.

 

My question is this.  Has Hasbro ever made anything based on a fans work?  I know Hasbro doesn’t take solicitations, but what if they solicit a fan?  Wouldn’t it make sense for Hasbro to use fandom for creativity?  Maybe not just the kitbashing community but the community as a whole.  There’s a ton of artists, fanfics, and even discussion that get people thinking.  “Wouldn’t it be cool if Alt X was made out of this car.� 

 

 

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well one thing's for sure, if they (hasbro) make an Autobot Spike into an Alt then we all know that they do check us out..

I also have a question........Volkswagon denied a license to takara/hasbro for a bug to do Bumblebee. Because they did not want their design used as a war toy. But the G-1 bumblebee was a bug,...why deny a license now? And why are soo many car companies soo resistant.......it's great advertising !!!

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Because it wasn't a Beatle.  Did it look a helluva lot like one? Yes.  Was it one?  No.  It was a squished penny racer car that used a Beatle as the basis for its design but was distinct enough to not infringe. 

 

As for why Prowl as an Accura not an Impreza, they wanted a strong character to carry the new mold, from what I remember.

 

Oh, and that Titanium Megs everyone seems to wish was WWI Megs was done by the same designer, Don made a post about it either art TFW or theallspark.

I think Hasbro's doing it already, but more specifically, they are looking at the kitbash work of one fanboy - Don Figueroa.

 

I was paying attention to Figueroa's kitbash work before he got tapped by Dreamwave and later, Hasbro. Before Energon Grimlock and Swoop (Figueroa's work), Don made his own line of Transformers called "Macromasters." Amongst his kitbashed line was a character called "Strikefire" - a figure/character whom he took the design and rechristened it as "Jetfire" for Transformers: War Within: The Dark Ages. Now, this same Jetfire from TF:WWI:DA is being made into TF:Titanium.

 

I agree that definitely Hasbro looks and taps external talent. I wouldn't be surprised if VP (WWI Grimlock) or Lobo (Alt Grapple) from TFans are tapped in the future for their design work.

I'm pretty sure that 20th Prime would fail that test...

 

 

What do you mean by fail.........?

:tard

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If it dropped off a shelf and landed on a kid, it'd probally knock the kid unconcious.

 

Aoi

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Depending on the kid, I'd actually call that a PASS.  :tfevil

I think that Hasbro/Archer seeing VP's War Within Megs (and in turn not wanting to copy it or pay for it) resulted in the WTF Megs in the Titanium line...

 

Thanks alot Viagra Prime... :tflaugh

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Except I didn't make TWW Megs.  I made TWW Grimlock.  :tftongue I know you were tongue in cheek about it but I don't think hasbro cares really.  Jarrod made a kickass TWW Prime scratchbuild and Hasbro is releasing one in the Titanium line. 

 

I agree that definitely Hasbro looks and taps external talent. I wouldn't be surprised if VP (WWI Grimlock) or Lobo (Alt Grapple) from TFans are tapped in the future for their design work.

My work on TWW Grimlock was nothing special if you think about it.  Don had the design and transformation practically mapped out for me.  I just put it in 3-D and maybe engineered some stuff on my own.  Hastak, without my work, can easily make one themselves though.  I agree that for some inspiration, Hastak should look at fan work (and perhaps they do).  But the engineering by Takara is amazing, I don't think they need help in that regard.  I vaguely remember during one of the seminars from Botcon 2005 that Hasbro mentioned something about a contest of sorts (or was it feedback) where ideas from fans will be incorporated into future toy designs.  I honestly do think though that Hasbro and Takara do visit forums such as these to, at the very least, get inspiration for some of their ideas if not blatantly rip off (for lack of a better term) stuff.  I'm sure the designers at Hasbro & Takara are full of ideas, but sooner or later they will run out of ideas.  At that point (if not sooner), they will look to other toy lines and fan work for more ideas.

I think Hasbro IS paying attention to fans' take on a character. I mentioned when I first joined, that Powermasterjazz's colored drawing of Energon Galvy is dead on with the final color scheme, and his drawing was posted MONTHS before Hasbro showed the final colors.  Over on the joe boards a fellow customizer did a take on an obscure cobra character, The Interogator that he showed at the joe con last yr. just late last year Hasbro unveiled one of its figures for a 6pack and in the 6pack was a new take on the Interogator, soo many on the joe boards were commenting that Hasbro stole this guy's idea. the only difference between the guy's custom and Hasbro's take was the arms.

I'd even go as far to say that in most cases even if Hasbro completely copied somebody's custom design of a TF character, the fan that made the original probalby doesn't have a legal leg to stand on - as said fan is using Hasbro intellectual property without a license.

I think they definitely get ideas from stuff on here.  They'd be stupid if they didn't.  It might not be close to what they see on here in terms of looks, but come on, you're going to tell me that seeing 200000 customs of Alt. Sunstreaker didn't give them an idea that they were missing out on a ton of money here?  And I think all the Prowl customs led to them dediding to make an official one, even though theirs didnt look like the customs.  And as far as them not wanting to pay for ripping off fan designs, they don't have to pay.  they OWN the characters and everything associated with them, so they can do what they want.

-D

erm i agree with satanstorm