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Translabels.com/Transrepros.com to cease business


Nevermore

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I see this happen alot with the replica movie props I collect. They

always fire a warning shot (C& D letter) before they attack. C Wallace is

probably a casualty of war between botcon and otfcc. I doubt

CWallace would be in this situation if he hadn't done the breakdown

but he was becoming a larger target everyday with his sticker

website recent growth and his repro parts starting up. Anyone that produces copyrighted material is always walking a fine

line between presence to the fans and showing up on the corporate

legal radar, it's just the way things are done and we need to learn

to live with it.

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Once again: The BotCon exclusive was not what caused this, at least not from Hasbro's behalf. Hasbro knew of the BotCon exclusive and was cool with it. They couldn't officially endorse it, but they said it was cool as long as it didn't bear any obvious Hasbro trademarks on it.

Thus it didn't say "Transformers" or "Decepticon" anywhere on the box, the toy was named "G2 Breakdown" (as compared to "Breakdown" alone), used the G2 Decepticon logo (which hasn't been used by Hasbro in quite some time by now), and the trademark for the term "Action Master" has long expired.

 

Once again: It was NOT the BotCon exclusive that made Hasbro go mad at the guy.

 

It is assumed, however, that *someone else* went mad about the BotCon exclusive and therefore told Hasbro's legal department about the Translabels site, whereupon Hasbro had NO OTHER CHOICE but to act.

 

Yeah yeah Nevermore. That's old news for weeks now and you are wrong.

 

How you can say its becuase of Botcon anymore than someone who says it did? Like the rest of us, Hasbro found out about it the day it showed up. I just love how people will say something and assure others that these are the facts are when they got no proof at all.

 

Notpicard - you are spot on. Hasbro has to stop this sort of thing to protect their property. I feel bad for Chris, but lets face it, he took a chance and got caught. You can also be sure that the other paying licensees, everyone from 3H to Palisades, are not too happy about these guys making stuff without having to pony up to Hasbro.

 

Life is unfair, but it does not mean you have to cheat to get ahead.

Let me get this straight. Are you saying that Hasbro shut down translabels.com BECAUSE of the AM G2 Breakdown, despite the statements of the people who worked on the project that Hasbro knew about it from the get-go and that, while they couldn't officially approve it, were cool with it and that this ISN'T what caused the cease-and-desist letter?

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I say its because Habro wants to sell the G1 Re-issues. Instead of fixing up your played with vintage originals, they want you to go buy a re-issue for 30 some bucks.

 

*You want new stickers for your old figure, Hasbro says go buy a reissue.

 

*You want stickers for a old figure they havent re-issued, Hasbro says your just screwed.

 

For some people who want new labels and little part here or there for a figure, this is a viable way to go unless Hasbro is willing to make all the old TF labels and every single little part for people who need em.

 

Just another way Hasbro is trying to make a buck with their re-issues.

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Sure Hasbro has the legal right to prosecute any individual or company that sells unlicensed products bearing the TFs name and/or likeness. Part of the problem many fans have (for justifiable reasons) is that while it is true Hasbro has a legal right to prevent and clear out bootlegging and inferior products, they are not offering anything to replace those services. In this case with the fan made parts and labels, it really is unreasonable for them to expects fans to pay $25+ for parts and/or labels. With few exceptions most TF parts and heck even used TFs do not resell for more than $25. Almost no one is going to spend $25 - $30+ on a reissue just for one part for a older G1 toy. Sure some exceptions do exist I know, like Fortress Maximus but that is simply due to his rarity. But by and large fans will not buy a reissue strictly for a few bloody parts. IMO unless Hasbro does something to alleviate the situation, another fan will arise and meet the market demand that Hasbro continually ignores.

 

I can objectively see both sides to this situation, but in the end, Hasbro has fueled and created an on going demand for TF parts and labels, but, they refuse to assuage it. A more pragmatic solution would be for Hasbro themselves to release parts and labels at a reasonable price to consumers. Sure most of us want Hasbro to keep on making TFs forever, and they want to sell them so long as they make monies. The reissues are shelfwarmers for the most part b/c Hasbro is indiscriminately releasing G1 figs, this is highly impractical. I would love to see the sales reports of how many reissues were sold to TRU but just sit there unsold.

 

Lastly Another potential problem with this crackdown by Hasbro that concerns me is where does this enforcement stop? Are all fan made TF products potential targets, regardless of how good the quality? As many of you know some talented individual (I am not picking on him, but most of you know about this and I think he does great work) created a matching transforming trailer to compliment 20th Anniversary Optimus Prime aka MPP. Do you think Hasbro will come after him in the future? I hope not, but given their recent course of action against repro labels and parts, I would not be surprised.

 

I wonder how Hasbro will react to the fan reactions. :redface

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I say its because Habro wants to sell the G1 Re-issues. Instead of fixing up your played with vintage originals, they want you to go buy a re-issue for 30 some bucks.

 

*You want new stickers for your old figure, Hasbro says go buy a reissue.

 

*You want stickers for a old figure they havent re-issued, Hasbro says your just screwed.

 

For some people who want new labels and little part here or there for a figure, this is a viable way to go unless Hasbro is willing to make all the old TF labels and every single little part for people who need em.

 

Just another way Hasbro is trying to make a buck with their re-issues.

I don't dispute that this is a possibility, but if this were the case, surely Hasbro would also be shutting down www.reprolabels.com, which has been around for longer and has a stronger reputation. As it is, Delta is even starting to send out promo pics of new "Smallest TF" stickers he's going make available soon. Only Chip Wallace's sites (translabels.com and transrepros.com) have been affected.

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I agree 100% with Fort Max, Hassbro my take this to fare, next thing you now they'll be whaching e-bay.

 

What really p!$$es me off is that the little guy is getting forked, and yet their are fairly good bootlegs in the US, So why the hell don't they go after them?

 

 

The fact is they think they should get to tell us what to do.

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What really p!$$es me off is that the little guy is getting forked, and yet their are fairly good bootlegs in the US, So why the hell don't they go after them?

Because those bootlegs aren't manufactured in the USA but somewhere outside the USA legislature's reach, and Hasbro can only aim at manufacturers, not at retailers.

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I say its because Habro wants to sell the G1 Re-issues. Instead of fixing up your played with vintage originals, they want you to go buy a re-issue for 30 some bucks.

 

*You want new stickers for your old figure, Hasbro says go buy a reissue.

 

*You want stickers for a old figure they havent re-issued, Hasbro says your just screwed.

 

For some people who want new labels and little part here or there for a figure, this is a viable way to go unless Hasbro is willing to make all the old TF labels and every single little part for people who need em.

 

Just another way Hasbro is trying to make a buck with their re-issues.

I don't dispute that this is a possibility, but if this were the case, surely Hasbro would also be shutting down www.reprolabels.com, which has been around for longer and has a stronger reputation. As it is, Delta is even starting to send out promo pics of new "Smallest TF" stickers he's going make available soon. Only Chip Wallace's sites (translabels.com and transrepros.com) have been affected.

I say give it time, give it time... they'll eventually come to that name on the list too.

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What really p!$$es me off is that the little guy is getting forked, and yet their are fairly good bootlegs in the US, So why the hell don't they go after them?

Because those bootlegs aren't manufactured in the USA but somewhere outside the USA legislature's reach, and Hasbro can only aim at manufacturers, not at retailers.

I'm talking about the distributers of said bootlegs, some of them put their name on the pakage. :tfevil

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I agree Hasbro are perfectly within thier rights to protect their property but the labels guys could easily screw Hasbro by making the labels freely available on eMule or Kazaa or something. (Although that would be petty.)

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