The Energon Pub

Stormrider wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:The only current mainline MP that comes close to your argument is Ratbat, but he could be seen as a mere accessory to Soundblaster (made from the existing Soundwave mold), despite some fans treating the two in an opposite manner (with Soundblaster as Ratbat's accessory ). And plenty of mold-reuse MPs get new accessories all the time.

So you believe that Takara won't make Galvatron, Shockwave, or any other character that came 1985 or later until the original 18 Autobots or 10 Decepticons are made as MPs (except for repaints). I guess we'll wait and see who is right.

Unless they change their current agenda, which I could see happening since there is that previously-announced change in designer leadership happening soon, with Hironori Kobayashi taking over for Shogo Hasui.

I think Masterpiece is about to take a nose dive... Hironori Kobayashi is all about the gimmicks and stuff, whereas Shogo Hasui is about the essence and purity of the design that makes his work stand out.

VioMeTriX wrote:I think Masterpiece is about to take a nose dive... Hironori Kobayashi is all about the gimmicks and stuff, whereas Shogo Hasui is about the essence and purity of the design that makes his work stand out.

This. Good god do I agree with this. I absolutely hated the Masterpiece line until MP10. MP9 Rodimus was ok, but had stupid design flaws thanks to a stupid gimmick.

I'll go on record, as a lot of older members will know in my statement that I hated Alternators\Binaltech, too. Not really a fan of Alternity, either - that Bumble from Alternity has to be the ugliest Transformers in its price range ever.

We can all expect a return of the stupid light up hands and wonky face changers.

Yes, a lot of my post is hyperbole. Except the Bumble comment. I stick by that. To the grave.

Stormrider wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:The only current mainline MP that comes close to your argument is Ratbat, but he could be seen as a mere accessory to Soundblaster (made from the existing Soundwave mold), despite some fans treating the two in an opposite manner (with Soundblaster as Ratbat's accessory ). And plenty of mold-reuse MPs get new accessories all the time.

So you believe that Takara won't make Galvatron, Shockwave, or any other character that came 1985 or later until the original 18 Autobots or 10 Decepticons are made as MPs (except for repaints). I guess we'll wait and see who is right.

Sabrblade is 100% correct he as he is going by what Takara themselves have stated they plan to do.

Sabrblade wrote:Unless they change their current agenda, which I could see happening since there is that previously-announced change in designer leadership happening soon, with Hironori Kobayashi taking over for Shogo Hasui.

Yeah, that is about the only thing that could change the current agenda. If the pre MP-10 crap returns I can say with complete confidence that third parties will be getting most (if not all) of my MP money.

Arctorro wrote:

Stormrider wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:The only current mainline MP that comes close to your argument is Ratbat, but he could be seen as a mere accessory to Soundblaster (made from the existing Soundwave mold), despite some fans treating the two in an opposite manner (with Soundblaster as Ratbat's accessory ). And plenty of mold-reuse MPs get new accessories all the time.

So you believe that Takara won't make Galvatron, Shockwave, or any other character that came 1985 or later until the original 18 Autobots or 10 Decepticons are made as MPs (except for repaints). I guess we'll wait and see who is right.

Sabrblade is 100% correct he as he is going by what Takara themselves have stated they plan to do.

Guys, I think you missed my point at the beginning - I am aware of what Takara said 2-3 years ago (I don't disagree on that point). However, I don't think they will stay on that course. I hope they will make the original 28 but I don't think they will complete them all before cranking out other characters in between. And the evidence is already there.

I disagree on Star Saber. Takara selected the 10 candidate characters and none of them were the original 1984 Autobots or Decepticons. I realize that this was a one off that was done for the fans. But no matter how you slice it - Takara is doing this before completing the original 28. Why? Because fans want other characters.

Ratbat is another good example that you brought up. I see your point that this can be seen as a integral part of SoundBlaster. But they could have repainted one of the existing cassettes. Instead they made new design for a very popular character/toy.

I am sure that Takara has or had intentions to make the original 28 figures. The point I am making - there are a lot of other great characters that Takara could make. Why would a company constrain itself to making a character such as Gears before making a home run like Galvatron, Blaster, more cassettes, etc?

Stormrider wrote:Guys, I think you missed my point at the beginning

Nope, we got it, you seem to be missing our point.

Stormrider wrote: - I am aware of what Takara said 2-3 years ago (I don't disagree on that point). However, I don't think they will stay on that course. I hope they will make the original 28 but I don't think they will complete them all before cranking out other characters in between. And the evidence is already there.

What evidence.

Stormrider wrote:I disagree on Star Saber. Takara selected the 10 candidate characters and none of them were the original 1984 Autobots or Decepticons. I realize that this was a one off that was done for the fans. But no matter how you slice it - Takara is doing this before completing the original 28. Why? Because fans want other characters.

With how many times Sabrblade has explained this departure from their plan, if you're not getting it there is no reason for me to retrace old ground.

Stormrider wrote:Ratbat is another good example that you brought up. I see your point that this can be seen as a integral part of SoundBlaster. But they could have repainted one of the existing cassettes. Instead they made new design for a very popular character/toy.

Think of Ratbat in a similar way to Ultra Magnus's trailer. It is the extra effort Takara has gone to so the Masterpiece line continues to be a Masterpiece. It is also a great marketing tool which has compelled many who would've automatically passed to pre-order just to get him.

Stormrider wrote:I am sure that Takara has or had intentions to make the original 28 figures. The point I am making - there are a lot of other great characters that Takara could make. Why would a company constrain itself to making a character such as Gears before making a home run like Galvatron, Blaster, more cassettes, etc?

The characters you mention might be home runs in the western world, but are they the same in Japan? Serious question here, the MP line is made by the Japanese for the Japanese, we're just fortunate enough to have the internet and online retailers. There is something else you are forgetting, it doesn't really matter what G1 characters are made, they will sell really well. Many of us (myself included) have a couple of characters that we really what to be released sooner rather than later, but very few of us can agree what order they should be released in. Takara can't please us all and if they go back to doing random characters 3/4 of fans will bitch and moan about what is being released. Sticking to a plan and doing a particular set of characters that will sell, and have been selling, really well means we have a damn good idea of what to expect for the next couple of years and very few fans are bitching about what is being done atm.

In the end, Takara is a Japanese company that caters to the Japanese, so they are making business decisions based on their own market, not ours.

waiting for the real toy's images

Guys the proto has been revealed!
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... nt_count=1

This deffo looks like the best BB, and much better than the teaser had suggested.
Looks like the face ca be removed and it comes with an exosuite, probably containing Spike, then again he did come with Optimus, so it might be Daniel, but that would be weird.

Fellow Seibertronian Dead Metal found this link on Planet Iacon's Facebook page that showcases the prototype for the upcoming Masterpiece Bumblebee, his weapon (a pistol) and Spike's exosuit from 1986's Transformers: The Movie!

We've mirrored the image for your convenience, below. Release date for this guy hasn't become public knowledge just yet, but as soon as we know, you will!



Update: Larger image courtesy of Seibertron.com member Cyberpath:




Keep your optics tuned to Seibertron.com for the latest in news and updates, plus the best galleries around!

Wow this is going to be one tiny Masterpiece!
Going by the persons thumb, Id guess this works out about 6 thumbs high, head to toe, making this smaller than most of our Classics deluxe figures!
A Deluxe Masterpiece?

Looks good from what I can make out.

I wonder why the face comes off -- perhaps an interchangeable toy-accurate face; or another cartoon one with a cheerful expression?

'Bee will add even more variety to the colour scheme and heights of the Autobot MP lineup.

So how did Takara manage to license the Beetle from Volkswagen? I thought the car manufacturer didn't want to be associated with war machines.

BATTLEMASTER IIC wrote:So how did Takara manage to license the Beetle from Volkswagen? I thought the car manufacturer didn't want to be associated with war machines.

Honestly, I don't know. I'd imagine it was one pricey deal, though.

BATTLEMASTER IIC wrote:
So how did Takara manage to license the Beetle from Volkswagen? I thought the car manufacturer didn't want to be associated with war machines.

Maybe Volkswagen watched the TF movies and realised that the Autobots and Bumblebee are are force of good that only want to bring peace and harmony to Earth, or maybe Takara gave them a briefcase stuffed with cash. I don't know, it's a tough one.

i need this.

Looking alright from the pics, let's hope we don't have to wait too long for something more high res and coloured.
(Though we have a few good guys on this site who can digitally colour alright)

BATTLEMASTER IIC wrote:So how did Takara manage to license the Beetle from Volkswagen? I thought the car manufacturer didn't want to be associated with war machines.

Maybe they just ... changed their stance?

The exosuit looks better than the 3rd party version - at least it's properly in scale.

BATTLEMASTER IIC wrote:So how did Takara manage to license the Beetle from Volkswagen? I thought the car manufacturer didn't want to be associated with war machines.

Maybe there's a new guy in charge of that.

BATTLEMASTER IIC wrote:So how did Takara manage to license the Beetle from Volkswagen? I thought the car manufacturer didn't want to be associated with war machines.

Autobot032 wrote:Honestly, I don't know. I'd imagine it was one pricey deal, though.

Venoose1 wrote:Maybe Volkswagen watched the TF movies and realised that the Autobots and Bumblebee are are force of good that only want to bring peace and harmony to Earth, or maybe Takara gave them a briefcase stuffed with cash. I don't know, it's a tough one.

Actually it's none of those things, it has to do with the merger of TOMY with Takara. Here is a quote from the last interview with the MP Designer S. Hasui.

- Any hardship to obtain vehicle licence?
H: Actually, thanks to Tomica brand, we can negotiate with many car manufacturers such as Fiat. This is a great result of merger (of Takara and Tomy). I had a Lancia Stratos Tomica when I was little. The style and colour scheme is very unique and hard to forget. It was my favourite but as I was young, I don't think I remembered the name.

BATTLEMASTER IIC wrote:So how did Takara manage to license the Beetle from Volkswagen? I thought the car manufacturer didn't want to be associated with war machines.

That's just a myth that's circulated through the fandom for years. It's always been about the money. It the past they parties just couldn't arrive at the right numbers to satisfy both parties. And as Trailbreaker77 mentioned the Tomica deal has apparently opened new doors.

hopefully it'll still be priced around the fairlady ones in spite of the additional exo suit and also that the exo suit isn't some special exclusive...

Okay, I'm gonna say it, I was hoping for Chibified Bee, but I like this, and I understand for various reasons it could have gone either way.

I like how the they got the tire on the back, similar to the animation model, not sure why it sits so high up on the back though?


If they are adding stuff to justify the price point I hope we get more than 2 replaceable faces, I hope we get a couple facial expressions besides a G1 toy face.


I don't think I will buy a MP Cliffjumper now though. To me CJ's Chibi model hardly resembled the vehicle at all, it will be unrecognizable.

Trailbreaker77 wrote:Actually it's none of those things, it has to do with the merger of TOMY with Takara. Here is a quote from the last interview with the MP Designer S. Hasui.

- Any hardship to obtain vehicle licence?
H: Actually, thanks to Tomica brand, we can negotiate with many car manufacturers such as Fiat. This is a great result of merger (of Takara and Tomy). I had a Lancia Stratos Tomica when I was little. The style and colour scheme is very unique and hard to forget. It was my favourite but as I was young, I don't think I remembered the name.

This right here.

It's all thanks to Tomica that Takara is able to get all these car licenses more swimmingly than Hasbro, and Volkswagon was an admittedly tough one for them to get, but they got it and that's awesome!


Though, not sure why this news needed its own thread instead of continuing on from the existing one.

Obviously we have to wait until we have finished version pics but right now I really don't like it. Bee is one of those guys you will never get cartoon accurate in both modes due to the way he was animated. (Somehow the hood and front fenders folded into feet with no lights or hood kibble on the cartoon) He also had a rounded and plump car mode but slimmed down considerably in robot mode. Due to all this the use of this version of the Bug just makes the figure look old and bland. Though it wouldn't be accurate I would much rather have the alt mode made from one of the newer Bug models.






Just a comparison with the newer model to show what I mean

looks awesome

As a counter argument, I really like this bee precisely because it is an original old model VW but has a toonish bot mode. Growing up in the 80's, I remember getting him for $3 at the local toy store. Nothing about that toy looks like what he was in the show, but I didn't care at all since in my mind he was the same. These masterpieces are the toys I imagined I was playing with when I was a kid. Tomy is banking on this nostalgia heavily. Realistically, they are luxury, collector toys aimed at my generation who has disposable income.

Judging by the interview, this line is selling very well since they don't have to repurpose molds. I suspect this line will go on for a long time since guys like me will consistently buy them all. Unfortunately, this also means they will gradually crank the prices up since we are captive addicts.