Knockoff

''Lo, my botlings. Gather around and hear ye well the words of Ro-bor-car, prophet of great Pri-mus. On the first day, so saith Ro-bor-car, of the great formatting, Pri-mus didst speak words and say Arise, my children, and his children did arise, and to the greater part of these he did say Transform ye, and become Transformers. And verily it was so. And to others he said Go, for ye are Go-Bots, and ye suck. And they did go, with great weeping and grinding of gears. And then did Pri-mus see a great multitude, malformed and weak, with colors that were of neon and sickness, and stickers that were misapplied and bad of translation. Then did great Pri-mus weep for these, saying Ye poor creatures of pestilence and despair, ye are the Knockoffs. Away from my other children ye must live, lest ye be destroyed utterly, but take ye my solemn promise: I swear that ye shall never vanish from this world, but dwell forever in discount retailers everywhere, until the days doth fail. Thus saith Ro-bor-car.''

A knockoff is a product similar or identical to a product of one company, but made by another without the authorization of the original maker. In the Transformers fandom, the term is commonly abbreviated KO. The term bootleg is also used by fans as a synonym, though in common use it refers more to recordings than to consumer goods.

Not all transforming robots from makers other than Hasbro, Takaratomy, Bandai, or other major toy makers are knockoffs, but those toys which wholly or partly duplicate pre-existing designs are well-qualified for the term. The term is also applied by fans, however, to some robots whose design was entirely original with the manufacturer, if said manufacturer is commonly associated with knockoffs -- or if this maker's products are often sold in company with knockoffs.

Original design, modified, or slavishly copied, knockoffs are often cheaper than the products of major toymakers. Unfortunately, though they can be quite good at times, the quality of knockoffs is often poor. Bright colors, odd resizings, and quirky modifications are common. The world of knockoffs is a strange land of gigantic chromed swords, Gundam card art, and wacky translated packaging.

The legality of knockoffs is often questioned. Few Transformer mechanical designs are brilliantly original enough to warrant the thorough protection of a patent; they are generally assemblies of well-tried and unpatentable technology. Decorative design patents can be issued; a toy protected by one of these may not be duplicated in appearance until the patent expires (after which all is fair game). Mechanically-identical copies with altered decorations may be quite legal. Names and symbols may also be protected by trademark, preventing their use on similar-looking knockoffs, but again, with enough changes this barrier may be surmounted.

It is safe to assume, therefore, that knockoffs available in stores are quite legally produced and sold, and for those fans who collect them, this is fortunate: they provide a bizarre variety that is (with good reason) not to be found in official products.

So let it be written.