The Energon Pub

I'm not going to downplay the significance of a possible G1 Bumblebee MP...however, if VW won't allow the vehicle mode to be used I don't want it. The 08 movie BB is a very good alternative...the amount of detailing that could be done on it is considerable...and I do like to possibility of a squirt-gun crotch.. Like I said, none of the transforming BB figures ever came close to being movie accurate and I would like to see one, if just for that badass alt mode.

That's 3 buys for me since I'm getting doubles of the seekers.
With them in Bot and Alt modes they look badass!

Whoo man!

looking fowrad to these figures especially thundercracker starscream may be the only and my only fasvortite seeker but having all the seekers made would great you cant just make one seeker with out adding the other to the list seeekrs remind of a brotherhood team

OMG!!!

MP Thundercracker??? *does the happy dance*! Oh, joy! The very MP I have been waiting for! Poor grey Screamer! He will be relegated to closet-duty with the rest of the doubles....I won't sell him right away, though..I have grown kinda attached (sentimental-type value).


MP Grimlock. Meh. Great for Dinobot fans, no doubt.

It's a shame I just lost my MP-03 Starscream along with all my other Transformers in a fire, I doubt I'll buy him back, although I have MP-06, MP-05, and MP-04, and US MP Starscream...

This is GREAT news to me, so I won't have to buy back MP-03 to have 3 seekers again... As much as I love customs and the craft/effort put into them, nothing is as good as the official production version, no matter how much we fanboys bitch about it.

MP-03 is still a much better painted figure, it looks more professional, although I hate the color choices. Skywarp was a vast improvement, as he's close to correct colors yet still has a nice paint application.

I can't wait for Thundercracker, if he looks different enough from MP-03, I may buy another MP-03 just so I have the 3 Takara versions, US Starscream just looks out of place next to Takara's Skywarp, he's a bit too cartoon-colored, although I am glad Hasbro took the effort to paint him the colors we're used to.

Grimlock, I can understand putting him in the MP treatment, and will buy the day he's released to the public as well. Unfortunately, we'll never get the rest of the Dinobots (highly doubtful, no matter how wishful).

MP Bumblebee would be awesome, since he wasn't released in the Alternator/BT line, but I'll definitely wait til an official statement on that one. I'd hate to get my hopes up. There are many figures who would be awesome to see, but I do see Bumblebee and Grimlock high in the standings as iconic figures.

As far as bashing goes, there are things that I don't like about all of the MP figures, but seeing as how we loved 2 different versions of the 1980s characters (the toys, and the cartoon versions), I think both Hasbro and Takara have done wonderful jobs creating a happy medium. I mean, with the antiquated animation (that I still feel is superior to some of today's crappy animation techniques) that basically morphed figures to save time and simplify the designs, and with toys that looked good in vehicle form but terrible in robot form, or vice-versa, given what they've produced, I'd say the designers did a fantastic job, despite the fact that there are short-comings. Specifically since these are mass-produced figures, and cost shaving is included in what we have.

I am a tad worried that we haven't seen photos yet, especially of Thundercracker. It seems that he should go ahead and be released as filler, if only to keep the momentum going. Who cares if we get 3 Decepticons in a row, so long as we eventually get them? Hell, Alternators was so heavily Autobot drenched, it wouldn't bother me at all to get the Coneheads as well before we get any more Autobots. Last year we got 2 Masterpieces released (3 if you count U.S. Starscream) so maybe we were spoiled, but come on, finish the 3 seekers so they don't look awkward on our nerdy shelves. It's almost been 6 months since the last release, we should have at least had grayscale mold teasers by now... If Grimlock's not coming out as fast as we'd like, take the time to make him right and shut us up with Thundercracker, we'll jump for joy and it will appease us for at least a few months until we get another sneak pic of the next in the line...

mandingo_rex wrote:It's a shame I just lost my MP-03 Starscream along with all my other Transformers in a fire, I doubt I'll buy him back, although I have MP-06, MP-05, and MP-04, and US MP Starscream...

(...)

If Grimlock's not coming out as fast as we'd like, take the time to make him right and shut us up with Thundercracker, we'll jump for joy and it will appease us for at least a few months until we get another sneak pic of the next in the line...

Sorry to read about the fire... BTW, what a long post! And I read it all. The coneheads would be awesome and I think the 'worse' G1 figures (from the main ones of course) should get the MP treatment first, that's why Bumblebee by being a simple minibot would be awesome in MP plus Ironhide and Ratchet, I'd really love to see those 2 in MP being show accurate both in robot and vehicle modes! I think their priority should be the worse G1 molds, and by worse I mean difference from the cartoon, so that we get proper versions in MP .

Capellamusic, I couldn't agree more. Sorry for the long posts by the way, I always end up talking too much.

You're right, I do think that the MP line so far has taken crummier toys and made them more perfect versions to resemble the cartoons. Which is sort of odd that Grimlock is going to be an MP figure, his original toy is one of the best, in my opinion. Granted, more articulation is always better, but I also thought Prime's original figure was one of the better ones. I guess those guys were picked because of popularity over necessity. Megatron and the seekers, yes, they were fairly terrible. And Bumblebee, despite his simplicity and wrong head, was actually better than a lot of the G1 toys, although Ratchet and Ironhide were train wrecks. They still haven't gotten a decent toy, even in the upcoming Classics 2.0/Universe line.

Besides the Zs, I don't see many Autobots other than Bumblebee and Ratchet/Ironhide being worth the new mold's costs. Without repaint potential, they're not big players like Prime or Megatron. And until the MP line is much bigger, I don't even want to see any post-TF:The Movie figures made, unless they wrap up the line.

I also think that the Masterpiece line should stay strictly to G1, if they want to do sub-categories (such as Beast Wars or 2007 Movie), that's fine, they should just stick chronologically with the early-80s figures for now, and branch out later.

mandingo_rex wrote:Capellamusic, I couldn't agree more. Sorry for the long posts by the way, I always end up talking too much.

You're right, I do think that the MP line so far has taken crummier toys and made them more perfect versions to resemble the cartoons. Which is sort of odd that Grimlock is going to be an MP figure, his original toy is one of the best, in my opinion. Granted, more articulation is always better, but I also thought Prime's original figure was one of the better ones. I guess those guys were picked because of popularity over necessity. Megatron and the seekers, yes, they were fairly terrible. And Bumblebee, despite his simplicity and wrong head, was actually better than a lot of the G1 toys, although Ratchet and Ironhide were train wrecks. They still haven't gotten a decent toy, even in the upcoming Classics 2.0/Universe line.

Besides the Zs, I don't see many Autobots other than Bumblebee and Ratchet/Ironhide being worth the new mold's costs. Without repaint potential, they're not big players like Prime or Megatron. And until the MP line is much bigger, I don't even want to see any post-TF:The Movie figures made, unless they wrap up the line.

I also think that the Masterpiece line should stay strictly to G1, if they want to do sub-categories (such as Beast Wars or 2007 Movie), that's fine, they should just stick chronologically with the early-80s figures for now, and branch out later.

I second that. But I must say that I do love those "worse" G1 molds, like Ironhide and Ratchet, especially their Encore reissues, I love them . But I really wish MPs for those. Since Bumblebee, Ironhide and Ratchet are main characters maybe they'll get the MP treatment sometime soon (well, Bumblebee seems to be already on that path). I'm on first line for G1 MPs (for characters from season 1 and season 2 only BTW). Can you imagine an Ironhide MP with a standing base with phrases like "When are we gonna bust some decepto-goons?" or something like that?

Someone asked why haven't we seen pictures yet?

- My guess is that Takara doesn't want to release the MP's at the same time as the big Encore titans.

Cool. I can't wait, to see them.

Now I HAVE to get all the fly boys, in honor of All Hail! I already have Hasbro MP Starscream, and I was thinking of getting MP Skywarp and the grey Starscream (to be Cracker) but now I know I will be able to get actual Thundercracker in MP goodness.

The Seekers look so spiffy in their MP design. I'll love recreating poses from All Hail with the three of them.


...so MP Megs is shoddy? I've been wanting him too...

I will wait to see MP Grimlock before making the plunge on that one.

ponycorn wrote:Now I HAVE to get all the fly boys, in honor of All Hail! I already have Hasbro MP Starscream, and I was thinking of getting MP Skywarp and the grey Starscream (to be Cracker) but now I know I will be able to get actual Thundercracker in MP goodness.

The Seekers look so spiffy in their MP design. I'll love recreating poses from All Hail with the three of them.


...so MP Megs is shoddy? I've been wanting him too...

I will wait to see MP Grimlock before making the plunge on that one.

I don't think Megs is shoddy, I quite like mine. He does have a lot of tiny, thin, fragile parts however, and needs care when being transformed. I think he looks great though!

MP-03 is almost more green than grey, but since you'll probably have the option of getting a real MP Thundercracker, it's all good.

AWESOME NEWS!

I really want MP Grimlock. I am going to skip MP Thundercracker because I painted Blue Starscream to be Thundercracker. I totally agree that they need to do Ratchet, Ironhide and Bumblebee. Those characters would be great. Plus I think they need to stay away from the regular cars as long as possible because it would make the alternator line not fit with these.

RELEASE SOME PICS ALREADY TAKARA!

I cant wait to see pics of an MP Grimlock but ThunderCracker is meh

I agree. MP Bumblebee would be cool, as would Ironhide and Ratchet.
I also agree that the regular cars should be done in the Alternators line, but what I would like in the MP treatment would be Warpath!

Noshrok Grimskull wrote:I agree. MP Bumblebee would be cool, as would Ironhide and Ratchet.
I also agree that the regular cars should be done in the Alternators line, but what I would like in the MP treatment would be Warpath!

Warpath? Hmmm, if you want a tank, why not Blitzwing? And you get also a jet! He he . That takes me to my favorite triple changer: Astrotrain .

Grimlock is getting alot of love this year! He has a Henkei classic (that I got and I think he's awesome - the chrome looks much better in person), a 6" Titanium exclusive, and an animated figure. He does deserve an MP, but I have to say he would not be my first pick.

T-crack, I knew he was coming - anyone looking at Skywarps packaging did; but he is also not my first pick. Maybe if they tweaked him to be one of the "conehead" seekers that would be great. Dirge has some nice blue coloring we haven't seen on an MP lately...

I know many people would love an MP Bumblebee. Personally I would like a BT Bumblebee so he would fit in scale with the other characters.

grimlock and thundercracker are definates hope grimlock is big
I agree that an alt bumblebee would be better than a mp but hasn't vw said they wouldnt make war machines?- whats wrong with ultimate bb if you want movie bb?
agree aswell that mp ironhide & ratchet would be top, but would preffer the tripple changers, especialy as im in the middle of customizing movie ratchet and alt skids into g1(ish) IH & R
think they might make galvatron and/or rodimus next?

Noshrok Grimskull wrote:but what I would like in the MP treatment would be Warpath!

Seconded!

Did anyone see the news this week that Porsche, which own 31% of the shares of Volkswagen, is planning a takeover? If Porsche wins a majority, perhaps we'll get our BT/Alt Bumblebee...

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=aCIIVjHGdcNU

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080427/ap_on_bi_ge/germany_porsche_2

Stormrider wrote:Did anyone see the news this week that Porsche, which own 31% of the shares of Volkswagen, is planning a takeover? If Porsche wins a majority, perhaps we'll get our BT/Alt Bumblebee...

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=aCIIVjHGdcNU

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080427/ap_on_bi_ge/germany_porsche_2

that would be wicked but are the making new bt/alt moulds?

Everyone says they don't have permission to use Bumblebee's G1 vehicle form, then how come they can reissue the G1 mold? They have permission for the G1 mold but can't use for MPs etc? I don't get it...

I believe that is because the G1 toy is only based on the VW Beetle and is sufficiently different, whereas the point of Alternators and Binaltech was to use liscensed names and cars which VW won't allow on war toys.

Lord T wrote:I believe that is because the G1 toy is only based on the VW Beetle and is sufficiently different, whereas the point of Alternators and Binaltech was to use liscensed names and cars which VW won't allow on war toys.

Ok, but still it's one of their cars. Anyway, I don't see what's the big problem of a G1 Bumblebee MP being made. If they do it sufficiently different, but close to the cartoon, maybe they'll get over it. But that's really dumb from VW... it's not advertising war, it's a cartoon and it's not about military stuff but rather about an alien species.

Just give me a show accurate MP Bumblebee, and to hell with VW .