The Energon Pub

Sabrblade wrote:Yeah, 2006 and 2008 are definitely the most expensive of the BotCon sets on the secondary market.

Although, one thing that irks me about the MP SG Optimus is that it got SG Optimus's purple totally wrong, and now that wrong purple has spilled over into the Selects version.

I think the Selects version (and the MP) looks better than the previous ones. They're the ones that got it wrong.

Rodimus Prime wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Yeah, 2006 and 2008 are definitely the most expensive of the BotCon sets on the secondary market.

Although, one thing that irks me about the MP SG Optimus is that it got SG Optimus's purple totally wrong, and now that wrong purple has spilled over into the Selects version.

I think the Selects version (and the MP) looks better than the previous ones. They're the ones that got it wrong.

I still like the BotCon 2008 more, not just because of colors: the Classics mold looks more powerful than the Earthise one, befitting the character more.

Rodimus Prime wrote:I think the Selects version (and the MP) looks better than the previous ones. They're the ones that got it wrong.

But the whole point of the original deco was to take the traditional Optimus Prime red and blue deco and make it look "tarnished" and "twisted" into an evil-looking version of the deco. The brighter purple is supposed to look as if it may have once been red in another lifetime... *nudge nudge wink wink*

The MP and Selects figures, on the other hand, hew more towards the opposite end of the purple spectrum instead by making it a more bluish purple, going for the effect of "darker colors = bad guy" that's more of a thing for Nemesis Prime rather than SG Optimus Prime.

Sabrblade wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:I think the Selects version (and the MP) looks better than the previous ones. They're the ones that got it wrong.

But the whole point of the original deco was to take the traditional Optimus Prime red and blue deco and make it look "tarnished" and "twisted" into an evil-looking version of the deco. The brighter purple is supposed to look as if it may have once been red in another lifetime... *nudge nudge wink wink*

The MP and Selects figures, on the other hand, hew more towards the opposite end of the purple spectrum instead by making it a more bluish purple, going for the effect of "darker colors = bad guy" that's more of a thing for Nemesis Prime rather than SG Optimus Prime.

I wanted to quote this to say that I do not own any of the SG figures with the original purple, but I do like that purple more.

Don't mean to change the topic, but I was curious. Are there any particular models I should avoid? Not because of aesthetics, but because of quality or design issues? for example, I really like Hound, but the price and the fragility has given me pause. Are there any others- G1 only that I should be wary of?

Also side note: I just received Ironhide (MP-27) in the mail today! great figure!

Spartron wrote:Don't mean to change the topic, but I was curious. Are there any particular models I should avoid? Not because of aesthetics, but because of quality or design issues? for example, I really like Hound, but the price and the fragility has given me pause. Are there any others- G1 only that I should be wary of?

Also side note: I just received Ironhide (MP-27) in the mail today! great figure!

Go with cases by cases. Many MOs have issues to be aware of some heavy, some negligible. Find something you really want, look for video reviews, and ask around!

Spartron wrote:Don't mean to change the topic, but I was curious. Are there any particular models I should avoid? Not because of aesthetics, but because of quality or design issues? for example, I really like Hound, but the price and the fragility has given me pause. Are there any others- G1 only that I should be wary of?

Also side note: I just received Ironhide (MP-27) in the mail today! great figure!

Hmm, MP-22 Ultra Magnus can have a knee problem after a while but it's fixable. I heard of some people breaking their MP-45 Bumblebee.
Oh, and there are a few small procedures you can do to MP-36 Megatron to avoid issues.

MP-27 is great, even better with the upgrade kit.

MP-44 Prime v. 3.0 just isn't fun to handle, MP-36 has issues with the barrel extension that I never understood how to avoid.

Cyberpath wrote:

Spartron wrote:Don't mean to change the topic, but I was curious. Are there any particular models I should avoid? Not because of aesthetics, but because of quality or design issues? for example, I really like Hound, but the price and the fragility has given me pause. Are there any others- G1 only that I should be wary of?

Also side note: I just received Ironhide (MP-27) in the mail today! great figure!

Hmm, MP-22 Ultra Magnus can have a knee problem after a while but it's fixable. I heard of some people breaking their MP-45 Bumblebee.
Oh, and there are a few small procedures you can do to MP-36 Megatron to avoid issues.

MP-27 is great, even better with the upgrade kit.

Thank you for the heads up! I am really liking MP-27! What is this upgrade kit you speak of? He came with an arsenal already.

Thank you for the advise! unrelated question - is there any rhyme or reason when they re-issue old models? I really want to get my hands on a Soundwave, but the prices I am seeing on Ebay are insane.

Spartron wrote:Thank you for the heads up! I am really liking MP-27! What is this upgrade kit you speak of? He came with an arsenal already.

It "transforms" his hips from this:




To this:

Spartron wrote:Thank you for the advise! unrelated question - is there any rhyme or reason when they re-issue old models? I really want to get my hands on a Soundwave, but the prices I am seeing on Ebay are insane.

Sometimes when they work on a new version of a character, before announcing it, they'd re-issue the last version to get the most out of that mold before it gets obsolete -- I think.

I don't agree with the MP-44 being hard to handle, or the MP-22 loose leg joint. LOL

Spartron wrote:Thank you for the advise! unrelated question - is there any rhyme or reason when they re-issue old models? I really want to get my hands on a Soundwave, but the prices I am seeing on Ebay are insane.

The Best Soundwave you can get is the Hasbro version that come with all the cassettes. Also, on Ebay you have high chances to get a knock off. Check out Amazon.jp for some toys that can be reasonably priced. Plus the DHL shipping is cheap and crazy fast.

https://www.amazon.co.jp/s?k=transforme ... _nr_p_89_3

My other favorite spot is Mandarake. Best price around, but unfortunately, they don't have Amazon's deal for shipping so their DHL ruin every deals. Once the Covid bull calm down, it should be advantageous again.

https://order.mandarake.co.jp/order/lis ... rs&lang=en

Happy hunting!

Hi there, sorry if this is the wrong place and would appreciate a pointing in the right direction, but couldn't find a thread to discuss Movie Masterpieces as a whole.

What is the general opinion on the MPM Autobots? I love the Decepticons, but the Autobots look a bit funky in images and not sure if I want to fork out the massive prices to get the five of them, but also seems weird only getting the Decepticon ones! Any opinions appreciated!

This is the right place to also discuss NPM.

The only Autobots I have are 07 Optimus and 07 Bee. Both look absolutely fantastic in bot mode and vehicle mode. But both are a real pain in the butt to transform as usual.

As for Bug Bee, as a stand alone figure he's not too bad but he's no "masterpiece" 3p offer better alternatives.
Ratchet is considered great while Ironhide is considered crap.

Hope that helped!

-Kanrabat- wrote:This is the right place to also discuss NPM.

The only Autobots I have are 07 Optimus and 07 Bee. Both look absolutely fantastic in bot mode and vehicle mode. But both are a real pain in the butt to transform as usual.

As for Bug Bee, as a stand alone figure he's not too bad but he's no "masterpiece" 3p offer better alternatives.
Ratchet is considered great while Ironhide is considered crap.

Hope that helped!

Thanks for the advice! If I got one I'd have to get them all so its a big decision to make. Not interested in Bumblebee movie Bee just the 07 autobots.

Cyberpath wrote:

Spartron wrote:Thank you for the heads up! I am really liking MP-27! What is this upgrade kit you speak of? He came with an arsenal already.

It "transforms" his hips from this:

To this:

Spartron wrote:Thank you for the advise! unrelated question - is there any rhyme or reason when they re-issue old models? I really want to get my hands on a Soundwave, but the prices I am seeing on Ebay are insane.

Sometimes when they work on a new version of a character, before announcing it, they'd re-issue the last version to get the most out of that mold before it gets obsolete -- I think.

Oh wow, that looks great, I will look into it. thank you for the heads up!

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Spartron wrote:Thank you for the advise! unrelated question - is there any rhyme or reason when they re-issue old models? I really want to get my hands on a Soundwave, but the prices I am seeing on Ebay are insane.

The Best Soundwave you can get is the Hasbro version that come with all the cassettes. Also, on Ebay you have high chances to get a knock off. Check out Amazon.jp for some toys that can be reasonably priced. Plus the DHL shipping is cheap and crazy fast.

https://www.amazon.co.jp/s?k=transforme ... _nr_p_89_3

My other favorite spot is Mandarake. Best price around, but unfortunately, they don't have Amazon's deal for shipping so their DHL ruin every deals. Once the Covid bull calm down, it should be advantageous again.

https://order.mandarake.co.jp/order/lis ... rs&lang=en

Happy hunting!

Amazon.JP doesn't seem crazy with shipping costs. Mandarake can be trouble, need my yen to dollar conversion handy!

LeAwesome1 wrote:Hi there, sorry if this is the wrong place and would appreciate a pointing in the right direction, but couldn't find a thread to discuss Movie Masterpieces as a whole.

What is the general opinion on the MPM Autobots? I love the Decepticons, but the Autobots look a bit funky in images and not sure if I want to fork out the massive prices to get the five of them, but also seems weird only getting the Decepticon ones! Any opinions appreciated!

I own all 5, so here is a quick rundown:

Prime: He is a fantastic robot, but sucks as a transformer. The front end will not line up without a lot of luck and work in alt mode, and the transformation is really involved. Think overengineered RotF leader.

Bee: Really good all around, a bit tricky to transform, but he makes sense and is a lot of fun.

Ironhide: he has material issues with the way the shoulders work, so he can be difficult to work with in robot mode, unless you can get a hold of his upgrade kit that makes him much more solid in the torso and shoulder area.

Ratchet: really solid, his backpack is a little big, but not huge, and it is basically movie accurate in detail. Really solid as well, and probably the most fun to transform of the lot.

Jazz: the best of the lot, lots of fun stuff to do with him, really well painted, transformation is also pretty good and he is so movie accurate it's awesome. A must get.

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:Jazz: the best of the lot, lots of fun stuff to do with him, really well painted, transformation is also pretty good and he is so movie accurate it's awesome. A must get.

How in the Nine Hells did I forgot I own him?
And yeah, perfect bot, perfect car, and actually FUN to transform.
A must.

And if you're Canadian outside of Quebec, (because screw Quebec), he's on clearance at 65$CAN at TrU.

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

LeAwesome1 wrote:Hi there, sorry if this is the wrong place and would appreciate a pointing in the right direction, but couldn't find a thread to discuss Movie Masterpieces as a whole.

What is the general opinion on the MPM Autobots? I love the Decepticons, but the Autobots look a bit funky in images and not sure if I want to fork out the massive prices to get the five of them, but also seems weird only getting the Decepticon ones! Any opinions appreciated!

I own all 5, so here is a quick rundown:

Prime: He is a fantastic robot, but sucks as a transformer. The front end will not line up without a lot of luck and work in alt mode, and the transformation is really involved. Think overengineered RotF leader.

Bee: Really good all around, a bit tricky to transform, but he makes sense and is a lot of fun.

Ironhide: he has material issues with the way the shoulders work, so he can be difficult to work with in robot mode, unless you can get a hold of his upgrade kit that makes him much more solid in the torso and shoulder area.

Ratchet: really solid, his backpack is a little big, but not huge, and it is basically movie accurate in detail. Really solid as well, and probably the most fun to transform of the lot.

Jazz: the best of the lot, lots of fun stuff to do with him, really well painted, transformation is also pretty good and he is so movie accurate it's awesome. A must get.

Really appreciate this! I'm still stuck on the fence though, because I am getting the MPM Decepticons because they look surprisingly very screen accurate, but I just cannot decide if the Autobots do from the images I've seen. They look good except a couple of details that throw it for me.

In this Tweet, a magazine scan of Japanese text gives us some major news.



First, it mentions something about Masterpiece Skids and a second use of that mold, which I've already posted here in Skids's thread.

Next, the text mentions that Raiden is still coming.

Third, it seems to mention... Masterpiece Skyfire!

And finally, I cannot tell specifically whether this next point is for Skyfire or Raiden since both are mentioned in the same paragraph as this, but whichever of the two this is for, the one it is talking about will be of comparable size to "Unite Warriors size" (but it also doesn't seem to specify if it means the size of the normal non-Titan combiners or the size of UW Devastator, which would make more sense for either of the two at MP scale).

A MP Skyfire will be at least the same price as MP-44.
But eh, hardcore 3P collectors are used to this.

I'll keep an eye open for this one.

Upto three new G1 MP announcements and nothing new for Beast Wars...

RIP wallet but that's very exciting news!