are U interested in 3rd party toys for other Robot toy lines

[Onslaught Six]

Looks like Deathy edited this bit in while I was responding:

I look at it this was,I'm 27 years old & i'm not getting any younger. I simply can't wait any more decades for hasbro/takara to finally release TF toys designs,I like & prefer. I kinda want to be still young enough & decently functional to enjoy these TF toy designs I prefer.

I have to wonder how much time you think you have left. Scourge, JT and Dom are, what, early-mid 30s here? ShockTrek and Anderson are inching towards 40 if I'm not wrong, and they don't really show signs of quitting. (Actually, ShockTrek is, but that's another story.) It's not like we're all somehow in danger of randomly dying, or anything.

I mean, realistically speaking, it's not wrong to expect oneself to continually buy toys (in some fashion) until we either die, lose interest, or it becomes a financial problem. (I'm pretty sure Dom has chosen to stop buying toys as of this year because of the financial strain, and I'm not far behind.) Those are the only options I can think of. So unless you anticipate yourself doing any of those, there's no real reason to stop buying them. I dunno if you expect to suddenly become frail and deathly so that you can't...play with plastic robots, I guess? I mean, seriously, do any of us really do much with the toys once we open them and throw them on a shelf? The most interaction my toys get is when I pull them down so I can rearrange the shelf.

[Shockwave]

Looks like Deathy edited this bit in while I was responding:

I look at it this was,I'm 27 years old & i'm not getting any younger. I simply can't wait any more decades for hasbro/takara to finally release TF toys designs,I like & prefer. I kinda want to be still young enough & decently functional to enjoy these TF toy designs I prefer.

I have to wonder how much time you think you have left. Scourge, JT and Dom are, what, early-mid 30s here? ShockTrek and Anderson are inching towards 40 if I'm not wrong, and they don't really show signs of quitting. (Actually, ShockTrek is, but that's another story.) It's not like we're all somehow in danger of randomly dying, or anything.

I mean, realistically speaking, it's not wrong to expect oneself to continually buy toys (in some fashion) until we either die, lose interest, or it becomes a financial problem. (I'm pretty sure Dom has chosen to stop buying toys as of this year because of the financial strain, and I'm not far behind.) Those are the only options I can think of. So unless you anticipate yourself doing any of those, there's no real reason to stop buying them. I dunno if you expect to suddenly become frail and deathly so that you can't...play with plastic robots, I guess? I mean, seriously, do any of us really do much with the toys once we open them and throw them on a shelf? The most interaction my toys get is when I pull them down so I can rearrange the shelf.

I agree with the first half of this that it's not unreasonable to expect us all to continue our habit so long as resources are available (which as you mentioned is the reason I have quit, and is a temporary situation, as soon as money permits again, you can bet I'll be back on the bandwagon). And for the record, you are correct, I'm 37 and I think Anderson did actually say that he's 40. Or near it.

As for usage after purchase, I've only ever had a dedicated shelf space for toys for a VERY short time before having to liquidate but during that time I actually did change things pretty frequently. Sometimes I had Classics Autobots on one shelf, Decepticons on another and He-Man, Star Wars, and Star Trek on others. Later I set up a fairly large Autobot Decepticon battle scene. After that came the He-Man battle scene and even later on I actually had a fairly decent display with the Terrordrome. Right now, all I have left is the Trek stuff so I have the Enterprise Bridge with Transporter and Engineering set up and it looks great. And it's the first time I've actually had somewhere decent to display that too. I personally like to enjoy and fiddle with my purchases. Heck, sometimes I've even made toyfare style comics with them. My last one involved Indiana Jones helping the Autobots retrieve the Matrix from Cobra who stole it from the Enterprise. I don't remember what my point was but.... uh... ok, I'm gonna shut up now.

[Onslaught Six]

Alright, point taken. All I know is that I have a shelf that's entirely full of Various Decepticons (pretty much every non-Megatron/Starscream Decepticon since Armada) that I can't add anything to because I don't have the space, and the only time I ever really pull them down is when I want to rearrange the shelf...which hasn't been for at least 6 months now. It's kind of embarassing.

[Dominic]

I am slowing down for money reasons, as well as for lack of storage space and simple time.

But, i can see TigMeg's point. If Hasbro does not want to produce/sell something, they really cannot complain that somebody else doing so is stealing business from them. And, if a custom toy is superior to Hasbro product (assuming said product has been made in the first place), well shame on Hasbro for not doing better.


Dom
-honestly wonders if Hasbro is tired of selling toys on some days.

[BWprowl]

But, i can see TigMeg's point. If Hasbro does not want to produce/sell something, they really cannot complain that somebody else doing so is stealing business from them. And, if a custom toy is superior to Hasbro product (assuming said product has been made in the first place), well shame on Hasbro for not doing better.

I disagree! Look at it this way: If a fan of Transformers buys, say, one component of Hercules, that's like $60 they just dropped on a Transformers-related purchase. That's five or six Deluxes worth of money that they could have given to Hasbro, which rightfully belongs to Hasbro since they own the license, that Hasbro didn't get. Most fans don't specifically have their money allocated for 'Devastator' or 'Insecticons', they just have it for 'toys', and when companies that didn't pay Hasbro any money for their license use that IP to sell things, at Hasbro's loss, to fans of that license anyway, then that is, in my opinion, wrong. A fan who just bought sixty bucks worth of not-Transformers can no longer give that money to Hasbro for real Transformers. That is stealing business.

[Onslaught Six]

But, i can see TigMeg's point. If Hasbro does not want to produce/sell something, they really cannot complain that somebody else doing so is stealing business from them. And, if a custom toy is superior to Hasbro product (assuming said product has been made in the first place), well shame on Hasbro for not doing better.

I disagree! Look at it this way: If a fan of Transformers buys, say, one component of Hercules, that's like $60 they just dropped on a Transformers-related purchase. That's five or six Deluxes worth of money that they could have given to Hasbro, which rightfully belongs to Hasbro since they own the license, that Hasbro didn't get. Most fans don't specifically have their money allocated for 'Devastator' or 'Insecticons', they just have it for 'toys', and when companies that didn't pay Hasbro any money for their license use that IP to sell things, at Hasbro's loss, to fans of that license anyway, then that is, in my opinion, wrong. A fan who just bought sixty bucks worth of not-Transformers can no longer give that money to Hasbro for real Transformers. That is stealing business.

Boosh. Nailed it.

EDIT: If DC isn't publishing the kind of Batman stories I want to read, and I write and draw my own Batman comic, and sell it for $20 an issue (a realistic price given short-run printing) then if DC finds out about it, they're going to come to my door and break my kneecaps and melt them down to make...things. And that's well within their legal right. I could try to change it enough that it's no longer Batman, and I might get away with that, but if all the major Batman sites are posting about the new "BATPERSON (Not-Batman) comic" coming out in three months, then, I dunno, chances are good I might get my ass kicked. This is the best other analogy I can make.

[Dominic]

Having money for toys, even specifically for TFs, is not the same as being obligated to spend that money a certain way or even at all.

If I have ~$60, why would I spend it on toys that I do not want, or simply want less than something else?

If Hasbro is not making or distributing what I want to buy, I am not going to buy whatever they do produce and ship in the hopes that they make something I do like. If i do not spend my disposable income on TFs, then other parties can try for it. I would buy official Constructicons if Hasbro made them. But, Hasbro does not make them. If I choose to buy custom figures of characters that Hasbro cannot be bothered to make, then Hasbro is not losing money. If I buy non-TF product that I want instead of lack-luster TF product, well, then it just sucks to be Hasbro.


Dom
-supporting a hobby is not an obligation.

[Shockwave]

Which is all well and fine for stuff that Hasbro is actually producing, but for stuff that they don't, it actually works the other way. Like the City Commander armor. The only reason I would ever have to buy Hasbro's Ultra Magnus would be to supplement it with the City Commander armor. Otherwise that's a sale I wouldn't be giving to Hasbro. So in that case, the 3rd party product is actually helping Hasbro sell toys that they otherwise would not have sold.

[Onslaught Six]

No, I get that, but let's take me for example. Hasbro makes tons of stuff I really do like. They don't always make things I like (Prime is one of them--sorry guys, I got burned on Animated, I'm not taking that risk twice) but for the better part of the last decade, I've looked forward to buying new stuff from them.

So I don't understand this whole "Hasbro isn't catering to meeeee" thing. It's the same exact thing as the gay Tim Drake thing from the other thread. But those fans are Bad People and rewarding them for their behaviour by producing Gay Tim Drake comics would be horrible. And yet the geewunner third party cocksuckers are using the same exact attitude and somehow Hasbro is the bad guy?

(For the record: "cocksuckers" isn't directed at anyone here, it's mostly directed at some of the ridiculous posts from TFW I've seen. I should post some examples.)

[BWprowl]

Which is all well and fine for stuff that Hasbro is actually producing, but for stuff that they don't, it actually works the other way. Like the City Commander armor. The only reason I would ever have to buy Hasbro's Ultra Magnus would be to supplement it with the City Commander armor. Otherwise that's a sale I wouldn't be giving to Hasbro. So in that case, the 3rd party product is actually helping Hasbro sell toys that they otherwise would not have sold.

That's why I tend to be more okay with stuff like that. I bought the iGear Kup heads, after all. Paying for upgrade kits like that is more like buying suped-up Reprolabels.

It's the whole new figures of guys that Hasbro owns the rights to that bother me, especially when they *are* directly competing with Hasbro's product. Warbot Defender came out around the same time that Universe 2-pack with Springer as a repaint of Evac came out (and you know what? I think Hasbro's repaint made a better Springer than Warbot Defender). There was also that not-Powerglide that hit about the same time Cyberverse Commander Powerglide was on shelves.

Having money for toys, even specifically for TFs, is not the same as being obligated to spend that money a certain way or even at all.

If I have ~$60, why would I spend it on toys that I do not want, or simply want less than something else?

If Hasbro is not making or distributing what I want to buy, I am not going to buy whatever they do produce and ship in the hopes that they make something I do like. If i do not spend my disposable income on TFs, then other parties can try for it. I would buy official Constructicons if Hasbro made them. But, Hasbro does not make them. If I choose to buy custom figures of characters that Hasbro cannot be bothered to make, then Hasbro is not losing money. If I buy non-TF product that I want instead of lack-luster TF product, well, then it just sucks to be Hasbro.


Dom
-supporting a hobby is not an obligation.

You may not be 'obligated' to spend your toy money on Hasbro's products, but this stuff is still going to be a factor either way. Say you just dropped $150 or whatever on that tiny not-Reflector. You're now down 150 bucks, so if you walk into Wal-Mart to buy some hookers and blow, even if you *do* see some of Hasbro's Transformers you were wanting on shelves, you'll be less-inclined to buy them since you just dropped 150 on the other guys' "Transformer". Perfect Effect took business away from Hasbro, and they did so using Hasbro's own IP as a selling point.