As I said, you'll still buy and show your protos, so there's no reason in even bothering I guess. Same old stuff. "As long as it doesn't directly affect me, why should I care?" I've seen that mentality more times than I care to comment on. You can call it hypothetical bull, but it still makes you the type of man you are. You are presented with a choice and you make that same decision time and time again. What that means is that your integrity is most definitely not above reproach as I have explained already. A security clearance can be granted even to those that lie and cheat. I've seen enough background checks to know that much. No matter what your lifestyle and no matter your personal experience, it still comes down to a black and white issue of whether or not you'll accept something that you know is stolen. All that other crap is irrelevant.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Life isnt black and white, Prove it is stolen, you cant.  Hasbro says they are stolen, prove it, stop ebay selling them, they cant or cannot be bothered, then the onus is not on me.  I am not blinkered or narrow minded enough to see things this way.  There is a million different scenarios where either outcome could be interpreted without evidence outside of hearsay and hasbros is hearsay as they make no effort to stop this at all.

 

live through a revolution and experience a police state and then perhaps your view of the world will become somewhat wider and less narrow minded, its very easy to comment on things with no personal experience on things in a land that isnt free, where neighbours spy on you and the secret police have huge huge warehouses full of files on absolutely everyone.  This `crap` as you call it is of utmost relevance, there is no black and white in these worlds, there is no democracy in China, there is corruption and injustice abound.  Tianamen square was legal from the chinese governments point of veiw do you say were right???  According to the letter of their law and `black and white` they were

 

Its very easy to see things in a blinkered black and white manner but this isnt reality.

 

I ahve neither the desire or the inclination to change your mind on the subject and quite clearly you wont change mine so why dont we drop this crap and get back to enjoying our hobby ;)

Not like I railroaded the topic onto a subject about political freedoms. I'm discussing protos, but we can be done with it. No worries here.

Not like I railroaded the topic onto a subject about political freedoms. I'm discussing protos, but we can be done with it. No worries here.

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I know, I get a little fried on global politics, I didnt mean to get so heavy and apologise, was getting a little surreal there ;)

Look, like I've said I'm proud to own a prototype, i do not beliebve it is stolen and will stay with the dealer who i bought it from, it was a gift to a man who worked for the company, he then sold it, but either way I'm glad to hear everyones opinions. China is a evil country, but at the same time, it does work...it sucks but it's there if we like it or not. Yes Hasbro does have some nasty shops, but it also has good shops, 2 sides to every coin ya know? I do not plan on buying any prototypes that plainly have a "do not sell" mark on them, i never have. but If hasbro is so hell bent on busting this market of proto sales, they better learn how to watch thier employees better. Like i've said, there are usualy 10 or less of each proto, how hard can it be to keep track of 10 toys when a small team is in charge?!  I stand that if they have such lame security they beter buck up and quit bugging people, it's not like they have been sold on the black market, it's right there, in the open, they can do something...if they could. I do not think they stop it because , like mentioned above, they can not prove all the pieces have been stolen (again, i do believe the "not for sale" one have been). Hasbro has tons of lawers yet they sit on thier butts and do nothing but bark, i starting to think from a legal point of view they know they've screwed up by not covering all the ends...maybe they will learn and until then too bad.  I say this not as some crazed fan, but simply as a person standing on the line looking both ways and coming to a decision. I'm aware because of this statement I'll be seen as scum, and worse, but I could care less. in any event I'm glad that we have a good topic here. MORE! i demand more, this is fun!

The reason why Hasbro are reluctant to send out their lawyers at the slightest occasion is because Hasbro, unlike Lucasfilm, have realized that they are a TOY company and make the larke bulk of profit by SELLING TOYS, not by suing their own fans. Hasbro ony intervene legally if they see their business interests seriously threatened.

I would say it's wrong to steal the protos, but when you buy it off ebay, I don't think you're doing anything wrong.  Ebay is like a giant pawn shop.  It's possible that some stuff was stolen and sold for drug money, but you don't know what stuff really was stolen.  If someone wanted a proto, I'm sure they would want to give the seller the benefit of the doubt to ease their own conscience.  I don't really blame them for that. I would probably do the same thing if I wanted protos.

 

Personally, I happy just to buy it off the store shelf.  I don't think my wallet could support a desire for protos anyway.

If it has "NOT FOR SALE" etched in, that means Hasbro did not intend anyone to sell it. In other words, it's most likely stolen.

:pfx

 

but i wouldnt buy a toy stolen from a shop display or window, but a prototype, one which is more than likely bound to be destroyed. Man-of course i would buy it eesh it is a TOY it was built to be played with no matter what the company says!

making a TOY and not selling/ playing with it is god-awful

 

MISB- that just shows nothing but contempt for the guy who built the prototype, the man who approved the prototype, the woman who altered the prototype.

lets not forget that the prototypes are the toys that have had all the work done to them PROTOTYPES ARE A WORK OF INTERACTIVE ART FOR A FACTORY TO DESTROY THEM IS A TRAGEDY!

so even tho i may be warned/bollocked/whatever

GUY WHO STEALS SMUGGLES ROBS ILICITLY REMOVES PROTOTYPES FROM THE FACTORY  :beer  :boogie  :clap YOU ARE DOING THE ARTISTS A FAVOR!

 

how would we feel if an artist produced a 300 meter high statue that was the most beautiful in the world - ever and he said he was destroying the prototypes - his perogative yes but to the world a tragedy

 

NICKOLAI TESLA TIME to have an idea in your head or in a cupboard is not worth having having the mistakes shown clearly in earlyer works only increases the value of the  final peice- or to put it in TESLA terms they may say you can cause an earthquake, i dont believe till i see the proof!

I'm sure someone who steals original pencil art from comic a book artist's house is also doing the artist a huge favor.

Funny little story:

 

I received some 'items' from a set of Stargate SG-1. Some of these items are VERY rare and would be considered set props. The guy I got them from wanted to sell them so I put them up on eBay for him. They lasted on eBay for a total of 3 days before MGM had my auctions shut down due to copywrite laws and other issues regarding stolen property. They did not come to me personally and say 'give us our stuff!' but according to eBay and copywrite laws, eBay can shut down auctions that infringe on copywrite and stolen merchandise. I am quite sure that if Hasbro had a REAL issue with all the ones sold on eBay they could have the auctions shut down. If it truely did come down to stolen merchandise.

 

Spencer.