The Energon Pub

I was checking prices on tfsource this morning on some WST figures & every time I tried to add a Justitoys WST figure I received a "no longer available" prompt. I saw that the entire Justitoys section on their site was blank now. I also checked BBTS & found the same results. Toyarena & robotkingdom still have some of the figures available. I emailed tfsource to see if i could get any info on what's going on. Maybe HasTakTom dropped the hammer on the unofficial WST figures like they did on the KO figures. Any info you guys can share would be appreciated & if I get any info I will let you guys know.

I think that's a good assumption to make. If true it's too bad ... nobody's mistake them for an official Has/Tak product.

I can't actually remember that BBTS ever sold any of Justitoys's WST figures. And I see BBTS still have Justitoys MP-05 Accessory Kit in stock.
But, yeah, it is weird that TFSource won't let you add the Justitoys items to your cart anymore. I guess they did get a bit to close to Takara / Hasbro's intellectual property.
I have to say, I don't actually agree with the statement that nobody would mistake them for an official Has/Tak product: I'd say that items like the WST Dinobots, Blaster and Shockwave would probably very easily fool less knowledgable customers into thinking these ARE official HAS/TAK products (I mean, they look practically the same except for scale, and both Hasbro and Takara make toys in comparable scales, like the official Smallest TF's and Micromasters).
I could also very well imagine an evil lawyer sueing Hasbro (which has LOADS more money than Justitoys) if a child chokes on a Justitoys WST which looks exactly like a Hasbro product.

Yeah there are definite safety issues when dealing with WST figures, especially accessories for them. I would imagine iy's HasTakTom cracking the whip more than a safety issue. If that is the case, that sucks. I was looking forward to a tiny Astrotrain & Sixshot. I hope HasTakTom isn't going to shut down the 3rd party market this year. There is too much awesome that still needs to be done that they sinply cannot do themselves.

Well, they seem interested in shutting down the KOs at any rate ... and the WSTF guys are KOs, even if they're the kind that you wouldn't really confuse for an official product (admittingly, maybe some would if they didn't know their stuff; it isn't quite in the same league as the real "high quality" G1 KOs).)

This is what I just got in an email from tfsource when I asked about the figures disappearing.

Hello Sir,
 
At this time, we have no further information.
 
Thank You and Best Regards,
 
customercare


So, who knows.

I emailed them about the same issue, and got a strange response.

My email to TFsource:

GuyIncognito wrote:Why are WST figures no longer available for purchase? If I try to purchase any WST figure, even ones that are listed as "in stock", I get a message that says "This item is not available for selling anymore!"

The response I received:

TFsource wrote:I am sorry about that.

At this time, you may want to check on the Sears site for any of those.

Thank You and Best Regards,

Nicole

Really? Check the Sears website?

That's f***ed up.

thanks hasbro! close down kotoys and now screw us over on wst while your at it as well! FFS hasbro stopped making wst stuff ages ago! do they really care that much to stop fans getting stuff they want yet they will mass release bullshit like movie bumblebee? FFS

lo and behold ...http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1260 ... ockType=G1

or all of them http://www.sears.com/shc/s/s_10153_1260 ... prop17=wst

Fistful of Energon wrote:lo and behold ...http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1260 ... ockType=G1

or all of them http://www.sears.com/shc/s/s_10153_1260 ... prop17=wst

Interesting. While it's good to know that WSTs, in general, ARE still available, it's disappointing if it means you can no longer order them from TFSource directly. Looks like Sears is only offering old WSTs. I guess I'll have to go elsewhere for Astrotrain, Sixchanger, etc.

Strangeness indeed. Newegg.com(where I buy most of my computer components from) sells some transformers from tfsource. I checked & they only have the Takara ones available. Maybe Sears cut a deal to stock them. I need to replace one of my sockets I broke building an engine at Sears. Will ask around & see if any employees know anything about it(one I know is a fellow collector, she should know). Would be kick ass if they started selling them in store like they did the minibots in the good old G1 days.