The Energon Pub

I don't get it,why hasn't takara or hasbro bothered to do re-tooling on the Masterpiece TF toys.

Takara & Hasbro can easily do light,medium or heavy re-tooling on the Masterpiece TF toys,then turn them into newer TF characters.

The re-tooling i'm referring to is newer robot head sculpts,newer beast head sculpts,newer weapons & accessories.
remolded parts on the toys. newer chest piece,

WHY EXACTLY IS BOTH TAKARA & HASBRO CLUELESS OF WHAT THE FANS WANT??? Igear has a clue as they've created the cone head seekers MP TF toys.

Both hasbro & takara claims it takes longer,more money & more toy technology to create these masterpiece TF toys. so wouldn't it make sense to do re-tooling on them to milk the molds for the most cash possible?

Surely the cost of newer re-tooled parts like robot heads,weapons,accessories,re-molded parts is leaps & bounds cheaper. than creating a 100% new mold from scratch.

Examples of re-tooled masterpiece TF toy ideas i've got is as follows: (1) Deathsaurus,using the masterpiece Grimlock toy mold. newer robot head that looks like 1989 deathsaurus. newer beast head that looks like 1989 deathsaurus. remold the dinosaur tail to pop off/on & fold out to form a shield. remold dragon wings on the beast mode to make it look like deathsaurus beast mode. newer weapons could be the 1989 deathsaurus riffle gun with ball & chain weapon. add a minicon port on the robot chest then attach a universe lion beast minicon to the chest. (2)toxitron,give the mp-10 convoy a newer head sculpt. (3)Car robots speedbreaker,using the MP-09 Rodimus convoy toy. give the toy 2 new head sculpts. the leader head sculpt will get a face plate. call the leader version breakimus prime. (4)cone head seekers like what igear did but liscensed takara versions. (5)Over-kill,using the MP Grimlock toy mold. newer robot head sculpt. & newer weapons & accessories. (6)motormaster,using the MP-10 Convoy toy. newer robot head sculpt & newer weapons/accessories.

Is takara/hasbro afraid if they do minor or major re-tooling on their MP TF toys. that the re-tooled versions won't sell?

Personally doing minor or major re-tooling on the MP TF toys. seems like a great way to give fans more TF Characters without the need of doing a 100% new mold MP TF toy.

The answer is the same, time and again.

Hasbro needs to make money, it's a business. In a business it's a smart move to make sure you sell as much as possible in order to make a profit.

MP's are not very profitable, the movies are.

IMHO, you do get it, you just like being a troll.

deathy, stop acting like Gears or Huffer.

Tidalwavex wrote:Examples of re-tooled masterpiece TF toy ideas i've got is as follows: (1) Deathsaurus,using the masterpiece Grimlock toy mold. newer robot head that looks like 1989 deathsaurus. newer beast head that looks like 1989 deathsaurus. remold the dinosaur tail to pop off/on & fold out to form a shield. remold dragon wings on the beast mode to make it look like deathsaurus beast mode. newer weapons could be the 1989 deathsaurus riffle gun with ball & chain weapon. add a minicon port on the robot chest then attach a universe lion beast minicon to the chest. (2)toxitron,give the mp-10 convoy a newer head sculpt. (3)Car robots speedbreaker,using the MP-09 Rodimus convoy toy. give the toy 2 new head sculpts. the leader head sculpt will get a face plate. call the leader version breakimus prime. (4)cone head seekers like what igear did but liscensed takara versions. (5)Over-kill,using the MP Grimlock toy mold. newer robot head sculpt. & newer weapons & accessories. (6)motormaster,using the MP-10 Convoy toy. newer robot head sculpt & newer weapons/accessories.

Here are my opinions on your examples:

1) With so many changes you may as well design a figure from scratch.
2) Not a G1 figure, or even G1 inspired, so not worth MP treatmeant.
3) See 2. Also, Speedbreaker (aka RiD Side Burn) looked nowhere near Rodimus.
4) That one's actually the most plausible one. Maybe with the MP-11 Coronation Starscream mold?
5) Never turned into a robot, not worth it.
6) Sounds a bit iffy, and Motormaster will kill you for such an insult

From what I gather, you're asking for Masterpiece figures of existing repaints, mostly from the TFCC. That's not how the Masterpiece line works! The Masterpiece line started with only Optimus Prime, but large demands made it grow into a tribute line to iconic characters who defined Transformers lore (and those who shared a similar body type for easy repainting ).

Rodimus Prime wrote:IMHO, you do get it, you just like being a troll.

Wow, that's pretty harsh...

Anyways, keeping on topic, I wish Has/Tak would actually do what you're suggesting, Tidalwave. However, MP figures aren't very popular amongst anyone other than collectors. From what I've noticed regarding MP sales, after the collectors have had their fill with the figures, the leftover MP's shelf warm until they're discounted. Even then, they have trouble moving the product.

MP figures tend to do very well in the secondary market. Compare eBay prices of Hasbro released MP figures with what the figures were being sold for at retail...especially when they were discounted. I remember seeing MP Prime at Walmart for 40 bucks and NO ONE wanted him. Now he's ridiculously expensive on eBay. That's been the rule for pretty much every MP figure bar Hasbro Skywarp (whose shelfwarming prowess has yet to be exceeded by any MP figure since). However, I'd bet my left nut that MP Skywarp's price would triple or quadruple if/when Hasbro decides to finally give us an MP Thundercracker.

I see the point, and I'm not going to get into calling anyone a Troll just for having an opinion, but I think it might be better made about Hastak's inability to see the potential for Characters across the whole slew of it's Lines - not Masterpieces.

The MP line is the most expensive and has been said by others probably is the most marginal in terms of profit produced against design and production effort, so Hastak are hardly going to box up 10,000 Toxitrons - a Character I've barely heard of - and try offering that to TRU/Walmart any time soon.

I do wonder about a mold like Special Ops Jazz though, it's probably the greatest deluxe TF ever made, and yet it's only official reuse is for a Japanese exclusive and a Botcon collection......? Really? We can't get a mass-market Ricochet or Camshaft or an Omnibot out of that beauty?

Motorthing wrote:I do wonder about a mold like Special Ops Jazz though, it's probably the greatest deluxe TF ever made, and yet it's only official reuse is for a Japanese exclusive and a Botcon collection......? Really? We can't get a mass-market Ricochet or Camshaft or an Omnibot out of that beauty?

Have faith, brother. Have faith.

I'd like someone to clean my house, give me a back massage and possibly construct an underground lair filled with billions of dollars worth of high-tech toys and gadgets and yet Hasbro hasn't bothered to do this! THEY DON@T KNOWW WAHTT FAANS WAAAAANTTNTNT!

It's really just a giant conspiracy against you deathy, they're out to drive you insane.

That is of course strictly, IMHO.

IMHO

TAKARA OR HASBRO DONT CARE ABOUT ME

THEY ARENT MAKING ENOUGH MY LITTLE PONY TOYS

WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Did I miss a poster? Are you guys calling Tidlewavex "deathy"?

Fistful of Energon wrote:Did I miss a poster? Are you guys calling Tidlewavex "deathy"?

who he used to be.

Blurrz wrote:

Fistful of Energon wrote:Did I miss a poster? Are you guys calling Tidlewavex "deathy"?

who he used to be.

Ahhhh, I knew I remembered that name. Even did a search through our members section but it turned out nothing. Thanks for making me feel a little less crazy

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Tidalwavex wrote:Examples of re-tooled masterpiece TF toy ideas i've got is as follows: (1) Deathsaurus,using the masterpiece Grimlock toy mold. newer robot head that looks like 1989 deathsaurus. newer beast head that looks like 1989 deathsaurus. remold the dinosaur tail to pop off/on & fold out to form a shield. remold dragon wings on the beast mode to make it look like deathsaurus beast mode. newer weapons could be the 1989 deathsaurus riffle gun with ball & chain weapon. add a minicon port on the robot chest then attach a universe lion beast minicon to the chest. (2)toxitron,give the mp-10 convoy a newer head sculpt. (3)Car robots speedbreaker,using the MP-09 Rodimus convoy toy. give the toy 2 new head sculpts. the leader head sculpt will get a face plate. call the leader version breakimus prime. (4)cone head seekers like what igear did but liscensed takara versions. (5)Over-kill,using the MP Grimlock toy mold. newer robot head sculpt. & newer weapons & accessories. (6)motormaster,using the MP-10 Convoy toy. newer robot head sculpt & newer weapons/accessories.

Here are my opinions on your examples:

1) With so many changes you may as well design a figure from scratch.
2) Not a G1 figure, or even G1 inspired, so not worth MP treatmeant.
3) See 2. Also, Speedbreaker (aka RiD Side Burn) looked nowhere near Rodimus.
4) That one's actually the most plausible one. Maybe with the MP-11 Coronation Starscream mold?
5) Never turned into a robot, not worth it.
6) Sounds a bit iffy, and Motormaster will kill you for such an insult

From what I gather, you're asking for Masterpiece figures of existing repaints, mostly from the TFCC. That's not how the Masterpiece line works! The Masterpiece line started with only Optimus Prime, but large demands made it grow into a tribute line to iconic characters who defined Transformers lore (and those who shared a similar body type for easy repainting ).

1-I never said you had to apply all the changes,A simple new head sculpt is a example of a minor remold.

I only suggested the major retool for deathsarus. in order to make that MP version look as awesome as possible.

2 & 3,I said Car robots speedbreaker using the MP-09 Rodimus convoy mold. because the TFCC club used the classics 1.0 Rodimus deluxe toy for sideburn/speedbreaker.

Speedbreaker some consider the CR/Rid alternate universe G-1 version of Hotrod.

5- Hasbro did a Universe recolor called Over-kill using the classics 1.0 deluxe grimlock toy mold. that's why i said overkill should use the MP Grimlock toy mold.

6- to hasbro all truck/bots are the same & get similar modes during recolors. so motormaster is a perfect fit for this MP-10 convoy mold. with a new head sculpt.

I gathered that, but Masterpiece is mostly TakaraTomy territory, and they don't really pay attention to what the TFCC does. If anything, we only got G2 Movie Dreadwing and Smokescreen because of G2: Redux of 2010. Nothing more.

Also, should they resort to retools you mentioned, the fans will go mad in a bad way, claiming it's cheap and they'd look absolutely nothing like the original thing. Basically, it would go against everything the Masterpiece line stands for.

Fistful of Energon wrote:

Blurrz wrote:

Fistful of Energon wrote:Did I miss a poster? Are you guys calling Tidlewavex "deathy"?

who he used to be.

Ahhhh, I knew I remembered that name. Even did a search through our members section but it turned out nothing. Thanks for making me feel a little less crazy

He changed it cause robofreak was stalking him.

Burn wrote:

Fistful of Energon wrote:

Blurrz wrote:

Fistful of Energon wrote:Did I miss a poster? Are you guys calling Tidlewavex "deathy"?

who he used to be.

Ahhhh, I knew I remembered that name. Even did a search through our members section but it turned out nothing. Thanks for making me feel a little less crazy

He changed it cause robofreak was stalking him.

Wait, how did I get thrown in here?

robofreak wrote:

Burn wrote:

Fistful of Energon wrote:

Blurrz wrote:

Fistful of Energon wrote:Did I miss a poster? Are you guys calling Tidlewavex "deathy"?

who he used to be.

Ahhhh, I knew I remembered that name. Even did a search through our members section but it turned out nothing. Thanks for making me feel a little less crazy

He changed it cause robofreak was stalking him.

Wait, how did I get thrown in here?

IMHO? You know why.

Why robofreak............you naughty dog you............

Anyway, to add further injury and fuel to the fire. MP is expensive! To recoup the cost, you design someone who is sure to sell. I think re-tooling MP figs for obscure characters is very risky. If Tomy does a MP Motormaster, why not a new fresh design taking nods to the G1 fig? A non separable trailer but in a more proportional 'bot mode?

Or better yet, THS-02 in a deluxe scale? And call it MP (heck, people will still buy it. And as JZGR stated, the latest MP Starscream is a re-tool right?

Now if the thread was stated who you would like to get the MP treatment:

1.Jetfire
2.Elita-1
3.All the other G1 dinobots

fenrir72 wrote::lol:

Why robofreak............you naughty dog you............

Anyway, to add further injury and fuel to the fire. MP is expensive! To recoup the cost, you design someone who is sure to sell. I think re-tooling MP figs for obscure characters is very risky. If Tomy does a MP Motormaster, why not a new fresh design taking nods to the G1 fig? A non separable trailer but in a more proportional 'bot mode?

Or better yet, THS-02 in a deluxe scale? And call it MP (heck, people will still buy it. And as JZGR stated, the latest MP Starscream is a re-tool right?

Now if the thread was stated who you would like to get the MP treatment:

1.Jetfire
2.Elita-1
3.All the other G1 dinobots

1- In my honest opinion Jetfire already got a few masterpiece TF toys. Toynami & macross clearly did MP toys based off the Robotech Skull leader/1985 Jetfire toy design------>IMHO JUST CONSIDER THESE 3RD PARTY MP Jetfire TF TOYS MADE BY ANOTHER COMPANY NOT NAMED TAKARA/TOMY/HASBRO.

Regarding why I changed my user name here in November 2011 to Tidalwavex. I changed my user name to throw my internet stalker off my trail & confuse him. but since he's a internet stalker,he figured out my name change quickly. I never officially created a Deathy user name on the seibertron.com forums/message boards.

Robofreak,is not my internet stalker. like some joked about in this thread.

BTW,My previous name here on the seibertron.com forums was Tigermegatron,not deathy. I never officially created a Deathy user name on the seibertron.com forums/message boards. Deathy is the name I'm known as elsewhere on alt.toys.transformers, it's a old obsolete google usenet message board,I left months ago. due to google/usenet being super easy to hack members accounts. thanks in part due to google/usenet not caring about it's members & not updatting the software to make it harder for hackers to hack accounts.

I agree with many of the previous posters: MP line is too expensive for the average folk to keep releasing new figures, and doing simple retools and repaints won't work as well as you think it may.

Even though the MP line is directed at collectors, in the US it's being sold in the same isle as "children's toys". Sure, you or I and several members of these forums would want to buy such items, but I don't think it's a good business plan for Hasbro/Takara as children have no real basis/background to getting these figures, and they aren't going to ask their parents for a "Motormaster".

I'm a proud owner of iGear's Conehead/Seeker line, but it works for them because they aren't selling a mass-produced figure line. OTFCC figures are popular (when done right) because these redecos/repaints are geared towards fans/collectors, those who spend more time thinking about TFs than just casually watching the show or seeing a movie. We know TF history, we do research, and some of us (but not me) even customize existing figures just to get an appreciable representative of what we want.

I think Takara is your only true, official source for getting any movement on the MP line, as they are used to dealing with exclusive releases without having to resort to clearance prices. It probably helps the business model that the figures are getting imported all over the world, which should help them sell through stock.

Yup, MPs are just too expensive to do obscure repaints & retools. Of the OP's list of suggestions, the only ones I'd really consider getting are the coneheads. And with being such a small and limited line (not to mention how much space MPs take up) there's just not much point in buying some minor character repaint/retool.

@ deathy

If you like to consider the "Macross" Skull Leader analog to Jetfire, I do own the 1/60 Yamato DYRL edition + the augmentation armor. Looks totally awesome! And you got it in reverse, it was Robotech that got or Americanized the design/back story from Macross.

And the Toynami masterpiece isn't even fit to hold the boot strings of the Yamato releases
(Though the Yamato releases are kind of a bit fragile, putting it as an understatement). I can say it in a straight face because I previously owned the POS that was Toynami. I mean, his double barrel bilateral particle beam canons were bent? WTF? And the battery light up visor gimmick sucked!

But an honest to goodness MP-Jetfire which I'm sure a lot of you will buy is the Floro Dery style release (complete with removable upgrade HUD helmet style face plate.........only better implemented than that of henkei).

fenrir72 wrote:@ deathy

If you like to consider the "Macross" Skull Leader analog to Jetfire, I do own the 1/60 Yamato DYRL edition + the augmentation armor. Looks totally awesome! And you got it in reverse, it was Robotech that got or Americanized the design/back story from Macross.

And the Toynami masterpiece isn't even fit to hold the boot strings of the Yamato releases
(Though the Yamato releases are kind of a bit fragile, putting it as an understatement). I can say it in a straight face because I previously owned the POS that was Toynami. I mean, his double barrel bilateral particle beam canons were bent? WTF? And the battery light up visor gimmick sucked!

But an honest to goodness MP-Jetfire which I'm sure a lot of you will buy is the Floro Dery style release (complete with removable upgrade HUD helmet style face plate.........only better implemented than that of henkei).

I own both the Toynami & Yamato Macross versions of MP Skull leader/Jetfire.

I will agree that the macross version is more superior but more exspensive. I paid over $150 for mine. I got this after I bought the toynmami version. the reason I got the yamato macross version is because it had splitting out to the sides hip/leg joints/poseability.

The toynami version while being the inferior version. isn't that bad because I only paid $45 for it. It came in two sizes,12 inch & 9 inch. I got the smaller 9 inch size. I got the 9 inch size because I read some only reviews,that the 9 inch skull leader had more poseabilty in the shoulder/elbow joints.