iGear Mini Warriors

[kaiden]

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/cc410/LamDX/Transformers/3rd%20Party/1307381304_miniwarriors.jpg

[VERT]

Oh yeah I want :D Well we know one is Powerglide, I think one is pipes and Beachcomber. Not sure what the others are yet. But yeah :D

You know if 3rd Party stuff is so wrong why can they show it all at Botcon and thats a Hasbro event. Im sure the Hasbro guys go over and have a look and say cool stuff guys. If they did not like this stuff that would be a perfect time for them to stop them etc.

[swoop]

It looks like beachcomber, gears, wheelie, pipes, powerglide and cosmos.

With fansproject doing seaspray, powerglide and possibly others I'd rather buy from them then igea.

As for hasbro doing something about them at botcon igear and fansproject weren't actually there tfsource was just exhibiting their stuff

[Sky Shadow]

Oh yeah I want :D Well we know one is Powerglide, I think one is pipes and Beachcomber. Not sure what the others are yet.

The bottom right is obviously Cosmos, top right is Wheelie, which only leaves the middle silhouette in the top row.

[liegeprime]

Middle silhouette top row would be Beachcomber (next to Seaspray) and Brawn

Hmmm most of these have already been released as Henkei minibots anyways, I wish they did some of the minibots not made yet instead. Huffer, Pipes okay, and well, Seaspray is movie and gigantic but what the heck it works for me.

Would have been nice if they did instead

Huffer, Pipes, Tailgate( though Hastak possibly might repaint WC mold), Swerve, Powerglide (this one looks better than the movie) Gears, Hubcap and to top it all off to 8, Bumper- we've never had an incarnation of this guy since that accident in G1:D

[kup]

The bottom right is obviously Cosmos, top right is Wheelie, which only leaves the middle silhouette in the top row.

Looks like Brawn.


Huffer, Pipes, Tailgate( though Hastak possibly might repaint WC mold), Swerve, Powerglide (this one looks better than the movie) Gears, Hubcap and to top it all off to 8, Bumper- we've never had an incarnation of this guy since that accident in G1:D

I agree that they should have used the less 'popular' minibots that Hasbro has not done. However I don't really like that Powerglide, it looks way too 'cutesy' super-deformed for my tastes, more so than the G1 toy with that giant head and stocky body.

[kaiden]

As for hasbro doing something about them at botcon igear and fansproject weren't actually there tfsource was just exhibiting their stuff

thats true, but its similar in the case of piracy of games - Nintendo has shut down japanese distributers of flashcarts and I also remember posting about Takara stopping the sale of 3rd party products in Japan so why hasbro have not taken action against distributers like TFsource and BBTS is anyone's guess.

[UltraMagnus]

thats true, but its similar in the case of piracy of games - Nintendo has shut down japanese distributers of flashcarts and I also remember posting about Takara stopping the sale of 3rd party products in Japan so why hasbro have not taken action against distributers like TFsource and BBTS is anyone's guess.

Why would you burn the hand that feeds you? TFSource and BBTS sell thousands of transformers. With BBTS, they are one of the biggest distributors of TFs in the globe. Hasbro would loose more money from fear of retribution from retailer/fans.

Hasbro aint gonna push this - its too much trouble for very very little gain.

Fansproject/igear help build sales not distract

[Lord_Zed]

I'm interested to see what they come up with and if they can actually sell them at a competitive price. Although given the price of Perfect Effect toys, even a minibot can cost a fortune. Still we shall see.

Seems like someone else is doing ths same thing judging by the Botcon photos, there seemed to be a second Seaspray and a Powerglide.

Anyway I will need to see what they come up with, some of the toys we saw looked too G1, on the other hand Hasbro's Powerglides and Seasprays aren't G1 enough for me, so we'll see if these guys can hit the spot. Huffer looked ok.....



Why would you burn the hand that feeds you? TFSource and BBTS sell thousands of transformers. With BBTS, they are one of the biggest distributors of TFs in the globe. Hasbro would loose more money from fear of retribution from retailer/fans.

Hasbro aint gonna push this - its too much trouble for very very little gain.

Fansproject/igear help build sales not distract

Judging from what I've seen lately yes some companies would bite/insult/cut off the hand that feeds them. If Hasbro are anything like miniatures company Games Workshop who told some of their biggest internet store clients they couldn't sell to people outside of Europe, and then described them as freeloaders to boot, then yes I could see them going after them.

[gdmetro]

Wow! 3rd party release news has gone off the wall. igear has certainly made a bold statement with the multitude of projects that they have shown in these past weeks.

The volume of these designs and blatant proximity to the IP of these characters and designs have definitely reached a new level. I think after this, anything is possible. Excited, but worrried this is getting closer to the line that once crossed.. will end Has/Tak's tolerance of 3rd parties (if this is even possible or feasible).

Another issue that is evident is multiple releases of the same character by different 3rd party companies. How will the companies compete? Will they cooperate or fight it out for market share? [larger projects will be harder to do by new companies- as it would be all-in on their capital, win or bust] The quantity of releases/choices has just increased dramatically... from a consumer pov- hopefully prices get more competitive :D

These minibots excite the hell outta me- I am prepared to get these if they are reasonably priced- around $30 bucks each (which I think is reasonable) and the QC is decent. IF igear want to compete against FansProject, disregarding the top notch quality of plastic and design, their price will have to be around that mark. I mean, FP explorer and munitioner were around $50 and were much larger scout sizes and bulkier to the traditional Has/Tak scout-borderlining as deluxe- included a heap of accessories and also enginereed to be fit on as limbs. These minibots are way small... Huffer reaches to classics primes knees...and is head in height smaller than RTS Windcharger.

Having said that if these igear minibots are good, the (purportedly) FansProject seaspray and powerglide moulds will make it hard for me to choose (especially so if FP does its own line of minibots to compete). although, the FP powerglide is a bit off... it doesnt feel Fansproject in its design.

All in all, igear definitely have chosen the right characters but they better bring their A game in pricing and quality to sway me.

[kaiden]

Why would you burn the hand that feeds you? TFSource and BBTS sell thousands of transformers. With BBTS, they are one of the biggest distributors of TFs in the globe. Hasbro would loose more money from fear of retribution from retailer/fans.

Hasbro aint gonna push this - its too much trouble for very very little gain.

Fansproject/igear help build sales not distract

hmm... fansproject at least create products to compliment existing hasbro figures - cliffjumper, prime, ultra magnus, rodimus, combaticons and the upcoming g2 prime. but they've also made products that dont like - springer and the upcoming insecticons.

to the point though, is that hasbro makes no money from any of these. all the figures aren't sold through retail anymore nor their online store - they're now acquired through ebay and online shops like TFsource/BBTS at scalper prices.

igear however, have KO'd the MP molds and I dont see how hasbro profits from it. the kup heads are great though, but i don't think they influence the sale of hasbro's generation kup - otherwise igear would have sold 1:1 for every kup hasbro has ever sold.

Finally, I don't think they'd lose money from stopping the sale of 3rd party products in North America. Transformers is only a part of their revenue as they have a lot of other licenses and there are plenty of dedicated fans like Gok who only buy licensed products.

[Sky Shadow]

Fansproject/igear help build sales not distract

Not really, Magnus. There's only so much money to go around. Every Transfan dollar that goes to iGear or Fansproject is not going to HasTakTom. Making Minibots is just wrong, and things like Knockoff Coneheads, Shadow Scyther etc. only help to inflate the coffers of secondary sellers, not Hasbro or Takara.

[kup]

Transformers is only a part of their revenue as they have a lot of other licenses and there are plenty of dedicated fans like Gok who only buy licensed products.

I could be wrong about this and if I am please show me how so but given what I see on a daily basis within the Fandom, most people seem to be into 3rd party toys in one way or another. Before the DOTM line begun to gear up, 3rd party toys were dominating the news section for about a year and fan sites were competing with breaking out the 'latest' news of them to the point that even minor stuff was was plastered all over the news sections.

[kaiden]

I could be wrong about this and if I am please show me how so but given what I see on a daily basis within the Fandom, most people seem to be into 3rd party toys in one way or another. Before the DOTM line begun to gear up, 3rd party toys were dominating the news section for about a year and fan sites were competing with breaking out the 'latest' news of them to the point that even minor stuff was was plastered all over the news sections.

I'm not sure what you mean kup...

the hasbro website shows they sell a lot of products catering to a wide variety of consumers - Transformers, Star Wars, GI Joe, Marvel, Board games, My Little Pony/Littlest Pet Shop etc... so yeah, Transformers is only part of their revenue.

Blocking the sale of 3rd party products in North America wouldn't affect them much since they are not stopping people from purchasing from asia from places like RK or ebay. So I doubt it would cause people to boycott them to the extent it would hurt them because they predominately cater to retailers like Walmart and their business model is focused on the big holiday sales.

was that the right answer?

[kup]

I'm not sure what you mean kup...

the hasbro website shows they sell a lot of products catering to a wide variety of consumers - Transformers, Star Wars, GI Joe, Marvel, Board games, My Little Pony/Littlest Pet Shop etc... so yeah, Transformers is only part of their revenue.

Blocking the sale of 3rd party products in North America wouldn't affect them much since they are not stopping people from purchasing from asia from places like RK or ebay. So I doubt it would cause people to boycott them to the extent it would hurt them because they predominately cater to retailers like Walmart and their business model is focused on the big holiday sales.

was that the right answer?

No, I was referring to your statement about plenty of dedicated fans like who only buy license products.

Just by looking at the international TF sites, it seems that most fans are into 3rd party products in one form or another.

[UltraMagnus]

Not really, Magnus. There's only so much money to go around. Every Transfan dollar that goes to iGear or Fansproject is not going to HasTakTom. Making Minibots is just wrong, and things like Knockoff Coneheads, Shadow Scyther etc. only help to inflate the coffers of secondary sellers, not Hasbro or Takara.

Let me explain this statement further purely from myself and others like me.
Before Fansproject City Commander, I did not buy 1 single classics toy. Was only after G1. After fansproject City commander, I bought every single hasbro and takara release.
So even though 3rd party companys have made money from me, Hasbro/Takara have made so much more.

Point #2. Masterpiece. I dont collect them until...3rd party seekers. I have bought all 4. But I also just bought Optimus Prime, Rodimus prime, Megatron and all the other Takara releases.

What I am getting at is if it wasnt for the third party companies I would have given Hasbro so little and 3rd parties nothing... everyone wins, especially fans.

[rampagesss]

Can't wait to see Beachcomber :D

[ITZTRU]

Point #2. Masterpiece. I dont collect them until...3rd party seekers. I have bought all 4.

Sorry about going a bit off topic, but UM, who did u order your not ramjet from? (I assume thats the 3rd party seeker u were talking about?) I want one!

[UltraMagnus]

Sorry about going a bit off topic, but UM, who did u order your not ramjet from? (I assume thats the 3rd party seeker u were talking about?) I want one!

Mate!!!
Ordered it from TFsource. Alternatively there is Robot kingdom or BBTS.

Never had an issue with BBTS or TFSource, RK isnt that good and I know exactly where his warehouse is in HK

(its in Aberdeen, Ocean King Toy imports)... :)