In IQ, this has never required a ruling in the first place – there’s always been a rule that explicitly allows using third-party rubber bands in legal sizes. That rule is not present in the new IQ manual, thus I definitely think a Q&A is warranted to determine if the same rubber bands purchased from non-VEX sources are legal for use. More discussion of that here:
In VRC, we have a variation on the same problem – notwithstanding questions about whether different rubber band materials are OK (that question has gotten different answers in different previous seasons’ Q&As), using identical rubber bands hasn’t needed a Q&A ruling, it’s always been OK under R6d, the “identical to VEX parts” clause. Again, that rule is missing from version 0.1 of the Tipping Point manual, so it makes sense to get a ruling on the Q&A as to whether (a) that omission was intentional, and (b) if it was, if purchasing the same parts from non-VEX retailers is OK.
I definitely agree that those questions have clear common-sense answers – I can’t see a performance/equity reason why teams shouldn’t be allowed to purchase the same rubber bands from Amazon, or the same pneumatics from SMC – but given that in both IQ and VRC the long-standing rules that explicitly legalized these things are no longer present, I think getting some clarification from the Q&A is warranted.