Neither exactly, though closer to the latter than the former.Originally Posted by kurdt_the_goat
Basically, every time this question (or a similar one) gets asked at Botcon etc., the answer comes down to "Because HTTs main Transformers income stream is from mass-retail sales to kids/parents of kids". It's ultimately more profitable for them to make a (usually sub-standard) product that many Mums and Dads will buy for Junior than a higher-quality product that Collectors will buy but your average parent will probably baulk at spending $50-$100 on. A penny from the masses beats a pound for the few, that sort of thing. They know high-end lines are profitable, but they're not as profitable, so they don't invest all that much time and/or money (relatively speaking) into them.
Which is partially why I personally am just fine with 3rd party offerings - it's 'the market' at work. HasTakTom could at the very least cripple - albeit probably not destroy outright at this point - the 3rd Party scene within months if they wanted simply by producing more high-end products themselves, but it's not part of their business strategy. Fair enough, and I still enjoy a lot of official HTT TFs, but I'm not going to skip on better offerings (if I want them enough to justify the price) because of their brand name either. Just my opinion, mind you.
As for why they don't just subcontract their Collector-grade stuff directly, it's partially because of the aforementioned business plan, partially because of the IP issue (not theft exactly, given that aside from outright KOs most 3P stuff just skates inside the legally-distinct line in the same way that Universe Sunstreaker and Sideswipe's alt-modes are legally distinct from actual Lamborghinis), and probably mostly about safety standards. If Hasbro were to co-opt, say, Unique Toys pseudo-Terrorcons, and some more-dollars-than-sense parent picked one up for their kid who them tried eating it and choked on a small piece or broke it and hurt themselves trying to eat the shards, then that'd be lawsuit city. HasTakTom has to pay more attention to child safety standards etc. than 3PPs.
TL;DR version = More money + less effort + less risk.
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