User:Nevermore/Sandbox/Third-party company

A third-party company is a company that manufactures and releases products related to the Transformers brand, but is neither Hasbro nor TakaraTomy. Technically, all official licensees such as Fun4All or IDW Publishing are third-party companies, but in the Transformers fandom, the term has become more closely associated with small companies (often comprised of only a few people) that release unofficial, unlicensed products which are often identified by makeshift names to avoid infringing on Hasbro's trademarks.

These products can either be add-ons intended for existing official toys, similar to aftermarket car kits, or entirely new toys based on designs that usually aren't released as toys by Hasbro or Takara. Sometimes those toys are directly based on existing official toys, making them outright knockoffs. However, while knockoffs are typically cheaper, of inferior quality and aimed at unsuspecting everyday buyers, third-party reproductions tend to be more expensive, the quality can range from bad to really good, and they are aimed at fans and collectors who know exactly what they are getting.

History

One of the oldest third-party companies that still exists to this very day is Reprolabels. Launched in 19999, they originally specialized in high quality reproductions of stickers for Generation 1 toys. Later, they expanded their range to also offering original stickers intended as "upgrades" for toys, like giving toys of existing characters a more faithful Generation 1-based deco (e.g. Alternators Meister with "Martinii Racing" labels), or labels inspired by other sources (e.g. the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (toyline)|Revenge of the Fallen]] Skids & Mudflap ice cream truck with a more extensive, movie-based deco).