Sigma Magnus wrote:Agreed! If anything, I expect a cartoon-accurate redeco, maybe a slight retool if they're that eager.
A "cartoon accurate" redeco of MP-10 Optimus Prime would probably be numbered something like MP-10+. For recent proof of such, see the "Anime Color Edition" of Red Alert. The original release of Masterpiece Red Alert was MP-14, but the latter "cartoon accurate" release is simply MP-14+, not a new number.
Straight repaints usually don't get their own "number," but instead get a special letter or other character affixed to the end of the original mold's number, even if the repaint represents a completely different character. For instance, Masterpiece Sideswipe, MP-12, was repainted into MP-12T Tigertrack and MP-12G G2 Sideswipe. MP-14 Red Alert was repainted as MP-14C Clampdown. Starscream is MP-11, while Skywarp, Thundercracker, Sunstorm, and Acid Storm are MP-11SW, MP-11T, MP-11S, and MP-11A, respectively. They all share the exact same mold, with no differences among them.
If there is extensive retooling, then a new number is usually applied. Beyond the obvious, like Optimus Prime, Megatron, and Hot Rod, there are modern examples such as MP-25 Tracks and MP-26 Road Rage, the latter of which received not only a new head, but some more extensive "feminizing" retooling elsewhere to make the character more distinctive. Ironhide and Ratchet differ only in sculpt/mold in terms of their heads and the added light bar for Ratchet. Ironhide is MP-27 and Ratchet is MP-30. Masterpiece Wheeljack is MP-20, while his repaint "Exhaust" is MP-23 and features a new head sculpt.
Of course, none of the above is always true, with the seekers being the most obvious exception to these rules. Even though the "Coneheads" feature extensive retooling from Starscream, and among each other, they each also get the MP-11 designation, differentiated by their suffix letters (NR for Ramjet, NT for Thrust, and ND for Dirge). Masterpieces Sideswipe and Tigertrack also follow the "Seeker" pattern. Tigertrack is not actually just a repaint of Sideswipe, being that he uses the similar but nonetheless distinct face sculpt from MP-14 Red Alert. The same happens with Masterpiece Tracks' other repaint, Loudpedal, who is MP-25L instead of a different number like Road Rage. Yes, Loudpedal lacks the extra mold differences found in Road Rage, but he still has a different head sculpt, so he's not a straight repaint of Tracks. Now consider that Masterpieces Prowl (MP-17), Bluestreak (MP-18), and Smokescreen (MP-19) are all retools and repaints of each other, but they have distinct numbers, and they're consecutive on top of it all! Compare to the two Masterpiece Bluestreak repaints, "Silverstreak" and "Blue Bluestreak." They're MP-18S and MP-18B, respectively. "Siverstreak" is just a repaint of Bluestreak, so this makes sense, but then "Blue Bluestreak" borrows some distinctive molding differences, like face and pelvis, from MP-17 Prowl. The only difference from Masterpiece Prowl, in fact, is the lack of the light bar for vehicle mode. Conceivably, "Blue Bluestreak" could have just as easily and credibly been "MP-17B" instead! Then we have cases like Masterpiece Ultra Magnus, MP-22, and Masterpiece Delta Magnus, MP-31, who have NO mold differences between each other, at all. Delta Magnus is a straight up repaint of Ultra Magnus, yet gets his very own number. He's not even an "essential" G1 character, but a nod to Transformers' Diaclone origins. Note, this list of exceptions is NOT exhaustive.
The moral of the story? We probably put a lot more thought into these number designations that Takara does. I don't expect MP-50 to be anything "special" or "significant" in the line-up.
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