Can't say I'm too surprised. Did you see the Giant Rainbow Dash auction?
To be fair, the amount of time that goes into these is enormous. Even though the prices seem super high, often, once you've divided by the time the artist has spent (pattern drawing, testing, sewing, embroidering), you're approaching minimum wage.
Just curious, is this legal? For the awesome Ebay plushie, is the creator/seller paying royalties to Hasbro, or is there some kind of creative commons thing going on? (Sorry if this has already been addressed earlier in the thread)
Strictly speaking, no. It's similar to selling stickers at a convention artist alley. It's not legal but no one cares. It's impractical for anyone to make real money so Hasbro will turn a blind eye as long as it doesn't damage the brand in some way. There's been lots of pony fan art selling action and Hasbro hasn't given any indication of caring yet.
How much would it cost for us to make a sweatshop?
And we don't have to just make plushies, there's also the woodcraft, papercraft, and the figurines which keep appearing. The fandom is still in boom, may as well keep up with this stuff.
That tears it, I'm going to start making MLP stuff.
Stained glass profiles would sell very well (think suncatchers). So would cutie mark pins/badges.
I used to make stained glass stuff at the school craft center where I worked. I could go drop by again... They've also got super duper cheap button making supplies. Plus I could make ceramic/clay ponies and glaze them.
Yeah but even at $1 you'll sell 640 of them in an hour or two.
But it's still a one-time thing. You make it, a thousand bronies buy it, then you're done. It's not a perennial product that you can sell forever. The long tail will be quite short.
Just curious, is this legal? For the awesome Ebay plushie, is the creator/seller paying royalties to Hasbro, or is there some kind of creative commons thing going on? (Sorry if this has already been addressed earlier in the thread)
Strictly speaking, no. It's similar to selling stickers at a convention artist alley. It's not legal but no one cares. It's impractical for anyone to make real money so Hasbro will turn a blind eye as long as it doesn't damage the brand in some way. There's been lots of pony fan art selling action and Hasbro hasn't given any indication of caring yet.
Well, it's not a crime. Hasbro has the intellectual property rights to the characters and their images. Those rights would allow them to exclude others from using the characters if they so chose. In other words, Hasbro can sue you for using their property without a license, but the police are not going to come arrest you for it.
They usually only get involved when someone starts competing with products the company sells.
I will investigate. Not sure how easily I can do this, but I know people.
But it's still a one-time thing. You make it, a thousand bronies buy it, then you're done. It's not a perennial product that you can sell forever. The long tail will be quite short.
That's the thing, really - If you're making this kinda merch, the long tail is pretty thin. Made-to-order like I do is ideal for this type of business model, simply because I never have overstock, if nobody's buying them, I'm not wasting money making them.
Just curious, is this legal? For the awesome Ebay plushie, is the creator/seller paying royalties to Hasbro, or is there some kind of creative commons thing going on? (Sorry if this has already been addressed earlier in the thread)
Strictly speaking, no. It's similar to selling stickers at a convention artist alley. It's not legal but no one cares. It's impractical for anyone to make real money so Hasbro will turn a blind eye as long as it doesn't damage the brand in some way. There's been lots of pony fan art selling action and Hasbro hasn't given any indication of caring yet.
Well, it's not a crime. Hasbro has the intellectual property rights to the characters and their images. Those rights would allow them to exclude others from using the characters if they so chose. In other words, Hasbro can sue you for using their property without a license, but the police are not going to come arrest you for it.
They usually only get involved when someone starts competing with products the company sells.
Hmm... so how safe do you think it would be to open an online store? (As opposed to selling unique one-time items on Ebay). I would think that if you were producing items and selling them at some kind of rate and get popular, they'd notice. I'm just curious, and super paranoid about getting sued in general. I have no interest in getting rich off of ponies, but I see there is obviously a demand for certain kinds of pony items and Hasbro is sucking at that. It would be fun to make crafty stuff and sell it and know you made a brony somewhere happy. ^-^
Hmm... so how safe do you think it would be to open an online store? (As opposed to selling unique one-time items on Ebay). I would think that if you were producing items and selling them at some kind of rate and get popular, they'd notice. I'm just curious, and super paranoid about getting sued in general. I have no interest in getting rich off of ponies, but I see there is obviously a demand for certain kinds of pony items and Hasbro is sucking at that. It would be fun to make crafty stuff and sell it and know you made a brony somewhere happy. ^-^
Personal preference here, not legal advice: If you're gonna do it, stick to small batches and custom orders. That way you're not completely fucked if you get a C&D.; You don't want to invest a lot in something like that without a license from the property owner. They are completely within their rights to tell you to stop if they want to.
Just curious, is this legal? For the awesome Ebay plushie, is the creator/seller paying royalties to Hasbro, or is there some kind of creative commons thing going on? (Sorry if this has already been addressed earlier in the thread)
Strictly speaking, no. It's similar to selling stickers at a convention artist alley. It's not legal but no one cares. It's impractical for anyone to make real money so Hasbro will turn a blind eye as long as it doesn't damage the brand in some way. There's been lots of pony fan art selling action and Hasbro hasn't given any indication of caring yet.
Well, it's not a crime. Hasbro has the intellectual property rights to the characters and their images. Those rights would allow them to exclude others from using the characters if they so chose. In other words, Hasbro can sue you for using their property without a license, but the police are not going to come arrest you for it.
They usually only get involved when someone starts competing with products the company sells.
Hmm... so how safe do you think it would be to open an online store? (As opposed to selling unique one-time items on Ebay). I would think that if you were producing items and selling them at some kind of rate and get popular, they'd notice. I'm just curious, and super paranoid about getting sued in general. I have no interest in getting rich off of ponies, but I see there is obviously a demand for certain kinds of pony items and Hasbro is sucking at that. It would be fun to make crafty stuff and sell it and know you made a brony somewhere happy. ^-^
well there's two possibilities really if they notice: 1. They notice because you've become more profitable than their licensed sales. They may send you a cease and desist order and threaten legal action, or just demand you pony up for a license. 2. They notice because you're turning a fair profit, and offer a license as long as you send royalties for everything you sell. worst case scenario, your profit margin is bit into, but they're not really getting on you as bad.
Hmm. Maybe I will just experiment on some pony craft ideas and give them out to forum members who want them. I really want to try making ceramic ponies! ^-^
Does anyone have ideas on how to get Hasbro's attention? The aforementioned plushmaker expressed interest at selling the pattern to Hasbro and aw yeah I would like that to happen. But given their lack of response to "why u make Celestia pink??", maybe it's hopeless.
Does anyone have ideas on how to get Hasbro's attention? The aforementioned plushmaker expressed interest at selling the pattern to Hasbro and aw yeah I would like that to happen. But given their lack of response to "why u make Celestia pink??", maybe it's hopeless.
Hopeless.
Also, even if Hasbro had the pattern, they couldn't turn it into a product. The pattern is only good for making it by hand. To have machines mass produce it in a factory requires a completely different effort.
However, they could just sell the pattern directly as a craft kit in craft stores.
Yeah, I wondered about that. It'd mean new/modified machinery and while I'd say the potential profit would be well worth it, it's not my call to make, obviously. :C I've seen high quality plush of similar make mass produced for reasonable prices before but...not by Hasbro.
On the bright side, the artist said something about making another (simpler?) pattern freely available on the internet hopefully before Christmas for people to try their hand at making their own ponies. Something to look forward to.
I'm going to be busy. PSATs in the morning (everyone else in the country took it today, but BLS makes you take it at 8 on a saturday) then Ponies, then Alpocalypse tour. FUN!
I will probably have to watch it on Sunday. Saturday is going to be filled with helping my friends move followed by a birthday party that might go all night.
Just how much is the pony scene growing in the anime cons you guys have over there? There must be at least one pony panel for every con now or something
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To be fair, the amount of time that goes into these is enormous. Even though the prices seem super high, often, once you've divided by the time the artist has spent (pattern drawing, testing, sewing, embroidering), you're approaching minimum wage. Strictly speaking, no. It's similar to selling stickers at a convention artist alley. It's not legal but no one cares. It's impractical for anyone to make real money so Hasbro will turn a blind eye as long as it doesn't damage the brand in some way. There's been lots of pony fan art selling action and Hasbro hasn't given any indication of caring yet.
And we don't have to just make plushies, there's also the woodcraft, papercraft, and the figurines which keep appearing. The fandom is still in boom, may as well keep up with this stuff.
Okay I'm getting really excited now o___o
They usually only get involved when someone starts competing with products the company sells.
1. They notice because you've become more profitable than their licensed sales. They may send you a cease and desist order and threaten legal action, or just demand you pony up for a license.
2. They notice because you're turning a fair profit, and offer a license as long as you send royalties for everything you sell. worst case scenario, your profit margin is bit into, but they're not really getting on you as bad.
Also, even if Hasbro had the pattern, they couldn't turn it into a product. The pattern is only good for making it by hand. To have machines mass produce it in a factory requires a completely different effort.
However, they could just sell the pattern directly as a craft kit in craft stores.
On the bright side, the artist said something about making another (simpler?) pattern freely available on the internet hopefully before Christmas for people to try their hand at making their own ponies. Something to look forward to.
Not really my "type", to be honest. But at least she knows that she's not the only MLP fan on campus anymore.