To be Kickstarted next year by former Hasbro employees - they will be releasing homages to Pretenders, Inhumanoids and now GoBots.
Not-Pretender-Starscream with Not-Fitor.
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To be Kickstarted next year by former Hasbro employees - they will be releasing homages to Pretenders, Inhumanoids and now GoBots.
Not-Pretender-Starscream with Not-Fitor.
I like the idea of making action figures as Pretender homages, especially given they are saying they will give the artists full control and have interchangeable heads and hands. The art for their Bomburst and Skullgrin based figures looks promising.
Yeah - there's a Cloudburst, Grimlock, Liquidator and Landmine too. And the fiction (or at least some of it) is being written by Simon Furman. Definitely one to watch.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lord_Zed
I just read WHO the former employee is - Aaron Archer. They should never have fired that dude
He resigned, allegedly, because "it was getting simply too difficult to make what he deemed a fun figure while dealing with things like rising plastic costs and price efficiency".Quote:
Originally Posted by reillyd
Hilariously that was immediately followed by, "As far as third parties are concerned, Hasbro cannot be influenced by any outside ideas for legal reasons, (he reasoned that "it wouldn't make sense to steal from someone who was stealing [from us]"). Hasbro does monitor the products for legality's sake though, Aaron said they have a binder (a big one by this point) that catalogues all the unofficial toys to monitor them in case of legal injunctions or trademark violations. On a more personal note, Archer said that the Third party companies can make some talented figures, but wishes that they would sell more original transforming toys then trying to profit off of a pre-existing franchise."
And "Aaron Archer is no longer an acting employee of Hasbro, but still does freelance toy design for the company. The latest one he said he worked on was flip and change grimlock, not even the design but just the concept of what he wanted the toy to do (I want it to go like this, then that, then zoop.) someone else designed the toy"
Also, he "really doesn't like the 3p's. calls it IP theft."
From here, just two months ago.
That said, I think Play With This Too is primarily Rik Alvarez - Archer might just be doing some design work.
hmmm. I like the Pretenders... so will these shells be poseable then? I wonder if the Starscream shell can fit the current Legends Starscream which for me is the counterpart for the CHUGUR line for Pretender starscream for it's sizing :D. I really like that mould (legends Screamer). So if that can indeed fit in without a prob then Wohooo. Just hope this are static bricks with fat torosos to fit the minifigure, coz really, it's 2014 already surely the toy tech has gone a long way. :p Sometimes concept art does not translate to the finished product.....which is a shame.
I don't think they're shells, Liege - they're action figures - the Not-Transformers split apart to form armour for the 'shells'. See here for an example. Here's Aaron Archer's Not-Octopunch, BTW.Quote:
Originally Posted by liegeprime
I'm really-REALLY interested in these and seeing what this "A-Team" of Hasbro Alumni is able to accomplish, it'll be really interesting to see what Simon Furman brings with his Narrative duties too. :eek:
6" Articulated, standalone figures that pay homage to the G1 Pretenders? - Bloody Oath I'm in! :cool:
Yeah, I'd be up for the Decepticon Pretender homages. Those designs were actually pretty cool.
That A-team is so cool! Can't wait to see what their Thunderwing will be like and if they decide to do Double Pretenders! :D
wow i like those designs...
For those interested, I set up a wiki page for Play With This Too product and personal here:
http://en.wikialpha.org/wiki/Play_With_This_Too
It had their press releases, interviews, links to bios for all the employees and toys. You can click on any of them to see about them.
Rik Alvarez has also told me he's interested in doing interviews on podcasts about the Kickstarter as it's starting up. What podcast do you listen to that might be interested in this sort of coverage?
Thanks Scaleface - great effort! I had a look before and browsed through some of the team's bios. Seems like there's an error on the page now?
Also, so much awesome.. Boneyard.
http://tformers.net/g/generated/2535...scaled_800.jpg
i like that boneyard
That doesn't surprise me, since a lot of the people who worked on Transformers at the same time as him are the core of that new business venture. But I thought Eric might have been more involved in the year since he left Hasbro... unless he is busy with something else we don't know about.Quote:
Originally Posted by Krayt
Looking at the products page of PWTT... that's a lawsuit waiting to happen. The top half all look like Transformers characters, and they have a "Hero Mashers" design/play-element to them.
The 3rd-party businesses in Asia can get away with it because they are not known to be from ex-employees, and they are outside of the American legal jurisdiction of Hasbro... but since PWTT has several Hasbro TFs designers, if they became a success later, Hasbro could go after them with the claim that these were ideas they had while employed at Hasbro (which could use the Hero Mashers concept as proof), and as such, if they are being paid by Hasbro to deliver toy ideas during a certain time-frame and it can be proven these were first thrown around in that time, then those ideas are Hasbro property.
(the precedent is already there - the designer for Bratz dolls used to work for Mattel, and when he left and developed his own toyline through MGA, Mattel sued him/them for half a Billion dollars on the claim that his first ideas for the Bratz toyline was while he was being paid to produce toy ideas for Mattel, and as such they claimed to have exclusive rights to any ideas he had during that time even if Mattel didn't use them or know about them... and after many years and many millions of dollars spent in courts, the dispute is still not resolved, and the Bratz line lost an estimated 1 Billion dollars due to the loss of momentum by retailers who saw the bad press tied to the brand and the uncertainty of recalls/refunds if the impending injunctions that prevented selling them came into effect - effectively, the money and power behind Mattel was able to destroy the strongest competitor Barbie ever had, even if Mattel end up losing the lawsuit because the Bratz brand never recovered... and Hasbro has just as much power to protect its billion-dollar brand of Transformers if it needs to stall the success of a real rival, if one ever appeared in the American market)
^It does make you think about why they are flying so close to the sun. Aaron Archer and co would know better than most the IP legalities. Time will tell I guess..
I'm amused by it mainly because of Archer's massive boohoo at TFCon last year about how terrible it was that third party companies are riding on Hasbro's coat tails by producing things similar to Transformers.
I don't think Archer's problem was with third party figures as such, just that they were basing them on existing characters, instead of creating new ones (which seems to be what Play With This Too seems to be doing)
Ha... if he actually said that, that's so hypocritical for producing toys themselves that are based on Hasbro characters. Even if they aren't copies of Hasbro toys (which would be called KOs), if their toys are recognised by collectors as homages to Hasbro characters, then PWTT are doing the exact same thing as the "third party" companies if they don't have licensing from Hasbro. :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by SharkyMcShark
he calls it theft. Pot. Kettle. Black.Quote:
Originally Posted by griffin
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=A0mxP_ykuro
The third party questions by Vangelus start roughly halfway through the video
Page working for you now?Quote:
Originally Posted by SuspectimusPrime
BTW - Kickstarter begins February 27th, 2015. I believe they will ship the Kickstarter rewards to AU.
Oh, here is the prototype ofr Desolataur:
http://en.wikialpha.org/wiki/images/...prototype1.jpg
If I can pick apart his words a bit more than mode, he specifically called out third party companies who were making figured that just looks like better versions of Hasbro character, for instance he mentioned FansToys making MP versions of Dinobots, which are 100% copies of the forms of Dinobots Hasbro owns.Quote:
Originally Posted by prjkt
Now compare that to what he is doing with Play With This Too, where no one can say they are merely copying Hasbro character, but taking massive new takes on characters. Like Aaron Archer's Ancient Astronaut, a guy infected tenticle by an alien in a space suit. Yes, it will look like Octopunch if you squint, but it's not just G1 Octopunch upsized or more articulation.
If he was calling out the 3P companies for not being original, just making Scoria be exactly like Slag, he's NOT guilty of doing that himself.
For comparison
http://i1335.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2f94d0de.jpg
http://i1335.photobucket.com/albums/...psee18927f.jpg
http://i1335.photobucket.com/albums/...psb71641bb.jpg
http://i1335.photobucket.com/albums/...psb29afc0a.jpg
http://i1335.photobucket.com/albums/...psefee5afd.jpg
http://i1335.photobucket.com/albums/...ps92ea93f3.jpg
So the argument is coming down to "where do you draw the line" on copying/replicating the original toy.
Some 3rd party stuff may well be replicating quite well, one or both modes accurately (which is the point of providing for the demand - there would be less interest if they didn't look much like the actual Transformers character)... but their engineering is still different to the original toy, otherwise they'd be noted/classed as KOs instead.
The PWTT items above are clearly based on the original toys, and I doubt there would be anyone who would claim otherwise. But like the 3rd party toys, they are not replicating the exact sculpting and engineering... so is there a line that PWTT think they haven't crossed that distinguishes them from other 3rd party toys replicating the originals?
(I'm not knocking them or specifically targeting them... I see them as being quite nice representations of the original toys, like a lot of other 3rd party toys are... but I don't agree that they have any grounds to claim that they are any different to those other 3rd party (unauthorised/unlicensed) toys that are also replicating original toys to varying degrees.)
For comparison of the toy Archer remarked has no originality n his comments, it was Scoria being and Slag... You have to admit... he is right. It's a beautiful toy, but not horribly original.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sinnertwin
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/attach...g-dsc04311.jpg
Meanwhile for comparison, the toy Archer designed for Play With This Too:
http://en.wikialpha.org/wiki/images/...onaut-art1.jpg
and Octopunch:
http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/...20080301133141
Their products do rip off vintage designs, however they may not be in direct competition with Hasbro's current offerings.Quote:
Originally Posted by griffin
Whilst PWTT does replicate closely to the original vintage toys, Hasbro has so far not released anything like the original Pretender toys (plastic shells partnered with inner robots) - aside from their likeness in Generations toys such as Thunderwing/Skullgrin/Black Shadow. Other 3rd party producers are releasing popular iterations that are currently or may in the near future be in direct competition with Hasbro releases (i.e. multiple third party Brainstorms/Headmasters/Dinobots/G1 Devastators/other combiners).
I really like seeing successful 3rd party producers like Fansproject leveraging their brand name in an attempt to create unique lines - such as Steel Core (original design, -master homage), Retro-Future Glacialord (original design with 80's combiner scramble city type combination), and Trianix Alpha (Dai Battles homage).
You'd think a moderator would have split out all the third party discussion from this thread by now.
Almost missed the important notice to check my Pretender shells.
I didn't expect a comment about a potentially similar legal situation to Bratz dolls would generate debate about the classifications of different unauthorised items, but will move posts when I find an existing topic to move them to.
(moved about 13 posts from another topic, as a comment ended up generating significant conversation that ended up being off-topic for that topic)
Looking at the figure, I see he's the Triceratops head they teased a while ago, and the body is a mix of bits from Desolataur and Ankhor. The Facebook page also says they will add a tail.Quote:
We like dinosaurs! Meet Terrortops. Kickstarter begins this Friday, unless we decide to pull the trigger Thursday night...
https://scontent-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hp...99&oe=55849320
Cast your mind back tol FPs City Commander, Not-springer/brainstorm. AT the time they were made there was no Hasbro equivalent either. Surely hasbro has the rights to the likeness of the shells as well. Archer should know that, although I suspect he doesn't care, or knows where Hasbro will draw the line. Would Hasbro even bother wih the third party products? Probably not until one gets MEGA successful.Quote:
Originally Posted by SuspectimusPrime
I too like that FP have branched off a bit. Not that I buy 3rd party as it is way too expensive
They have said they know where to draw the line, so they know what they can and cannot make.
I notice that the inner robots for their versions of Starscream and Grimlock are NOT colored like the G1 toys, so maybe that's the line. They don't want to make recognizable MAJOR characters. Hasbro probably doesn't care about toys that look like Bomb-Burst or Cloudburst, but might care about a lookalike Grimlock or Starcream, which is why they are different.
Re: Play With This Too Previews: Pretender Styled Action Figures
Postby Scaleface » 25 Feb 2015 17:41
For those looking to find specific homages, here is a quickie list:
Transformers name/PWTToo name
Bomb-Burst (Blood)/Bloodbath
Cloudburst (Phoenix)/Astroblast
Grimlock/Boneyard
Iguanus/King Adder
Landmine (Lander)/Goldminer
Metalhawk/Ironstrike
Octopunch/Ancient Astronaut
Skullgrin (Dauros)/Desolataur
Starscream/Jetstrike
Stranglehold/Mighty Muscules
Sunstorm/Flarestrike
Waverider (Diver)/Ankhor
for non-Transformers homages/PWTToo name
Centurions Max Ray/Mainsail
Dinosaucers Tricero/Terrortops
Dungeons & Dragons Warduke/Barbaricles
GoBots Fitor/Jetstrike's tech drone
Inhumanoids Liquidator/Landmass
Masters of the Universe Skeletor/Catastropheles
Voltron Robeast Scorpious/Rawbat
The Kickstarter campaign is now live!!!!!
He's right people, and you've just 30 Days to get your pledges in! :DQuote:
Originally Posted by drahsrebu
Couple of things for people to remember with Kickstarter:
- Payment Is Not Required Until The End of The Backing Period.
- Payment will ONLY be taken if the project successfully meets its Funding Goal.
- The Costs listed will almost always be in US Dollars unless otherwise stated.
- Pay close attention to the pricing; There is often a seperate Domestic/Us Price and International Price (Namely regarding postage/shipping fees).
- You can adjust the amount of money you're willing to pledge at any time.
- You can only select 1 Pledge Level, but you can change it at any time during the Backing Period.
- If there is additional Figures or "Addons" you'd like, pay close attention to the prices detailed in the "Addons" list - You then add the required amount for that particular figure/addon to your existing Pledge amount.
- Keep checking the Kickstarter page regularly for updates.
- Remember that a Kickstarter Project needs the support of you & others to succeed, not only financially but by spreading awareness, so spread the word by any & every means available to you.
http://i1032.photobucket.com/albums/...psgmdeewxc.jpg
http://i1032.photobucket.com/albums/...psjohfgyjh.jpg
(Updated: 12:35pm AEST - 28/02/15)
http://i1032.photobucket.com/albums/...pssig7ewsk.jpg
I personally went for the "Play With Level 2": Bite Mark & Desolataur - Pledge Level, which costs (USD) $100 + $25 shipping.
That'll get me these guys! :D
http://i1032.photobucket.com/albums/...pswndbnkpl.jpg
http://i1032.photobucket.com/albums/...psmzr1cwxh.jpg
If I can manage to save enough by the end of March, baring in-mind the late March arrivals of both MP Exhaust & Star Saber, then I'd like to also add another (USD) $72 (Includes Shipping) to my existing pledge so as to get a Bloodbath figure too! ;):cool:
http://i1032.photobucket.com/albums/...psuneswgf8.jpg
That'll do me I think, unless some of the stretch goals get unlocked, because then I'll definitely be adding a 3x Heads Pack and a 3x Staff Pack to my total as well! :D
Let's see if this thing meets its Funding Goal of (USD) $80,000 first though. ;):)
I don't really understand how this works to be honest, quite confusing (might be coz I'm on stupid shifts at work atm and my brain isn't comprehending it right.
So if I pledge 72 I can choose one out of the 2 figures available, but if I pledge one of the higher amounts then add another 72 I can purchase that figure along with whatever else I buy?
I had a feeling that you'd elaborate for us ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Hursticon
Thanks hurst
Im back on a budget (ewwww) given that I decided to leave my job, but hopefully I can throw enough together to pledge.
Yes, either Bloodbath or Desolataur. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Juggernaut
Okay.Quote:
...but if I pledge one of the higher amounts then add another 72 I can purchase that figure along with whatever else I buy?
So if you decided to pledge for, say, "Play With Level 1" at $125 and then added an additional $72 on top (Then total $197), you would then be getting:
- 1x Catastropheles
- 1x Desolataur
- And a single "Addon" figure of your choice between either Bloodbath or another Desolataur
...all shipped to your door, sometime around this time next year. ;)
Where it states: "Purchasing this reward allows you to purchase additional items" or "Purchasing this reward allows you to purchase additional items at checkout" - This simply means that your pledge level qualifies you to purchase "Addons". :cool:
You see, if your pledge level is anything less than $55/$72 you do not qualify to purchase any "Addons" - i.e. You can't simply pledge for the Prints ($40) or T-Shirt ($35) or a GiTD Button ($22) and then expect to be able to purchase a $72 "Addon" figure on top. :)
Does that help at all dude?
(I can understand if it's been a long shift and all this is just blending together, I think the Kickstarter could be worded a little better :o)
Sorry to hear you had to walk from the Job dude, never an easy choice :o, hope you're able to get in on at least 1 figure anyway. ;):)Quote:
Originally Posted by drahsrebu
I thought I'd try to explain things in my post as I've seen people be interested in backing things before, but have been put off because they can't quite wrap their heads around how Kickstarter works. :(
Being that "Lost Protectors" is now the 5th or 6th project that I've backed through Kickstarter, as well as watching/reading a lot of discussion on the subject, I feel I've come to understand how to go about participating. :D
Thanks for putting this up Hursti :) I was curious to know what other people were going in for.
I'm super keen to see PWTT's progress and this is my first kickstarter campaign that I'm supporting. Going in safe, I'm considering going in for both options 4. and 5. from the cheat sheet - Bloodbath and Desolataur. Not the best for value but will get me a good dosage of nostalgia ;)
Cool! I'm actually very interested to see!