Hasbro cracking down on released DOTM toy images

[griffin]

The KOs and Unauthorised toys eating into their sales are okay, but giving fans a tease of upcoming toys to build up the hype enough to want to buy the new toys, is apparently bad. :rolleyes:

According to updates on Seibertron and TFW2005, they've received a 'cease and desist' from Hasbro.

I don't see a problem with posting links in the public section to sites that want to risk hosting images... until enough time passes for Hasbro to not be too bothered about image leaks.

[5FDP]

This may seem a bit harsh, but if I was Hasbro and that was the best I could come up with, I'd want those images removed as well.

[Vector Prime]

Bunch of party-poopers! :p


This may seem a bit harsh, but if I was Hasbro and that was the best I could come up with, I'd want those images removed as well.

LMAO :D

[SharkyMcShark]

Yes good, take that stuff all away and then come back with proper movie toys

[jaydisc]

I'd guess it probably related to Paramount's interest. Hasbro doesn't do that for other lines.

[kurdt_the_goat]

They ought to be prepared for this kind of thing (it's not like this is the first time toy pics have leaked early!).

They should be in a position to counter the cell phone pics the moment they appear, by releasing the official pics (that they must have, if the boxes are printed already!)

.... or... is it my imagination, or is there a big toy show coming up in January where they'd be announcing most of this stuff? I can't recall the name :(

[griffin]

US Toyfair is usually around late January, which will be their controlled release of information/themes for TF3.
These might just be fan-sites, but Hasbro and/or Paramount may worry about the number of general public seeing these things before they can be strategically released from official sources, with appropriate amounts of corporate spin.

[kaiden]

sounds like nintendo and pokemon

[SkyWarp91]

You can't toy around... **puts on sunglasses** ...in the toy business.

YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !

[reillyd]

This might be the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing.
This type of publicity builds up demand and excitement in collectors
(you're going to buy now aren't you, don't pretend) and may very
well be good for Hasbro, but their legal department may feel quite differently,
or even that it violates their intellectual property (the copyright to characters likeness). Its routine to send down cease and desist letters these days - they really aren't worth the paper they're printed on, but most people comply because its not worth the expenses to fight it.

[5FDP]

(you're going to buy now aren't you, don't pretend)

Unless there are better toys coming, I'm not pretending when I say there is no chance of me buying any movie toys this year.

The only one that I have any interest in is Shockwave. I am soooo wishing that they at least get him right.

[popculturepooka]

While 4chan and /toy/ still exist, Hasbro has no chance really...

[FFN]

There's not much Hasbro can do, but legally, they're obliged to do something.


This might be the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing.
This type of publicity builds up demand and excitement in collectors
(you're going to buy now aren't you, don't pretend) and may very
well be good for Hasbro, but their legal department may feel quite differently,
or even that it violates their intellectual property (the copyright to characters likeness). Its routine to send down cease and desist letters these days - they really aren't worth the paper they're printed on, but most people comply because its not worth the expenses to fight it.

For the most part, these chinese leaks have terrible photos where the toys aren't transformed properly.

Did you see what happened when DOTMtoys put up photos of Ironhide? They couldn't transform the thing if their life depended on it. And what happened when fans saw them? They said the toy sucked based entirely upon a transformation that looked like somebody threw it against the wall a few times.

Then much better transformed pics appeared on ebay, and everybody said "oh, well that doesn't look bad at all."


Hasbro wants hype done in the best possible presentation they can manage, not "hype" that can damage their products and their marketing strategy.

[kup]

There's not much Hasbro can do, but legally, they're obliged to do something.



For the most part, these chinese leaks have terrible photos where the toys aren't transformed properly.



It's not as if the Hasbro promo pics (http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/transformers-generations-classics-30-35/war-for-cybertron-optimus-prime-and-megatron-toy-images-169068/) can do much better when it comes to transforming or posing their toys.

http://www.tfw2005.com/resources/attach/3/9/4/0/7/powrob_1210958579.jpg

[Sleeve]

It's not as if the Hasbro promo pics (http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/transformers-generations-classics-30-35/war-for-cybertron-optimus-prime-and-megatron-toy-images-169068/) can do much better when it comes to transforming or posing their toys.

Too true. I've lost count of how many times fans have bemoaned a fantastic figure based on the horrendous official picture Hasbro has released.

[5FDP]

It's not as if the Hasbro promo pics (http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/transformers-generations-classics-30-35/war-for-cybertron-optimus-prime-and-megatron-toy-images-169068/) can do much better when it comes to transforming or posing their toys.

http://www.tfw2005.com/resources/attach/3/9/4/0/7/powrob_1210958579.jpg

Agreed. There are sites such as this one (http://www.tfarchive.com/toys/mistransformed/officially_mistransformed.php) dedicated to officially mistransformed toys. This all goes way back well before DOTM and I'm sure that anyone posting in this forum would be able to look past a toy that has been mistransformed if it offers something new and interesting. The leaked photos to date have been uninspired and below the standards set for the movie franchise so far.

[Sky Shadow]

This all goes way back well before DOTM and I'm sure that anyone posting in this forum would be able to look past a toy that has been mistransformed if it offers something new and interesting.

A toy offering something new and interesting like... wearing a tarpaulin as a poncho? :)

[FFN]

Something that Haskara (as the factories are contracted to produce toys for TakaraTomy, on behalf of Hasbro) has been unable to crack down upon is toy theft in China, which these images are part of. From a legal standpoint, toy thievery is driven by westerners and such who want these toys first, and bootleggers conducting industrial espionage. Remember when a KO of Voyager Animated Prime was released months before the real toy?

I think this attempt to lay the smack down, so to speak, is so they can keep their competitors (legitimate and KO makers) out of the loop. Hasbro aren't being spoilsports as some people here seem to be suggesting.