Henkei returns?

[jaydisc]

Not necessarily. Could just be a re-release of Henkei Megatron.

[kurdt_the_goat]

Don't know why it'd end up in this new United line, but the "Unite for the Universe" movie redeco's of Voyager Megatron and Optimus (with jetfire parts) have been in limbo for a while, perhaps it's them showing up again?

[Paulbot]

Don't know why it'd end up in this new United line, but the "Unite for the Universe" movie redeco's of Voyager Megatron and Optimus (with jetfire parts) have been in limbo for a while, perhaps it's them showing up again?

This makes sense or it is a mighty big coincidence that there's a Voyager United Megatron and a Voyager Unite for the Universe Megatron. Makes me think maybe the extra Bumblebee will be whichever MovieBee toy hasn't come out yet.

[gdmetro]

Wreck-Gar should pose an interesting situation for FansProject as that should put the two companies in direct competition for the first time.

You raise a good point there. Will FansProject be asked to stop making him by Hasbro? Or will they stop on their own? I don't think Hasbro will allow them to continue making him.

This is a very interesting issue, however I don't think there will be direct competition- since FP's product is not "wreckgar" just "collector".

3rd parties skirting the grey area has been talked about elsewhere in abundance- I think it is hard pressed for Hasbro to do anything?
Or if not, it is not worth their effort/time? And why would they even care that much about FP's product?
It is highly unlikely for a collector who can afford FP's products to not shell out for Hasbro's if that is some what decent anyway- if anything this hurts FP the most, as if Hasbro's one is decent, at that much lower price point, FP's would look less appetizing.


It will also be interesting to see what FansProject does. I would not be surprised if FP does not release anytime soon or even aborts the project. FP have made efforts to not reference names, alter facial designs to avoid any real sensible possibility of conflict with their releases. This can be contrasted to other 3rd party companies such as Igear whom have blatantly infringed- flying in the face of Hasbro.

Some have speculated that the two wreckgars won't be sold at the same time- but who are we to know at this stage. We also don't know how far FP are into the project? If they are only at design stage, then perhaps they will try to avoid any direct conflict, by releasing it later? I'm assuming the cost of design isn't that detrimental if they decide to abort- compared to actually creating the final prototypes and moulds for mass production or even begin production (highly unlikely at this stage).

Just got pricing from my supplier. UN09 Megatron is a voyager.

Awesome news! It could be re-do of the classics/henkei mould or an entirely new mould? Great news either way.

Some have speculated elsewhere that perhaps the prime, bbee and megs figs are actually Transformers:Prime figs that Hasbro have shoehorned into the line. It might tie into the release of the cartoon? but I'm not sure on the timing as I haven't read up much on that, so someone more informed should correct me if I'm wrong.

Also makes some sense that bbee prime and megs are released first- being the most popular characters in terms of marketability towards the masses.

But this idea has to incorporate the fact that- will japan get the Tf: Prime cartoon at a similar release time? since I'm assuming at this stage these moulds are replicated in both generations and United lines.

[griffin]

This is a very interesting issue, however I don't think there will be direct competition- since FP's product is not "wreckgar" just "collector".

It's not the name they are competing with, it's the character/toy, which Hasbro also owns. If an unauthorised figure comes out that is recognised as a Transformers character, it doesn't matter what the name is, if it looks like an existing character to make its money, then that's the issue of infringment. After all, Hasbro don't always name toys exactly how they are meant - look at Straxus. We all know it is Straxus, but the toy is called Darkmount... How is that any different for a 'Springer' to be called 'Defender', Wreckgar to be called 'Collector', Swindle to be called 'Munitioner', etc... Just like with Darkmount, fans are buying them because they know who the *Transformers* character is, not because of the name. The mere fact that those people admit to buying them for the TFs character they represent, proves that they aren't buying them for the name. (In other words, the character is being infringed, not the name - both of which Hasbro/TT have some claim over.)

But since Hasbro didn't act against the unauthorised Drift and Arcee toys, I doubt they would start with an older, obscure character like Wreckgar.

[griffin]

So the anagram grows even longer - CHUGU...

[kup]

But since Hasbro didn't act against the unauthorised Drift and Arcee toys, I doubt they would start with an older, obscure character like Wreckgar.

I think Hasbro doesn't act on the 3rd party stuff because it doesn't really cut into their profits. The 3rd parties exploit the collector market and Hasbro's business model sells straight to retailers so there is no 'profit' conflict. If Hasbro decided to be more flexible and allow for collector centric products in a similar way like Mattel does within their business plan or if FanProjects begins to sell retail, then there would be a conflict but I don't see them doing that any time soon.

I agree however that the toys such as Defender and Collector and indeed intended to unofficially represent the Transformers characters but so far FP has been clever about it by making them 'similar but different' so legally they are unique toys from another company.

As it was discussed in the Unofficial thread, most fans would go for the official Takara-Tomy/Hasbro product over the 3rd party equivalent if they were comparable products. I know that if I had to choose between the Protector armor and MP Rodimus, the latter is an easy choice. Third parties exists because they have been successful at providing something that Hasbro has not by focusing on the neglected collector market. However I am sure that if Hasbro begins to officially release comparable products, the 3rd party would probably dwindle down to just simple accessory kits.

As an exaple, I am pretty sure that the new Wreckgar (assuming it actually looks like the Club Magazine photo) would be preferred to FansProject collector for the reasons stated above.

[jaydisc]

I bought Botcon 2007 Springer because it seemed to be the only way to buy Springer.

When the Universe Springer and Ratbat 2-pack came out, I thought that made a better springer, and was generally a cooler mold, so I bought that.

Finally, Defender came out, and I bought that.

Had they been released in the reverse order, that would have been 2 Hasbro toys I would never have bought.

[kup]

I bought Botcon 2007 Springer because it seemed to be the only way to buy Springer.

When the Universe Springer and Ratbat 2-pack came out, I thought that made a better springer, and was generally a cooler mold, so I bought that.

Finally, Defender came out, and I bought that.

Had they been released in the reverse order, that would have been 2 Hasbro toys I would never have bought.

I had similar reasons for getting those toys and if Defender had been released first, I wouldn't have gotten the others. On the other hand, if Hasbro had released a proper triple changing Springer that does justice to the character, I wouldn't have gotten Defender.