https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKPjOdZFbCs

We'll know what this means on Thursday. But people are running wild with
dreams of getting Jetfire, Whirl, Roadbuster, and the Deluxe Insecticons.

It seems unlikely to me. I know Bandai owns the rights to those old
Takatoku molds. But wouldn't the studios of the Macross and Dorvack
anime also have some sort of copyright claim? Even the Beetras
Insecticons were designed by the anime studio Artmic, although though
the anime never came into fruition.

They could also bring the GoBots back. But that also seems unlikely.
Bandai really hasn't done anything with Machine Robo since Mugenbine.

On Monday, June 13, 2022 at 10:26:19 AM UTC-6, Travoltron wrote:
> We'll know what this means on Thursday. But people are running wild with
> dreams of getting Jetfire, Whirl, Roadbuster, and the Deluxe Insecticons.

If you're talking about G1 reissues, I think it's at least possible. Hasbro also currently has licensing rights to Power Rangers, so this potentially opens up the door for vintage Power Rangers reissues.
> It seems unlikely to me. I know Bandai owns the rights to those old
> Takatoku molds. But wouldn't the studios of the Macross and Dorvack
> anime also have some sort of copyright claim? Even the Beetras
> Insecticons were designed by the anime studio Artmic, although
> the anime never came into fruition.

I don't know enough about how licensing works in Japan to be able to speak towards that. Doesn't Harmony Gold own the likeness rights to the Macross characters/mecha currently? We certainly know how they fared during the last Jetfire debacle...
> They could also bring the GoBots back. But that also seems unlikely.

I think it would work well if they did reissues of some of the more popular vintage toys/characters. Not the full range, but the main six characters from the cartoon and perhaps a handful of others who had a degree of media prominence (Fitor, Small Foot, Pathfinder, etc.) would sell like crazy.

They could even do a Transformers subline of all-new toys based on the classic characters. I think there would be a demand for that. I wonder if the general public still thinks of GoBots as Transformers rip-offs, or whether we've finally moved past that?

Zob (of all these possibilities, I see a Jetfire reissue as the most probable)

On Monday, June 13, 2022 at 12:17:24 PM UTC-5, Zobovor wrote:
> On Monday, June 13, 2022 at 10:26:19 AM UTC-6, Travoltron wrote:
>
> > We'll know what this means on Thursday. But people are running wild with
> > dreams of getting Jetfire, Whirl, Roadbuster, and the Deluxe Insecticons.
> If you're talking about G1 reissues, I think it's at least possible. Hasbro also currently has licensing rights to Power Rangers, so this potentially opens up the door for vintage Power Rangers reissues.

They did Power Rangers reissues... even the head flipping transforming ones..

> > It seems unlikely to me. I know Bandai owns the rights to those old
> > Takatoku molds. But wouldn't the studios of the Macross and Dorvack
> > anime also have some sort of copyright claim? Even the Beetras
> > Insecticons were designed by the anime studio Artmic, although
> > the anime never came into fruition.
> I don't know enough about how licensing works in Japan to be able to speak towards that. Doesn't Harmony Gold own the likeness rights to the Macross characters/mecha currently? We certainly know how they fared during the last Jetfire debacle...

It's seemed kinda loose in the past. We've ended up with hundreds of KO Insecticons and Constructicons flowing through Big Lots and Family Dollar stores, and instead of saying "Macross Valkyries have pointy noses and Jetfire has a rounded nose" to try and dodge copyright they pretend it's suddenly sacred. The classics and older reissues changed elements, like launchers or Starscream hands, so it shouldn't be too objectionable to change the clips and the design just slightly enough to dodge copyrights. I'm sure nobody loves how Jetfire's leg clips work and would forgive a slight rework for "safety"

> > They could also bring the GoBots back. But that also seems unlikely.
> I think it would work well if they did reissues of some of the more popular vintage toys/characters. Not the full range, but the main six characters from the cartoon and perhaps a handful of others who had a degree of media prominence (Fitor, Small Foot, Pathfinder, etc.) would sell like crazy.
>

There were some mockups of a limited run of Machine Robo floating around a few years ago. Notably Cy-Kill, Tankor, Fitor, and Loco. There are some cool looking 3rd pt toys that resemble the Super 7 Ultmates for them too.

> They could even do a Transformers subline of all-new toys based on the classic characters. I think there would be a demand for that. I wonder if the general public still thinks of GoBots as Transformers rip-offs, or whether we've finally moved past that?
>
>
> Zob (of all these possibilities, I see a Jetfire reissue as the most probable)

I don't see them having the outlets for a toy this size anymore. If they reissue Jetfire with no TRU and Walmart and Target carrying fewer large Transformers it leaves just Pulse and Amazon.

On Monday, June 13, 2022 at 5:14:15 PM UTC-6, Ob1k...@att.net wrote:

> They did Power Rangers reissues... even the head flipping transforming ones.

Were those reissues? I remember seeing them in stores, but I never thought to check the copyright information on the packaging. Was that a Hasbro/Bandai collaboration?

> We've ended up with hundreds of KO Insecticons and Constructicons flowing through Big Lots and Family Dollar stores

That's a whole separate issue, though. Those are toys coming from China, who has historically employed some very fast-and-loose patent infringement restrictions (usually it's something like "change it by at least ten percent and you're good to go"). That doesn't represent what a business arrangement between Bandai and Takara is going to look like.

> There were some mockups of a limited run of Machine Robo floating around a few years ago. Notably Cy-Kill, Tankor, Fitor, and Loco.

Yeah, those exist. But they're expensive. If Hasbro could do some Tonka GoBots characters and market them as Transformers and sell them at the twentyish-dollar price point, they'd sell.

> I don't see them having the outlets for a toy this size anymore. If they reissue Jetfire with no TRU and Walmart and Target carrying fewer large Transformers it leaves just Pulse and Amazon.

Target is selling that cheesy motorized not-Robosen version of Optimus Prime for like $70, and that box is freaking huge. A Jetfire reissue, sold in jet mode in the smallest realistic package size, would take up far less shelf space than that. Even in robot mode, he's not THAT big. He was one of the biggest toys from the 1984-85 range, certainly, but nowadays he's basically what we would term Commander-class.

But, even if it's an online exclusive and you can only get it at Hasbro Pulse and BBTS and Entertainment Earth and Amazon, you know a G1 Jetfire reissue would sell like crazy. People still go bananas over the vintage version to this day. It would be money in the bank.

Zob (about $150 per customer, realistically)

So due to time zone differences, we should know what this is tomorrow.

I'm excited, but also prepared to be disappointed. We don't even know
for sure if this project even involves Transformers.

It was just some Bandai Zoids, Tomy Gundam thing. Figures.

On Thursday, June 16, 2022 at 10:24:06 AM UTC-6, Travoltron wrote:

> It was just some Bandai Zoids, Tomy Gundam thing. Figures.

Well, this could just be the beginning of their collaboration. Assuming this lasts for a while, there's plenty of time to get to things like Transformers reissues and Tonka GoBots. Who knows what we'll see in the future?

Zob (there was a time when they told us we'd never get a reissue Sky Lynx, and that a transforming Unicron toy was never gonna happen)

On Thursday, June 16, 2022 at 9:24:06 AM UTC-7, Travoltron wrote:
> It was just some Bandai Zoids, Tomy Gundam thing. Figures.

This is less a collaborative crossover event and more like the two companies just sharing licenses. It's kinda boring because each of them are making toys that could have come out anyway without a team up. All it is is them doing what they're best known for using the other companies' intellectual property. I'm sure Japanese fans are super hyped about a Chogokin Zoid and Tomica Gundams but I'm feeling disappointed. (By this standard that new Lego Optimus Prime is a crossover. It's like Tomy has learned nothing from the Transformers crossover line where every release is a legit creative mashup of IPs.)

I seeriously doubt that Hasbro is going to let Bandai get their hands on any Transformers. Maybe TakaraTomy'll let Bandai touch Dougram. But no way is Hasbro gonna play along. Soul of Chogokin Starriors are more likely than an SoC Optimus Prime (that the world really doesn't need anyway). Heck, Chogokin Verbot and Dingbot are more likely.

We'll never see Transformers come out of this. There is nothing Bandai could bring to the TF table that hasn't already been done well by Has/Tak. Bandai's known for model kits but Transformers already have model kits. Bandai does do transforming Valkyrie models but I also don't think Harmony Gold would okay a Hasbro Jetfire release or reissue in any shape or form.

The two companies have shown their hands and all they're doing is swapping IPs and doing nothing beyond that.