That's okay. I know people have bought cheap fakes on purpose as a place-filler until they can afford or find the real thing, or could never afford something that rare (like the JP Headmaster Heads). It's just unfortunate that despite some people knowing they are fakes and are happy with that, there are a lot of people at collectors fairs, ebay and even conventions like BotCon, who don't disclose their fakeness, selling them off at prices close to legit figures.
Don't worry. If Hasbro aren't interested in acting against fakes or unauthorised toys, it isn't my job to stick my neck out to prohibit any reference to them here. But I can make sure that newer fans (and older ones like me) don't get confused by seeing items in the Transformers sections that aren't actual Transformers-branded items (which the Global fansites do just to pad out their news pages - although these days they do note that they are not authorised toys, but in the beginning it was even confusing for me on some items).Originally Posted by mentok27
I just want new fans and members to find this place as being obvious enough with the actual Transformers content, and if they start getting into more creative elements, then they can venture into those other non-TFs sections.
On a related note though, I do often see people claim that if it is a new mould and doesn't use the actual Transformers character name, then it should be legal... but the thing to remember is that if it copies the likeness of a current character enough for fans to recognise it or refer to it as that character (regardless of what it is named by the 3rd-party), the licensee or even the license-holder could claim that they are not getting royalties for that 3rd-party profiteering from those 'currently released' characters.
Because at the moment, we have at least two current license-holders of Gen1 story content - IDW and Smash Factory. While both of those are selling product (comics & DVDs) of Gen1 characters, anyone other than Hasbro or TakaraTomy selling toys that homage those actual Gen1 characters, regardless of what they are called or look like, is not paying back a royalty for making profit off that currently used character.
I'll put it this way - a new Batman movie is coming out next year, and Mattel gets the license to produce the toys. A 3rd-party designs and produces a more screen-accurate action figure and calls it "Nocturnal-guy". It doesn't use the Official name or Mattel's Mould, but it's a clear rip-off of a current character in the new movie and current comics just to make money. It uses the likeness of someone else's property for profit, without paying a commission, license or royalty to DC comics.
Just because Hasbro doesn't try to stop these unauthorised toys of Transformers likenesses, doesn't mean it's legal. It's just that it (currently) isn't worth them chasing after the 3rd-party businesses.
But like I said above, it isn't my job to be enforcing a legal position that Hasbro has no (current) interest in. If their position ever changed, only then would I re-evaluate this board's position on the matter.
What people collect is up to them. There's probably even collector forums out there for 3rd-party items, but this one will remain committed to being a Transformers (branded) forum that allows for some non-TFs discussion in the non-TFs sections.
(if there are any more questions or comments on this, I'll split this off into it's own topic, as it is deviating from content of the original topic)
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