The Energon Pub

[william-james88]

Can an american confirm if Rhinox seems available to be ordered by you now?

https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/dp/B0CK9Z ... sform0c-22

[Nemesis Maximo]

Actually yes I was finally able to! For a total of ¥28,562 or roughly $193.20 USD. Not quite a $30 savings but I always like getting it under the nearest hundred so I’m cool with it.

[william-james88]

We posted an article back when Masterpiece Rhinox was up for preorder at Amazon Japan since it's become the preferred choice for fans across the world due to the best price, reliability and lighting fast vcr shipping. It seemed instantly sold out for Americans though and that was because Amazon Japan blocked orders from the US, which is something they used to do for toys years ago.

Well, we have good news, Japan has unblocked the US, so you too can partake in the best price in the world now. Below is a link to the item.

https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/dp/B0CK9Z ... sform0c-22

[Overcracker]

Unfortunately can't cancel my AmiAmi pre-order now, so... I'll stick with the slightly more expensive option.

[Emerje]

This isn't entirely accurate. Americans could order when it initially became available (that's when I ordered mine), but when that batch sold out it was the second batch that we were locked out of.

Emerje

[Emerje]

Rhinox is shipping now from Amazon Japan. My notice says arriving Wednesday, but it's DHL so it may be as soon as Monday.

Emerje

[AllNewSuperRobot]

Yeah I got my invoice from Kapow a couple days ago. I'd half forgotten he was even in the pipeline...

[william-james88]

Takara’s Transformers Masterpiece Beast Wars Rhinox is coming out tomorrow. While we don’t have a review yet, here are sime In hand pics of Rhinox from Uranus along with a couple more. We also have a transformation video showing the magic the Takara wizards cooked up for this release.

Let us know what you think!




































Transformation video

https://youtu.be/iGscs06SvSo?si=iaAORjrcuJHMKLxr

[Nemesis Maximo]

[Emerje]

Looks really good, but concerned about the pose-ability of the arms the way they've been split to get those poses.

Emerje

[Seibertron]

I just don't get the Masterpiece line at this point. They are beautiful figures, but the line moves at an extremely slow snail pace. I was 27 when the first Masterpiece figures came out. I'm 47 now and they still haven't finished the first year G1 figures. Twenty years is an incredibly long time to wait for a toy to be released. Where's Jazz? Where are the rumored Insecticons and Perceptor and Blaster and the Autobot Cassettes and Springer and Kup and Blurr and Cyclonus, Scourge, Galvatron, etc????

The Masterpiece Beast Wars figures started coming out in 2016 and I'm pretty sure Primal was announced around BotCon 2015, but maybe I'm off with that. Either way, his figure came out almost 8 years ago in 2016. And here we are in a very similar pattern with Beast Wars that we are with G1. How has this line not been finished yet? Where is Tarantulas and Scorponok and Airazor and Terrorsaur and Inferno at this point? These seem like easy products to make because no licensing is involved. I just don't get it. I love the Masterpiece figures but the line is so slow and has so much "filler" that I'm kind of getting over this line at this point. The main line is doing such an amazing job with incredible figures and deep pulls and similar deep cuts that I feel like the relevancy of Masterpiece just isn't there any more ... and is hurt by its own incredibly slow release cycle.

Takara Tomy ... I want to give you more money. Here it is. Please release products faster so that I can give you more of my money. Thanks. Signed, Ryan.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

I just don't get the Masterpiece line at this point. They are beautiful figures, but the line moves at an extremely slow snail pace. I was 27 when the first Masterpiece figures came out. I'm 47 now and they still haven't finished the first year G1 figures. Twenty years is an incredibly long time to wait for a toy to be released. Where's Jazz? Where are the rumored Insecticons and Perceptor and Blaster and the Autobot Cassettes and Springer and Kup and Blurr and Cyclonus, Scourge, Galvatron, etc????

The Masterpiece Beast Wars figures started coming out in 2016 and I'm pretty sure Primal was announced around BotCon 2015, but maybe I'm off with that. Either way, his figure came out almost 8 years ago in 2016. And here we are in a very similar pattern with Beast Wars that we are with G1. How has this line not been finished yet? Where is Tarantulas and Scorponok and Airazor and Terrorsaur and Inferno at this point? These seem like easy products to make because no licensing is involved. I just don't get it. I love the Masterpiece figures but the line is so slow and has so much "filler" that I'm kind of getting over this line at this point. The main line is doing such an amazing job with incredible figures and deep pulls and similar deep cuts that I feel like the relevancy of Masterpiece just isn't there any more ... and is hurt by its own incredibly slow release cycle.

Takara Tomy ... I want to give you more money. Here it is. Please release products faster so that I can give you more of my money. Thanks. Signed, Ryan.

I'm empathise with you, I genuinely do. The frustration is real. I've discussed elsewhere that I really feel sorry for the collectors of G1 Masterpiece. I don't even think they will ever complete the Sunbow cast, let alone Takara and beyond.

Meanwhile, for Beast Wars it was always a little different. We were never promised everything. We were given the cast of Season One, which is 14 characters. There is an asinine bias within Takara, of course. Discounting the redeco variants, there are two of seven MP Predacons currently available: The largest and the smallest. On the flipside, only the two smallest MP Maximals remain unproduced.

The Masterpiece Beast Wars core cast stands at 9/14. Roughly 64%. Which in an eight year timeframe isn't too bad for Takara. Considering BW is never the main push of this line.


In contrast, one of our resident Super Brains could likely tell you the percentage of completion MP Sunbow has achieved since the MP line began?

[Emerje]

I have no interest in getting rid of my MPs, nor do I have any interest in not adding to them if they continue to make new ones so I continue to buy them.

Emerje

[Spider5800]

I just don't get the Masterpiece line at this point. They are beautiful figures, but the line moves at an extremely slow snail pace. I was 27 when the first Masterpiece figures came out. I'm 47 now and they still haven't finished the first year G1 figures. Twenty years is an incredibly long time to wait for a toy to be released. Where's Jazz? Where are the rumored Insecticons and Perceptor and Blaster and the Autobot Cassettes and Springer and Kup and Blurr and Cyclonus, Scourge, Galvatron, etc????

The Masterpiece Beast Wars figures started coming out in 2016 and I'm pretty sure Primal was announced around BotCon 2015, but maybe I'm off with that. Either way, his figure came out almost 8 years ago in 2016. And here we are in a very similar pattern with Beast Wars that we are with G1. How has this line not been finished yet? Where is Tarantulas and Scorponok and Airazor and Terrorsaur and Inferno at this point? These seem like easy products to make because no licensing is involved. I just don't get it. I love the Masterpiece figures but the line is so slow and has so much "filler" that I'm kind of getting over this line at this point. The main line is doing such an amazing job with incredible figures and deep pulls and similar deep cuts that I feel like the relevancy of Masterpiece just isn't there any more ... and is hurt by its own incredibly slow release cycle.

Takara Tomy ... I want to give you more money. Here it is. Please release products faster so that I can give you more of my money. Thanks. Signed, Ryan.

All of this is why I mostly focused on CHUG and movie stuff. It's wild how poorly they've handled Masterpiece. The absurdly long waits between releases, the change to a more toon accurate style while people were still waiting on characters to be released, the questionable quality on newer releases (still bitter about how badly Hound ended up)...this line is a mess.

Kingdom and Legacy got me the entire Beast Wars S1 cast in like 2 years, most of which were VERY good, and is moving on to freaking Fuzors and Transmetals. All at a fraction of the cost. I don't get the reason why MP is just sooooooo slooooooow while still having major QC issues and no consistency.

[Emerje]

One of the reasons it takes so long for them to get MPs out is because they can realistically only sell so many in a year. Their core fans are also buying from their other lines and most of them can't just buy everything, otherwise we'd be getting four new Commanders and Titans every year.

On the flip side there's still a number of adults in Japan (and elsewhere) that view mainline toys as being for kids and MPs as being for adults. But these same people are also buying multiple big expensive robots from other companies too and there's A LOT to choose. Making 15 or so new MPs every year in an already crowded market is just asking for trouble.

That said, we had more MPs at retail (non-exclusives) in 2024 than I believe any prior year with 13 between MP, MPM and MPG. So maybe they are ramping things up. We already knew two figures for February 2025 way more than half a year early and they're already available for order so just how much do they have planned for next year if they're trying to get out this far ahead?

Emerje

[AllNewSuperRobot]

Then of course is the other side of the conversation: the counterproductive buyer.

"I don't care if they complete the cast. I want Optimus Prime with better knees/more faithful decals/shiny smoke stacks etc"

It's counterproductive because the MP line has literally reset itself (a couple of times) to accommodate this attitude at this point. Takara should have at least completed a single season's cast before going into 2.0 figures.

You almost get the feeling that some people would be happy if every Transformer was just a colour variant of Prime/BB/Starscream.

[Spider5800]

Then of course is the other side of the conversation: the counterproductive buyer.

"I don't care if they complete the cast. I want Optimus Prime with better knees/more faithful decals/shiny smoke stacks etc"

It's counterproductive because the MP line has literally reset itself (a couple of times) to accommodate this attitude at this point. Takara should have at least completed a single season's cast before going into 2.0 figures.

You almost get the feeling that some people would be happy if every Transformer was just a colour variant of Prime/BB/Starscream.

I'd also question if this group has even been satisfied, as I'd argue that stuff like MP-44 OP and MP-45 BB kind of suck, compared to earlier releases. More toon accurate looking, sure, but not very fun toys. And WAY more expensive.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

On the one hand, MP (Mainframe) Beast Wars does not have this issue. It's the show models or the toy decos. That's it.

But it has also been mired by the delay these line resets have caused.

[BluePhirePB]

Now we just need Rattrap to complete the original five!

[william-james88]

Transformers Masterpiece Beast Wars Rhinox is currently being received by fans who preordered him from Amazon Japan, thanks to that lighting fast vcr shipping. Below is a video review. It shows all that he comes with, along with size comparisons to the other MP maximals. It also goes through the rather complex transformation. It also goes over some of the criticisms of this figure like the botched attempt at light piping.
You’ll let us know what you think of MP-59!

[Emerje]

Mine arrived Tuesday! A day early, gotta love DHL.

Emerje

[AllNewSuperRobot]

Mine is still.. not dispatched.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

The greatest irony to me is that, outside of Frenzy (somehow), the movie MPMs are the first to complete a "cast", and I think Bee came out after primal?