I doubt it. If Disney can have a cake store fined for having an unauthorized painting of mickeymouse on their window I think Pixar could legally take action here all the same.
I honestly think Pixar is totally cool with it though. Ive never heard of Pixar going to such extremes and don’t think they will. Not unless these things were selling like hotcakes and being mass produced.
In My Humble Opinion, I would make a profit from my own original artistic properties instead of using copyrighted characters from a studio I admire. Making money out of selling toys based on Pixar’s characters makes me no different from bootleg DVD pirates or those tacky shirts from China (or other developing countries) with wrong eye and skin-colours for the characters.
It’s fine to make fanwork that you keep for yourself or give/exchange with your friends. You make a Ponies YTP, stick it on Youtube, that’s fine. Free publicity for the studio and its TV show. You draw a Dreamworks fanart, upload it on dA, great, you spread the fandom of J Katz. You write a fanfic about Woody and gang and show it to your friends, nothing wrong with that, they get to see how good/bad a writer you are. You do it for the sheer fun of making it, and out of true passion and love for the studios and their people and their works. You don’t get a dime out of it, but heck, you don’t mind.
But it’s a whole different ballgame when you actually make a business out of it, without paying royalties to the original copyright holders. That is plain plagiarism, whether or not Pixar does anything about it. Just because the police in Elbonia doesn’t arrest you for robbing a bank, doesn’t make it any more a legal or moral act if you committed in USA.
I don’t mean to diss anyone who supports illegal replicas. That is your choice as part of a democracy, although it is technically wrong. But there’s a difference between Copyright Police shutting down Youtube Poops which don’t generate a single cent for their creators, yet ignoring the huge market of cheap Chinese, Vietnamese, American, etc. rip-offs and replicas going on underground.
Anyway, Slink, I’ve forwarded your appeal to the Mods, and we’re having a discussion about the situation. Just to keep you posted. 
I’m honestly not sure of the legality of the issue. The company as far as I know doesn’t sell anything that is copyrighted. I believe since this is a custom job, I’m essentially paying them to paint their own wooden eggs. If I tell them to paint something based on someone else’s work, I’m not sure of the legality of the issue. If they mass produced them and sold them as “toy story eggs” they might run into some issues for sure.
I mean, a member on here sold a painted set on ebay. Is that technically copyright infringment? I honestly don’t know. All I know is, they agreed to it, so I would assume they feel safe in doing so. I was direct saying it was from the movie. And i doubt they’d risk legal ramifications for a $200 custom job.
Lee often tweets funny picture of toy story knock off merchandise, as Kyle said, I doubt they care. I wonder what would happen if I sent Lee Unkrich a set? lol
That’s fine that’s your opinion and your definitely entitled too it. But I disagree about this being the same as “bootleg dvd pirates and tackky rip off shirts” I will try to get some of prototype cost back, but I will not profit of this endeavor at all and I’m hardly making a business out of it. Heck, the company producing them isn’t making a “business” out of it. Like I said, I asked for a custom job and they agreed, its not like advertised for it. I’m having a custom job done, and sharing it with other collectors. Pixar has had nearly 20 years to produce their characters, doesn’t look like troikas (one of many) are happening. Is it really so wrong to want something you can’t make and have someone else make it for you for profit. I don’t download movies, I buy them if I like them…if I didn’t have an option to buy some movie (for whatever reason) then I’d bootleg it, but that would be on the company, because they had the chance to.
^ This.
Well, yeah, essentially you’re the middleman. Or, rather, the ‘transporter’/courier, since you don’t make a profit (or very little of it). It is better to gather up like-minded fans to make a bulk order to enjoy ‘economies of scale’. And yeah, in your case, the company you are procuring it from doesn’t make much of a profit either. I meant the comment in general, not as a specific jibe at you or your supplier. I, personally, hold more respect for a fan-artist who creates his work free-of-charge, shares it on the Internet to spread the word, or as a free commission to a friend, than a fan-artist who creates his work and sells it to another person for money. Well, okay, I suppose the materials cost a fair bit, and the old adage ‘you have to pay yourself’ applies. But there are many fan-artists who do what they do au gratis, with no financial expectation in return. One only has to wander among the ‘Fandom’ board here to see our members who write multi-chapter fanfics, create fan-signatures, draw fanart, and make fandubs just for the sheer joy of it.
But like you said, yeah, it might be fine if it was small-scale personal exchanges. I have seen people who make special requests for birthday cakes using copyrighted characters. The demand volume is too small for it to be a viable merch option for the studio (they wouldn’t get a Woody-themed cake order every week). A few hundred dollars might not hurt Pixar’s margin in the long run (although that still doesn’t absolve it from being a form of plagiarism). And I suppose that since Pixar doesn’t make Troika toys (not to my knowledge), then technically, it is an untapped market/unrealised merch potential. If a DVD was not available, I would obtain bootlegs too. So I suppose if Pixar doesn’t make Troika toys, then really, it’s their loss.
But say, if Pixar (or Disney) produces Toy Story T-shirts, and has them in constant and reliable supply in retail chains, and someone else makes Toy Story T-shirts and sell them on the cheap to a few people for a quick buck, then yeah, he or she is basically ‘piggybacking’ on the copyrighted characters’ fame. If someone makes Toy Story T-shirts, but wears them him/herself, or distributes them free to their friends (much like how a lot of dA folks make fan plushies), then that, in my opinion, is perfectly alright, since they don’t earn a cent and they pay for the cost of every material out of their own pockets.
Again, I’m aware that your situation is very specific, which is why I forwarded your case for appeal. There are scammers like Tyler who prey on unsuspecting fans, and there are those big-time counterfeiters who don’t give Pixar the cut they deserve for using their characters. It would’ve been more generous and ‘noble’ if your supplier simply made the Troika toys simply for the pure enjoyment of being part of the fandom instead of selling it, but since the buyer and seller are willing to make a financial transaction, it sort of diminishes the ‘crime’ somewhat.
Their business is making wooden russian dolls, both of their own designs and customs. Can’t really have anything professionally done these days for free. Sure in an ideal world, that would be great, but sadly we don’t. I also don’t have the personal funds to buy a large amount of them and give them away.
Not saying I disagree that things like cake customizations and this are technically copyright infringement. In this specific case, I feel like I’m paying more for the “custom paint job” rather than a illegal replica.
Similar to the cake analogy. I feel like I’m paying for the service and not the actual product.
While technically not perfectly ethical…I think it’s much different than dvd bootleggers, that was my only point. And quite frankly I’d welcome pixar to release all their characters rather than going to extreme means to obtain them.
^ Exactly. If I were to buy these from you and then Pixar released an official set, I would buy that as well. It’s like, if a song isn’t available on iTunes, or available for purchase at all, then I download it from a site / record it with Audacity. But if it is released, I’ll buy it for sure.
^ In that respect, i agree with both you guys. One of the Mods even mentioned this point in defense of your situation, Slink, that your supplier was filling a gap for other Pixar fans in regards to the Toy Story merchandise that was never created.
Anyway, a few more Mods have chipped in to the discussion (again, feel free to contact any of them regarding your appeal, you don’t have to take my word for it). If we are to approve your trading, we’ll basically have to revise the site rules and set a new precedent. Just FYI, sit tight for now.
haha, cool, I’m kinda of anxious ti hear the verdict lol
See, morally I agree with this. I’m just not so sure that holds up legally speaking. If an artist doesn’t officially release a song that doesn’t give fans permission to take it anyway. That’s not their decision to make.
Yes, I agree with this too…I don’t find it morally wrong, but legally it is. However, there are certain degrees, and if you download, bootleg, whatever, something the artist doesn’t make available, they aren’t trying to profit from it, so you’re not taking anything away from them in my opinion. My whole point is that its way different then say burning a bunch of copies of TS3 and selling them to people (and they just keep that as their copy), they clearly have damages there. I also have a feeling, if the company actually asked pixar “Hey, some toy story fans want us to paint them some eggs to look like your troikas” I’d bet they’d get permission. If they are awesome, I kinda want to send one to Unkrich now lol…just to see what he says.
Pictures, time schedule, cost structure, and debate about the pictures of the first prototype can be found here:
I will post pictures of Prototype 2, when I receive them
just wanted to post a comment with this dog on the back it isnt all one color…
hq55.com/disney/toy2/toystory2-d … m-2005.jpg
Ok so we have the Troika and possibly the Roly Poly Clown Project under way, and I was wondering why not Andy’s toy box? Maybe not this company but a similar project to the troikas? I was thinking about making one myself and having someone paint it but maybe it would be cheaper if we had it set up like the troika project?
Just a thought, THANKS!
Prototype 2 was sent to me…the goldfish was much improved…about as good as I think it can get. The ducks bill was changed to orange…the reddish color is hard to replicate, but I think the orange looks great and way better than the pink.
however, I had issues with the dog, so I dont want to post the pics, I was gone for the last few days, so I think prototype three will be ready in a few days, and I’ll just post those
Anyone who wants to jump on board should do so very soon
slink
Slink, you do know that I will buy the troikas right? I forgot to tell you before but I’m very happy with where this is going!
NEW PROTOTYPE PICS
By bashford_photo at 2011-09-20
By bashford_photo at 2011-09-20
By bashford_photo at 2011-09-20
There will be one more picture to come. Everything seems even better than the first one…let me know if you are interested and still have a major problem with anything
PLEASE PM ME IF YOU ARE FOR SURE INTERESTED AT THIS POINT SO I CAN GET A HEAD COUNT
you an also email me at bashford427@yahoo.com if you are a lurker!!!
Slink
I think they look better than the last pics. The only thing is the goldfishs’ lips don’t look right. Other than that they look great! 
The color scheme of the goldfish will always look a little off. This is because of the massive amount of detail pixar put into the scales. If you zoom in the picture enough, you’ll see that the goldfish’s base color is actually pretty good, its just the scales can’t be hand painted to that level of detail (they are like two seperate colors on the scales, making him look a little darker)
As far as the lips, I think they are much closer than they were, and you can’t expect complete and total perfection as these are hand painted, and we’re all humans. If you look at awesome troikas of the past, like the ones in the youtube video, wampars, emmas, etc. (there have been several great ones that not only deserved praise but got lots of it) and compare that to these you will see these are a lot more crisp and you can notice they were done by professionals (respectfully saying this, not meaning to offend the above artists). So if you consider everything, and you’re interested in having troikas, these are about as good as you can get.
