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I own a ko here and there mainly to replace some originals that got destroyed... but yeah the ko market should be dealt with. Fans knowing what they’re getting is one, however, these are put out there to fool people into thinking they’re the real deal at times.

At times I wonder if I’ve been fobbed off with a ko.

Otherwise.. am I the only one to appreciate how ark like that police conference room decor is?

Yeah but Weijang was known for improving a lot of figures. I remember they made this KO of the Studio Series Blackout and gave it poseable fingers. It looked really badass. And I don't think they charged much more, but I was just too lazy to get one especially since I already owned the Studio Series version. Oh well. They were probably among the more respectable KO companies.

I think Wei Jang knew the risks with what they were doing. Will be interesting to see what will happen next with regards to going to court (if it does)

There's a problem with the line of thinking that if Has/tak done x it would stop all the ko makers, all the 3rd party makers. People would still turn elsewhere because of their perspective on toys, maybe their character was the wrong height for them, maybe because of plastic limitations it didn't have the right arsenal. Or maybe because of what the character turns into, they're just not going to get that character anymore. Basically has/tak could do everything right but ko/3rd party would still exist in some form. You can't please everyone all the time. Ko makers and 3rd party makers have an easier job then Has/tak in the sense of having no limits, no budget restraints from management. They'll never have to worry about what would sell on store shelves.

WJ has been the premiere KO company for quite a few years now. I'll miss them, especially since Black Apple won't be in the scene after this.

However, on the discussion of third party vs. KO: please understand the difference between a design or character being taken from this, extremely conservatively, billion dollar corporation and the outright theft of their products. This will most likely fall on deaf ears, but third parties aren't hurting Hasbro's profits. Legally what they do is in the grey area but their presence only enriches our hobby. Whatever moral quandaries you have with them has nothing to do with what is indisputably infringing on Hasbro and Takara property.

Despite this, please don't jump to defending Hasbro whenever KOs are brought up. The KO industry pales in comparison to the sheer size of Hasbro and Takara. Whatever you say on a fan forum regarding KOs won't give you a blessing from HasTak.

Hopefully all parties involved with the investigation brought up by this article remain in good health and additional information regarding it arises soon.

My only wish on the KO crackdown is to see those god damned G1 "reissues" to be put to rest once and for all. I've been burned twice already and it's almost 200$CAN flushed down the toilet.

I heard rumours that the reason they got smacked down was for trying to KO an Iron Man figure, and in doing so invoking the wrath of The Mouse. No idea how true that is of course, but it wouldn't surprise me.

Anyway, I'm not sad to see the back of a KO company but I hope they don't crack down on 3Ps, because as mentioned before there's a big difference between making barely-altered clones of existing work and making entirely originally engineered and designed figures that look like an existing character.

Black Hat wrote:Anyway, I'm not sad to see the back of a KO company but I hope they don't crack down on 3Ps, because as mentioned before there's a big difference between making barely-altered clones of existing work and making entirely originally engineered and designed figures that look like an existing character.

There's also the fact that often get inspired by 3P for their own work. As if 3P companies were free R&R.

My big wish is that has/tak face competition in the Transforming robot arena like the old tf vs gobot days. A new ip needs to come along to give the franchise a kick up the backside. To be blunt, 3p aren't competing as they don't own the base designs, a simple licence would change them from non-official to official. The competition im talking of is more Sony vs Microsoft in the gaming arena.

Terrsolpix wrote:WJ has been the premiere KO company for quite a few years now. I'll miss them, especially since Black Apple won't be in the scene after this.

However, on the discussion of third party vs. KO: please understand the difference between a design or character being taken from this, extremely conservatively, billion dollar corporation and the outright theft of their products. This will most likely fall on deaf ears, but third parties aren't hurting Hasbro's profits. Legally what they do is in the grey area but their presence only enriches our hobby.

I'd be curious to see how you measure Hasbro's finances weighed against the impact of 3P product, to have come to this opinion. And in terms of enrichment I think the arguments here are mostly circumstantial, lack proof, and I would suggest are also heavily biased due to self-interest.

Just to address the implication that because Hasbro are making Billions then supposedly smaller-scale theft is fine: it isn't.

Whatever moral quandaries you have with them has nothing to do with what is indisputably infringing on Hasbro and Takara property.

Companies are stealing from the company that created our beloved hobby and we're supporting that. Unless we're truly amoral monsters we should ALL have this moral quandary, at least a little.

Despite this, please don't jump to defending Hasbro whenever KOs are brought up. The KO industry pales in comparison to the sheer size of Hasbro and Takara. Whatever you say on a fan forum regarding KOs won't give you a blessing from HasTak."

Who posts on message boards looking for some kind of nebulous blessing from HasTak? That's a weird thing to accuse people of.

ZeroWolf wrote:My big wish is that has/tak face competition in the Transforming robot arena like the old tf vs gobot days. A new ip needs to come along to give the franchise a kick up the backside. To be blunt, 3p aren't competing as they don't own the base designs, a simple licence would change them from non-official to official. The competition im talking of is more Sony vs Microsoft in the gaming arena.

To TRULY compete, one must up their production value and marketing budget tremendously. Especially if the company want to go international.

Sonokong is already doing that with their awesome transforming robot lines, but their market is sadly limited to South Korea. It's really a bummer because importing these toys are REALLY expensive. I got some and I love them. Hardness, size, and durability remisent of the Unicron Trilogy era. Sonokong already licenced and reissued Beast Wars and Cybertron figures. So it's a bit baffling they won't go international.

BTW, I got this HUGE beast of a combiner below and it's fantastic:



Just imagine being able to buy such a thing from Walmart.

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A 3P company could come up with their own original line and then rent their licence to a huge corporation like Bandai. They then will handle the rest.
A bit like what Azone did for the Kikipop dolls. But even then, the market of these ultra expensive (and adorable) dolls is limited to Japan. Going mass market international can't be done overnight it seems.

Maybe Hasbro/Takara can learn something from the Knock offers design process, wouldnt be a first time. Improved toys are always a good thing.

Less options are always a bad thing.

-Kanrabat- wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:My big wish is that has/tak face competition in the Transforming robot arena like the old tf vs gobot days. A new ip needs to come along to give the franchise a kick up the backside. To be blunt, 3p aren't competing as they don't own the base designs, a simple licence would change them from non-official to official. The competition im talking of is more Sony vs Microsoft in the gaming arena.

To TRULY compete, one must up their production value and marketing budget tremendously. Especially if the company want to go international.

Sonokong is already doing that with their awesome transforming robot lines, but their market is sadly limited to South Korea. It's really a bummer because importing these toys are REALLY expensive. I got some and I love them. Hardness, size, and durability remisent of the Unicron Trilogy era. Sonokong already licenced and reissued Beast Wars and Cybertron figures. So it's a bit baffling they won't go international.

BTW, I got this HUGE beast of a combiner below and it's fantastic:



Just imagine being able to buy such a thing from Walmart.

--------------

A 3P company could come up with their own original line and then rent their licence to a huge corporation like Bandai. They then will handle the rest.
A bit like what Azone did for the Kikipop dolls. But even then, the market of these ultra expensive (and adorable) dolls is limited to Japan. Going mass market international can't be done overnight it seems.

I need that combiner in my life...especially that red and blue one, love unconventional combiner designs.

ZeroWolf wrote:I need that combiner in my life...especially that red and blue one, love unconventional combiner designs.

It will be expensive as hell, but oh so worth it! The five combined Sonokong HEAVY beasts make CW Devastator look like a cheap dollar store thing made out of tupperwares.

Sounds like Weijiang wasn't giving enough money to the Chinese government.

I blame the victim. CHMS purple Seekers, orange Sunstorm, and downsized CW tank Megatron are just a few of the KOs I’ve bought over the years that Hasbro could have easily produced themselves. Now are we gonna get Earthrise Seekers in more colors? Or does another KO company have to step in to collect my money?

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:Wonko, by majority it's Devy and Predaking who are outsize - the others aren't too small, those two are too big. I mean, yeah, they're at the mass-shifted colossus size from the cartoon and Omega Supreme is made to match. But it's at the cost of being out of whack with their fellows, the individual Predacons and Constructicons being oversize, and being available only as expensive Titan-class giftsets which there's only room for so many of at a time.

Agreed. I have both. The UW/CW scales great with Titan Omega Supreme, but the smaller KO one scales great with the other combiners. I'm hoping for a scaled down Predaking as I think he would be a great match for the newly released CC Skylynx. The cherry on top would be for a scaled down Omega Supreme at that size as well, but I seriously doubt it. I love the Siege Titan so much, heck, even if in the RED series they released a 12-13" Action Figure of Omega Supreme I'd take that and put it with my combiners and call it a day .

Good Day My Fellow

I can understand the point of those that want to collect counterfeit Transformers. But here some points I guess no one has address in all of this. What about safety and health concerns? With living in a modern time pandemic, health and safety is important now more then ever. So the biggest questions are what are those counterfeit figures made out of sitting on your shelves? Do they contain toxic chemicals? What is in that molded plastic? What is in those diecast metal parts? What is in the paint? Counterfeit companies utilize toxic materials and cut corners to sell a cheaper products at a lower price point. Why would you jeopardize your health and safety to have something like this in your home or heaven forbid around your kids, if you have some. Plus what if you or a family member were harmed by one of these counterfeit figures? Who would you hold accountable? What if one is hurt, sickened or killed due to this toy being unsafe. Some individuals could blame Hasbro or Takara for not keeping a restraint on their intellectual property due to safety concerns. And then there are the lawsuits. There are so many factures regarding health and safety with these counterfeits toys. I read an article just back in November last year, were a major flood of toxic toys are coming from China. I am just looking at the safety and health of all this. As I know when I buy Transformers from Takara which was founded in 1955 and Hasbro founded in 1923. I know I am purchasing from a reputable business and not some counterfeiting company that has only been around a few years. If they are willing to steal, they could give a rats ass about you!

Toys by principle are aimed at kids. So they have to follow strict safety measures. Both on the chemical side and the "no stabby bits" side. KO companies don't give a single fok about that.
At least, most of these KOs are aimed at adult collectors and it's usually printed "15+" on the packaging. It doesn't mean there is no risks though. And especially with cheap-ass KOs that are sold at Ebay, Sirtoys, Ali-Express, or Wish. Those toys have no safety certificates and could easily be bought for children by clueless cheap parents.

Krapicon wrote:I read an article just back in November last year, were a major flood of toxic toys are coming from China.

Seriously though, we all know TT & Hasbro have increased health and safety standards, however you do realize that up until a couple of years ago there products were all manufactured in Hong Kong, and now in Vietnam? Not that much of a difference geographically speaking.

o.supreme wrote:you do realize that up until a couple of years ago there products were all manufactured in Hong Kong, and now in Vietnam? Not that much of a difference geographically speaking.

Well, at least it's not the same country. It make a HUGE difference. The fact that the Transformers are not produced in a dystopian dictatorship that is almost borderline at war with the USA is pretty significant.

Hong Kong is technically part of China, though it is still considered a "sovereign state", as I'm sure you are no doubt aware, that sovereignty is being increasingly challenged by the mainland government.

o.supreme wrote:Hong Kong is technically part of China, though it is still considered a "sovereign state", as I'm sure you are no doubt aware, that sovereignty is being increasingly challenged by the mainland government.

Vietnam is it's own country. It's not part of China.
But knowing China, it wouldn't surprize me if one day, they'd turn full Mongol and move to conquer all of Asia.

Just dont lick KO's or stab siblings with the original G1 infernos arm spikes of impalement. As someone that has bought lead miniatures it's not too hard to treat KO's that same way (ie dont lick them) and when it comes to stabbing siblings with sharp implements, follow China O'Briens rules, everything is a weapon.

This could be pure rumor/misinformation on my part, so please forgive me if I am wrong, but I seem to remember Hasbro saying something about moving manufacturing to India at some point? - Good for avoiding communist governments, but if you are frustrated with QC issues now, expect them to exponentially increase if that happens.

o.supreme wrote:This could be pure rumor/misinformation on my part, so please forgive me if I am wrong, but I seem to remember Hasbro saying something about moving manufacturing to India at some point? - Good for avoiding communist governments, but if you are frustrated with QC issues now, expect them to exponentially increase if that happens.

UGH.
2017 was HORRIBLE with QC. Worst year ever since I started collecting in 2009. That was the year where they moved their production to Vietnam. Nowadays QC is basically nonexistent (at least on my end) because they have ironed out the kinks.

Let's hope we are not going through that again anytime soon.