Seibertron wrote:...though unofficial items like City Commander or the Cobra Headmaster are ok ... and they're only OK because everyone seems on board with them, which I personally think is unfortunate.
... Hasbro has put us in a tough spot regarding these types of products because they haven't come down with a heavy hand to put a stop to things like this.
You consider the City Commander is a KO? The Devastators and Superions they're currently selling in Easter baskets at the Family Dollar? Sure. But something completely designed and engineered by third party isn't the same as a knock off that just straight copies Has/Tak's work. That's actually my problem with the iGear Mini MP Convoy. I doubt they reverse engineered one and built their own following the design. It's far more likely the used the mold shrink method and tinkered with the details to make them visable in the smaller scale. Either way, dirty pool (as Gomez Addams would say.) Some third party products even have been used as exclusives of official Hasbro conventions. First the Unicron.com Vector Sigma with Key from Botcon 2007 and then the TFCon Diaclone Powered Commander in early 2009.
I just don't think the issue is so black and white anymore. That said, there are still the blindingly obvious KO's, like this one and ones like it, but is the FP Warbot a knock off Springer? The Knightmorpher (HoS Optimus) a KO or the Mastercollectables Nova Prime. Far more design and engineering went into the 200 plus piece Nova Prime than anything Has/Tak has done. And Hal's ARC Arcee model has even been recognized as his IP by Hasbro! If Hasbro legally recognized a third party creation as their IP, the only thing keeping them off of store shelves is funding which a couple of these companies may actually be able to secure. On City Commander and other third party products, Hasbro has far more to lose by having them legally recognized.
On third party products, silence is the best legal strategy Hasbro can take.
