In Hand Pictures of MP-23 Exhaust

Between this and Star Saber, next week is going to be a very good week. I may hug the mailman.

Long time reader, first time poster.
Hobbylink just notified me yesterday. Should be shipping today!

US retailers are spineless cowards. If I was one of the smaller US based retailers, ill sell those things through paypal under the table quicker than you can say "smoke one" !

Rated X wrote:US retailers are spineless cowards. If I was one of the smaller US based retailers, ill sell those things through paypal under the table quicker than you can say "smoke one" !

hmm.. I wonder if Ebay listings will in the US will get taken down

mooncake623 wrote:

Rated X wrote:US retailers are spineless cowards. If I was one of the smaller US based retailers, ill sell those things through paypal under the table quicker than you can say "smoke one" !

hmm.. I wonder if Ebay listings will in the US will get taken down

Considering that even when the topic was hot, MP05 Megatron was never taken down, I really can't see that this will.

Can anyone tell me where to order this from? eBay sellers seem to be a little sketchy and the prices are going up. Are there any Japanese shops that will export to the US? I can't find MP-23 Exhaust anywhere -RobotKingdom, HLJ, no one has it on their site?

Guitarbot wrote:Can anyone tell me where to order this from? eBay sellers seem to be a little sketchy and the prices are going up. Are there any Japanese shops that will export to the US? I can't find MP-23 Exhaust anywhere -RobotKingdom, HLJ, no one has it on their site?

eBay sellers have been raising prices rapidly for days now, I'd suggest you either jump on it now or wait several months and hope the prices go down after the novelty wears off. Check the stats on the eBay sellers- there are several reputable sellers, like toyspark.

Guitarbot wrote:Can anyone tell me where to order this from? eBay sellers seem to be a little sketchy and the prices are going up. Are there any Japanese shops that will export to the US? I can't find MP-23 Exhaust anywhere -RobotKingdom, HLJ, no one has it on their site?

I believe preorders at Japanese retailers has long been sold out.

Desslok2201 wrote:

mooncake623 wrote:hmm.. I wonder if Ebay listings will in the US will get taken down

Considering that even when the topic was hot, MP05 Megatron was never taken down, I really can't see that this will.

The 'issues' surrounding the two are completely different and I don't know if there's actually any legit legalities around selling Exhaust, but I know a lot of MP-05 listing have been canceled by eBay. Doesn't stop people from listing them, and they may or may not get a sale through, but eBay does shut them down when they're made aware.

Kibble wrote:

Desslok2201 wrote:

mooncake623 wrote:hmm.. I wonder if Ebay listings will in the US will get taken down

Considering that even when the topic was hot, MP05 Megatron was never taken down, I really can't see that this will.

The 'issues' surrounding the two are completely different and I don't know if there's actually any legit legalities around selling Exhaust, but I know a lot of MP-05 listing have been canceled by eBay. Doesn't stop people from listing them, and they may or may not get a sale through, but eBay does shut them down when they're made aware.

Maybe I phrased it poorly. What I intended to say was that MP05 is a much bigger deal as far as being a handgun replica, and they're still readily available on eBay. Seeing as how you can find official Marlboro merchandise on eBay, and the trademark infringement issue was never really the problem with this item, I can't see a ban on it

Guitarbot wrote:Can anyone tell me where to order this from? eBay sellers seem to be a little sketchy and the prices are going up. Are there any Japanese shops that will export to the US? I can't find MP-23 Exhaust anywhere -RobotKingdom, HLJ, no one has it on their site?

Japanese retailers are keeping this low key. As Rated X mentioned, while USA retailers are spineless, the Nippon guys use discretion or are creative in disposing this hot potato.

fenrir72 wrote:

Guitarbot wrote:Can anyone tell me where to order this from? eBay sellers seem to be a little sketchy and the prices are going up. Are there any Japanese shops that will export to the US? I can't find MP-23 Exhaust anywhere -RobotKingdom, HLJ, no one has it on their site?

Japanese retailers are keeping this low key. As Rated X mentioned, while USA retailers are spineless, the Nippon guys use discretion or are creative in disposing this hot potato.

Not wanting to get sued is spineless? What kind of world do you guys live in?

mooncake623 wrote:

fenrir72 wrote:

Guitarbot wrote:Can anyone tell me where to order this from? eBay sellers seem to be a little sketchy and the prices are going up. Are there any Japanese shops that will export to the US? I can't find MP-23 Exhaust anywhere -RobotKingdom, HLJ, no one has it on their site?

Japanese retailers are keeping this low key. As Rated X mentioned, while USA retailers are spineless, the Nippon guys use discretion or are creative in disposing this hot potato.

Not wanting to get sued is spineless? What kind of world do you guys live in?

Just paraphrased what X posted MC. Our "sources" on the otherhand emailed me that they just don't want to attract too much attention. That's "creative"I won't say who the source is but I don'tlook a gift Horse in the mouth Like others want to Jump on.

Btw, more pics of the real Malboor









Using the pics btw for my decal guide.

[quote="fenrir72"][/quote]


are you using that ocean decals that was posted a while ago? are those really Hasbro licensed? Heard somewhere that they weren't.

mooncake623 wrote:

fenrir72 wrote:

are you using that ocean decals that was posted a while ago? are those really Hasbro licensed? Heard somewhere that they weren't.

Yup. Ordered Wheeljack set version 2.

Unless those manufacturers have cajones made of steel to be outright printing fonts on the package claiming to be licensed, I'll have to assume they are or licensed for Asia use. And they all look sooooo good MC.



Pain in the @ss to attach unlike reprolabels, but they have their own charm that modelers/customizers will surely appreciate.

mooncake623 wrote:

fenrir72 wrote:

Guitarbot wrote:Can anyone tell me where to order this from? eBay sellers seem to be a little sketchy and the prices are going up. Are there any Japanese shops that will export to the US? I can't find MP-23 Exhaust anywhere -RobotKingdom, HLJ, no one has it on their site?

Japanese retailers are keeping this low key. As Rated X mentioned, while USA retailers are spineless, the Nippon guys use discretion or are creative in disposing this hot potato.

Not wanting to get sued is spineless? What kind of world do you guys live in?

If you send me an e-mail with your order, I send you a paypal invoice, you pay me, and then I mail you a "brown box" with something in it, how can Phil Morris sue ? US Customs is not in the business of opening packages to look for certain tampos on imported items. It's not illegal to own a Marlboor Wheeljack in the US, it's just illegal to advertise it for sale as "childrens merchandise". Any item mailed as a "gift" has no classification and is perfectly legal to ship anywhere.

Fun Fact: Now defunct KO Toys was selling KO's of Hasbro molds for months after they took them down from their website using this method.

Rated X wrote:

mooncake623 wrote:

fenrir72 wrote:

Guitarbot wrote:Can anyone tell me where to order this from? eBay sellers seem to be a little sketchy and the prices are going up. Are there any Japanese shops that will export to the US? I can't find MP-23 Exhaust anywhere -RobotKingdom, HLJ, no one has it on their site?

Japanese retailers are keeping this low key. As Rated X mentioned, while USA retailers are spineless, the Nippon guys use discretion or are creative in disposing this hot potato.

Not wanting to get sued is spineless? What kind of world do you guys live in?

If you send me an e-mail with your order, I send you a paypal invoice, you pay me, and then I mail you a "brown box" with something in it, how can Phil Morris sue ? US Customs is not in the business of opening packages to look for certain tampos on imported items. It's not illegal to own a Marlboor Wheeljack in the US, it's just illegal to advertise it for sale as "childrens merchandise". Any item mailed as a "gift" has no classification and is perfectly legal to ship anywhere.

Fun Fact: Now defunct KO Toys was selling KO's of Hasbro molds for months after they took them down from their website using this method.

You said US retailers are spineless for not selling this. I'm saying why risk their business to sell one toy that people can get overseas? to make an extra buck is worth risking their business that is likely their means of providing for their family? So them chosing not to do this is considered spineless?

Everything you describing they shoudl do is shady as f*ck btw.

RSC wrote:Long time reader, first time poster.
Hobbylink just notified me yesterday. Should be shipping today!

We lost you in the exitement, welcome!

Still waiting to get word on my preorders from chimung...

shajaki wrote:

RSC wrote:Long time reader, first time poster.
Hobbylink just notified me yesterday. Should be shipping today!

We lost you in the exitement, welcome!

Still waiting to get word on my preorders from chimung...

Ditto Ages 3+.

mooncake623 wrote:

Rated X wrote:

mooncake623 wrote:

fenrir72 wrote:

Guitarbot wrote:Can anyone tell me where to order this from? eBay sellers seem to be a little sketchy and the prices are going up. Are there any Japanese shops that will export to the US? I can't find MP-23 Exhaust anywhere -RobotKingdom, HLJ, no one has it on their site?

Japanese retailers are keeping this low key. As Rated X mentioned, while USA retailers are spineless, the Nippon guys use discretion or are creative in disposing this hot potato.

Not wanting to get sued is spineless? What kind of world do you guys live in?

If you send me an e-mail with your order, I send you a paypal invoice, you pay me, and then I mail you a "brown box" with something in it, how can Phil Morris sue ? US Customs is not in the business of opening packages to look for certain tampos on imported items. It's not illegal to own a Marlboor Wheeljack in the US, it's just illegal to advertise it for sale as "childrens merchandise". Any item mailed as a "gift" has no classification and is perfectly legal to ship anywhere.

Fun Fact: Now defunct KO Toys was selling KO's of Hasbro molds for months after they took them down from their website using this method.

You said US retailers are spineless for not selling this. I'm saying why risk their business to sell one toy that people can get overseas? to make an extra buck is worth risking their business that is likely their means of providing for their family? So them chosing not to do this is considered spineless?

Everything you describing they shoudl do is shady as f*ck btw.

Already moot as many collectors would have found a way to acquire Exhaust but what you call shady, others will call creative means to circumvent the rules

As I am AGAIN going to hate myself in the morning, the root of what X posted was not to sell this cigar related merchandise to Minors. Agreed whole heartedly. Not a smoker btw. So to ensure that a minor (is it below 18 in the USA?), use a credit card to ensure so.

The transaction receipt will more or less ensure the seller has legally complied at selling only to adults.

Expecting mine in 2 weeks togther with the custom decals.

http://www.allspark.com/forums/topic/11 ... ?p=2867271

Exhaust's Bio courtesy of "Hydra"

" his character is pretty hilarious. He's an employee of "Marlboor Dynamic," a massive interplanetary corporation that steals secrets from alien cultures around the galaxy. His power, given to him by the research department of the company, allows him to "Quantize": convert his body into living smoke. His function is industrial espionage, and he gathers new secrets and technology for Marlboor. He acts like a suave, debonair spy, but the stress of his job is actually getting to him, causing a chain cy-garette smoking habit that the medical officer has warned is detrimental to his health."

So he's a spy. Kind of like SW (remember ep.1 MTMTE?) and Mirage.

Got my tracking number from my ebay seller in Japan. Overall, this is much less stressful than worrying about whether a store is/was going to honor pre-orders (which is why I waited so long to attempt pre-order in the first place).

I paid 96.00 shipped. A little more than I wanted - or actually did pay. The guy I originally bought it from in China I had it for 70 shipped.

mooncake623 wrote:

Rated X wrote:

mooncake623 wrote:

fenrir72 wrote:

Guitarbot wrote:Can anyone tell me where to order this from? eBay sellers seem to be a little sketchy and the prices are going up. Are there any Japanese shops that will export to the US? I can't find MP-23 Exhaust anywhere -RobotKingdom, HLJ, no one has it on their site?

Japanese retailers are keeping this low key. As Rated X mentioned, while USA retailers are spineless, the Nippon guys use discretion or are creative in disposing this hot potato.

Not wanting to get sued is spineless? What kind of world do you guys live in?

If you send me an e-mail with your order, I send you a paypal invoice, you pay me, and then I mail you a "brown box" with something in it, how can Phil Morris sue ? US Customs is not in the business of opening packages to look for certain tampos on imported items. It's not illegal to own a Marlboor Wheeljack in the US, it's just illegal to advertise it for sale as "childrens merchandise". Any item mailed as a "gift" has no classification and is perfectly legal to ship anywhere.

Fun Fact: Now defunct KO Toys was selling KO's of Hasbro molds for months after they took them down from their website using this method.

You said US retailers are spineless for not selling this. I'm saying why risk their business to sell one toy that people can get overseas? to make an extra buck is worth risking their business that is likely their means of providing for their family? So them chosing not to do this is considered spineless?

Everything you describing they shoudl do is shady as f*ck btw.

Whats shady about exploiting a grey area ? Politicians do it for a living. As I stated earlier, its not illegal to own (or sell) a marlboor wheeljack in the US. Its only illegal to advertise and market it as a "childrens product" in the US because it promotes tobacco. (according to phill morris who wants his piece of the pie) So if you do away with the whole "advertising" aspect of selling the product, you can legally sell it to adults in the US. (With paypal account being proof of legal age) Its that simple. So yes all these smaller retailers that are following bbts/tf sources lead are truly spineless and stupid. Its their profit loss, not mine. I got my classics Exhaust already. I dont collect MP.

Rated X wrote:Whats shady about exploiting a grey area ? Politicians do it for a living. As I stated earlier, its not illegal to own (or sell) a marlboor wheeljack in the US. Its only illegal to advertise and market it as a "childrens product" in the US because it promotes tobacco. (according to phill morris who wants his piece of the pie) So if you do away with the whole "advertising" aspect of selling the product, you can legally sell it to adults in the US. (With paypal account being proof of legal age) Its that simple. So yes all these smaller retailers that are following bbts/tf sources lead are truly spineless and stupid. Its their profit loss, not mine. I got my classics Exhaust already. I dont collect MP.

You forget, no matter how much you try and sugar-coat it, legally Masterpiece Exhaust falls in the "Toy" category, because Hasbro and TakaraTomy, down to their cores, are "Toys and Games" companies and rtegistered as such, end of story. No matter the audience (children vs. adults) or the intent (like collecting). There is a category for "Adult Collectible" I believe, but only for companies that produce those, and only those. Look at FunPub and how their boxes say "Adult Collectible" with an age to match.

You're right about it not being illegal to own him, but selling him in bulk as a registered store will get you in trouble. And don't even think changing a products' category will change that, in fact that would only add fraud to the offenses once investigations have been completed.

Could anyone with a Legal Degree (which means someone who actually studied law) come here and explain a thing or two?

Seibertron regular fenrir72 has shared with us that Hydra of the Allspark has provided MP-23 Exhaust's character bio. Many have assumed this incredibly cheeky bio comes as a result of his long stemming legal controversy. Keep scrolling to see the continuing comedy!

So, his character is pretty hilarious. He's an employee of "Marlboor Dynamic," a massive interplanetary corporation that steals secrets from alien cultures around the galaxy. His power, given to him by the research department of the company, allows him to "Quantize": convert his body into living smoke. His function is industrial espionage, and he gathers new secrets and technology for Marlboor. He acts like a suave, debonair spy, but the stress of his job is actually getting to him, causing a chain cy-garette smoking habit that the medical officer has warned is detrimental to his health.

Seibertron asks though: does this mark the end of the Exhaust Saga? Keep your optics peeled!

His collector coin was canceled.

Sabrblade wrote:His collector coin was canceled.

I think you're right, but I ca't find that info. I recall someone posting their invoice from RobotKingdom saying they will uphold pre-orders, but won't receive the coin. What I don't remember seeing, is that the coin was outright cancelled.

Would this be because Hasbro Asia has been handling most of the coins lately? And they were the first to drop distribution of the figure?

shajaki wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:His collector coin was canceled.

I think you're right, but I ca't find that info. I recall someone posting their invoice from RobotKingdom saying they will uphold pre-orders, but won't receive the coin. What I don't remember seeing, is that the coin was outright cancelled.

Would this be because Hasbro Asia has been handling most of the coins lately? And they were the first to drop distribution of the figure?

Yeah, the coins are Hasbro Asia's thing. Since they won't be touching Exhaust, he gets no coin.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Rated X wrote:Whats shady about exploiting a grey area ? Politicians do it for a living. As I stated earlier, its not illegal to own (or sell) a marlboor wheeljack in the US. Its only illegal to advertise and market it as a "childrens product" in the US because it promotes tobacco. (according to phill morris who wants his piece of the pie) So if you do away with the whole "advertising" aspect of selling the product, you can legally sell it to adults in the US. (With paypal account being proof of legal age) Its that simple. So yes all these smaller retailers that are following bbts/tf sources lead are truly spineless and stupid. Its their profit loss, not mine. I got my classics Exhaust already. I dont collect MP.

You forget, no matter how much you try and sugar-coat it, legally Masterpiece Exhaust falls in the "Toy" category, because Hasbro and TakaraTomy, down to their cores, are "Toys and Games" companies and rtegistered as such, end of story. No matter the audience (children vs. adults) or the intent (like collecting). There is a category for "Adult Collectible" I believe, but only for companies that produce those, and only those. Look at FunPub and how their boxes say "Adult Collectible" with an age to match.

You're right about it not being illegal to own him, but selling him in bulk as a registered store will get you in trouble. And don't even think changing a products' category will change that, in fact that would only add fraud to the offenses once investigations have been completed.

Could anyone with a Legal Degree (which means someone who actually studied law) come here and explain a thing or two?

Im no lawyer, but I see selling them through paypal no different to selling them out of the trunk of a car. When you sell through paypal, you are selling as an individual regardless if you happen to own a company.

No advertising = No company = Personal sale

I doubt that we'll see a collector coin for Exhaust. My order was placed months ago, and only got an email this week, saying the distributor had canceled the coin, but did I still want my order. Of course, I said yes.

If The Botcon people were smart, they'd do a version of Exhaust out of the Generations Wheeljack mold.

RiddlerJ wrote:If The Botcon people were smart, they'd do a version of Exhaust out of the Generations Wheeljack mold.

Hasbro is the one getting the blunt of the pressure from PM. I doubt they'll ever have a hand in an Exhaust type figure again unless the homage is so far removed that it loses most of its meaning

shajaki wrote:

RiddlerJ wrote:If The Botcon people were smart, they'd do a version of Exhaust out of the Generations Wheeljack mold.

Hasbro is the one getting the blunt of the pressure from PM. I doubt they'll ever have a hand in an Exhaust type figure again unless the homage is so far removed that it loses most of its meaning

I'm curious to know if the ruling applies to "Toys and Games" only, or at the very least any category which has children exclusively as a target audience (which would exclude "Adult Collectibles"), or basically any type of merchandise category.

We really need someone with a Law Degree here on the boards

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

shajaki wrote:

RiddlerJ wrote:If The Botcon people were smart, they'd do a version of Exhaust out of the Generations Wheeljack mold.

Hasbro is the one getting the blunt of the pressure from PM. I doubt they'll ever have a hand in an Exhaust type figure again unless the homage is so far removed that it loses most of its meaning

I'm curious to know if the ruling applies to "Toys and Games" only, or at the very least any category which has children exclusively as a target audience (which would exclude "Adult Collectibles"), or basically any type of merchandise category.

We really need someone with a Law Degree here on the boards

Just because somebody is a lawyer doesn't mean they work in this kind of law, which involves a couple of different issues. We need a lawyer with specialized knowledge of import laws, international trade law and of course, domestic commercial law.

As far as I'm concerned, ratedX is pretty much right about the legal ownership. This is way less about laws, and more about Phillip Morris not being even asked for their trademark...which means no money to them for something they know will sit on American shelves (at home). If they had any real legal recourse in Japan, Exhaust would have been DOA off break. They could not block the production, so they go after the distribution.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

shajaki wrote:

RiddlerJ wrote:If The Botcon people were smart, they'd do a version of Exhaust out of the Generations Wheeljack mold.

Hasbro is the one getting the blunt of the pressure from PM. I doubt they'll ever have a hand in an Exhaust type figure again unless the homage is so far removed that it loses most of its meaning

I'm curious to know if the ruling applies to "Toys and Games" only, or at the very least any category which has children exclusively as a target audience (which would exclude "Adult Collectibles"), or basically any type of merchandise category.

We really need someone with a Law Degree here on the boards

Again, I will say, this is not a blanket ruling that established a law, but a civil case settlement that five very large tobacco companies, including Philip Morris, are bound to abide by the terms of. They have basically permanent legal staff that aggressively pursue and shut down anything that might even remotely look like a PM endorsement of marketing practices that are forbidden by the MSA, often using copyright/trademark issues to pursue this. Typically, the threat alone will make anything go away, and for good. It's a US civil matter, so within the confines of Japan this thing is fine, but for companies like Hasbro that are more or less global, it's an issue, so anywhere that was going to get these things in distributed from Hasbro Asia (or any other subsidiary of Hasbro) won't. It's also rumored that Takara Tomy did a very limited run of these due to only really needing to meet demand for their domestic market.

Found some sweet new pics

Bwahahahahaha... dat bio.

It does make me sad knowing that the figure was only altered because of the Hasbro Asia release that never happened in the end and Takara Tomy got screwed out of an accurate release because of it. If this had all played out earlier we'd have an unmodified paint, but PM had to wait until the last minute to screw with us.

The coin was likely already made since the figure was canceled so close to release. I wonder if Hasbro Asia will try for an even more altered deco like ash gray or something so they don't entirely miss out.

Emerje

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Rated X wrote:Whats shady about exploiting a grey area ? Politicians do it for a living. As I stated earlier, its not illegal to own (or sell) a marlboor wheeljack in the US. Its only illegal to advertise and market it as a "childrens product" in the US because it promotes tobacco. (according to phill morris who wants his piece of the pie) So if you do away with the whole "advertising" aspect of selling the product, you can legally sell it to adults in the US. (With paypal account being proof of legal age) Its that simple. So yes all these smaller retailers that are following bbts/tf sources lead are truly spineless and stupid. Its their profit loss, not mine. I got my classics Exhaust already. I dont collect MP.

You forget, no matter how much you try and sugar-coat it, legally Masterpiece Exhaust falls in the "Toy" category, because Hasbro and TakaraTomy, down to their cores, are "Toys and Games" companies and rtegistered as such, end of story. No matter the audience (children vs. adults) or the intent (like collecting). There is a category for "Adult Collectible" I believe, but only for companies that produce those, and only those. Look at FunPub and how their boxes say "Adult Collectible" with an age to match.

You're right about it not being illegal to own him, but selling him in bulk as a registered store will get you in trouble. And don't even think changing a products' category will change that, in fact that would only add fraud to the offenses once investigations have been completed.

Could anyone with a Legal Degree (which means someone who actually studied law) come here and explain a thing or two?

I don't have a law degree but a lots on common sense. As you postulated, attempts to exploit the gray area will get you into deeper trouble for fraud etc. BUT, if you want to go by the letter of the law.......not advertising the product to minors. X mentioned something about PayPal. That outfit won't allow purchases of "adult" related products (at least on the surface ) I should..........know a bit of that cr@p. Anyway back to topic, I was once a member of a now defunct online retailer that was VERY strict with regards to such "adult" material. They strictly required members to reigster proof of their identity and the likes. Those measures imho were meant to ensure that proof of identity and not defraud.

X has a point on the "spinelessness" of the retailers. In a sense "the more trouble than its worth" mentality is running here but somewhere down the road, this might rear its ugly head again for Meister and Rijie.The result might deter Tomy from even issuing this guys.

I have a pragmmatic and legal approach to this sh*t piece.

Situation: Fenrir72 online store
Open an adults only section with the following requirements to access:

1.For American costumers Drivers' license scan and or copy of Credit card with the relevant numbers blacked out together with the user registering their actual/accurate bio data
2. Recent bank statements to indicate actual use of said card
3. Supposedly BBTS has secured credit lines so it's the risk of the buyer if they actually want to purchase the item if their info gets hacked.
4. The law should more or less see the efforts to stay true to the letter of the ruling to keep the retailers legally safe.

shajaki wrote:Found some sweet new pics

Noitice the font "good flavor"

I still fail to see how it's spineless for stores to refuse to stock this item when they're facing legal pressure from tobacco industry lawyers. Said lawyers are extremely experienced and backed by companies that throw them a ton of money to protect their interests. Whether or not Phillip Morris Co. is legally right to prohibit sales of Exhaust in America, the retailers that would carry Exhaust are not equipped to fight the notorious strength of the tobacco industry. It's simply not worth the time or money they would have to invest to engage in this legal battle, so it's easier to lose the profits for this one figure by not selling it, instead of losing the profits from their entire business by fighting.

The legal issue has been explained a thousand and one times. Are some people having a hard time understanding that PM has done their homework to block domestically? That Bot and a few others are correct. It's not economically sound to challange a lawsuit to discover a loop-hole just push push a few units domestically. Hasbro and Takara would have to change their business catagory and anybody remember Joe Camel?

Agent-539 wrote:The legal issue has been explained a thousand and one times. Are some people having a hard time understanding that PM has done their homework to block domestically? That Bot and a few others are correct. It's not economically sound to challange a lawsuit to discover a loop-hole just push push a few units domestically. Hasbro and Takara would have to change their business catagory and anybody remember Joe Camel?

And the issue is? Do not sell an item that is anyhow construed to be a tobacco endorsed product to kids.

So by all means do so and follow the letter of the law. As also mentioned in my post, the mentality of its more trouble than its worth then so be it. I'm actually not affected as my Exhaust is already on its way.

In my line of work, instead of just bellyaching, I proposed a solution. I don't "parrot" what the majority conveniently chorus.

And, my solution isn't at all towards Tomy and Hasbro. Tomy doesn't even have a problem with this regard as they sell to the Japanese market (as ALL MPs are meant to be with the exception of those with the Asian market in mind then Hasbro is indeed involved). If Hasbro sees it otherwise fine again.

But for parties who want to sell it independently, see the practicality of my suggestion without breaking the law.

I think the biggest thing I learned about Masterpiece Exhaust was how quickly retailers complied with Philip Morris' lawyers. Now if only Hasbro's lawyers would follow in those footsteps to do the same with 3rd party products.

Seibertron wrote:I think the biggest thing I learned about Masterpiece Exhaust was how quickly retailers complied with Philip Morris' lawyers. Now if only Hasbro's lawyers would follow in those footsteps to do the same with 3rd party products.

That's just never going to happen...

Your personal animus of 3rd Parties aside, a legal challenge by Hasbro is in no way worth it for them. Marlboro's white/red triangle design is trademarked and an essential piece of the brand - it would be impossible for Hasbro to protect their hundreds of characters in the same way, especially when 3rd Parties' fudge the design cues that make certain characters recognizably Hasbro's. Plus... the MSA that PM must adhere to is a huge incentive to quash infringement - the resulting penalties should they not take action would be massive. Hasbro doesn't have the same noose around its neck.

Honestly, I think Hasbro is doing a great job competing on its own terms. CW is shaping up to be their best effort in years. 3rd Parties have lately shifted its focus to MP- styled figures, and of Takara steps up its efforts in that area, I can see the market for 3rd Party figures shrinking significantly.

megatronus wrote:Your personal animus of 3rd Parties aside, a legal challenge by Hasbro is in no way worth it for them. Marlboro's white/red triangle design is trademarked and an essential piece of the brand - it would be impossible for Hasbro to protect their hundreds of characters in the same way, especially when 3rd Parties' fudge the design cues that make certain characters recognizably Hasbro's. Plus... the MSA that PM must adhere to is a huge incentive to quash infringement - the resulting penalties should they not take action would be massive. Hasbro doesn't have the same noose around its neck.

It's also worth noting, that the motivation would be completely different as well. PM is doing this to protect themselves from something potentially illegal, not because they want profits from something stealing their likeness.

megatronus wrote:Honestly, I think Hasbro is doing a great job competing on its own terms. CW is shaping up to be their best effort in years. 3rd Parties have lately shifted its focus to MP- styled figures, and of Takara steps up its efforts in that area, I can see the market for 3rd Party figures shrinking significantly.

Absolutely. I've always felt that 3P's actually inspire people to buy MORE official products. For the most part, 3P is there merely to supplement your existing official collection. CW has definitely won many fans back from the 3P scene, as well as the refocused direction of the MP line since MP09. They just need to plant seeds is all. For example: give us a redesigned MP Grimlock or another Dinobot scaled with MP10 to hint at the rest of the team. Eh?

Seibertron wrote:I think the biggest thing I learned about Masterpiece Exhaust was how quickly retailers complied with Philip Morris' lawyers. Now if only Hasbro's lawyers would follow in those footsteps to do the same with 3rd party products.

Ironic in that HasTak basically 'pulled a 3rd Party' with the PM IP...

I've never heard of this Exhaust character, but he looks pretty neat!

OptimalOptimus2 wrote:I've never heard of this Exhaust character, but he looks pretty neat!

He's based on a Diaclone alternate deco of the toy that would become Wheeljack, if you're curious about his origins.