The Energon Pub

[Kurona]

I want the first release of the mold to be Hauler.

Do it, Takara!

I'd like to see a Hauler as well. Despite the lack of screen time, he's one of those cult-like characters where 'less is more'. I liken it to Boba Fett or Vader before the prequels.

On that note... wow. I didn't realize how long it had been since I visited this site. I joined way back while I was in college!

Considering how absolutely obscure some of the MP Repaints get - seriously, Exhaust? - I'd be expecting a Hauler repaint out of the inevitable Grapple retool. Hell, the only other guy that came from the G1 Inferno/Grapple mold is Artfire - I expect we might see all four. Hauler is almost guaranteed in my mind tho.

[Seibertron]

Artfire would make me extremely happy.

[Kurona]

Artfire would make me extremely happy.

I've got no attachment to the guy, but I'd love to see him made too just because an MP Targetmaster that doesn't require Hasbro to make Firebolt Offshoot themselves.
Hell, seeing as how the Diaclone versions of Inferno and Grapple were... pretty much the exact same as their Transformers counterparts in terms of deco, I'd say that makes MP Artfire even more likely.

[shajaki]

Considering how absolutely obscure some of the MP Repaints get - seriously, Exhaust? - I'd be expecting a Hauler repaint out of the inevitable Grapple retool. Hell, the only other guy that came from the G1 Inferno/Grapple mold is Artfire - I expect we might see all four. Hauler is almost guaranteed in my mind tho.

Isn't it great that we can make statements like that these days?

But I doubt I'll ever get the Hauler I want. It's nice that he was officially recognized (by E-Hobby) and the color and backstory given was really neat, that's not the Hauler I want. If an MP Hauler is made I'd fully expect him to be Constructicon green. And while I'll happily buy and display it, it's still not Hauler to me.

The Hauler I want, would be yellow. He was more orange than yellow, but Grapple pretty much owns the orange. So make Hauler yellow. And give him a new head sculpt at least, WHICH possibilities are endless since he never actually transformed in the cartoon.

I'm crazy. I know. But it's nice to dream

[Thanos]

Considering how absolutely obscure some of the MP Repaints get - seriously, Exhaust? - I'd be expecting a Hauler repaint out of the inevitable Grapple retool. Hell, the only other guy that came from the G1 Inferno/Grapple mold is Artfire - I expect we might see all four. Hauler is almost guaranteed in my mind tho.

Isn't it great that we can make statements like that these days?

But I doubt I'll ever get the Hauler I want. It's nice that he was officially recognized (by E-Hobby) and the color and backstory given was really neat, that's not the Hauler I want. If an MP Hauler is made I'd fully expect him to be Constructicon green. And while I'll happily buy and display it, it's still not Hauler to me.

The Hauler I want, would be yellow. He was more orange than yellow, but Grapple pretty much owns the orange. So make Hauler yellow. And give him a new head sculpt at least, WHICH possibilities are endless since he never actually transformed in the cartoon.

I'm crazy. I know. But it's nice to dream

To be quite honest, what you want wouldn't be so difficult in the hands of a decently skilled customizer. A junked Grapple, a custom paint job, some repro labels and perhaps a head swap would do the trick. Not all that difficult, honestly. Makes me wonder if I could do it.

[ScottyP]

Until Kobayashi lets his grip loosen on the line a bit (which isn't likely to happen anytime soon), you're not getting panel lines.

To be fair to Ironhide, Hisao Nishimoto did that MP mold rather than Kobayashi.

But hasn't he been at least sticking his fingers in to everything since Magnus?

[Sabrblade]

Until Kobayashi lets his grip loosen on the line a bit (which isn't likely to happen anytime soon), you're not getting panel lines.

To be fair to Ironhide, Hisao Nishimoto did that MP mold rather than Kobayashi.

But hasn't he been at least sticking his fingers in to everything since Magnus?

To be frank, I really don't know which ones Kobayashi has done since Magnus. I know Hasui gave Magnus to him, Exhaust was a retooled Hasui mold, and Star Saber was done by Yuki, but as for all the ones after that, I have no idea if Kobayashi did all those too (save for Nishimoto's Ironhide mold) or if other people did.

Scratch all that. I just found a list of MP designers on the Wiki that I never knew existed. And according to this list, Kobayashi did do Ironhide, which begs the question as to why Nishimoto was originally said to be Ironhide's designer back when MP Ironhide was first presented at that toy show in Japan that first revealed MP Ironhide.

[Seibertron]

Until Kobayashi lets his grip loosen on the line a bit (which isn't likely to happen anytime soon), you're not getting panel lines.

To be fair to Ironhide, Hisao Nishimoto did that MP mold rather than Kobayashi.

But hasn't he been at least sticking his fingers in to everything since Magnus?

To be frank, I really don't know which ones Kobayashi has done since Magnus. I know Hasui gave Magnus to him, Exhaust was a retooled Hasui mold, and Star Saber was done by Yuki, but as for all the ones after that, I have no idea if Kobayashi did all those too (save for Nishimoto's Ironhide mold) or if other people did.

Scratch all that. I just found a list of MP designers on the Wiki that I never knew existed. And according to this list, Kobayashi did do Ironhide, which begs the question as to why Nishimoto was originally said to be Ironhide's designer back MP Ironhide was first presented at that toy show in Japan that first revealed MP Ironhide.

This goes back to something I've been saying all along ... those of you who follow the "designers" give them WAY too much credit for their particular influence. The designers have to adhere to a set style or guidelines, of which they may be able to greatly influence, but I'm pretty sure this would be a team effort with one person as the primary designer. As a programmer who has worked at 5 web firms, we certainly got to inject our own "style" into our code and design, but we had to adhere to certain guidelines that made it that particular company's "style". I can't imagine that companies as big as Hasbro and Takara Tomy just let a specific designer have at a toy without internal meetings and approval points with upper management and/or peers that would sign off on the product at various stages of development. I'm sure "hey should we stick to a G1 toy or G1 cartoon aesthetic" comes up during the process and that the designer and the team involved with the product's development at least draw the product a few different ways and come to an agreement about the product. This one man show mentality can't be how this works. The success of these products must rely on the decisions of many instead of who the particular designer is.

[huryochagi]

Excellent cartoon accuracy. I think they'll release an MP Grapple soon after. Still waiting for MP Jazz and MP Hound.

[Ironhidensh]

After getting home this evening, I checked my Masterpiece Ultra Magnus figure, and he's got TONS of sculpted detailing all over his paneling. Seibertron and others, what are your qualms with the "cartoon accuracy" of MP Ultra Magnus in this case? Is it just that he's not white MP-10 with partsforming battle armor?

I can't speak for anything other than how he looks to me, he looks like he's lacking something; like some painted details, he's just acres and acres of plain red and blue plastic, if they had taken *some* liscense with his deco, he probably would've looked amazing. Just look at the difference between these two magnus', the addition of a fourth plastic color and some colorful flairs, really helps out his overall look.

I had felt the same. I love, love, love MP Magnus, but felt he was lacking. Then I got a set of after market decals for him, and now that feeling is gone.

It'd be nice if that little extra detail was there in the first place.

[DedicatedGhostArt]

Personally I'm fine with extra detail... or no extra detail. It's cool if it's there, doesn't really damage the figure in my eyes if it's not.

Yes (cool if there but not bad if not so long as TT releases one) and iirc, the thrust of MP is to be more anime, so it's an alibi to lessen the "details". Even in UW, Defensor had less "details" over the CW version.

I think there needs to be a balance. I feel that while the new MPs have not enough detail, the Titans Return stuff has too much. I feel if both lines dwelt in the middle it would be best.

[padfoo]

I think some of us may be experiencing Masterpiece fatigue at this point. They've been coming in so hot and fast for the past two years, this year especially, that there isn't a lot of breathing room to take things in anymore and really appreciate the intricacies before the next figure is already on the horizon or in our collections. If this really is "plastic crack" as a lot of collectors joke, it probably works on us like actual drugs do. It gives you a nice, satisfying "high" at first, but with repeated "use," you get less bang for your buck. In less bleak terms, let's say it's "too much of a good thing" that's making some of us sour on the Masterpiece line right now. Maybe Takara needs to hit the breaks a bit on the releases and leave us wanting more instead of spoiling us rotten.

Hi! As stated above, it just needs details in its extremely simplistic and blocky panels on its legs. As it is right now, it looks like the mold is an unfinished mold. Hopefully they add some details before the finished product. I'm signed off on the upper body. It's the lower body that need to be finished/detailed.

I love a little more detail, on my masterpiece figures as well. Its not like they could have added much more detail on the original animation models, back in the days. If they were done today they would look vastly different. I like a bit more update in my MP figures.

[padfoo]

Comparison:

Heck of a lot of detail on that G1 figure, so maybe we are all getting a bit too excited if the designers bridge the gap.

[MGrotusque]

I have a feeling the head articulation is going to be an issue on this mold.
It looks like there will be no way possible to get any meaningful articulation other than turning the head left or right from these preliminary images of the figure.

[Sabrblade]

I have a feeling the head articulation is going to be an issue on this mold.
It looks like there will be no way possible to get any meaningful articulation other than turning the head left or right from these preliminary images of the figure.

Well, the whole base with his head and wings rotated in the show, so that might have a swivel on it.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

Holy cow, where does that ladder go?

[Kurona]

Holy cow, where does that ladder go?

I was thinking the same thing! At first I was looking at it thinking like "wait, didn't the ladder stick down between his legs on the show?" So then I looked it up... and found it didn't. And then I was like "Huh. That's cool WAIT WHAT WITCHCRAFT MADE THE LADDER DISAPPEAR"

[D-Maximal_Primal]

Holy cow, where does that ladder go?

I was thinking the same thing! At first I was looking at it thinking like "wait, didn't the ladder stick down between his legs on the show?" So then I looked it up... and found it didn't. And then I was like "Huh. That's cool WAIT WHAT WITCHCRAFT MADE THE LADDER DISAPPEAR"

Gotta be some sort of cool awesome dark magic going on here...

[Ironhidensh]

It bothers me now that it's been pinged out to me.

[shajaki]

BASH'D

[Hellscream9999]

Fellow Seibertronians, hot on the heels of the other reveals, we bring you more news of the Masterpiece variety. This time from Dengeki Hobby web on Twitter and Dengeki Hobby web's site of a colored prototype of Masterpiece Inferno. Along side showing off the accesories, and the idea that the ladder seemingly disappears using magic, it also give us a great 360 degree look at the figure. Some of his accessories include a water stream, several faces, and alternate bumpers, among other things. So, does this get you excited for the figure? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

Ladder Magic!!

[Hellscream9999]

Ladder Magic!!

In all seriousness, I see something square and white inside his torso, gotta imagine it gets folded up into his torso

Still looks too plain, I love how they include 'dumbed down' bumpers to remove what little detail the figure already has

[shajaki]

I gotta say, for some reason I'm really diggin him

[Hellscream9999]

I gotta say, for some reason I'm really diggin him

Me too, I like the hip skirt, and he has a nice chunkiness to him, I just wish it had more detailing; I'd also likely like Grapple more, but I'd rather Artfire Figure Artfire will go the Loudpedal route of being an even exclusive