TFormers pulled an interesting nugget from an interview a toy industry magazine did with Hasbro's licensing president. As with any public relations fluff piece, we must carefully decode what was said. Here's the intriguing quote about Hasbro's upcoming TF 40th anniversary plans-

"We will start the year by celebrating the landmark 40th anniversary of Transformers by providing our licensees with 3D files of the original G1 toys for the first time ever,” Collins says. “With this, our partners will be able to reissue original licensed products and reimagined innovations leveraging the authentic vintage artwork from the G1 toy line and Marvel comics.
"

So that bit about starting the year by providing 3D models of G1 toys-what does that mean? Could it have been a typo? I understand how 2D image assets could be useful to licensees in making retro packaging for products, but 3D? Does this mean Hasbro is leaving the production of actual transforming toys to licensees? I can't imagine Hasbro handing off a 40th anniversary G1 reissue toy line to just any toy company. What licensee would even have the resources to tackle that prospect?

They have done this before on a small scale when Fun4All made the Heroes of Cybertron minicar keychains. But I was thinking maybe Hasbro is teaming up with 3rd party toymakers for some official product on a larger scale. That first sentence of the quote got me thinking-If they have 3D models why wait until the start of the year to share them? I thought it took a while to get a toy to market. But maybe if all the R&D and art assets are already in place things will go quicker. I think sharing of 3D models at the start of the year indicates whoever they're sharing with already has the means to produce toys with very short lead time. And who could that be other than groups like FansToys or Zeta or any of those types who have built a cottage industry of IP infringing TF product? And who better to come up with reimagined innovations? They already know the product and the lore. I really hope this is a sign of a Hasbro/3rd party team up for the 40th anniversary.

Here's the TFormers article-
https://tformers.com/generation-1-g1-toys-unleashed-for-transformers-40th-anniversary-hasbro-reveals/50068/news.html

And here's the full Transformers article at Toy Book-
https://toybook.com/property-profile-transformers-more-than-meets-the-eye/

On Wednesday, June 14, 2023 at 10:32:18 PM UTC-6, Evil King Macrocranios wrote:

> They have done this before on a small scale when Fun4All made the Heroes of Cybertron minicar keychains. But I was thinking maybe Hasbro is teaming up with 3rd party toymakers for some official product on a larger scale. That first sentence of the quote got me thinking-If they have 3D models why wait until the start of the year to share them? I thought it took a while to get a toy to market. But maybe if all the R&D and art assets are already in place things will go quicker. I think sharing of 3D models at the start of the year indicates whoever they're sharing with already has the means to produce toys with very short lead time. And who could that be other than groups like FansToys or Zeta or any of those types who have built a cottage industry of IP infringing TF product? And who better to come up with reimagined innovations? They already know the product and the lore. I really hope this is a sign of a Hasbro/3rd party team up for the 40th anniversary.

I've been giving this a lot of thought. I tend to think the Fun-4-All keychains was a way of skirting trademark regulations—at the time, Hasbro still didn't own the trademark to Bumblebee's name in the Toys & Sporting Goods category, so I think selling the toy as a keychain technically allowed it to be sold under a different product category. But, that's a theory that I've never fully proven or disproven, and it's also not super relevant.

Something else to consider is that the G1 toys weren't created using 3D models. CAD files are the standard means by which Transformers are produced today, but back during the G1 days they were hand-drawing sticker sheets and carving toy prototypes out of wood.

However, there was buzzing about how Takara had to recreate the Constructicon molds from the ground up, scanning existing vintage toys and building 3D models based on that (explaining some of the oddities like Devastator's chest shield being the wrong shape). So I guess it would be correct to say that SOME of the G1 toys NOW exist as 3D models.

I actually kind of wonder if Hallmark might be doing this already, recreating the G1 toys as Christmas ornaments by using scans of the toys. That's the only practical application I can think of right now. But, Hallmark also credits a sculptor for those, which wouldn't be the case if they were just porting over Hasbro scans.

My gut tells me this isn't about Hasbro teaming up with the third-party folks. It wouldn't behoove the third-party guys, because they would suddenly be subjected to all the safety regulations and drop-testing and the things that an unofficial manufacturer doesn't have to take into consideration. And that potentially puts Hasbro on the hook for liability. Let's say they join forces with FansToys going forward, to name a random example, and then an earlier FansToys product ends up shattering when it drops and hurts a kid. Hasbro having awarded them with an official partnership complicates things for them legally.

We could be looking at this all wrong. Maybe the goal isn't to use 3D models of toys to create physical goods, but rather the 3D models will be licensed out to software developers so that the models can exist in a virtual space. Product placement of Hasbro brand Transformers inside a video game, for example, helps to ground the game in reality and serves as free advertising for Hasbro, so it's a win-win.

I'm sure we'll find out what it's all about eventually, but there's nothing that strikes me as a super obvious "oh, this is clearly what Hasbro is gearing up for" sort of move.

Zob (exists as a 3D asset but has an annoying habit of clipping through walls)

>
> My gut tells me this isn't about Hasbro teaming up with the third-party folks. It wouldn't behoove the third-party guys, because they would suddenly be subjected to all the safety regulations and drop-testing and the things that an unofficial manufacturer doesn't have to take into consideration. And that potentially puts Hasbro on the hook for liability. Let's say they join forces with FansToys going forward, to name a random example, and then an earlier FansToys product ends up shattering when it drops and hurts a kid. Hasbro having awarded them with an official partnership complicates things for them legally.

I doubt Hasbro will let any licensee play in its space (Transforming robots). Model kits, statues, sure, but not direct competitors to Hasbro product. Frankly, there's nothing a 3rd party can do that Hasbro can't already do - it's simply that Hasbro is constrained by a different business model. We've seen that when Hasbro wants to, and the cost/profit stars align, they can easily outshine 3P (Kingdom Cyclonus, for $30, comes to mind).

Also, legitimizing 3P through a collaboration would set a terrible precedent. At best, Hasbro could quietly hire some of the key 3P designers, etc, the way they've allowed licensees to utilize fan authors and artists in the past (Figueroa, Roche, Roberts), but that would be fraught with risk and might damage the internal team dynamics (hiring people who knowingly stole and profited off stolen IP).

> We could be looking at this all wrong. Maybe the goal isn't to use 3D models of toys to create physical goods, but rather the 3D models will be licensed out to software developers so that the models can exist in a virtual space. Product placement of Hasbro brand Transformers inside a video game, for example, helps to ground the game in reality and serves as free advertising for Hasbro, so it's a win-win.

That sounds both forward thinking and on the money. It's a great idea, and if Hasbro isn't doing it, they should.

> Zob (exists as a 3D asset but has an annoying habit of clipping through walls)

Ha.

Ben MacCrae who works in Hasbro Product development was interviewed on a YouTube show where he gave details on what the 40th anniversary 3D file sharing project was about. He definitively shoots down the notion that the G1 CAD scans would be used by licensees to create transforming figures. Then later he talks more about reissues and how they are selected and what is possible. It's a good interview.

The relevant question starts around 9 minutes in:
https://youtu.be/AF64f3-8mLg?t=568

Quoting Ben MacCrae:
"So they won't be converting figures. It's just perfect scans of the original molds, like of the original toys so that they can make accurate versions.. Say a company like Super 7 does their Ultimates line. Now they could potentially take that CAD-that rescanned CAD-and make a perfectly to scale G1 Starscream for their Ultimates line. Or another partner could make the jet version of that and it would only stay in that mode.

In terms of conversion, a lot of it has to deal with like, there should be some animation and stuff coming out to really help blow out the 40h anniversary. So the toys themselves won't be converting. That'll still be a G1 thing in execution that we would do as a retro program-Hasbro in partnership with Takara."

"...it's more just we want to make sure we celebrate the 40th anniversary as best we can. 40 years is a big milestone. We have fans that have come in since the beginning, we have fans that have come in in the middle, we have fans that are just coming in now that Rise of the Beasts just came out. We have a whole new wave and surge of fans. New younger generation thanks to EarthSpark.

So I think it's just a way for us to celebrate that history and make sure people are getting items that we weren't able to do 40 years ago. Like you weren't able to get a sixty point of articulation seeker jet back then. Maybe now you can get it but it can have the right perfect look to that G1 style."