The Energon Pub

I don't think I have ever seen a product with as big and prominent a proliferation of knock offs as Transformers. Obviously things like Rolex and Louis Vuitton purses see a lot of counterfeiting but these are usually sold on street corners and in back alley, hidden stores.

With Transformers I see whole websites dedicated to the selling of counterfeit product. Now I know there is very little Hasbro could do to stop this kind of thing in Asia and such but they could definitely take action against those importing them into the US and selling them online (to people in the US) so why don't they?

I'm sure it would be expensive but that can't be the sole reason, a brand is the most important thing a company has. Are the quality of the KOs high enough that Hasbro isn't worried about the reputation of TFs being tarnished? Are they sold mainly to collectors who know the difference and not to unsuspecting parents thus limiting the amount of complaints Hasbro receives?

FellintoOblivion wrote:I don't think I have ever seen a product with as big and prominent a proliferation of knock offs as Transformers. Obviously things like Rolex and Louis Vuitton purses see a lot of counterfeiting but these are usually sold on street corners and in back alley, hidden stores.

With Transformers I see whole websites dedicated to the selling of counterfeit product. Now I know there is very little Hasbro could do to stop this kind of thing in Asia and such but they could definitely take action against those importing them into the US and selling them online (to people in the US) so why don't they?

• Many KOs are readily distinguishable from authentic versions.
• KOs just aren't that common in Western markets. You have to be looking for them specifically, or looking for high-value items on eBay.

The result of this is that, in Western markets, kids (and their parents) who buy toys have virtually no exposure to KOs. Consequently, there's little reason for Hasbro to care about them.

The Asian markets are another story; but as you note, there's probably not much Hasbro can do there due to a lack of IP enforcement.

I'm sure it would be expensive but that can't be the sole reason, a brand is the most important thing a company has. Are the quality of the KOs high enough that Hasbro isn't worried about the reputation of TFs being tarnished? Are they sold mainly to collectors who know the difference and not to unsuspecting parents thus limiting the amount of complaints Hasbro receives?

On the contrary, I'd say that the quality of most KOs is low enough that Hasbro isn't worried about them being confused for the genuine article. The higher quality KOs tend to be available some time after Hasbro/Takara have ended their own production runs for the copied product--so there's not much reason for them to care.

Unlike fashion clothing and accessories, Transformers aren't status symbols. And they don't sell for enough at retail to make them worth copying surreptitiously. That is, there's just not adequate financial motivation for someone to start delivering actual counterfeit Transformers to retailers in the US. And by "counterfeit," I mean items that, at least from the outside, look completely identical to authentic ones. This sort of thing does happen with higher value items; Intel CPUs are an example.

FellintoOblivion wrote:I don't think I have ever seen a product with as big and prominent a proliferation of knock offs as Transformers. Obviously things like Rolex and Louis Vuitton purses see a lot of counterfeiting but these are usually sold on street corners and in back alley, hidden stores.

With Transformers I see whole websites dedicated to the selling of counterfeit product. Now I know there is very little Hasbro could do to stop this kind of thing in Asia and such but they could definitely take action against those importing them into the US and selling them online (to people in the US) so why don't they?

I'm sure it would be expensive but that can't be the sole reason, a brand is the most important thing a company has. Are the quality of the KOs high enough that Hasbro isn't worried about the reputation of TFs being tarnished? Are they sold mainly to collectors who know the difference and not to unsuspecting parents thus limiting the amount of complaints Hasbro receives?

I remember back in the 1990's I use to visit a few blocks in manhattan that had a dozen+ KO/BOOTLEG stores. power rangers,dragon ball z,brave,gundam,sailor moon & transformers were the most popular KO/Bootleg toys.

I don't mind buying A KO as long as it decently made.

I love buying those 3rd party TF toys & accessories.

there snot much to worry about as long as you are aware you are getting a ko. what worries me is the ko movie stuff in brick and mortar stores being passed of as the real thing k-mart and christmas tree shops come to mind. a kid is more likely to buy that than a ko seeker from an online retailer.

alternator77 wrote:there snot much to worry about as long as you are aware you are getting a ko. what worries me is the ko movie stuff in brick and mortar stores being passed of as the real thing k-mart and christmas tree shops come to mind. a kid is more likely to buy that than a ko seeker from an online retailer.

Major retail stores in america can get in trouble for selling knock off stuff.

TFs are very popular in China. Especially G1, hence the market for it. not to mention the endless fans of the G1 cartoon all over the world who are willing to get a hold of any "G1" fig.

If Takara or Hasbro will re-issue those being KOed, then those items will simply be left as unsold inventory and less impetus for the capitalists who bank roll the KO industry)

Personally, I've got no problem with knockoffs. The only times you really need to concern yourself over it is if you're searching for something very rare, vintage or hard to find - in which case, you should be doing your research to know the difference between legit and KO - or you're shopping in some cheap store like Big Lots. And if you have to wonder why a complete G2 yellow Devastator set is selling for $6.99, well... sorry to say, but you deserve the KO

When I have an extra few bucks to burn though, I've bought a fair number of KOs over the years, knowing they're crap. What did I do with them, you may ask?



Classics Gobots shelf. Because really, who cares about Gobots.