The Energon Pub

Swerve wrote:Dr. Arkeville was originally a good guy and a scientist that created a device that could produce anti-matter. He sent the anti-matter formula to Chip Chase when the Decepticons came looking for it. Chip in turn memorized the formula and destroyed the disk the formula was on but it was later extracted from his brain by the Decepticons. I remember the lab blew up and I think Dr. Arkeville was in it at the time. I believe that is why he has cybernetic parts and that ridiculous metal scalp.

Really? I never knew/noticed that. Now I'll have to watch those episodes again, and pay closer attention.

I just found one at Walmart earlier today. It's probably the coolest thing I've ever bought.

Ill buy one if I see it, but I wont buy from a scalper so I hope I come across it.

In the first picture that Autobot032 posted is where my Starscream has a problem. After the third time I transformed him, his arm broke off. Luckily it was connected by two parts, one part broke, but the other is fine.

I'm thinking about returning because I'm not sure how long it can hold.

yep, that flap shouldn't pose a problem if you transform it correctly.

Make sure you keep it open until after you rotate the whole assembly down. Next, tilt the red plastic intake section into place, for alt mode. The mentioned flap is the final step. This way there is no pressure put on that pc. at all.

As for die cast, there are no metal body panels ... just some skeletal pcs, pins and tiny insignificant details(front landing gear, the hydraulics for air brake panel)

I have skywarp, it's basically the same exact mold. I have no exp with MP-03 SS, but Skywarps only noticable differences are paint and clearcoat. Also, SW has annoying stickers to apply. SS has everything painted on.

Alt mode pictures here.

Here's my review. He's awesome, go buy him. Done, word! Looks great with all the other MPs. Just a note, the exhaust paint comes off very easily with rubbing alcohol. If ya care. Mine had some extra gobs of it, so I removed them.

AlienQuiksilver wrote:yep, that flap shouldn't pose a problem if you transform it correctly.

Make sure you keep it open until after you rotate the whole assembly down. Next, tilt the red plastic intake section into place, for alt mode. The mentioned flap is the final step. This way there is no pressure put on that pc. at all.

As for die cast, there are no metal body panels ... just some skeletal pcs, pins and tiny insignificant details(front landing gear, the hydraulics for air brake panel)

I have skywarp, it's basically the same exact mold. I have no exp with MP-03 SS, but Skywarps only noticable differences are paint and clearcoat. Also, SW has annoying stickers to apply. SS has everything painted on.

I see what you mean about the transformation. And I see what my problem is. Something's wrong with the ratchet assembly in the shoulders, they force the arms downward, which pulls on the turbines. So the instant I seal him up, those arm assemblies pull everything. I tried pushing, seeing if there was a click, there's not. I'm not sure what I'd have to modify but it's in that location. That's why the flaps won't close, and why the arms are so hard to get in and out of place for vehicle mode.

Sound like you are still not pushing the intakes up into place?

AQ- Skywarp also has alot of detail which are the little things, red/green lights, no steps/airforce/decepticon emblem, painted stripes on arms, and his stand also has the metallic purple paint used in his leg intakes and hip parts.

I think all those details makes him superior, but not entirely sure it is worth the 40 extra. If he had those metallic purple paint stripes and emblems maybe... My guess is the hasbro one wants to avoid toxic paints lol.

Also the paint w/ clearcoat is just better on the 06. After playing around with hasbros ss, I noticed his arms were painted. I actually thought it was two separate plastics on the 06 until I looked really closely.

parts

I'm going to be nitpicky here, but I've noticed on every single pic of MP-03, 06, and MP SS, the panel that has the airbrake in it doesn't line up for sh** in alt mode. Also, there are a few parts that feel quite fragile in transformation (fingers, shoulder joints, wing hinges, flaps). Other than that, and I am being as nitpicky as possible, I really love this toy. DVD Prime, MP 06, and MP SS have their own special place to be displayed in my room.

ToadtheNewsense wrote:I'm going to be nitpicky here, but I've noticed on every single pic of MP-03, 06, and MP SS, the panel that has the airbrake in it doesn't line up for sh** in alt mode. Also, there are a few parts that feel quite fragile in transformation (fingers, shoulder joints, wing hinges, flaps). Other than that, and I am being as nitpicky as possible, I really love this toy. DVD Prime, MP 06, and MP SS have their own special place to be displayed in my room.

Yes, thank you for pointing that out, I forgot about that. The back panel with the air brake won't close all the way on mine. I've pushed and prodded, and shoved and everything and it will not go all the way down, not at all.

I just chalked it up to not being perfect. Problem is, since he's packaged in robot mode, I could go through cases of him before finding one that's "perfect". At least MP-03 came packaged in robot mode, all you had to do was pop him out of the box to see.

i just picked mine up and all i can say is 'wow'. i haven't transformed him yet since i've been messing around with him in robot mode. very impressed with the sculpting and colors especially for the price. it's the first mp i have purchased and i have to say i am certainly impressed.

i just got mine

am i the only one that had a hard time finding one with a paintjob that DIDN'T suck??

Autobot032 wrote:Yes, thank you for pointing that out, I forgot about that. The back panel with the air brake won't close all the way on mine.

I highly doubt that any of them line up perfectly. Every single picture I see, and both the Skywarp and Starscream I have, the panel in question fits exactly the same. My guess is that none of them line up properly. It's really not that big of a deal, if I wanted absolutely perfect transformers, I wouldn't have any lol.

Bumblebee-otch wrote:i just got mine

am i the only one that had a hard time finding one with a paintjob that DIDN'T suck??

no i had to go thru all of them to find one that didn't have a horrible wash on it.

After getting Anime Starscream this weekend, I now have all three seekers.

Anime Starscream
Skywarp
Ghetto-Cracker (aka MP-03 Starscream)

I just need Skywarp because I will use my MP03 Starscream as Thundercracker

Bumblebee-otch wrote:i just got mine

am i the only one that had a hard time finding one with a paintjob that DIDN'T suck??

Nope. Out of six, I found two that were 'acceptable' and none I would term 'good.' The face was perfect though, and that was the most important part for me. Given Hasbro's paintjob, just about anything else can be written off as battle-damage.

I just recently tried to transform him again and the arm would not click into place. I guess I'll have to return him.

Finally got my MPSS, through the help of a friend. Its great in a lot of ways, but at the same time, it didn't blow me away like it did to a lot of others. The paint job does look sloppy Hasbro tradition, with one side of the arm with panel lines, then the other side doesn't. And the shoulder ratchets seems really weak. Good that the arms are light, so its enough to hold poses without issue, and the rest of other joints are all pretty sturdy. One thing does bother me a lot is that SS can't stand very good on its own unless the legs are angled in a specific way and the whole figure leaning forward at a good 15-20 degree. I strengthend the toe swivel so it helped too. But the lean doesn't look as good in a relax stance, while the display stand is a bit wobbly. Hip kibble does get in the way when posing, but too long to stand properly when attached to the lower legs. So I left it at the waist.

Its still a great toy nonetheless, and definitely worth it for $50. But I can see why people were not too happy for MP-03 back then, then they all paid $100 or more, especially this MPSS already fixed some issues of the previous release. A worthy 8.5/10 for me.

P.S. In robot mode, don't try to force too much raising the big wings when you want it angled. I snapped a hinge easy without lifting it too hard. So be careful on those wing hinges. Good that it glues right back.

Just got mine and I am very happy with him. Looks awesome and well worth the price.

#1 toy of the year imho. I scanned through 6 and picked the best paintjob for this keeper. I cannot say how much i love it, I only opened it halfway though and he's not out of the ties yet. I never had a seeker as a kid so I'm stoked to have one of the best ever!!!!