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Transformers |OT| Transform and roll out...

F

Fantomex

Member
MattKeil said:
Four words: Third. Party. Masterpiece. Slag.

http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/3rd-party-unlicensed-41/fan-toys-ft-04-scoria-178774/

He's 25cm tall, making him taller than MP Grimlock, so he comes with add-on parts to make MP Grimlock taller. Here he is with the company's next two MP products, Swoop and Skyfire. By the guys who made Quakewave.

jSfcm25.jpg
Click to expand...

I saw this today. I was really hoping $160 at the most. Gotta start saving though, Masterpiece Grimlock is my favorite of all the masterpieces. Gotta go with this one as well.
 
M

MattKeil

BIGTIME TV MOGUL #2
The one thing I'm concerned about is that Grimlock really is substantially smaller than this guy. Like "comes up to his shoulder" smaller. Assuming the add-on parts are basically shoe lifts, Grimlock's going to have Frankenstein boots going on.
 
M

Mike M

Nick N
Was at Target today and saw a new version of TF:prime Predaking on the shelves. It looked only slightly larger than the original Voyager class, but they were wanting $60 for it.

Hasbro, plz.

Randomly flipped over the back of a figure and saw that they still haven't fixed that "Fireblast" engrish version of Firepower on the tech specs that first surfaced in Armada after all these years.
 
M

MattKeil

BIGTIME TV MOGUL #2
Mike M said:
Was at Target today and saw a new version of TF:prime Predaking on the shelves. It looked only slightly larger than the original Voyager class, but they were wanting $60 for it.

Hasbro, plz.
Click to expand...

The price is ridiculous, but it is substantially larger.

Randomly flipped over the back of a figure and saw that they still haven't fixed that "Fireblast" engrish version of Firepower on the tech specs that first surfaced in Armada after all these years.
Click to expand...

They haven't fixed it because it's intentional. They changed it because "firepower" was considered too violent and gun-oriented.
 
M

MattKeil

BIGTIME TV MOGUL #2
sol_bad said:
I've always wondered.
What is with these third party toys?
Can someone please explain this to me?
Click to expand...

Usually it's fans with sculpting/design talent and access to professional or semi-professional equipment. There are also rumors that several of the different third party companies are actually the same group of six or seven people in different configurations (some people were adamantly convinced that Maketoys and Fansproject are two names for the same group working out of two different production facilities), but I don't think anyone has ever proven that definitively.
 
sol_bad

sol_bad

Member
MattKeil said:
Usually it's fans with sculpting/design talent and access to professional or semi-professional equipment. There are also rumors that several of the different third party companies are actually the same group of six or seven people in different configurations (some people were adamantly convinced that Maketoys and Fansproject are two names for the same group working out of two different production facilities), but I don't think anyone has ever proven that definitively.
Click to expand...

And the license owners of Transformers don't care they make these toys?
Why aren't they sanctioning these toys?
They seem to be pretty freaking amazing from what I've seen.
 
C

Cheerilee

Member
sol_bad said:
And the license owners of Transformers don't care they make these toys?
Why aren't they sanctioning these toys?
They seem to be pretty freaking amazing from what I've seen.
Click to expand...

Hasbro and Takara are both already making "Masterpiece" toys, with insane quality and high prices and low print runs.

Some very resourceful fans are also making their own similarly high-quality toys, and selling them to other fans. They're charging a lot and probably not making any money, but they're doing it out of love. Hasbro and Takara don't want to make enemies by shutting these fans down unless they really have to.

They're not going to hire the fans to make toys for them, because they're more than capable of making their own toys, and they're making as many as they want to make, according to their business model. The fans are kind of stealing some of Hasbro/Takara's potential market, but it's just some crumbs on the edge. They're not that hungry for sales right now that they need to throw their weight around and be a jerk just for crumbs. And who knows, they might feel like hiring some of these fans at some point in the future.
 
S

SiegfriedFM

Member
Would have loved God Ginrai, but Star Saber is pretty awesome on his own. Then again... without Victory Leo he's much less awesome.
 
M

Mike M

Nick N
I wouldn't say God Ginrai is obscure at all, Power Master Optimus Prime remains one of my favorite toys of all time. I'd buy an MP version in a heartbeat.

Interesting that all three top vote getters are characters that combine with other figures...
 
M

Mindwipe

Member
sol_bad said:
And the license owners of Transformers don't care they make these toys?
Why aren't they sanctioning these toys?
They seem to be pretty freaking amazing from what I've seen.
Click to expand...

If they were going to sanction the toys they'd want them to pass toy safety tests that adult collectables don't need, and they'd charge a lot for it. That would probably push the costs up beyond what anyone would like to pay.

Hasbro and Takara probably don't go after the third parties because there's a risk of doing so of losing, and weakening their IP position. It's not worth the risk for what are very low run bits of fan stuff that don't threaten their revenue streams very much.
 
sol_bad

sol_bad

Member
Thanks for the replies fellas.
It's all very interesting and Hasbro and Takara sound like nice corporate companies.
I wish more companies had a similar ethics to this in regards to certain fan projects.
 
M

MattKeil

BIGTIME TV MOGUL #2
sol_bad said:
Thanks for the replies fellas.
It's all very interesting and Hasbro and Takara sound like nice corporate companies.
I wish more companies had a similar ethics to this in regards to certain fan projects.
Click to expand...

Well, the actual main reason they don't go after the third parties is because the third party product is not in competition with Hasbro/Takara's. They're not in the same price range, not aimed at the audience Hasbro wants (children), and aren't made in large enough quantities to detract from official Transformers figures. The third parties do actively avoid making figures of characters that are getting Masterpiece treatment, such as the third-party Masterpiece scaled Soundwave that was canned after Takara announced MP Soundwave.

So the relationship between Hasbro and the third parties is basically "don't start none, won't be none." As long as third parties don't make directly competitive products, Hasbro won't care. They also don't care about add-on stuff because you still have to buy the Habsro toy to use those. This informal arrangement is one reason the Warbotron team (third party Combaticons) are being turned around so quickly, because an official Has/Tak Combaticon team is semi-expected to be announced in the next year or two.
 
Tizoc

Tizoc

Member
Recently read Transformers: MTMTE 23 which is Part of the Dark Cybertron story/event.
There are a bunch of things I didn't like in this issue
First off James Raiz has a nice artstyle but his character's faces lack emotion/are so fucking emotionless, they completely don't fit with James Roberts writing and the mood and theme of the book.
Doesn't help that just about every face he draws seems sameface at worse.

Secondly, I didn't like the pacing in this issue, one time it's Prime& the Lost Light, then it switches to Starscream, then back to Lost Light, then a short scene with Shockwave, then back to one of the two.
Yeesh! Hopefully the next issues don't fall prey to this: MTMTE can focus on Prime and the Lost Light, while RiD can focus on Starscream and the Autbobots, much more tidier this way.

The prison scene was...odd, the Legend just seems to come out of nowhere.
 
S

Spiderjericho

Member
I really am a big kid for the TF comics. The Dark Cybertron story does introduce some characters I'm unfamiliar with (the main villains) but it provides a break from the usual Megatron monotony.
 
S

Savitar

Member
In the cartoon Predaking and the Predacons were a pretty good challenge for anyone, in the Marvel comics they even went up against Megatron and tore half his face off. Megatron still beat him. In the end Predaking left a good impression overall.

Onto a new issue, am I the only one who thinks the generations toys blow? I was looking at a bunch of them like Megatron in his IDW stealth jet design among others and ugh....so small and the design was lackluster. The others I looked at were not much better, the impression I got was "cheap".

On the good front Robots In Disguise TPB.5 has been ordered! I'll likely get it shortly after Christmas.
 
N

NEO0MJ

Member
Yeah, I feel that the quality of transformers toys has regressed the last couple of years, including MP figures.
 
M

Mike M

Nick N
Eh, the toy line has always been a mixed bag, quality wise. Nothing new there. Though the fact that the prices have crept up while the figures have gotten smaller if anything kinda grinds my gears.

Thank god I kicked the completionist habit a few years back.
 
M

MattKeil

BIGTIME TV MOGUL #2
NEO0MJ said:
Yeah, I feel that the quality of transformers toys has regressed the last couple of years, including MP figures.
Click to expand...

The regular retail stuff I can agree with, but not the MP in any way. The MP engineering has never been better.
 
S

Savitar

Member
Pretty sure that Prime is in homage of another they had once oh so long ago color wise. Likely a Japan version they had over there.
 
C

Cheerilee

Member
Savitar said:
An interview with the man who did the original five part TF mini series, killed Optimus Prime, came up with the Matrix, got Arcee into the show and so much more.

A good read.
Click to expand...

It's interesting how co-workers never get along.


*Friedman hands in a script*
Hasbro: This sucks, do it again.

*Dille hands in a script*
Hasbro: This sucks, do it again.

*Friedman hands in another script*
Hasbro: This is good. Run with it.

Dille: Hey Friedman, thanks for incorporating some of my better ideas. Stupid Hasbro, always rejecting them...
Friedman: You wrote a script?

---

Dille: "I didn’t know that Optimus and Megatron and Bumblebee and Starscream were iconic characters."
Friedman: I did! I was shouting it at everyone and nobody would listen!

---

This also seems to confirm my theory that Rodimus from the Movie was supposed to be Optimus 2.0, while Rodimus from season 3 was more like Hot Rod 2.0.
 
M

Mike M

Nick N
I don't know how I never noticed as a kid that they were all the same figure with different paint jobs. I knew the Seeker jets were, but not those three.
 
M

Mr. Wedgewood

Member
I only noticed the three were the same because my father owned a 280z while I was growing up watching Transformers. I used to be "look, look, it's dad's car!!!"
 
M

Mike M

Nick N
I'd completely forgotten how much I really liked Wheeljack's G1 vehicle mode. Also, how much I've really not cared for the various homages since.
 
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