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Tunics and Torsos! -
Ribbed Gloves? Iron Man style?You must try to generate happiness within yourself. If you aren't happy in one place, chances are you won't be happy anyplace. -Ernie BanksComment
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Yeah! I was puzzled about what the ribbed gloves may be but you nailed it T! Man FTC is cranking up stuff at an unreachable rate! No contest out there!Comment
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I really like how whenever they make a new item, they do it in a bunch of colors.Comment
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I just wish they would do more colored masks instead of green and blackComment
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The torso jumpsuits make me think of Green Lantern and Firestorm.
The trenchcoat definitely comes from Commissioner Gordon. Glad they did it in so many colors.
I think we are definitely going to see the 66 style boots and gloves in the SuperFriends line. That should look really cool.
I'm still waiting to see the reviews of the next batch of figures to see if the QC issues are still haunting them. The last things I got were a Penguin figure with the hat chewed up and a 2 pack that was not bound down. Both left me feeling severely under-welmed.
JeffBearCOComment
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This is interesting because several of these pieces are Marvel related from a historical perspective. So if EMCE tries to make say a deluxe Iron Man figure, are they derailed on using that same style of glove or boot because FTC is making them? FTC is also making Goblin boots, Invisible Girl's head, etc. Could FTC be trying to limit competition by securing rights to parts that are not necessarily part of the larger DC or Marvel license? I definitely detect a fierce competition for market share.Comment
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^^^EMCE already showed the Thor repro, so your theory should be interesting to watch.You must try to generate happiness within yourself. If you aren't happy in one place, chances are you won't be happy anyplace. -Ernie BanksComment
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^^^ So glove and boot designs are considered public domain or something not worth securing a copyright for?Comment
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They are pretty much generic and made by a company that has been out of business for 30 years. If anyone had a problem with it, it would be Marvel, who would tell FTC to cease and desist...but since they aren't calling them "Iron Man boots" theres not much they can do. Nobody owns the copyright to "ribbed boots". The "Thor boots" might be a different situation since they are actually calling them "Thor boots", however all they would need to do is call them something else, "Viking boots" for example, and there's no copyright problem.
Same reason Doc Mego can sell a blue scalloped cape all day long and it's not a problem until he calls it a "Batman cape".Expectation is the death of discovery.Comment
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You can trademark an entire character, or distinctive marking, but the entirety doesn't cover individual pieces unless they are distinct to that character.
So if Iron Man's hands were open and showed repulsor rays, than Marvel could claim the TM. But a closed ribbed glove can also look like a spacesuit piece or a knight's gauntlet. You can sell an IM button because it's just a button, but not a red button with a yellow sticker sewn onto a red tunic because that's directly referring to IM's arc reactor, which Marvel has used in licensing. Like web shooters, Thor's hammer, Wolverine's claws.
They didn't bother to erase the "x" symbol off the FC Cyclops harness repros because Cyclops' distinctive mark is his visor. Could they sell a standalone visor? Probably as space binoculars, but if they showed it modeled on a head, it becomes greyish. Same with all the other pieces. Thor's hammer is the litmus. If you roto it in different colors and call it a war hammer, it's still Thor's hammer.
The bat utility belt is an interesting one to me. I'm guessing because it doesn't bear the bat-symbol it's fair game. That's odd, cause I don't associate the symbol with the belt, but I do associate the ridges. Perhaps that's seen as a Mego creative distinction, which makes it fair game.
EDIT: What Crimson said...Comment
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