Rebor: 1/35 Scale Ankylosaurus magniventris "War Pig"

[tanystropheus]

Rebor has potential, undoubtedly, but so far the models that show it are often inferior to Papo in my opinion, for example the Ceratosaurus. Or, when on par like with the Acrocanthosaurus, Papo wins cause it's cheaper. For me Rebor can do its best with movie inspired figures, their raptors are definitely the best you can find on the market at the moment, if you are a JP fan. This Ankylosaurus looks great, as I said might turn out even better than Papo's, but certainly will be much more pricey. And one of the factors that bring up the cost, the multiple articulations, does not appeal to me. So I kinda wish Rebor could specialize in movie monsters once and for all.

REBOR could increase their appeal and overall market reach if they were to focus on obscure dinosaur species. or dragons. or cryptids.

[tanystropheus]

What I wish that Rebor do is to STOP announcing future products and have a freaking organized schedule release. Of all the prototypes they have shown, how many of them have been released?? NONE. Why? Because suddenly, something completely new is announced and released instead of all the good stuff that they have promised. Sometimes a year passes and  a lot of products haven't been released because another thing that was clearly conceptualized and created after the announcement of other figures is released instead. Announce a product AND RELEASE IT. ANNOUNCE A PRODUCT, AND RELEASE IT. EVERY COMPANY DOES THAT. IT IS NOT THAT DIFFICULT REBOR.

They want to do whatever they want with their dinosaurs? Ok
They want to go with the awesomebro way? Ok
They want to do crazy and weird stuff? Ok

BUT DO IT IN AN ORGANIZED AND STRUCTURED WAY.

Unfortunately, PNSO and Vitae appear to be following the same formula.

[Reptilia]

I think that's because those are pretty small businesses, nothing to compare with the major companies which we are more familiar with. Majors do have annual schedule, while in Rebor's case (or PNSO, or Vitae) it's more like releasing one thing at a time and see how it goes. But still Rebor is very messy in their communication and social media managing, hence the confusion.

[Shonisaurus]

I understand that Rebor sells prehistoric animals very often from time to time, due to the budget. It must be a small Rebor company, it depends a lot on your personal budget and on the online stores with which you contract the commercialization of your products. If it were not like that, it would market more different figures in different ways.

We must bear in mind that Rebor is a very young company in the market as many others in the sector and it is not a big or big company like others. It must be an almost family company. I believe that is the reason.

[Reptilia]

Here's an exchange of views just under the Ankylosaurus pictures on Rebor's Facebook:

Matthew Scott-Kennedy So I'm guessing this is Ankylosaurus "in name only". Looks more like an Ankylosaurus head on a Scolosaurus body. At least the new Safari Ltd Ankylosaurus is so much better, and more accurate than this mess

REBOR Yes Safari Ankylosaurus looks beautiful and accurate, hey that's great isn't it? Fans of accurate models got theirs and we awesomebros got ours and everybody is happy

Matthew Scott-Kennedy REBOR well at least u acknowledge that your company is just an awesomebro fanboy. Hopefully soon you'll wake up and make better creatures than this

And then we wonder why Rebor keep on trolling people via their social media?

[Jose S.M.]

Well I think this time they actually gave a good answer.

[tyrantqueen]

Just a thought- why can't a figure be cool and accurate? I think David Silva's stuff is a good example of this. The only Rebor figure I've ever liked was the Acrocanthosaurus. They shouldn't even be using the Jurassic Park designs, they don't have a license for them. But I digress.

It is true that some people go onto Rebor's FB to troll them. I don't think that behaviour is acceptable either. Both sides need to stop.

(P.S I'm not using the term "awesomebro", it's so cringey)

[Reptilia]

They shouldn't even be using the Jurassic Park designs, they don't have a license for them.

That's another thing that at this point should be quite clear: the JP creatures design is not copyrighted, the thing that is under copyright is the JP logo, so they don't need any license to make Velociraptors that looks exactly like those in the movies.

Of course you can make figures that are cool and accurate, but is something that Rebor overtly expressed not to be interested to do, at least at the moment. What this guy does, and lots other do, is simply going on a company's official channel and make pointless "accuracy elitist" statements, as if said company should actually listen to people's demand instead of following their own business plans. If they do what they do must be because there's a market for such products. So yeah, those complaints are totally pointless and merely provocative, in my opinion.

[tyrantqueen]

They shouldn't even be using the Jurassic Park designs, they don't have a license for them.

That's another thing that at this point should be quite clear: the JP creatures design is not copyrighted, the thing that is under copyright is the JP logo, so they don't need any license to make Velociraptors that looks exactly like those in the movies.

Initially I would be inclined to agree. It isn't an easy thing to enforce and might not be worth the trouble. But I have doubts as to whether it's that simple.

In the Transformers fan community, there are many Chinese companies copying designs of official characters. They sell them under a made up name, and do not market them as "Transformers" but the designs are pretty much identical to Hasbro's designs. They are high quality and can go for hundreds of dollars a pop, not what you would expect from a Chinese bootleg. IP theft is rampant in this community, even though they do not use official names it is obvious who the characters are supposed to be.

Let me give you an example. These are dinobots (excluding Grimlock) created by a 3rd party company, Fanstoys. They use made up names for the characters, but it's pretty obvious who they are supposed to be. A set like this will set you back about $600 or so. They're very high quality, with diecast and chrome paint. Isn't this IP theft?



They only reason Hasbro doesn't shut them down is because they're Chinese companies. Even then, Hasbro has been known to go through retailers and block the sale of certain figures if they feel they are too similar to an existing toy. A example of this was Kapow toys being asked not to sell an add on piece for their 3rd party Grimlock because it was too similar to the Takara MP Grimlock.

As far as I know, Rebor are located in London. Perhaps Hasbro simply isn't aware of their IP infringement yet.

Just some food for thought I'm not an expert on copyright so if you can correct me, I am open to that.

[Reptilia]

I doubt that Universal, or whoever owns the rights to Jurassic Park, isn't aware of what Rebor does. As much as they were certainly aware of what Papo were doing in their early days with their many JP style figures. Rest assured that had there been copyright infringement they would have taken legal action immediately.

I'm not a copyright expert myself, but I think there's an obvious difference between counterfeits made in China and a legitimate line of figures like Rebor's. Rebor is not stealing the design of a product like the Transformers of your example, they are not replicating figures that were done by Kenner or Hasbro or whatever else brand with the JP license, they are doing their own sculpts taking the design of some movie characters. And as long as they don't sell them under the JP tag I guess they are not breaking any law.

It's been talked countless times already, but I always fall into such argument cause I find hilarious that people keep on bringing up that copyright infringement thing when Rebor's business is discussed. Sounds like an excuse to reinforce the totally unjustified complaints regarding their marketing and artistic choices.

Nothing personal with you TQ, I don't think what you said was anything negative or malicious, I have in mind people that continuously attack Rebor on Facebook with the same arguments again and again, every time they release a new figure that doesn't match those people's taste and expectations.

Also, sorry for the verbose OT, this is the Ankylosaurus "War Pig" thread after all.

[stargatedalek]

Universal already tried to go after Papo and lost. It essentially boiled down to "The court system will never hire a paleontology consultant so all dinosaur designs are legally treated the same as modern animals and the assumption is that every single one is true to life and therefore can't be copyrighted".

I personally don't take issue with what REBOR or Papo do in regards to JP copies (nor for the record, do I take issue with most of the unofficial Transformers [note unofficial =/= bootleg]), but it's important that we do acknowledge all of these for what they are.

My issues with REBOR's marketing are in regards to how needlessly aggressive and insulting they are, and how frequently they outright lie.

[Shonisaurus]

I give you the Stargatedalek reason on the bad example of Rebor in that they are aggressive and insulting but we must sincerely distinguish the members of the company from their products.

Although I am a supporter of more scientific figures do not stop having the figures Rebor their art and we must sincerely forgive that defect that members of Rebor have in relation to their character and take into account their creations.

I honestly because they say a word higher than another will not change my position to buy their figures as long as they are well done. The figures of Rebor have good texture, magnificent colors but as defects it is that they are too articulated and some have factory defects like velociraptor Pete in what refers to his jaw articulated by what members of the forum comment (something that has not happened to me) but for example I can say that other figures are out their arms although it is not the post topic.

Honestly I like those ankylosaurus and because they are unpleasant some members of the company Rebor is not going to be an impediment to buy their figures.

[Reptilia]

we must sincerely distinguish the members of the company from their products.

This is probably the wisest thing about Rebor I've ever read on this forum.

[Simon]

we must sincerely distinguish the members of the company from their products.

This is probably the wisest thing about Rebor I've ever read on this forum.

Unfortunately, that advice is a little bit too late for some of us who were inadvertently caught up in their 2014 shenanigans here on the pages of the DTF ...      ... the "bad taste" that experience left in our mouths is just too strong ... 

[tanystropheus]

Well, I think REBOR is awesome 

[Ceratosaurus]

Here's an exchange of views just under the Ankylosaurus pictures on Rebor's Facebook:

Matthew Scott-Kennedy So I'm guessing this is Ankylosaurus "in name only". Looks more like an Ankylosaurus head on a Scolosaurus body. At least the new Safari Ltd Ankylosaurus is so much better, and more accurate than this mess

REBOR Yes Safari Ankylosaurus looks beautiful and accurate, hey that's great isn't it? Fans of accurate models got theirs and we awesomebros got ours and everybody is happy

Matthew Scott-Kennedy REBOR well at least u acknowledge that your company is just an awesomebro fanboy. Hopefully soon you'll wake up and make better creatures than this

And then we wonder why Rebor keep on trolling people via their social media?

Matthew Scott-Kennedy, or as he is known on his YouTube channel as "Matthew The Dinosaur King", at one time was singing the praises of the first few REBOR products. He, like many, purchased early versions of some of their products which had quality control issues. I'm guessing he had a not so good experience with their customer service. Ever since he's had a hate on for REBOR and tends to pick apart anything they put out these days and I'm guessing his opinion wouldn't be positive no matter what they do in the future.

[Reptilia]

Posting such comments makes him sound like a spoiled child. Just my two cents.

[Ceratosaurus]

I subscribe to his YouTube channel and enjoy most of his reviews. That being said he does tend to make similar comments from time to time. I've even asked him if he could explain his dislike for REBOR and he said he may do it in a future video.

[Jose S.M.]

I think his dislike for Rebor comes from their customer service and more specifically an argument between them and a friend of his on Facebook, basically similar to why some people don't like them on here. Having seen his reviews I'm sure he's  a person that puts accuracy first, like myself, but I agree that he should know by now what to expect from Rebor and that's no use in arguing with them like he did in that exchange posted.
Personally none of their products interest me and I feel pressing them for accuracy is worthless, they will do an accurate figure when they want to, that's how the work mostly, doing what they feel like doing.

[Shonisaurus]

Sincerely Rebor makes very good figures, based on Jurassic Park. I understand that we must respect his philosophy and his way of making figures. We should not get complicated with arguments from the past.

I know many members of the forum are rightly hurt by the statements of members of that company, but we should sincerely forgive their words. Forgiveness liberates a person. Let's look at what we like and otherwise in this forum everyone is free to criticize the paleoartistic work of Rebor within the rules of the forum, we should not make a world of something that happened three or four years ago. As a saying goes "past water does not move mills".