if the printed object was something that would never pass U.S. toy safety standards, might Hasbro be so tepid about having their name associated with it in any way that they wouldn't even try to block it?

Factor in the threat of backlash from biting too many of the hands that feed them via sweeping 3rd party crackdown, since anyone who buys 3rd party stuff surely collects plenty of the real deal as well, and Hasbro will surely be tiptoeing cautiously into this printable minefield.

Tue Aug 26, 2014 7:24 pm

So this means that this stuff is now sort of official! Hmm now I'm interested.

News Credits: 1 · Tue Aug 26, 2014 7:34 pm

As it is, Shapeways is already taking the lion's share of the profits made from each sale. With Hasbro's in on it too, does that mean even slimmer profits for the artist?

"...The companies would split the revenue...."

So, what's in it for the artist himself? Free advertising for his work?

A more important question: If a designer's work is not accepted by Hasbro, is he still able to sell them at Shapeways? Except for complete transforming figures (and even that is an open-ended question), AFAIK weapons and accessories aren't officially copyrighted. This is especially true for add-on parts and original weapons, where the designs are 100% made by the artist and not copied from onscreen CGI models or concept art.

News Credits: 13 · Tue Aug 26, 2014 7:57 pm

Fan made artwork into toys eh? I wonder if I could get all of my characters in Transformers: Advanced Combat into toys. Probably not! Oh well it's just a dream. Just a dream folks.

News Credits: 8 · Tue Aug 26, 2014 9:01 pm

Convoy wrote:I misread that first line as, 'Hasbro and Shapeways want to profit from your fan-made artwork based on Hasbro toys.' twice!

Okay, stop. No. This is not artwork. This is product. Artwork is stuff on canvas, or digital prints or one off customs. And even then sketchy (get it?) If art is being sold en masse by amteur artists Because its still Hasbro intellectual property. There is no difference between Shapeways and Fansproject beyond the material used for assembly.

News Credits: 1 · Tue Aug 26, 2014 10:21 pm

Flashwave wrote:
Convoy wrote:I misread that first line as, 'Hasbro and Shapeways want to profit from your fan-made artwork based on Hasbro toys.' twice!

Okay, stop. No. This is not artwork. This is product. Artwork is stuff on canvas, or digital prints or one off customs. And even then sketchy (get it?) If art is being sold en masse by amteur artists Because its still Hasbro intellectual property. There is no difference between Shapeways and Fansproject beyond the material used for assembly.

The question is, what does Hasbro consider as "derivative work"? Does one consider a transforming cassette robot a derivative work of the Transformers brand, even if it bears no aesthetic resemblance to Hasbro's copyrighted material and has an original transformation sequence?

Weapons and accessories are even more of a gray area.

It's all open to interpretation, so it's really a matter of how generous Hasbro feels in letting independent 3d designers do their own thing. Generally-speaking, though, Hasbro has been quite nice to it's collector fanbase, so it's unlikely that they'll pull a Harmony Gold with this.

Tue Aug 26, 2014 10:26 pm

i read the agreement and im not sure about this
it sure sounded awesome when it was first announced but
hasbro will have all the rights of one's work, to modify, distribute, and do whatever they whant with it, only one getting the markup, and the right to say TRANSFORMERS, but even then they will get money the rights and control of almost everything
i know some great, awesome and beyond that designers already agreed and so but maybe im just not ENOUGHT designer to see the gains

News Credits: 54 · Tue Aug 26, 2014 10:36 pm

Convoy wrote:I misread that first line as, 'Hasbro and Shapeways want to profit from your fan-made artwork based on Hasbro toys.' twice!

*Facepalm*

Of course thats what it means thats what selling any product and making businesses partnerships is about!

It's money people need it so they have to find ways to earn it.

Jesus Christ wtf is happening to the world where all companies is being accused of being greedy and selfish money makers.

News Credits: 7 · Tue Aug 26, 2014 11:33 pm

I think this is great.It could work as bridge from fan creations to being a Hasbro Employe.

News Credits: 6188 · Wed Aug 27, 2014 1:26 am

mirageandjazz1197 wrote:
Convoy wrote:I misread that first line as, 'Hasbro and Shapeways want to profit from your fan-made artwork based on Hasbro toys.' twice!

Jesus Christ wtf is happening to the world where all companies is being accused of being greedy and selfish money makers.

Capitalism.

Wed Aug 27, 2014 3:15 am

Va'al wrote:
mirageandjazz1197 wrote:
Convoy wrote:I misread that first line as, 'Hasbro and Shapeways want to profit from your fan-made artwork based on Hasbro toys.' twice!

Jesus Christ wtf is happening to the world where all companies is being accused of being greedy and selfish money makers.

Capitalism.

I think people are just worried that the designers themselves will start missing out. The comment about people needing to earn money is the truest statement of all, and that courtesy needs to be afforded to the artists on shapeways as well. Guys like Renderform need to earn a living too, and these kind of things (heads, accessories) are his way of using his skills to earn said money. Nobody wants to see a huge company like Hasbro, who already have their fare share, take from the little guy. Obviously some of these designs are crossing both a moral and legal line, and it's obvious (and right) that Hasbro get in officially on it, but it needs to be done fairly. Hopefully it will be.

That said, I doubt official Hasbro and Takara designers get much in the way of pay on what is THEIR work, not when you see just how much gets shared out to other people just for the privilege of having a company logo on it. Sadly, that's business.

I still don't see why Hasbro don't scout out the breadth of talent that is out there, both on Shapeways and 3rd party toys. Plenty of fan artists and writers have made the leap to official stuff through Dreamwave and IDW. Why not here? Maybe this Shapeways business is the start of something like that?