Hate is such a strong word... And part of me wishes I could apologize for coming on so strong in my last post... but you know what? That part is somewhat overwhelmed by the disgust I feel any time I see anyone whining about the price of what is, essentially, a non-essential luxuary item, and then justifying getting a questionably legitimate copy of that item to themselves by saying, "I want it, but I don't want to pay
that much for it, so it is perfectly fine for me to get it through other means."
This is by no means limited to Transformers. I recall one time being in a gathering with some friends and one person there going on about how her boyfriend had all of some TV series downloaded so they could watch it, and when I asked about that her response was that the DVDs were too expensive, but they wanted it so why shouldn't they have it? As she said that, I thought about my nice DVD collection at home, which included that TV series, a collection that I've worked hard to aquire. And this woman just feeling entitled to, for free, enjoy the same thing I worked hard to enjoy... that just really rubbed me the wrong way.
Mind you, I know you're not getting this KO for free, but it is presumably going to be for a greatly reduced price, and is still a copy that is going to put no money back into the hands of the people who worked hard to create this item for our enjoyment.
You want to do that? Fine. I can't stop you. But don't go around bragging about how much you are entitled to do such a thing, and you especially crossed the line in my opinion by encouraging other people who seemed more interested in owning a genuine article of Maketoys Giant Type 61 that they should cancel their preorders and get the KO instead.
Follow that to it's logical extreme conclusion. Let us say, somehow, you convince others that buying the official product is foolish. Preorders everywhere are cancled. Too late for many who already have it in hand, but they now feeling foolish for not listening to your sage wisdom, remember this for the next expensive third party item they want and they wait for the KO of that one. Suddenly, the third party producers find their products are not selling. There is no more financial incentive for them to create. They close up shop. So much for the next great KO you were looking forward to... with no genuine article to knock off, the KO won't exist.
I look at the various things I collect (DVDs, Transformers & related third party items, various books) and I am proud of those collections. And I am not a rich man. I work hard for what I have. But I know that my money goes to those who produce the things that I love, so that hopefully there can be
more of that thing.
I'll admit I've skirted the line on occasion... I have some
KO seekers that I don't feel entirely kosher about having bought, although having six official uses of the mold does blunt that a bit. I have a few anime series that just aren't officially available in a translated, Region 1 format, or a few other videos that I downloaded and burned to disc that have never received a domestic release. There's a manga series currently being published in Japan I've been reading online translations of.
But you know what? In the case of those aformentioned videos, all of which when I made my homemade discs I was very doubtful they'd ever see official releases? On a few of them I've been surprised, such as when the 1996 Doctor Who telefilm
finally had a domestic release after years of being in rights hell, and I made sure to purchase the official version to replace my burned copy as soon as I could. That manga series I mentioned? They just started releasing it domestically, and the first volume came in my most recent Amazon order. So perhaps I have a touch of entitlement myself, but at least I'm not a total hypocrate and in most cases my entitlement is, "Man, I wish I had available to me this awesome thing to buy, but since I litarally can not do so even if I had the money to, what can I do instead to hold me over until hopefully such a time as I can do that?"
And at least my entitlement (a) isn't one that will negatively effect the producers of the things I enjoy and (b) isn't one that I go around encouraging others to participate in.
Heh... On a somewhat personal, and hopefully not
too political note, as someone who usually leans Democrat and generally is in favour of many social welfare programs (as long as they aren't abused) all of my ranting against "entitlements" feels a bit funny... But, I suppose, there is a world of difference between food on the table, a roof over one's head, or essential medical care and -- to bring the point home -- non-essential, luxuary collectables that no one is entitled to and everyone could happily live without.
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Sadly, since this seems to be a long standing argument concerning KO's that seems like it will never be resolved and likely after this post would just continue in a meaningless back and forth of, "I'm right in what I believe!" "No, I'm right in what I believe!" this shall be my last word on the subject in this thread... unless I see a comment that I feel genuinely qualifies for an intellegent response. But otherwise, I've no wish to pointlessly drag on an idological debate between two immobile sides.
