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Originally posted by ShadowMage
Just finished reading parts of it and skimmed through the rest. This could be good and bad. I can see it being good because of my bias towards the BCG but I also see that this could in fact be harmful in that Tomy will have no one (or at least hardly anyone) to compete with. Which more or less means (at that point) that Tomy can charge, sell, and basically do what they want because there's no one else to really compete with. Anyone elses thoughts, arguments, etc?
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I don't know if any of the patents are really enforceable, they could be challenged by the clone manufacturers. I don't see anything that is technologically groundbreaking here, just a bunch of standard electronic components assembled into a really cool little toy. Maybe the transmitter design is patentable because of the retracting antenna, but many of the clones use a different styled transmitter, and I've seen some with a separate charging base. Hopefully, what WILL remain in the clones is the ability to interchange motors/gears/bodies, etc.
If Tomy was smart, they would have just marketed them here under their own name, instead of having Hobbico resell them. This is just driving up the cost of a genuine BCG here in America, and creating a market for the cheaper clones. If the microsizers retailed for $19.99, I would definitely buy a microsizer over a $15 clone that could be a POJ. This would automatically reduce the demand for the clones, and then you'll see less of them. After the holidays, I am going to order a few BCG's from toyeast.com. I hear that the shipping isn't too bad from the Far East, anyone have a good/bad experience with toyeast?
EDIT: corrected "toyseast.com to toyeast.com" whadda n00b...