I think that hasbro hasn't reissued g1 megs because they don't want to get into a lawsuit of someone robbing a store with it and then hasbro getting sued... and rightly so, i'm not blaming them for that.

 

but this crap that they couldn't release him because he looks like a gun is bull crap until I see writing or proof that they don't release him because he looks too much like a gun. If they put a 1/4" orange tip on him, then he would fall under the toy gun laws.

 

I went to kmart and they have a gun that looks like a M16 that is brown... looked just like an M16, but the tip was orange...

 

thoughts?

I think that hasbro hasn't reissued g1 megs because they don't want to get into a lawsuit of someone robbing a store with it and then hasbro getting sued... and rightly so, i'm not blaming them for that.

 

but this crap that they couldn't release him because he looks like a gun is bull crap until I see writing or proof that they don't release him because he looks too much like a gun. If they put a 1/4" orange tip on him, then he would fall under the toy gun laws.

 

I went to kmart and they have a gun that looks like a M16 that is brown... looked just like an M16, but the tip was orange...

 

thoughts?

Didn't you already answer your own question?

 

The gun laws only specify the orange cap, but there are plenty of people out there waiting to sue a toy company for selling a too-"realistic" toy gun. Hasbro has made the decision not to bother with all of that, and to save their money for toy development and production.

 

It's only one character anyway.

The thing is they don't see the point in reissuing him with an orange tip. me personally I've never been a fan of the G1 Megatron mold so it doesn't bother me at all.

 

As for them getting sued if someone used it in a robbery, not going to happen, its nonlethal, so if someone got hurt it wouldn't be by the toy, and even if someone tried they'd lose pretty quickly.

 

Hasbro and most of the other big name toy companies in the US don't make realistic in scale toy weapons anymore. And even the smaller versions they make for action figures tend to be stylized. They could legally make a realistic gun with an orange tip, but I don't think they see the point in it anymore. Most parents won't buy those anymore, and alot of stores actually won't sell them anymore, so its not profitable.

 

Lets be honest, the reissues were pretty much a failure as far as Hasbro is concerned. TRUs fault really, but that was do to the fact that they were targeted at a very small market and thus prices were pushed up to make a better profit. I'm also not sure they'd have even been able to sell it at TRU as I don't think TRU will sell realistic style guns regardless of it they transform. Not to mention I think an Orange barreled Megatron back in 2001-2002 would have pissed off as many people as it made happy. And though it still probably would have sold out, I don't think Hasbro wanted to go through the hassle of it all.

Who wants an orange capped Megs?

His regular barrel would be orange and his add-on barrel would be orange...that's not anything I'd purchase.

Classics Megs is such a better toy, anyway.

I'd blame our currently litigation oriented culture. It's not so much that Hasbro is worried about someone robbing a store with a toy gun, it's that they're worried that a cop will shoot a kid sporting a toy gun. And they don't want to be liable to the child's parents in the event that happens. I actually don't think that "US toy gun laws" have anything to do with it, more that Hasbro's lawyers want to cover their asses, and this is the excuse given.

 

Think about it: most of the "realistic" toy guns you see in Kmart, etc. seem to be made by fly-by-night, no-name Chinese companies - I can't think of a single big US toy company that makes an authentic looking gun these days.

 

However, to play devil's advocate - some of those Star Wars blasters Hasbro makes would probably get you popped by a copper if you were flashing one around in a threatening manner.

I'd blame our currently litigation oriented culture. It's not so much that Hasbro is worried about someone robbing a store with a toy gun, it's that they're worried that a cop will shoot a kid sporting a toy gun. And they don't want to be liable to the child's parents in the event that happens. I actually don't think that "US toy gun laws" have anything to do with it, more that Hasbro's lawyers want to cover their asses, and this is the excuse given.

 

Think about it: most of the "realistic" toy guns you see in Kmart, etc. seem to be made by fly-by-night, no-name Chinese companies - I can't think of a single big US toy company that makes an authentic looking gun these days.

 

However, to play devil's advocate - some of those Star Wars blasters Hasbro makes would probably get you popped by a copper if you were flashing one around in a threatening manner.

They also make sounds and have flashing lights... and aren't modeled after real guns.

However, to play devil's advocate - some of those Star Wars blasters Hasbro makes would probably get you popped by a copper if you were flashing one around in a threatening manner.

They also make sounds and have flashing lights... and aren't modeled after real guns.

Uhhh, look up pictures of a Sterling submachine gun...

Actually the reason is certain states have outlawed any realistic toy guns entirely, while other states still allow them, but require the orange tip. But it's the states that have outlawed all toy guns is the problem, because Hasbro will not sell a toy that it cannot sell in every state. So while we may go to the store and see some fairly realistic pop guns with orange tips, you won't even see those in other states where they're outlawed.

However, to play devil's advocate - some of those Star Wars blasters Hasbro makes would probably get you popped by a copper if you were flashing one around in a threatening manner.

They also make sounds and have flashing lights... and aren't modeled after real guns.

Uhhh, look up pictures of a Sterling submachine gun...

What I mean is that they don't look like the kind of weapon you'd be likely to see nowadays.

Well I suppose I need to amend my previous post. Jsut did some research.

 

The federal law is real and requires an orange cap at the end of toy guns. However many States have added to the law to make it more restrictive and some towns and cities have banned possession of a realistic toy gun period.

 

New York for instance bans any toy gun that looks realistic regardless of color.

 

Texas actually has similiar laws in place oddly enough, as do Maryland, Illinois, and most other states.

 

Walmart actually was sued and ended up paying a 200000 dollar settlement in New York in 2003 over selling realistic looking toy guns with orange caps. They were in accordance with the federal law, but not the state law.

 

Search the net and you can find the applicable laws fairly easily. So it would in fact be illegal to sell G1 Megs in a good portion of the US. Which means that even if Hasbro made him very few people would be able to get him without buying him off EBay or an online store anyways. It would be pointless to them to try and sell it as half their market won't allow it. Wouldn't be worth the cost.