Quote Originally Posted by Thanatos
Customs should count, be they new characters, or anything similar. A lot of hard work and talent goes into them, if changing a "stock" toy to something new takes it out of a collection, I consider it unfair.
yes but kitbashes based on existing TF characters, or even sporting TF logos are technically illegal as they're infringing on HasTak's intellectual property.

e.g.: if you made a Masterpiece Inferno, even though that toy doesn't officially exist, the G1 Inferno character, name and likeness is property of HasTak and technically what has been made is an infringement of copyright. I think making the custom alone isn't something that HasTak would pursue (BotCon organisers cleared this up before they had their customs competitions) but if you then turned around and sold the custom then you would be doing something dubious... in principle this is what killed BotCon Japan.

And Article01 of the UCM clearly states that only items which are legally classified as Transformers (i.e.: manufactured under licence from HasTak) can count. If we were to remove that article then people would start counting KOs, non-Transformer transforming robot toys (e.g.: Macross) et al.

Quote Originally Posted by iceburn
e.g. Nintendo Crossover - Donkey Kong aka High Score 100 Real Gear
...which would be an infringement against Nintendo's property. Again, making the custom isn't much, but if you then attempted to sell it... (re: BotCon Japan 2000 (-_-)).

If people opt for all customs to count there would have to be a disclaimer that it can only count if it is entirely made from legit TF parts and you did NOT pay for it so that Article20 doesn't contradict Article01.