Repaints; too many, not enough, just right?

[Guest Primal-Convoy]

I was going to enter the collector compatition, but i got a bit acrried away with my answer.

 

It's starting to turn into a magazine article/essay. Here is part of it. i'm looking for honest, objective criticism to my ideas and theories.

 

With a little of your help, Ill finish it and then post it as "fan fiction" in the relevant part of this web site. Here goes then... :

 

“It’s Malibu Stacy…in a New Hat!” – Recolours Revealed.

 

Someone a lot smarter than I once said:

 

"Bad artists copy-GREAT artists steal". 

 

What they meant was that if you are going to create something that is based upon something else, you have to do it with such cunning, such guile, that the end product cannot be legally/morally traced back to the original.  Many people use “reverse engineering” or similar methods to “steal” great ideas and make them their own.  Think Pepsi, think Sony or even Microsoft.  These are successful companies that could be said to have “stolen” their ideas from somewhere else.

 

Now, as this discussion is all about “recolour” (sorry, I’m British), it’s important to know what a recolour exactly is. A “recolour” is, in toy collectors’ terms, a “toy that has the same form as its original release, but is legally reproduced in a different colour”. 

 

A recolour is not:

 

- A “Retool”.  (The same legally-released basic toy but has slight physical changes to its original form, regardless of colour). EG: Transformers: Armada- Skywarp”.

- A “Custom” (A non-official retool or recolour of a toy, altered by an amateur, or a fan).

- A “Knock-Off” (A non-official toy that is possibly illegally reproduced for profit; based closely upon the original, official toy, with either none, or some retooling/recolouring).

- A “Factory Error” (a toy released or available that was not how the designers intended it to be and was coloured/ created by accident).

- A “Derivitve” (a toy that is identical to the original, bar some sort of minor colour change due to a material or paint change).

- A “Prototype” (A work in progress or sculpt using colours and materials not fully intended for the final release).

 

Now that we can grasp what a “recolour” is, it will be referred from now as an “RC”.

 

RCs are seen by some as negative and by others as positive.  To begin with, let’s concentrate on the negative examples. 

 

Advocators against RCs state that the main reason for a company to release them is to increase profit with minimum effort or investment.  Indeed, if the RC release is shortly after the original coloured release then this may be true.  Also, those against RCs say that the amount of RCs effectively swamps the market, creating too many toys fighting for shelf-space with less choice for the customer.

 

These two ideas are very interesting, however, critics of these ideas state that if an RC is released in areas that didn’t receive either the product originally or that the areas shipped to did not get enough to supply original demand; or even if the toy was released some considerable time after the original’s debut, then demand may be strong for the recolour.  If supply meets initial demand, then the recolour may be a success.

 

Others against RCs believe that the main reason for them is to keep the brand still on the shelves with a presence, even though interest in the originals is dieing.  Instead of creating new, or innovative toys, the “same old, same old” variations are “shelf filling” the stores. 

 

Although this may be true, this may not always be a bad idea.  If you think of an RC as “competition” to the original then it’s almost a no-brainer to be your OWN competition.  Sony’s popular “Beeta-Max” videotapes lost out due to its own popularity failing demand and thus VHS was born.  Some have said that the Transformer toys own pre-Unicron enemy were, in fact, the humble Gobots.  The Gobots didn’t have enough variations of the same theme to fight the sheer numbers of transformers toys coming out and therefore, they died; but both toy brands supplied toys to meet the “transforming robots” craze in the 80’s and both made profits when the other company failed to meet customer demand for the other’s.

 

Thus, it is Hasbro that have the rights to the Gobot brand (but not the original toys) today and it is they and their partner company, Takara that have used RCs (amongst a few original toys) to effectively “mark their territory” with the Gobot names on the public consciousness.

 

This brings us to copyright.  As some collectors know, some original toys that had a name in their original release have had to be renamed pending their re-release.  This is due to the name not being used for some time, justifying another company to use the name.  If, as it is normally contested and agreed, the name cannot be used by two toy companies at the same time, then the current legal holder (ie: the company that wants to use the name) has the right to use it, regardless of the history of the other toy with regards to its original name.  Thus the Transformer formally known as “Jazz” had to be renamed “Autobot Jazz” ; as way of compensation for this incident.

 

If, however, the holder of the name uses it regularly, then no other company can normally claim ownership. 

 

A re-colour, although not the only way, is a means of preserving copyright to a name.  Its cheaper to make than a new toy, can be shipped out in “Limited Editions” (or numbers) and whatever name the company wishes to preserve can be used again to preserve the limited rights the company has over the name.  Compared to losing the name and not having a shelf-presence (or even media presence), who cares if it doesn’t sell?

 

So far, it seams that from the companies’ view, economically at least, RCs are a good thing.  However, customers range from the enthusiastic children, pressurized parents and, of course, discerning collectors or enthusiasts.  All of these groups have been targeted by companies for the sale of RCs.  Although it would be foolish to completely generalize these groups too much (and a much better idea to get some sort of official statistics or sales terminology), let’s assume that there are two groups.  These groups represent the often cited “them and us”; namely “Mainstream Customers”, including parents, children and one-off purchasers, and “Collector Customers”, which include customers, professional critics, “scalpers” (those who buy in bulk from shops to sell privately), collectors, museum buyers, etc.

 

If on-line discussion rooms and “letters to the (toy magazine) editor” are anything to go by, it would appear that some recolours are seen as good by some of the collector customers.

 

For example, an old toy, whether initially popular or not, can be transformed into the next “big thing” by means of a new paint job.  Indeed, the desire for such toys is even greater if the new paint job was a factory error.  Normally, the toy, if recoloured, is given a new persona, or it is given the same name, but with some sort of reason for its new colour.

[king poseidon]

never can have enough,think about it this way everyone has a chance to get the paint ap they want,for example i am waiting on a cruelock repaint into g1 grimlock,also when i first saw rid prowl i said i can twait till we get sunstreake,red alert,bluestreak,sideswipe,and smokescreen and most of those came true

 

and since when is to many tfs' a bad thing

[Big Grim]

it's not a bad thing. besides, skwarp and thundercracke are just repaints of starscream. and i do like the BW/BM and R.I.D. repaints in the Universe line, since I don't have most of em. I thought some of the armada repaints like powerlinx prime, jetfire and hotshot looked cool too.

[scotty26]

i think it's laziness if they're going to change someone like unicron for instance make a new toy like bring out neo- unicron not pay another 50 bucks for the same toy same with megatron/galvatron make them different G1 did why not armada or r.i.d.(with the exception of 4 more alternate modes he looked the same just different color) laziness i tell you laziness!

[king poseidon]

neo uni was great,i dont know why he was scrapped[better than the current uni imo]

[Guest Primal-Convoy]

I hope "Neo" comes out too! Neo can battle the Matrix then...no probs!

[king poseidon]

i think he looks more g1 accurate than a uni.

 

btw,i think he is taller also

[RequieM]

I usually don't like total repaints, that is only the color change.

(I know hence the name repaint :redface )

 

I do like them when there are some small but visible changes in the mold, like ALt smokescreen/silverstreak or RID SIdeBurn and the women TF exlusives, I can't recall their name right now. (help apreciated)

 

 

Req

[WRX-78]

I don't agree with the BAD theories.

 

You are never obligated to buy the repaint/recolor/remold/new hat/whatever, or even the original toy. If you *choose* to buy a repaint, it's of your own accord.

 

If you don't wish to see recolors (not that I'm against them). Don't buy. It's very simple. Too simple really. If the market shows that there is indeed no market for recolors than they won't make as many. If they continued to lose money it would be foolhardy.

 

But like it or not, variations sell. If Universe does poorly expect it to be cancelled, same goes for re-issues.

 

I just don't buy the "recolors take away from original molds" argument. If someone would like to debate this point. I'm more than willing to listen. :)

 

And the 2 BADs are technically GOOD, depending on your perspective. It is a business after all. :)

[Viktor V]

Some very good points mentioned in that essay. I never really thought about name licensing and repaints like that.