Quote Originally Posted by kurdt_the_goat View Post
The term Third Party in the video game world applies to licensed developers - which doesn't really match up with the definition in the Transformer toys world.

I wonder if Hasbro could implement that business model, if they wanted to? They'd have to come to terms with relinquishing some control over the brand, but it could become much larger, with multiple manufacturers making officially licensed Transformer toys - with Hasbro getting a cut, and the third parties as we know them now, getting the benefit of not being seen as unauthorized anymore.
I think the term 3rd party came from the early years when it was just parts production, as it was a third party enhancing 1st party (official) toys.
Now though, it is probably more of a misnomer, but just stuck through the evolution of parts to full toys.

Your second point is probably what we are now seeing in Japan, with Sentinel, Bearbrick, Nanoblocks and Art Storm (so far non-transforming toys, but probably not long until they do converting toys)... maybe because TakaraTomy seems to struggle more often with the Brand than Hasbro. Maybe they are starting to out-source more of the fringe, fan-focused items that aren't going to earn much anyway, leaving them to take on more of a Hasbro model and focus on the massive-unit, general release, kiddy items.