>>10896769What about original stuff like Beast Wars, did they still have to pay Tomy? Does Tomy end up owning any original American creation then?
>Tomy could take the license away but they'd have nothing useful to sell in the US without a lot of rebranding.Damn imagine Tomy taking away the license, releasing Transformers under the name "Diaclone: Transforming Robots", giving them new names that still resemble their old ones and act like it's a hard reboot to the franchise in terms of story and characters. They'd still be as close to the origins of the transformers lore as copyright would allow it but enough differences to not get sued in court.
Hasbro attempts to reboot with new robots the transformers line but ultimately fails since the brand-name alone can't get people to buy their shitty products. They can call someone new Optimus/Megatron but fans prefer to buy the actual semi-truck even if he's called Optimal Leader.
Hasbro see's the IP as worthless and sells their half for cheap to Tomy. Tomy starts to incorporate the old names back into the line.
