The Energon Pub

[Rodimus Knight]

It wouldn't be an MP if didn't have easy breakage.

[TheForgottenTaxi]

"as is always the case with MPs the first week of release."

Is this true, or just Stockholm syndrome? It took me a while to get on board with the MP reboot post-MP-10, but I don't remember hearing a lot about breakages for him, or for the likes of Sideswipe, Prowl, Wheeljack, original MP Bee, Iron Hide, Grapple, Hot Rod 2.0, Shockwave, Soundwave... you know, I've got a whole shelf full of MPs I have never felt like I'm gonna break!

Seems to me it's only in these past few years, with their converging trends of more fiddly transformations and cheaper materials, that reports of breakages have become routine.

[Bucky]

I think that’s exactly what is meant. It’s really only with contemporary MPs, and not every MP that’s ever been released. That last couple of years have seen an increased number of breakage incidents, compared with previous MP releases. And I do think it has more to do with smaller, and inherently more fragile pieces, creating more complicated and complex problem areas. In these cases these areas obviously have to be treated with more care. To the best of my knowledge I don’t think that quality of materials has gone down.

[ScottyP]

It took me a while to get on board with the MP reboot post-MP-10, but I don't remember hearing a lot about breakages for him, or for the likes of Sideswipe, Prowl, Wheeljack, original MP Bee, Iron Hide, Grapple, Hot Rod 2.0, Shockwave, Soundwave... you know, I've got a whole shelf full of MPs I have never felt like I'm gonna break!

Seems to me it's only in these past few years, with their converging trends of more fiddly transformations and cheaper materials, that reports of breakages have become routine.

For the MP-10 through ~23 era, these were still designed like toys, just nice ones. Now they're designed more like "collector" action figures that have a transformation feature. This means more parts and dramatically more paint, and since probably around MP-36 a shift in how these should be handled has been required.

As for QC things noted near release, only some of which are true widespread issues but social media freaked out about most anyway:

• MP-28 Hot Rod had some actual chrome problems in at least its first run, top coat on mine has held up nicely over time at least
• MP-30 paint chipping
• Some folks couldn't handle MP-34 Cheetor's small joints
• MP-35 paint chipping took awhile to manifest but is a real thing. Guess that's not an example of early feedback, but it is an actual issue with it.
• MP-36 paint chipping from rubbing parts too much + joints getting broken
• MP-39 window clips
• MP-41 had folks breaking shoulders
• MP-43 Beast Megatron broken crotches, though the reports slowed down pretty quickly. This was a fair example though and not necessarily collectors being dumb.
• MP-44 had folks breaking the knees because they didn't transform it properly, also had some paint chipping because basically everything is painted on it and still we haven't figured out how to be more careful
• MP-45 Bumble has easily broken tabs and Takara put out images of dire warnings about it but no one cares because the figure stinks and it doesn't impact it much. Most of these are avoidable with plenty of care.
• MP-47 Hound has some areas that are probably too thin and one screw almost definitely needs a bit of loosening up, so this is another case where there are some fair, actual issues but it's likely there were plenty of alarm bells from folks that still can't handle these responsibly as well.

And btw, MP Buzzsaw and Laserbeak can apparently crumble to pieces these days

I accepted that MP stuff is just not made to be something played with to a high degree. Some of them can hold up over time with repeated handling, but many can't and I'm not sure they're truly designed to.

[TheForgottenTaxi]

I accepted that MP stuff is just not made to be something played with to a high degree. Some of them can hold up over time with repeated handling, but many can't and I'm not sure they're truly designed to.

Yeah, it's just responsible for my dwindling enthusiasm about the line. To bring it back to Lio Convoy, this is a character I have no attachment to, but dang if the toy didn't look pretty cool. But after reading this (very helpful!) post, my interest has evaporated. I just don't have an interest in it if it's not gonna be fun to handle.

Actually, let's not bury that in a parenthetical: This was a great, super helpful post! Thanks Bucky!

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

I find things like MP 44 making itself more complex for the sake of duplicating the cartoon's dumbing-down, and Lio Convoy's turning the lion head inside-out to copy the animation cheating, to be excessive, and more than a little misguided.

I look forward to them doing Unicron Trilogy MPs. There's going to be a lot less shenanigans with those, excepting Armada Optimus Prime if they articulate his super mode legs.

[Bucky]

I accepted that MP stuff is just not made to be something played with to a high degree. Some of them can hold up over time with repeated handling, but many can't and I'm not sure they're truly designed to.

Yeah, it's just responsible for my dwindling enthusiasm about the line. To bring it back to Lio Convoy, this is a character I have no attachment to, but dang if the toy didn't look pretty cool. But after reading this (very helpful!) post, my interest has evaporated. I just don't have an interest in it if it's not gonna be fun to handle.

Actually, let's not bury that in a parenthetical: This was a great, super helpful post! Thanks Bucky!

Well I hadn’t intended to sway anyone’s opinion in one direction or the other, but I’m glad I was of some help! I mostly just wanted to caution other forum members about certain areas. But honestly if your interest in Lio Convoy was dwindling, and you don’t have any attachment or affection towards the character, I don’t see a reason to pick him up. Unless you see him for a real steal! Because he does look fantastic, and the engineering, although not without it’s potential hazards, is very inventive. I am personally pleased with him.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

So, the talk about this guy made me want to go check the BWII Lio Convoy gallery on the site.

And I discovered that the gallery is still screwy. Multiple thumbnails link to the large version of the previous image, rather than the one actually in the thumbnail.

[Dorkimus]

Well, bollocks!! Again.

Perhaps there has always been some issues, since these are mass produced items, but it feels like things have really gone south lately with these Takara releases. Hound is really something different indeed...and not in the good way. Like Hound, this doesn't look bad as such, but I really wouldn't want to worry about the transformation every time I would like to transform it. That most likely wouldn't happen very often, but if the very first transformation attempt can break it, then not good.

Does this feel as flimsy as Hound, because I'm pretty sure that Hound wasn't even made from the same plastic than the others before? It feels so different.