Harmony Gold files lawsuit over SDCC Jetfire

[Hursticon]

This is 3rd Party, but I thought it relevant :




Revealed earlier today via TFCon 2013's 3rd Party Panel, by an as of yet unnamed group.
(Is Harmony Gold to now take on 3rd Party groups? )

[Sinnertwin]

^ Love that Not-Skyfire. Wow...

EDIT - I was just trying to look for the fan-made one that was on display back in BotCon 2000-ish, which was fully transformable, and looked like the cartoon model, so is very do-able.

Was it this one? BotCon 1996

http://www.reocities.com/starshdw/images/bc962.jpg
http://www.reocities.com/starshdw/images/bc963.jpg

[griffin]

Was it this one? BotCon 1996

http://www.reocities.com/starshdw/images/bc962.jpg
http://www.reocities.com/starshdw/images/bc963.jpg

It's possible. The one I saw was out of packaging, in both modes... and I think a photo board of its transformation. But there are certainly a few of them out there, as it appears to be simple enough to engineer.

This is 3rd Party, but I thought it relevant
(Is Harmony Gold to now take on 3rd Party groups? )

Why? It has to resemble the distinct designs they "own", and the Skyfire design and rocket booster is nothing like Robotech designs.

Hasbro on the other hand, has grounds to sue third-parties for profiteering off their character & toy designs, but cant because they are produced in China. (and it isn't worth the expense to sue the people in America that are selling them... based on what one of the Hasbro people at BotCon was saying about the situation)

[Hursticon]

Why? It has to resemble the distinct designs they "own", and the Skyfire design and rocket booster is nothing like Robotech designs.

Just a joke really, as what you said is exactly correct - Skyfire looks nothing at all like Jetfire.

Hasbro on the other hand, has grounds to sue third-parties for profiteering off their character & toy designs, but cant because they are produced in China. (and it isn't worth the expense to sue the people in America that are selling them... based on what one of the Hasbro people at BotCon was saying about the situation)

That is interesting to learn and somewhat not too surprising either.

[Trent]

Hasbro on the other hand, has grounds to sue third-parties for profiteering off their character & toy designs, but cant because they are produced in China. (and it isn't worth the expense to sue the people in America that are selling them... based on what one of the Hasbro people at BotCon was saying about the situation)

Can you elaborate further? It has always interested me all this 3P stuff.

[kup]

If Hasbro wants to be rid of 3rd parties then they should pick up their game and do what they do and at the same level and by that I don't mean complexity. Several 3rd party toys are no more complex than Hasbro toys, just more thoughtfully built and getting the 'fan' appeal right. They are a big corporation so the 'Can't do it' it's just them being too set in their ways to see beyond their tunnel vision business plan.

[CBratron]

If Hasbro wants to be rid of 3rd parties then they should pick up their game and do what they do and at the same level and by that I don't mean complexity. Several 3rd party toys are no more complex than Hasbro toys, just more thoughtfully built and getting the 'fan' appeal right. They are a big corporation so the 'Can't do it' it's just them being too set in their ways to see beyond their tunnel vision business plan.

Exactly. Pursuing legal avenues would just lose their fanbase. The ideal way to win is to making toys that the fans want at the same level of quality (or better) and at the cheaper price that their experience at production and logistics can provide.

[drifand]

Ditto, and don't be like stupid HG. Just produce good stuff and know your market.

[GoktimusPrime]

Exactly. Pursuing legal avenues would just lose their fanbase.

That's the mistake that Takara made 13 years ago which basically killed off BotCon Japan and seriously damaged relations between Takara and Japanese TF fans. Takara and key fans have worked hard to repair that relationship since; e.g. collaborating on eHobby exclusives, Binaltech et al. Characters like Tigertrack are a by product of this effort to rebuild burnt bridges, and it's thankfully worked for Takara.

But of course prevention would be better than cure and it'd be preferable for Hasbro to just not even go down that ugly path. I totally agree with what you guys are saying -- Hasbro would be much better off proactively combating third party toy manufacturers by just making the damn products themselves.

[Cat]

http://generalsjoes.com/2013/10/10/h...usive-jetfire/

It's over.