Quote Originally Posted by Kyle
Also interesting how Hasbro itself has been infringing on others' intellectual properties. I wonder if Hasbro ever approached Lamborgini for a license for their Universe/Henkei Sunstreaker and Sideswipe?
I thought Universe/Henkei Sunstreaker and Sideswipe's alt modes weren't actual Lamborghinis, but 'generic' looking sports cars that happen to look quite similar to Lamborghinis (but dissimilar enough to avoid a lawsuit). Likewise I heard that Hasbro had to modify the headlights on RiD X-Brawn because they couldn't obtain the rights from Mercedes for the ML320 (whereas Takara did, hence why Wild Ride has fully accurate headlights). Likewise with Alternator Prowl they had to change the Honda logo to an "A" because of some licensing issue.

Quote Originally Posted by Kyle
One can argue that HasTak's vehicle toys often came with differences and were not exact scale replicas of the real deals. But hey many of the fan items are creative and not exact copies of HasTak's existing products too.
Yeah, that's what I meant before when I said that these fan items intentionally design their products so that while they bear striking similarity to Transformers, they're also clearly dissimilar and not the same thing either. I was under the impression that once you modify at least 10% of a source material then it's no longer considered plagiarism. And indeed it is often done with parodies - look at Hardware Wars (with characters like Fluke Starbucker, Ham Salad, Princess Anne-Droid, Darph Nader, Chinchilla the Wookiee Monster, RT-deco, 4Q2 etc.), Thumb Wars (Loke Groundrunner), Spaceballs, MAD Magazine and who doesn't love Weird Al Yankovic's musical spoofs?

I see fan items as being a lot of those things that people can get for computers, game consoles etc - stuff that's compatible, but not manufactured by the computer or console's company. e.g.: a Playstation-compatible controller not manufactured by Sony. They even have these in Japan; they're a cheaper alternative to buying Sony controllers, but of course, they're not endorsed by Sony. Heck, I drive a Mitsubishi but I can get PLENTY of generic-brand parts for my car that aren't manufactured by Mitsubishi. They're not illegal immitations/counterfeits or anything - they're just parts made by other companies but are intentionally made to be compatible with certain makes of cars.

Quote Originally Posted by Kyle
And do not kid yourself if you reckon HasTak's toys weren't inspired by others' intellectual properties.
G2 Gobots/Spychangers were inspired by Mattel's Hot Wheels and are indeed designed to be compatible with their playsets!! Combiners were inspired by Galoob's Connect-a-bles (before Galoob was acquired by Hasbro) -- hell, the entire reason why Hasbro did Transformers was to compete with Tonka's Go-Bots/Machine Men!!

Quote Originally Posted by Kyle
- WST Dinobots were mentioned in discussions from time to time. How about Roadbots?
The Smallest Dinobots are a form of intellectual theft though - but Roadbots aren't. They're perfectly legit and are indeed a form of competition for Transformers in toy aisles. I'm not at all interested in Roadbots, but it's always good to see competition in the market.