The company that's really losing out here is Big West (on new profits, not existing). If the bootlegs are released 6+ months after the original release, Arcadia are not losing profits unless people neglect the originals in favor of the boots (which I don't think affects us too much, we're pretty loyal...we want Arcadia to keep producing new toys). Also if the quality is crap they will only be customization fodder.
Now if Arcadia decide to produce M&M's in 2 years, yes, this would definitely hurt them in terms of future profits. But at this point it doesn't appear they're going to do that. Arcadia has release the Roy and Hikaru VF-1S's twice in a row now, correct?
I don't know how the Arcadia's production number compare to Yamato's, but the price point on VF-1's is nearly double.
I will buy all. Mandarake is my only option for V2 VF-1's and I'm not spending $300 USD for old toys.
I have a bootleg Buster prime and it's awesome. I got it because Hasbro didn't make the silver-accented prime in the US and both the Hasbro and Takara are too pricey (not like they're losing out on profits those runs are long out of print).