The Soapbox XII: The Convenient Truth

[kup]

I also don't think that getting the accessory kit to compliment my existing figure means that the custom kit is competing with HasTakTom.

If I already have, say ROTF Prime (original release) and lament that it didn't come with a gun - I still wouldn't get buster Prime just for the gun even if there was no other choice so there is no competition as for most people, the whole new figure is not worth buying just for the gun.

Whoever gets both original and Buster Primes were going to get them anyway and for reasons beyond the sole accessory as very few people would buy the whole figure again 'just' for the gun alone.

There is no competition and it doesn't undermine Takara sales in any noticeable form unless they too are planning to release individual accessory kits which they will not.

Yeah, accessory kits do dance around the intellectual property factor and sometimes steps over the line but at no point have they endangered HasTakTom's bottom line or the possibility of future original mold figures. Only the straight replica KOers do that.

As Dirge says, there is the legal point of view and the ethical/moral view and one has to be conscious of both or you fail at taking into account the larger picture.

It's like that incident that Gok was telling us regarding that Japanese fan convention that was shut down by Takara some years ago:

Takara only saw the legal point of view - not the moral, ethical or beneficiary (to them) point of view and decided to shut down the event because it was technically unauthorized. This caused a massive and probably very costly backlash from fans and costumers hurting their company name as well as sales and bottom line despite them technically being legally correct.

Why?

Because Takara could only see the legal side of it and failed to see that A) The event was also heavily promoting their products at no cost to the company B) It was going to pee off several of their fans who were attending the event out of interest and enthusiasm for their products.

You cannot only see and insist on one side of the argument, particularly in something like this which is multi-angled or you loose perspective on the greater picture at the risk of your own detriment.