iGear are at it again... -_-;;

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inflatable dalek
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Post by inflatable dalek »

glazios wrote: iGear are stealing HasTak's IP, here, and they're doing it because they believe no-one can stop them.
though if what's been said about them having a table at Botcon is true Hasbro don't seem so bothered to stop them. Possibly for Cliffy's reasoning that anyone spending the cash on these things almost certainly spends far, far more on official product.

I have to say, as lovely looking as he is, I suspect Impactor is going to be outside of my price range.
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Post by Thunderwave »

inflatable dalek wrote:though if what's been said about them having a table at Botcon is true Hasbro don't seem so bothered to stop them. Possibly for Cliffy's reasoning that anyone spending the cash on these things almost certainly spends far, far more on official product.

I have to say, as lovely looking as he is, I suspect Impactor is going to be outside of my price range.
Not only did they have a table at BotCon, they had their products slathered all over it. From the wanna-be Incecticons to the MP Coneheads. Hasbro had to see them. If they minded they'd of told them to pack their kit and never come back.
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glazios
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Post by glazios »

inflatable dalek wrote:though if what's been said about them having a table at Botcon is true Hasbro don't seem so bothered to stop them. Possibly for Cliffy's reasoning that anyone spending the cash on these things almost certainly spends far, far more on official product.

I have to say, as lovely looking as he is, I suspect Impactor is going to be outside of my price range.
iGear did in-fact have a table at Botcon, I've seen photos and vidoes of their wares. It's this fact that cemented in my mind that they really don't give a shit anymore - the fact that they were selling their Seeker/Conehead KOs in both Masterpiece and Classics size classes at Botcon of all places, tells me that they are well-and-truly dedicated to shitting all over Hasbro's doorstep and laughing in their faces when they open the door to protest.
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inflatable dalek
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Post by inflatable dalek »

glazios wrote:iGear did in-fact have a table at Botcon, I've seen photos and vidoes of their wares. It's this fact that cemented in my mind that they really don't give a shit anymore - the fact that they were selling their Seeker/Conehead KOs in both Masterpiece and Classics size classes at Botcon of all places, tells me that they are well-and-truly dedicated to shitting all over Hasbro's doorstep and laughing in their faces when they open the door to protest.

What, you think they forced Hasbro to let them attend the convention at gun point? Or they used some sort of sit com style subterfuge to trick them? ("Quick Geoff, it's the organiser! Replace our wares with a fine selection of cuckoo clocks whilst I distract him with my feminine charms").

If Hasbro were utterly dead set against this, IGear wouldn't have been allowed to attend. At the very least, they seem relatively unbothered by them.
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Denyer
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Post by Denyer »

glazios wrote:When it comes down to it, iGear are just glorified bootleggers.
Way beyond that. Bootlegging would be the downsizes of existing moulds that were around, not mercenary homage.

Stuff like this is derivative but there's easily as much engineering work as goes into something official.
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Post by Thunderwave »

So, wait a moment. If Hasbro is okay with it, IDW doesn't seem to mind, why are your panties in a twist about iGear doing figures we'd likely not see otherwise? Is it theft if the owner watches you take it, says nothing, and let's you sell it in their house, with them watching and still does nothing?

If anything Hasbro could be looking at these companies as a source of future engineers.
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Post by Cliffjumper »

glazios wrote:But this 'Presser' is really taking the pi$s IMO. They've practically taken LSOTW Impactor and made a figure of it. That's not just HasTak's IP they've stolen, it's IDW's too.
IDW don't own any part of the design, they're just renting it from Hasbro. Plus IDW Impactor is basically the Marvel design done in Roche's style, in the same way that Derek Yaniger's Optimus Prime is the same basic design as Jeff Anderson's or Pat Lee's. He's actually a poor example, as unlike most characters he's had minimal redesign work for the new comics.
As for the difference between City Commander and Presser (aside from the fact that they're made by different companies), IMO, the first is an add-on kit accessory, which HasTak frown on but don't seem bothered all that bothered by as it's aimed at a relatively small market, like you said, but the second, Presser is a complete figure based on a character design licenced to IDW by Hasbro - that's basically a direct KO, in-terms of the IP, even if there isn't a licenced figure to knock off.
City Commander is no different - it uses a modified version of a recognisable character. That it requires an additional figure is neither here nor there. You can't sell Ferrari bodywork and leave people to put their own engine in it, at least not without a licence.
One could say that other 3rd-party companies like FansProject and TFClub are doing this too - FP's recent not-Insecticons look pretty close to the mark, and TFClub's Project Hercules (not-Deva) is also cutting it pretty close to the line -- but these figures also have differences to the figures and characters they're based on, which sets them apart and makes them unique from those figures and characters. iGear's Presser is clearly supposed to be Impactor, right down to the nuts and bolts.
They're all clearly based on HasTak characters. The only difference is you appear to have drawn an entirely arbitrary line in the sand and are positioning what you want on one side and what you don't on the other.
iGear are stealing HasTak's IP, here, and they're doing it because they believe no-one can stop them.
Whereas Fansproject aren't... why?
glazios wrote:iGear did in-fact have a table at Botcon, I've seen photos and vidoes of their wares. It's this fact that cemented in my mind that they really don't give a shit anymore - the fact that they were selling their Seeker/Conehead KOs in both Masterpiece and Classics size classes at Botcon of all places, tells me that they are well-and-truly dedicated to shitting all over Hasbro's doorstep and laughing in their faces when they open the door to protest.
Now you're just making yourself look silly. Yeh, iGear decided to go to Hasbro's convention and flaunt their stuff... why? So Hasbro could deliver a C&D notice in person? Or maybe because they'd sounded it out with them?

Hasbro have managed to train a faction of the fandom to do exactly what they want. You honestly think one of the ace faces doesn't send Aaron Archer or Brian Kidd or whoever images of these things as soon as they hit the internet in the hope it'll get them a namecheck in a convention comic? Hasbro know all about this, they just obviously don't mind.
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