Why do so many fans think it's okay to buy knock off MLP merch?

[SeashellnBubbles]

Personally, i got examples of every plushie i could get my hands on...the Funrise, an Aurora, Ty Beanie, even a Build-a-Bear...and the Big Mac "fakie" blew them all away! The quality is excellent, the stuffing is good, the attention to detail is exquisite, and for having fabric hair it's pretty spot-on. The 2 with brushable hair so far, the BaB and Ty, they're ok but it took a long time to sift through and find one that wasn't wonky-eyed to a severe degree. I hate how big Scoot's Bab head is, but the Ty is the the one I'd recommend for people who are just starting out or looking fr something for their kids to play with. For more avid collectors, i'd recommend the knock-offs with absolutely no problems at all. I know how factories in China and india work...you close one down and another pops up. Kepping things going is just a matter of greasing enough palms with enough money. People are clamouring for jobs that most people over here would feel is "beneath them". Yeah, it's harsh to say, but it's the truth. If the factories over there got the same going over in all areas as the strict environments here as far as working conditions, labour laws (including child labour...I don't agree with that at all, but it's still out there), Unions, working wages, safety, HR and sensitivity training, parental leave, overtime pay, etc, etc, we wouldn't be able to afford ANYTHING that Wal*Mart sells, let alone plastic ponies, PERIOD.

[Wardah]

I think working conditions could be improved without raising the price too much. The cost of living in these other countries is a lot less than in the States. Over there if someone made $7 an hour for 40 hours a week they could afford a nice house and an expensive car and high end clothes for the whole family. Here it isn't even enough for one person to survive much less a family.

[Galactica]

I don't love the idea of supporting Chinese companies that don't pay their workers enough, but as some have noticed already, nearly everything that we used on a daily basis from clothing to household goods is made in whole or in part in factories located in China or other developing countries that are not known for paying their workers fairly.  I probably should stop buying all toys and clothes until the world changes, but I think I might be waiting a looooong time.  (I have however not bought any gold and will not buy any jewelry with any diamonds in them- that stuff is far more easily linked to horrendous human rights abuse)

I will admit I have bought Front winner plush.  I don't know that the Frontwinner factory is any better or worse than Hasbro's Chinese factory. Legally, what Frontwinner is doing doesn't appear to be any different than what customizers do all the time. Take an existing licensed character, and make it actually look like that character or better. 

I also don't think that my buying a Chrysalis from Cosplay123 will be likely to hurt Hasbro's bottom line, since they aren't making or licensing anything close.   On the other hand, buying customs has probably cost Hasbro to lose money from me, since as quality and variation in Hasbro pony products has decreased, I have bought way more customs and way less store ponies.

But can you blame me? Look at my Chrysalis army. You can probably tell which ones are Hasbro and which ones are customs (or Cosplay 123) because only the Hasbro licensed products look absolutely NOTHING like CHrysalis.
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I have far more of a problem with "knock-offs" or re-casts of something that is more unique or made in smaller numbers (ie like recasts of a popular resin BJD doll).  That kind of thing DOES hurt the "company" who might consist of only a handful of people.  I don't think buying a Frontwinner plush is really the same thing at all.

[Wardah]

In countries like China the pay is often not the problem. It's the working conditions that are dreadful. Imagine if you were offered $15 an hour but you had to work in near sweatshop conditions. Would you do it? Probably not.

[SeashellnBubbles]

Many people here make far less than $15 an hour and have to be subjected to all kinds of temperature extremes and conditions. I, having to follow strict clothing requirements, have been forced to wear full arm and leg white uniforms, hair net, and hard hat as well as steel toed high cut rubber boots when the temperature on the abbatoir floor is summertime hot! In the winter i have to wear the same uniform, often with a toque under the hardhat and layer upon layer of clothing under the uniform just to stay warm, and Steel toed boots just *suck* the heat from your toes!
Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. Those are simply the conditions that we work in. The employees of the company also have to ahere to strict clothing uniforms etc, but they're paid less than i am. I'm on that floor from start to finish, and my job is difficult and stressful psychologically, mentally, emotionally and physically. Their jobs are, too...the lack of heat or air conditioning affects all of us equally, and I love my job! Farmers work in extremes, and check out the butchers at Costco when you go...they're basically working in a big refrigerator!
I think, ideally, people would be paid to scale with how much work they do and how much training they've received, but that isn't the world we live in. Here we're talking ponies, but reallistically we could be talking about ANY product...how many people have the option or ability to pay for everything they NEED (not just want) locally? Would you pay $300 for a quilt made by your neighbor or would you just go get one from Wal*Mart for $30, or pay $15 for a bag of local potatoes ? I dunno. I wish i knew what the answer is, but shutting down a company in China (even if it resurfaces elsewhere) means jobs lost, which also sucks.

[brightberry]

Ok...I missed this one...

Why are knock offs of customs unacceptable but knock offs of original items are acceptable?

Now I hands down agree knock offs of customs are unacceptable because its stealing creativity and someones hard work. But thats what knock offs of original items are as well - theft of someones creativity and hard work. I was just curious as to the arguments in this one

I don't think either are really acceptable.  I was ok-ish with people making customs simply because there was nothing like them and they weren't mass produced.

.

[hathorcat]

I have far more of a problem with "knock-offs" or re-casts of something that is more unique or made in smaller numbers (ie like recasts of a popular resin BJD doll).  That kind of thing DOES hurt the "company" who might consist of only a handful of people.  I don't think buying a Frontwinner plush is really the same thing at all.

See this is kind of part of my point. Buying knock of plush is not taking money from the hands of a giant corporation like Hasbro, even though I clearly have a problem with that anyway. Hasbro have already sold the plush license - they have cleared their money. Who this kind of product does potentially hurt is the small plush makers who have paid through the nose for a right to license plush from Hasbro. A case in point is someone like 4DE - far from a massive company - and even Funrise - who equally are not a massive international toy company. Its those companies who are missing out...not Hasbro.

[brightberry]

^ Oh,  I didn't think of that.   I love my 4DE plush Twilight.

[SeashellnBubbles]

^ Oh,  I didn't think of that.   I love my 4DE plush Twilight.

Needs to gets me one of these...
I buy what I like. If Hasbro made plushes and original ponies that i like (just bought RP FS Rainbow Dash) then i'd buy more of their stuff. There are knockoffs that look terrible, and there are Licensed toys that look terrible. Awesome=money out of my pocket!

[Galactica]

I will definitely be buying the 4DE plushies once they finally come out!  The production delays have been a little frustrating I'll admit.  Apparently Fluttershy will come out in the fall, and the rest of the line-up in 2015?  So long...

I actually do not think that their ponies are being sold in exclusive lots of 100 or so, but for sure Frontwinner has put out some plushies that look just like the ones that 4DE is planning to put out (like Big Macintosh).   Luckily, 4DE seems to be doing a MUCH better job of all it's characters, so if they ever actually get their ponies out on the market, I'm sure that their sales are going to go through the roof...