FracturedKoi wrote:Good evening, friends! It's been far too long and I apologize for my absence from the forums. Facebook has just made connecting so much easier that I've neglected any presence on here, forgive me. It's okay though, because MP-36 just came out and I thought what a better way to come back to the forums than to shoot another set of comparison images.
I will admit that while I love the animation accurate look of his robot mode I honestly do not like his gun mode at all. Instead of seeking a license and reproducing a Walther P-38, they chose (possibly wisely?) to instead model his gun mode after his cartoon appearance. Now, I can understand why they'd do this. Less fees for licensing, slightly fewer headaches with firearm realism and the legal ramifications thereof, and perhaps even a little bit more creative freedom. In my mind, though, his alt-mode just suffers for it. Both his G1 iteration and the first MP version have a much more accurate gun mode.
But enough of that, on with the images. Following each image, I'll try to comment as to what I'm attempting to compare.
Notice the size difference. While nowhere near as oversized as his first MP release, 36 is still far oversized.
Another angle showing size differences. The plate on top of the gun (which contains the firing pin and safety mechanism) is much thicker. The only reason I can see for this is to allow for how they're attaching Megatron's scope (which is STILL a horrible idea and now it's even less feasible than it was on the G1 toy. That toy has a black bracket which is supposed to imply that it's attached to the frame and goes around the slide to prevent it from moving with the slide.) Interestingly enough, the sights on 36 are identical to those found on a Walther...but more on that later.
Detail showing the grips. 36 still uses the WWII Bakelite grips and keeps many of the details spot on. Notice the safety is switched on for both guns. I've seen so many images of 36's safety flipped way out of alignment and it's bugged me to no end. Glad to know it does go where intended. The screw detail is still present on 36 as is the details for the takedown lever (out of frame) and slide lock (horizontal lever above trigger). Things really start to fall apart with the grips, though, as Takara has zero detail at the bottom for any sort of magazine functionality; they replaced it with the cartoon accurate bracket...thing. Ung. They also have no detail for the lanyard strap either.
Side-by-side profile showing frame and grip details, safety now moved to fire position. Here you can clearly see the takedown lever (front of frame, close to Megatron's head). Of note, while G1 had "serial numbers" and even one of Walther's proof marks "stamped" on it, 36 has no such details anywhere. There isn't one place where a proof mark, serial number, or even the Walther banner were put on the toy. This isn't a Walther but it's mimicking one closely. Many of the gun details are so broken up by panels that it's difficult to tell what you're looking at. The takedown lever, for example, is split in half and has a pin running right through it on the toy.
Here's a pretty awesome detail, though: the front sights are dovetailed into position (well, not really, but kudos for the sculpting!)
More awesome detail work replicating the extractor. This little bar inlaid into the top of the slide grabs the casing of the spend round and flings it out and to the left of the shooter! On the toy, it too is split by seams and in two places no less! It's difficult to make a gun transform.
Sight picture on 36 is hindered greatly by the scope mount. However, by flipping that mounting point out 90 degrees, you're able to get a clear sight picture.
Now, with the sight mount twisted to the side, you actually get a clear sight picture. Blam! Take that Lego castle! (I just noticed that some of these images aren't straight...sorry about that.)
Here's another great detail, that small plate you see on the real gun rides against the frame. That's your trigger mechanism and they replicated it on the toy! Awesome?
From the rear with the hammer's cocked. Aside from 36 being horribly too thick, there's also nothing for his hammer to actually strike. The firing pin is that metallic circle you see on the actual firearm. The small circle above it is the loaded-chamber indicator. If a round is chambered, a small rod protrudes through that to let you know that yes, it is indeed ready to be fired.
A Walther P-38 (or a P1, which is what I have) is chambered in 9mm. The barrel will nearly fit inside the toy's barrel! A 9mm would fall through that barrel like a penny through a well. I haven't measured the inside diameter of the toy's barrel to try and figure out what caliber it is.
One last detail image: they've outlined the shape of the barrel as it's inserted into the slide. As the gun functions, the slide will, well...slide around the barrel, kinda like this:
Shown is the slide locked back as it would be on an empty magazine.
I hope you guys have enjoyed this brief look at 36 and how he compares to a real firearm. He really does try, but that cartoon detailing just gets in his way from nailing it 100%. Whatever the case, this figure truly is a masterpiece. Thanks for your time, guys and gals, and have a great night!
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