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| {{disambig2|why you can't have that awesome toy|the Autobot from Operation Combination|Safety}}
| | we like good toys |
| [[Image:G1Megatron toy.jpg|right|300px|thumb|In your dreams, American fans.]]
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| The United States is a very litigious society. If a child is injured or (heaven forbid) killed by use or abuse of a toy, that child's parents are very likely to sue the toy manufacturer. As such, [[Hasbro]] puts its toys through rigorous testing, '''for safety reasons'''. Sometimes, a [[Toy|Transformers toy]] has to be [[design change|altered from the original design]] in order to maintain safety standards, which vary from country to country.
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| ==Safety testing==
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| [[Image:DVD 20thPrime.jpg|left|300px|thumb|Stubbimus Prime]]
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| Hasbro has several tests that come up frequently. One of the more famous ones is the "drop test." As its name implies, this involves dropping a toy from great heights in order to ascertain whether or not said toy will break, and if any of the parts which may have broken loose could potentially injure a child (sharp edges, swallowable/chokeable bits, etc.). This is often cited as the reason [[Fortress Maximus (RID)|Fortress Maximus]] has not been reissued in the United States, as well as the reason for the shortened smokestacks on the shoulders of various [[Optimus Prime (G1)/toys|Optimus Prime toys]] (it's a common mistake to assume this started in 1988 with the [[Powermaster]] version;<ref>For one thing the pegs on Powermaster Prime's shoulder-cannons were brittle as hell!</ref> however, it was actually the Japanese [[Ginrai|Super Ginrai]] version that had the shorter stacks, not the Hasbro Optimus Prime version). This test is also used to determine the durability of a toy's packaging, making sure that ''only'' the packaging is damaged should it be dropped.
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| Other tests have similar goals, generally concerned with breakage issues. Hence, the Japanese version of [[Vector Prime]] has hard plastic wings, but the U.S. version uses a rubbery material less likely to accidentally snap off or gouge out the eye of a child (or a particularly clumsy adult). Even as early as 1985, [[Jetfire (G1)|Jetfire]] and [[Swoop (G1)|Swoop]] were altered to have blunted nosecones, and the [[Seeker (body-type)|Seeker]] jets had rubber nosecones instead of hard plastic. Again, this was likely to prevent trauma from a thrown or jabbed toy.
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| ==Safety standards==
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| [[Image:MarvelUS-33.jpg|left|150px|thumb|We don't let lawyers wear armor or carry lances anymore.]]
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| [[Image:G1Thunder clash toy.jpg|right|200px|thumb|I'm a choking hazard!]]
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| [[Image:MachineWarsPrime.jpg|right|200px|thumb|I'm not!]]
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| Besides the safety testing, Hasbro (and other toy manufacturers) try to make sure their products conform to certain standards. Some of these standards are self-imposed, while others are mandated at the state or national level. Most notably, these laws include choke laws, which are designed to prevent small parts (''especially'' projectiles) from being lodged in a child's windpipe; the use of toxic materials like lead-based paints; and toy gun laws, which are designed to prevent scenarios where law enforcement officials accidentally shoot children or adults who are not armed, but carrying "realistic" toy guns; like say, [[Megatron (G1)/toys|G1 Megatron]]. U.S. law requires that toy guns have either an orange plug in the barrel, or a coat of orange paint on the barrel. Some states have even more stringent laws, which require that toy guns must be brightly colored and must not resemble real-world firearms. (Some retailers won't even carry realistic toy guns ''anyway'', so that's a double-whammy some places.)
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| Note that the major federal toy gun law was enacted in 1988, and applies to all toy guns manufactured after May 1989. As such, it is entirely legal for dealers to sell original G1 Megatron figures, as they are grandfathered in; but any later American release of the toy WOULD have to meet these standards, hence the "Safety/Lava Bath Megatron" toy, which STILL failed to meet these guidelines, as the entire external surface was not (and likely could not be) made from a single color of plastic.
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| Also note that there's no size limitation anywhere in the legal regulations. As a consequence, even the recent [[Transformers (2010 toyline)|2010 ''Transformers'']] [[Legends Class]] [[Megatron (G1)/toys#Transformers (2010)|Megatron]] has to sport an orange barrel, despite his tiny size.
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| ==Articulation and safety==
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| During the time Hasbro started to make its own molds to represent characters as toys instead of importing from other toy lines, the company noticed that the safety standards of a toy had to withstand a pulling force of 20 pounds to deem them safe. Because most toys in those days had little to no outward movement in their legs or arms, they would rather quickly break with little force, so most figures were made with fused legs, preventing kids from pulling the legs apart. Because of this, most of the toys dropped articulation to make the figures stronger, turning a large amount of them into "[[brick]]s". During the time [[Takio Ejima]] started working on the brand, he noted that they could make the toys safer by the use of [[ball joint]]s, making it easier for the toy to pass the test, and still have the full range of motion. This idea would even change the standard of articulation outside the Transformers brand.
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| ==Safety standards are still changing==
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| Note that changes to previously released toys to conform to modern-day safety standards aren't limited to [[Generation 1 reissues|reissues]] of ''[[The Transformers (toyline)|Generation 1]]'' toys: For the [[Universe (2008 toyline)|''Universe'' (2008)]]/''[[Revenge of the Fallen (toyline)|Revenge of the Fallen]]'' [[Superion (G1)|Superion]] [[Superion (ROTF)|giftset]], Hasbro retooled the nosecone of the ''[[Energon (toyline)|Energon]]'' [[Treadshot (Energon)|Treadshot]]/[[Windrazor (Energon)|Windrazor]] sculpt to be less pointy—a sculpt that had originally been released a mere five years earlier.
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| ''[[Classics (2006)|Classics]]'' [[Megatron (G1)/toys|Megatron]], released in ''2006'', turns into a [[Wikipedia:Nerf|Nerf]] N-Strike Maverick blaster with a bright orange cap on the end of both the scoop and the barrel. With Hasbro's ever-more-conservative legal department, even [[:Image:Megatronclassicstoy.jpg|this deco]] wouldn't be sufficient enough anymore these days.
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| Similarly, a ''Generation 1''-era mold that could previously be reused in its original state may unexpectedly need to be changed within the space of a few years. [[Movor]]'s toy from 2001 is a redeco of [[Blast Off (G1)|Blast Off]], with no detectable physical changes, but in 2003 another redeco of the same mold had to be retooled to round off the nosecone.
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| ==Safety standards in other countries==
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| The USA isn't the only country with rigid toy safety standards that affect Transformers. In fact, some countries have safety standards that are even ''more'' rigid than anything the USA has. Examples:
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| * Japan apparently has extremely lax toy safety regulations. The Japanese toy safety standard is called "ST", which can be applied to toys aimed at children under the age of 14; however, that doesn't mean that a toy ''can't'' be sold if it ''doesn't'' sport the "ST" seal. The only difference is that parents will receive a compensation if their child gets injured by playing with an "ST"-approved toy.
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| * In Italy's ''[[Trasformer]]'' {{sic}} line by [[GiG]], many toys' missile launchers didn't have their springs removed, but the missiles ''did'' have comically-huge giant rubber balls attached to the tips. Some of the subsequent, officially-licensed-by-Hasbro ''Transformers'' re-releases of those toys still featured the same kind of missiles. Makes those elongated [[Commemorative Series]] missiles seem not so bad after all, huh?
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| * Whereas European toy gun laws are more relaxed, hence making the import of [[Megatron (G1)/toys|''G1'' Megatron]] reissues and ''[[Masterpiece]]'' Megatron less of a legal hassle, Australia actually has ''harsher'' regulations than the US, officially classifying MP Megatron as a "firearm replica". Some Australian states even consider the ''possession'' of the toy ''illegal'', even if it was painted in bright orange or sported a permanently glued on orange plug. Apparently, the only way to circumvent this problem requires joining some kind of registered ''firearms'' Collectors' Club.<ref>[http://www.csapo.com.au/ttf/TCTF_Club.htm Details about the legal situation concerning the import and possession of Masterpiece Megatron in Australia]</ref>
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| * Members of the European Union don't consider American safety regulations sufficient, but require their own safety tests, with the toys having to adhere to the European standard EN 71. As a consequence, toys that are perfectly fine to be released in the USA might occasionally not be considered suitable for the European market. And since Hasbro has long since abandoned producing international "variants" of toys beyond mere packaging differences, that would mean those toys simply won't come out in Europe at all. (However, while specific examples are unconfirmed, it's highly doubtful that this affects a large number of toys.)
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| ==Notes==
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| * According to Hasbro, toys that represent flying characters are given more stringent drop tests and rounded/collapsible bits, as children (and the kind of adults who buy Transformers) are more prone to throwing these figures around or ramming them into things (or people).
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| * You know how G1 Megatron turns into a realistic-looking handgun? And how there are various laws prohibiting the sale of realistic-looking toy handguns? [http://www.unicron.com/news_item/1877/ Yeah.] C'mon, you knew it was bound to happen sooner or later.
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| * Besides "turning into a realistic handgun," another Generation 1 [[gimmick]] we won't be seeing again in the future is the [[Sparking gimmick|"sparking" action]] found in the [[Firecon|Firecons]], [[Sparkabot|Sparkabots]], and [[Monsterbot|Monsterbots]], after a Barbie doll with a similar action feature reportedly set a child's underwear on fire.<br><br>No, seriously.<ref>[http://diswww.mit.edu/tla/humor/442 Blading Barbie Sparks Up Hell On Wheels.]</ref>
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| ==External links==
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| * [http://theswca.com/textf/toydeath.html Page featuring articles on the genesis of the choke-gate test, due to a missile-firing ''Battlestar Galactica'' toy.]
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| * [http://www.washingtonwatchdog.org/documents/cfr/title15/part1150.html CFR Title 15, Part 1150, the official federal law on "realistic" toy guns and the markings thereof.]
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| * [http://www.btha.co.uk/about_us/toy_safety_guide.php Overview on toy safety standards in the UK]
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| * [http://www.cpsc.gov/businfo/toypremguid04.pdf Pages five and six of this article give a brief summary of the federal safety guidelines regarding breakability testing.] (PDF format.)
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| * [http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28331 ''The Onion'''s slightly snarkier take on the subject, for those who like their snarky snark snarkiness.]
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| * [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080807.wmegatron0807/BNStory/National/home Canadian ruling that Masterpiece Megatron does not constitute a "replica firearm" for importing purposes.]
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| ==See also==
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| *[[Unpaintable plastic]]
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| ==Footnotes==
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| <references />
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| [[Category:Toys]]
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