So what's up with these third-party Transformer toys? Are

Pretty much. Though often the engineering and design work is 100% new. They just operate in a legal grey area where they don't have the actual character names or symbols, but are based on a character's likeness. Not much Hasbro or Takara can do about that, for now at least. Especially since most of them are in China, which doesn't give a single flying fuck about that shit anyways.

>>6279656

They're not bootlegs, as bootlegs would require them to steal or acquire molds and then just print their own figures out from them. Their engineering is new, so they're figures in their own right.

They're IP theft if anything, but I doubt anyone gives a single shit about that. And some are really high quality, others...Well, this is why reviews exist. If you've got any questions, look for the 3P threads that pop up. A lot of figures are great, some are pure shit, but it's always best to ask around and get reviews on stuff for 3P things, especially since they cost so damn much per figure.

>>6279656
I don't think you know the difference between Turd Party Trans and Bootleg Trans

>>6279750
>>I doubt anyone gives a single shit about that

Kek we're dealing with turbo hyper autists here. Of course they care

>>6279656
A bootleg is something that is trying to duplicate an existing toy, and sell it as official merch (Plush toys that claim to be made by disney, but are actually a thailand sweatshop)
a knockoff is something that's trying to mimick an existing toy, but sell it as their own merch (Change Robo is a good example. They'll take an existing toy, simplify it, resize it, recolor it, and add different head)
3rd party are simply "unlicensed products"
they are original toys, with original molds, that are trying to copy intellectual property they don't have the rights to.
For a lot of them, due to the nature of their products, simply repainting and changing the heads are often enough to avoid any legal troubles.

Also being from China.

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>>6279656
>Are they essentially super high quality bootlegs?
No, a bootleg is effectively a "stolen" toy/model repackaged or sold at a cheaper rate.

Third party transformers are stylized takes on characters, sometimes they're based on a character that doesn't have a toy yet (like tarn from the idw comics), a certain version of a character (make toys despotron seems dreamwave megatron inspired) or just outright oc like striker manus or the one you posted.

But its a very grey area since they don't own the rights to make said characters, sometimes they can get a license (like sentinel with the playstation optimus and megadrive megatron or the fuck huge scoponok and megazarak figures) but that cost money so they just do as they do, I quite like a few of their designs but they don't have the same benchmark as official masterpiece transformers so watch some reviews before making a purchase.

Its kinda funny though as some like pic related REALLY stretch things

>wei jang mpp10B
>takara mp10 upsized to mp01 height
>same proportions just BIGGER and uses the paint scheme bootleg mp10's use with painted feet brackets and such
>has same quality if not better than actual mp10's

They even shrunk the mp10 with the mp10v's (another group, build quality and proportions suffer somewhat however) and other upscales from wei jang, some are even improved (they call it a ko of mp tracks but when you add rubber tries you begin to question things).

Honestly op, buy what you like and avoid what you don't, I'm an official fag first and foremost but you bet when someone list it on ebay for cheap I'll take many 3p's, especially that 3p scourge/black laser optimus mp, fucking sexy despite a fat backpack

>>6279657
>>6279750
>>6279752
>>6280595
>>6280834

Thanks, guys. So, because they aren't attempting to reprint a replica of a toy, they aren't bootlegs. Got it.

Chromedome's my trans-husbando, and I'm very tempted to get that Cupola. It's the only largely show-accurate toy I've seen.

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>>6280992
I've yet to get Cupola but I don't really fuck with MP scale too much. I really appreciate all the love Chromedome's been getting, even his official TR is pretty good. All his toys are a little different, and Cupola is def the most accurate, but Fansproject's Code is great figure in his own right too.

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>>6280993
Or perhaps you need a teensy CD to keep in your pocket. Unique Toys has you covered.

>>6280993
>>6280995
Hmm...! I really like that teensy one.

>>6280992
Interestingly enough, there's a KO/bootleg of Cupola coming out later this month. Its coming from a company that KO'd the official MP seekers and the quality on the KOs were actually better than the original. I would recommend getting the KO Cupola in this case, it'll save you $50 and you'll get a nicer toy.

>idw head sculpt

Garbage

>>6279750
>>I doubt anyone gives a single shit about that
More like
>I doubt they can legally do anything about it with they way copyright law is written in Asian countries.

>>6282297
I'll probably wait for some reviews, but thanks for the update.