FansProject - Friend or Foe

Haha, what an overly dramatic title!

It's old news by now, but yes, FansProject, a third party toy manufacturer in the Transformer-upgradin business, is releasing a black version of the Protector armor (an upgrade for Classics Rodimus) with a scythe that's all goth and shit. They've limited the dark, moody bastard to 400 pieces. The preorders are about gone, or maybe even entirely gone by now. I can't say I care enough to check seeing as I can't afford it and don't own either of the dark repaints of the Classics Rodimus mold anyway.

Blah. Blah blah! And furthermore - blah. To the point! The Shattered Glass Rodimus from Botcon 08, the primary toy that this new armor (dubbed "Shadow Scyther") is meant for, has skyrocketed in value. One just went for 500 bucks on eBay - http://cgi.ebay.com/Transformers-BOTCON-2008-RODIMUS-Hot-Rod-Figure-/260659474807?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cb083f177

Let me go ahead and say it - FansProject makes some great shit. A lot of people rag on them for using Hasbro's Intellectual Property for their own gain. While it's indeed a bit shady - they're creative, they put out quality product, and they're careful to not do anything outright illegal. It's nothing like that company that made an exact miniaturized copy of Masterpiece Convoy and is releasing Masterpiece conehead seekers based directly on the existing MP Starscream mold. I give FP kudos there.

I am bothered that most toys they make "upgrades" for then become even harder to get however. It happened with the "Revenge of the Fallen" Aerialbots/Combaticons (initially meant for Universe 2.0/Classics) and the white Classics Prime "Ultra Magnus" (all Target exclusive toys that some couldn't track down in stores) as well. Anyone that wants those toys now, even fans that just want the base Hasbro product, will now have to dig even deeper into their pockets than they would have prior to the FansProject upgrades.

Personally, I dig the idea of the Shattered Glass universe and always wanted to get the toys. An important part of that "set", the black Rodimus, complete with evil facial hair, is now even less likely to have a place on my shelves. I appreciate what FansProject does, but for those of us with tighter budgets that dreamed of someday owning slightly more "prestige items" like SG Rodimus, they're only complicating that even further. It's not the worst thing in the world but it's still a tiny bit frustrating.

Just a thought.