Lil Formers - Pirated!
You know you’ve made it once you’ve been pirated in China.
I’ve had artwork stolen before, by general DA art thieves and even some business websites. But check this out - Lil Formers art on a Chinese bootleg Transformer! Awesome! haha. It’s useless to get mad about this, since there’s really no way to fight Chinese bootlegging. So just gotta laugh about it. Here are pics of the toy and the original art:
While the character isn’t the same (this is fan art of a non-TF character named Cougar) at least the vehicle modes match up(Jeep).
I did actually order one from KO toys , but a word of warning about them - If you are a MOC(mint on card) collector, don’t go near these guys. I guess they figure nobody would ever care about a knockoff packaging being in good shape. In the toy I ordered, they actually FOLDED THE CARDBOARD FLAP IN HALF to fit in int he box they chose. So my art was all crumpled up…oh well! Learned never to buy from them again heh.
July 10th, 2010 at 10:38 am
Wondered why they didn’t copied yours. They even made fake ‘iPhone’ by adding small iPod a phone…
However, China is a weird country.
July 10th, 2010 at 10:41 am
And by the way, will you accept your avatar’s use on my personal homepage?
July 10th, 2010 at 12:39 pm
I am sure that all the children who’s parents buy toys in pharmacies will be thankful to at least have some cool artwork to look at.
July 10th, 2010 at 4:38 pm
I love it.
I like how it says ROTF Depthcharge and Alternator Swindle. As a TF toy collector I find it amusing. Alternator Swindle is supposed to be red. The yellow Jeep in the alternator series was Rollbar.
July 10th, 2010 at 5:33 pm
@ Battmanners: I’m afraid you’ve got your alternators switched. Alternator Swindle is yellow, Rollbar is red.
July 11th, 2010 at 3:31 pm
that’s why you should never get popular on the internet
July 13th, 2010 at 8:00 pm
So what’s cougar off of?
July 14th, 2010 at 12:58 am
Wow… I never thought I’d see Cougar again. I know the guy that designed him, and I’m the one that designed the nemesis character, Fenrir, but I don’t think much got made from him, his little project seemed to fall apart every month.
July 15th, 2010 at 5:09 pm
This makes me laugh.
You are making a big deal about some rip-off Chinese toy company ripping off your picture, when you are doing the exact same thing to the actual Transformers.
Just because you draw something licensed and copyrighted in your own style, does not mean you can sell and distribute it for profit as your own work/IP.
Just be warned, if Hasbro ever found out you were profiting from their property by selling your “Lil Megs” and “Lil Prime” shirts, you’d be in a world of financial and legal hurt.
July 15th, 2010 at 11:48 pm
I don’t think a big deal was being made by MM for one thing. I think it’s a different thing to create original artwork based on a known character and to sell it and to blatantly use someone elses exact artwork to sell another product.
I think Prov is just jealous because 1. No one wants to draw him. and 2. if they did, they wouldn’t be able to sell anything if they slapped his mug on it.
July 19th, 2010 at 6:18 pm
Hi Matt, Love your work, have been a fan Since seeing Shockwave with the cool Blaster sounds Comic, but anyways I love how you got ripped in China, but heres a bit of News for ya, One Day while visiting a Family Dollar in Arizona ( Desert Sky Mall ) Cheap Mall for Mexican’s who live on the boarder… I saw your Art on a Box that said Super Robot Former…LOL…Its a Knock off Of Engeron Optimus Prime… The Art was of Seaspray Supreme… I had to buy it just for that
July 20th, 2010 at 6:58 am
… I like how the plastic the toy is set in actually goes PAST the cardboard back lol.
July 21st, 2010 at 1:33 am
@Jason: hah cool, any chance you have a pic of my art on the package?
July 22nd, 2010 at 10:24 am
Sorry Matt, didn’t think to take any pics of it…was way too busy just enjoying the scene
September 5th, 2010 at 4:12 am
*slowly backs away then runs*
November 30th, 2010 at 9:41 am
haha i love bootleged transformers. always so funny to see in stores. always confuses me as to how they get away with it so often. i mean go to any discount chain anywhere and your guaranteed to find constructicon knockoffs. I actually bought a set of them (and superion) at a walgreens. that site is hilarious btw. its so blatant. i feel sorry for anyone who ever falls for the stuff on that site. really got a kick out of the menasaur combiner team set that has two guys from computron in it.
February 27th, 2011 at 1:31 am
good resource