I would love to get some more TFTM and later reissues. Kup, Blurr, Scourge, or Cyclonus would be great to get.
Transformers Retro series (Walmart TFTM Reissues)
- Thread starter Kup
- Start date
It's what certain sites refer to as a KO. If, in the TF community vernacular, a unofficial version/copy of an official character is a "3P" product, then an unofficial copy or close homage to an official toy is a "4P" product.
Also, my KO version did indeed come with polystyrene in the inner packaging.
why can't this fandom just be normal and call them 'bootlegs' like goddamn
why do some people have to come up with all these alternate terms to act all coy like 'oh no it's a fourth party figure', no it's a bootleg of an actual hasbro/takara product
i'm not even bothered by the existence of bootleg or KO G1 reissues, i've even considered buying some (well so long as you're not trying to sell them while pretending they're actually vintage g1 figures from the 80s, you're a scumbag if you do that shit), but just call a spade a spade y'know
why do some people have to come up with all these alternate terms to act all coy like 'oh no it's a fourth party figure', no it's a bootleg of an actual hasbro/takara product
i'm not even bothered by the existence of bootleg or KO G1 reissues, i've even considered buying some (well so long as you're not trying to sell them while pretending they're actually vintage g1 figures from the 80s, you're a scumbag if you do that shit), but just call a spade a spade y'know
We did. In the pre-FansProject years.
we have to go back
I just go with KOs because it's shorter to type. This is the first time I've ever heard of "fourth party" and I will never use it again.
I think someone looked at video game terminology and got the entirely wrong idea of how things work.
1st party would be Hasbro.
2nd party would probably be like, Beast Wars under Kenner. Bought by Hasbro, but its own little subdivision within it.
3rd party would be like Super7, licensed by Hasbro to make product for them.
Of course, as it happens, that's really more the "video game industry" version of those terms. I've seen there that "4th parties" are for franchises that come from outside of video games: NFL, Dragon Ball, or hey, Transformers.
In more general business parlance, you have:
1st party: The company
2nd party: Customers
3rd party: A company or institution that the 1st party outsources work to, but is still the responsibility of the 1st party
4th party: Who the 1st party's vendor outsources to
5th party: Who a vendor's vendor outsources to
And further parties basically just escalate along that line.
Last edited:
I'm fine with "3rd party" existing as a term, since stuff those people offer are usuallly unique toys based on another company's property. They aren't trying to replicate actual existing merchendise and they aren't trying to pass themselves off as "offical" so to me KO and Bootleg don't really apply as much.
Yeah, I think 3rd Party is a good descriptor for things like FansToys or Dr. Wu and the like. Fully original toys that infringe on IP. I had heard the term 4th Party a couple of times, and always assumed that it was meant to be a clever name for KO's of 3rd Party figures, but it would appear that I was mistaken on that.
LBD Nytetrayn's summation of it is pretty much it. There's licensed third party (Super 7, Diamond Select, Threezero etc) and unlicensed (Baiwei, Dr. Wu, etc) third party. That's it. Unlicensed third party products run the gamut from 3D printed gap fillers to entirely original sculpts to 1:1 or undersized/oversized copies of authentic first-party items. This last category is what can be called KOs, but not the others; this is why I prefer "(unlicensed) 3P" to "KO" as a catch-all.
Like Donocropolis, I've seen fandom discussion areas that use "fourth party" to mean "KO of a KO" or "upgrade kit for a third party figure". I've always disagreed with this because that's still third-party product, and what it's "based on" is irrelevant to the "party" terminology. It's been annoying to see it catch on (like the slow corruption of "literally" and now "objectively").
Like Donocropolis, I've seen fandom discussion areas that use "fourth party" to mean "KO of a KO" or "upgrade kit for a third party figure". I've always disagreed with this because that's still third-party product, and what it's "based on" is irrelevant to the "party" terminology. It's been annoying to see it catch on (like the slow corruption of "literally" and now "objectively").
Last edited:
The terms are rather convoluted, due in part I believe, from inaccurate uses of "3P" by our fandom. Terminology like this was touched upon in the first 1-2 posts of The Knock-off Transformers Thread, if you're interested.
Primus battles Unicron
Origins of Cybertron
Thirteen made, battle waged,
some of them died.
Slave labor, Quintessons
Nova Prime's expansion
Hey this universe is dead
D-void lives inside your head
Interregnum, Nominus
Functionists are fascists
Unitrex and Nyon
Cold-constructed Megatron
Orion Pax and Shockwave
Assassination bid fail
Megatron begins to rise
Sentinel say goodbye
Origins of Cybertron
Thirteen made, battle waged,
some of them died.
Slave labor, Quintessons
Nova Prime's expansion
Hey this universe is dead
D-void lives inside your head
Interregnum, Nominus
Functionists are fascists
Unitrex and Nyon
Cold-constructed Megatron
Orion Pax and Shockwave
Assassination bid fail
Megatron begins to rise
Sentinel say goodbye
Last edited:
Daggum youngsters and their newfangled validation. In my day, we bought "BOOTLEGS" from Big Lots! And Walgreens! And sometimes KB Toys! And we liked it!
I really do miss those days. By far my favourites were the ones that started off with an official mold, but went absolutely wild with remolding and color schemes.
Big Lots KOs are how I got started. Maybe that's why I gravitate to "bad" TFs today.