a thought on these 3rd party products.

[mentok27]

Ive gone a bit crazy with 3rd party lately but im stil more keen for official releases. sure Im probably gonna side with PE Reflector over Hasbro's perceptor repaint but thats just one example where id lean away from Has/Tak but the bulk of my fig's will be theirs for sure.

[kup]

This is also another waste of time and plastic:

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services...X004-1&lang=us

I don't see any point to these things than a cheap form of cashing in by using marketable official characters. I wouldn't call these 'fan made'.

[Hursticon]

This is also another waste of time and plastic:

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services...X004-1&lang=us

I don't see any point to these things than a cheap form of cashing in by using marketable official characters. I wouldn't call these 'fan made'.

Yep, I'd have to agree with you on these Kup.

[gdmetro]

This is also another waste of time and plastic:

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services...X004-1&lang=us

I don't see any point to these things than a cheap form of cashing in by using marketable official characters. I wouldn't call these 'fan made'.

Exactly. I do not even consider getting these.


As for 3rd party products overwhelming- I don't care as long as I'm happy with my collection- but I see these 3rd party products as filling in the gaps that Has/Tak cannot- especially for the Classics line specifically.
They gap fill by either being add on kits to upgrade and perfect what the original fig was - i.e. Classics UM and Cliffjumper, or being moulds of obscure or unmarketable characters that Has/Tak would never be able to sell or make such as combiners, sub-teams.

[kup]

Exactly. I do not even consider getting these.


As for 3rd party products overwhelming- I don't care as long as I'm happy with my collection- but I see these 3rd party products as filling in the gaps that Has/Tak cannot- especially for the Classics line specifically.
They gap fill by either being add on kits to upgrade and perfect what the original fig was - i.e. Classics UM and Cliffjumper, or being moulds of obscure or unmarketable characters that Has/Tak would never be able to sell or make such as combiners, sub-teams.

That is exactly what 3rd parties should be and the best ones fulfill that role. Unfortunately a good number of them do not serve that purpose by clearly being there for sole purpose of financial gain and that is the source of my complaint.

It almost feels as if the Ferengi have gotten wind of the profit to be made with 3rd party stuff. Yeah that is what I am going to call them, Ferengi products.

[Vector Prime]

I think I'm probably the only collector here (besides Gok, that is) that still refuses to purchase a third party item whether it be an overpriced 'upgrade' kit or an equally overpriced figure

While I look at them and appreciate how they 'complete' someone's collection, I myself would rather go without a particular character (or upgrade kit) then to substitute it with a third party product.

To me, they're just not Transformers and they belong in the same category as KO's and I would never want to dilute the purity of my TFs by adding them to my collection.

(VP ducks for cover)

Having said that though, go figure, I spend vast amounts of money on aftermarket performance parts for my cars and not even think twice about it - even though they're not sanctioned or endorsed by the vehicle manufacturer, but somehow, I just can't bring myself to do the same for TFs?

[kup]

To me, they're just not Transformers and they belong in the same category as KO's and I would never want to dilute the purity of my TFs by adding them to my collection.

(VP ducks for cover)

My comments here isn't focused at anyone in particular, just commenting on the term mentioned above which I have seen used by a few people in the fandom.

Without flaming nor getting into the tired discussion of what constitutes a KO, I never understood this 'purity' stance. Why is a collection that has 3rd party upgrades any less 'pure' than one that doesn't. Don't I still own the official figure that was upgraded? What about complete unofficial figures like Defender; is my collection any less pure when I display it? Is it so Powerful that it lessens all my hundreds of official figures composed of Botcon, G1, BW, Binaltech, Classics, etc into null if I display it besides them?

I can understand someone not liking 3rd party products or making a conscious choice to only collect legit items but this collection 'purity' concept is something else entirely.

I know most of us here see Transformers as something much more than just a hobby, I know I do but some do take a strange ideological, almost theological stand on it. The concept of this 'purity' is very abstract in a theological way so I feel that if I ever take such a stance, collecting Transformers would no longer be about fun for me but something much more serious which would suck the joy out of it. This hobby serves me as something fun that I do to distract myself from the monotony of everyday life while enjoying it with others. It's not a religion in which I need to impose a strict ideological and moral structure onto it which I use to judge the 'purity' of mine and other collections. Collecting helps me enjoy life a bit better, it doesn't need to have a strict ideology.

[griffin]

My comments here isn't focused at anyone in particular, just commenting on the term mentioned above which I have seen used by a few people in the fandom.

Without flaming nor getting into the tired discussion of what constitutes a KO, I never understood this 'purity' stance. Why is a collection that has 3rd party upgrades any less 'pure' than one that doesn't. Don't I still own the official figure that was upgraded? What about complete unofficial figures like Defender; is my collection any less pure when I display it? Is it so Powerful that it lessens all my hundreds of official figures composed of Botcon, G1, BW, Binaltech, Classics, etc into null if I display it besides them?

My comments are also not focussed at anyone in particular... this is just my opinion on what a 'purity of a collection' means, in relation to mine anyway.
More and more lately I've been considering my collection as more of an archive of (Hasbro) Transformers, especially since I buy all the stuff most collectors avoid... so when I have people come over to look at the collection, or if at some point again in the future that I publicly display it 'as a Transformers (r) collection', I need to be able to say that it is just (purely) Transformers. I keep the MOTU toys separate, and if I collected any other toys or unauthorised TFs toys, I'd keep them separate so that the Transformers part of my collection/archive is purely Transformers.

[kup]

My comments are also not focussed at anyone in particular... this is just my opinion on what a 'purity of a collection' means, in relation to mine anyway.
More and more lately I've been considering my collection as more of an archive of (Hasbro) Transformers, especially since I buy all the stuff most collectors avoid... so when I have people come over to look at the collection, or if at some point again in the future that I publicly display it 'as a Transformers (r) collection', I need to be able to say that it is just (purely) Transformers. I keep the MOTU toys separate, and if I collected any other toys or unauthorised TFs toys, I'd keep them separate so that the Transformers part of my collection/archive is purely Transformers.

As mentioned in my previous post, I can certainly understand that reasoning.

[GoktimusPrime]

primatives: if collecting unlicensed products bothers you and makes you think that it makes your collection "less pure" by having them... then just don't collect them. But if you do collect them then you'll have to accept the fact that your collection will be, in part, unofficial.

Vector Prime: there are quite a few collectors who don't buy unlicensed toys. There are even some collectors who refuse to buy official reissues as they consider them to be "less pure" than the originals. I personally won't buy unlicensed toys, but I'll happily buy reissues - as I personally don't feel that they 'lessen' my collection. And I'm sure most people who collect unlicensed toys don't feel that they "lessen" their collections either.