Movie megatron worth buying if it were done like this.

[Bartrim]

That looks awesome. If they released a new Thunderwing looking like that I would have to pick it up.

[i_amtrunks]

I'm sure Hasbro could make that colour scheme look terrible.

It sure does improve what is possibly the weakest figure released in the last 5 years.

[Pulse]

Do you think Hasbro are even aware of customs like this?

[GoktimusPrime]

"No." (-_-)

Customs based on existing TF characters and their likenesses is technically a copyright infringement and violation against Hasbro's intellectual property.

You are allowed to kitbash a toy to make a whole new character/creation of your own original design, like say the Citroën C4 "Transformer" (Citroën has never used the word "Transformer" with their C4 transforming robot) - Hasbro has no claim over that transforming robot as it bears no resemblance to any existing Transformer character. Ditto the transforming Mini Cooper robot.



Thunderwing on the other hand is Hasbro's intellectual property and one could perhaps argue that this custom, being a mere unmodified repaint, is too similar to movie Megatron too (so it's simultaneously infringing on two of Hasbro's properties).

[Thanatos]

Still, in terms of "display" and for personal enjoyment, stuff like that can't be copyright infringement right? Say somebody makes this Thunderwing, purely not for profit. Does that constitute copyright infringement?

I'm not sure what the laws are. I'm pretty out of track with those.

Still, awesome custom. Shame the Stormbringer series made Thunderwing so badass, I can't stand G1 Thunderwing :P

[1orion2many]

The colour scheme is a lot better but it's still the same crap mold and you know the saying "You can't polish a terd".

[jacksplatt11]

"You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig" haha

[griffin]

Do you think Hasbro are even aware of customs like this?

Since this wasn't actually answered in the above posting. I think it is safe to assume that with all the monitoring and interaction Hasbro does with certain fan-sites, they would be aware of certain high-profile customs. At least the design team would, as they go to Botcon and see the art displays, and talk to people on major fan forums and wiki.
They wouldn't have any interest in actively looking for customs, specifically to make sure they have 'plausible deniability' if they ever did do a recolour that could have been inspired by a fan-custom.
But as Goktimus said, customs, if sold, are illegal if they are labelled as 'Transformers' or use the character name they are representing (if Hasbro still owns the trademark). When the current BotCon mob became official, they had to do up a lot of fine print for their art-comps to get Hasbro approval.

[Pulse]

I guess there's a fair bit of a difference between a straight repaint (ala. Movie Megs into Thunderwing) & scratchbuilds involving lots of styrene (eg. Anemis' work).

Where as a straight repaint has Hasbro's product as its core, A styrene-based scratchbuild can't really be compared to an original Hasbro figure at all (sure the inspiration is there but the final completed figure is a one-of-a-kind original ).

[GoktimusPrime]

Doesn't matter. Transformer characters including their names, images and even likenesses are intellectual property of Hasbro/Takara. If you made a scratch built garage kit of a Transformer you would still be infringing upon their property.

That's why other garage kits like Jizai Toy's MP Megatron extension and the HKTF Ultra Magnus trailer intentionally avoid using any Transformer names, logos, images etc. For example the Ultra Magnus trailer garage kit is called "City Commander." The word "Transformers" or "Ultra Magnus" etc. are not used anywhere in the packaging afaik. It's basically a garage kit toy that happens to be compatible with Classics Ultra Magnus. Ditto the Jizai MP Megatron extension set - no TF names, logos etc. used, it's a MP-Megatron compatible garage kit. Garage kit makers do this to get around the legality of making unofficial accessories for existing Transformer toys that they intend to sell to people, lest they have HasTak lawyers knocking at their door.