The Energon Pub

Starscream6 wrote:where has this been confirmed? im not doubting you im just hoping its true! ill be all over it if it is!

Well, it's based on an existing custom from a Masterpiece. And here we have both Starscream and Dirge next to mini MP Prime:



I think this image was made by Trikeboy.

I guess fighter team would indicate their intentions of making all three, not to mention the silhouettes.

Igear has a pol1 on their website for people to vote who they would like to see in the PP series. Ultra magnus with trailer is in the lead followed closely by Megatron. The rest include Soundwave, Arcee, Alpha Trion, Reflector, coneheads, Bumblebee, seekers, Devcon.

It is a very nice list but it has coneheads which I assume they already have the intentions to make. Also seekers, which wouldn't really make sense since HasTak has already made them. The appeal of PP01 Faith leader was that they brought prime down to size to fit in with the other MPs. If they make the other seekers would they make them Mini as well?

Savage wrote:That picture next to MP Prime leads me to believe that this guy will tower over the regular MP Seekers.

Good point. I'm wondering why that is - even with the extended head there doesn't seem to be any extensions of the mold. Maybe they just did it in a bigger size overall?

Nigiri wrote:

Savage wrote:That picture next to MP Prime leads me to believe that this guy will tower over the regular MP Seekers.

Good point. I'm wondering why that is - even with the extended head there doesn't seem to be any extensions of the mold. Maybe they just did it in a bigger size overall?

That is not MP Prime in the picture, that is PP01 Faith leader AKA Mini MP Prime.

Unicronic wrote:Igear has a pole on their website for people to vote who they would like to see in the PP series. Ultra magnus with trailer is in the lead followed closely by Megatron. The rest include Soundwave, Arcee, Alpha Trion, Reflector, coneheads, Bumblebee, seekers, Devcon.

If Igear made UMagnus with trailer and replicates just like the cartoon, I'll be getting 2 sets.

And damn, why hasn't TTomy release Magnus trailer! My MP2 is really naked without his armor!

When I was in the Hasbro marketing pannel at Botcon, somebody asked a question about 3rd party manufactuers and they all frowned and brought up the Cyclonus mold. This is basically proof that if you dont give the fans what they want within a reasonable amount of time, somebody else will. I applaud this company for grabbing the bull by the horns and doing what Hasbro/Takara wont do. Fans dont care about copyrights, politics, or corparate marketing stratagies. Just do it like they did in the 80's and make the damn toy !!!

i have to wonder if wheeljack is flattered or feels like he's been ripped off...

Where one conehead goes the others will follow. I can expect that the others aren't too far behind, that is if Has/Tak hasn't sued the @*%?! outa them first!

Rated X wrote:When I was in the Hasbro marketing pannel at Botcon, somebody asked a question about 3rd party manufactuers and they all frowned and brought up the Cyclonus mold. This is basically proof that if you dont give the fans what they want within a reasonable amount of time, somebody else will. I applaud this company for grabbing the bull by the horns and doing what Hasbro/Takara wont do. Fans dont care about copyrights, politics, or corparate marketing stratagies. Just do it like they did in the 80's and make the damn toy !!!

THIS!

Rated X wrote:When I was in the Hasbro marketing pannel at Botcon, somebody asked a question about 3rd party manufactuers and they all frowned and brought up the Cyclonus mold. This is basically proof that if you dont give the fans what they want within a reasonable amount of time, somebody else will. I applaud this company for grabbing the bull by the horns and doing what Hasbro/Takara wont do. Fans dont care about copyrights, politics, or corparate marketing stratagies. Just do it like they did in the 80's and make the damn toy !!!

Yet we complain that Green-Screamer, G1 Screamer, Ghost-Screamer, Thundercracker, Skywarp, and the one or two other color/variants of the mold (isn't there an off-color/realistic deco Warp or TC in MP?) all came out "too close to each other" to justify/earn the $60+ (more often $100+) investment per MP...

Unfortunately, posts like this make it seem that the fandom can't be pleased and that perhaps we don't need to be catered too anymore... Especially since "we're" willing to bend/break the law in order to get "toys" built...

I can understand milking the pure F-15 variant of the mold to completion before they shift over to "exotic" fighter (coneheads with their different wings) designs, of which they technically can only release 1 MP per wing-mold...

Rated X wrote:Fans dont care about copyrights, politics, or corparate marketing stratagies.

That's not entirely true. I think it looks great, but I'll likely pass because I don't like what this KOmpany is all about.

I hate to admit it, but if this is in scale with the official Seeker mold it's as good as bought. As will the other two coneheads. Wonder how long it will be before the pre-order is up? Any of you guys bought from them before? Wondering how the experience was: customer service, shipping, etc.

I have their Autoscout. Vey high quality, no difference with a "real" Hasbro figure.

Starscream6 wrote:

Rated X wrote:When I was in the Hasbro marketing pannel at Botcon, somebody asked a question about 3rd party manufactuers and they all frowned and brought up the Cyclonus mold. This is basically proof that if you dont give the fans what they want within a reasonable amount of time, somebody else will. I applaud this company for grabbing the bull by the horns and doing what Hasbro/Takara wont do. Fans dont care about copyrights, politics, or corparate marketing stratagies. Just do it like they did in the 80's and make the damn toy !!!

AMEN BROTHAH!!! SING IT OUT!!!! PREACH IT... PREACH IT!!!!!

Gutter Bunny wrote:i have to wonder if wheeljack is flattered or feels like he's been ripped off...

Here's what he had to say about it:

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transform ... ost4955257

I want this.. and the 'Faith Leader'..
I realise alot of people think that they are a rotten KOmpany.. but.. even peaugh has something good to say about them.
so ill be picking this up.. it should look good with masterpeice screamer... haha.
also.. off topic.. this is my first post.. looked around but didnt see an "introduce yourself!" thread.. but, thought id shoot a quick "Hi!"

Droptested Thrice wrote:

Gutter Bunny wrote:i have to wonder if wheeljack is flattered or feels like he's been ripped off...

Here's what he had to say about it:

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transform ... ost4955257

and to quote him directly:

wheel_jack wrote:suppose it's time for me to chime in. Not exactly how i wanted to spend my lunch break but....it goes like this. I am not a partner of nor do I get a pay check from igear nor will I get royalties for this nor do i have the "rights" to my kitbashes of these guys. A factory prototype requires a fully computer designed model which I did not do nor do I know how to. so this is not mine. this is their project or Partner Products'.

I have lost count of how many folks have contacted me to make them MP coneheads. I've had to turn them down because of the time and effort involved and frankly I don't like repeating myself. It was hard to turn them down not because of the money I didn't make but because people genuinely wanted to have their childhood nostalgia realized. since the original MP starscream came out I have purchased over 20 of them from hasbro and takara. and that's just me. I have also purchased the classics seekers multiple times for bashes and the botcon set when it came out. I give more money to hasbro and takara than most collectors. not to mention humbly inspired others to go out and purchase additional toys from them to replicate bashes that I've created. I'm not defending igear. but i'm totally ok with them making this dirge based on my bash solely because they'll make a few people who want a complete set of seekers really happy. People who collect the MP seekers are not gonna buy classics dirge to set next to them nor will they NOT spend money on the next MP when it's released. Again I'm not saying it's legal or not. I'm just saying that those of you who argue that this will ruin hasbro and takaras chances of making them is silly. the botcon coneheads and thundercracker were exclusives, remember? never to be mass produced. now you can get better versions of them for a fraction of the cost.

Hasbro and takara have been a part of my life since 1984 and now my nephews'. I want them to keep going because I want more. There is nothing wrong with it but they're prime goal is profit. and their life-span is largely in the financial decisions they make. They can't release all original bots in classics/universe or MP form all at once. Not because they don't have the talent or know how but because they wouldn't have anything else to make and sell the next year to keep their companies profitable. Nothing wrong with it, that's how business works, but I'm 35. If I waited for hasbro and takara to release every transformer I wanted, I would sooner than later give up all together. That's why I started bashing. that's why everybody who bashes started bashing. and those who do it solely to make money are able to because others who don't have time or don't feel like they have the ability to customize want more TFs. plus has/tak get hundreds of free ideas a month. Repaint solutions, engineering, etc and inspire others to go out and buy more toys to reproduce these ideas and at the very least keep the fans focused on transformers. Of course has/tak have copyrights and trademarks on the characters but they don't have copyrights and trademarks on individuals' desires. That's why these garage companies pop up. They fill a void. they supplement. they're a small fix while we wait for the next official wave. WE all LOVE transformers. Nobody who collects MPs will buy this and not buy the next MP. How many people owned the original Starscream when the american version came out? how many went and bought it again? I did. all my friends who own MPs did. even the kitbashers who could've just repainted their original dude. for those who collect classics and MPs, who's gonna pass up completing more of their classics and official MPs just because there's an of market KO of something else to fill their desire? I understand the legality involved to a degree (i'm not a lawyer) but I believe the damage to hasbro and takara everyone is forecasting is drastically over blown. I'm not gonna respond to comments about my comments not because I'm a dick but because I really have no time to argue about something that only involves me by "the inspiring of" and not by "the direct involvement with."

thanks,
wj

What a stand up, respectable guy. Seriously.

We need more people like him around here.

Gauntlet101010 wrote:I dunno about other people, but I care enough about Hasbro and Takara to buy their stuff and to hope they do well. And I can understand about corperate strategies and marketing. That's just the reality of the situation.

That said, I won't deny myself a non-HasTak TF if and when they come out. This KO Dirge would be just the ticket if I were collecting the entire MP line.

Enjoy it while it lasts, guys. Eventually these 3rd party toys will disappear!

I agree with this. Basically, I am totally willing to buy from Has/Tak first, but in this specific case I just can't believe they have not released a full set of MP Seekers. Has/Tak just hasn't taken full advantage of this consumer-want. I don't know what I will decide on this-I don't want to buy a KO, but this thing looks REALLY great.