The Energon Pub

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

Jelze Bunnycat wrote:

Bounti76 wrote:Sure, Jazz would be a more logical choice, but has Porsche given Takara a license to use his car mode? That's probably why we haven't gotten an MP Jazz or Cliffjumper. Or maybe some other company has the license, which is why we got a modified Ferrari altmode for SS Dino.

Porsche has always been a pain in the exhaust port, next to Volkswagen. The latter did loosen up for Bumblebee's popularity, but only for him, not for any of his redeco offspring like Glyph and Bug Bite.

Ferrari's exclusive toy license was held first by Mattel for Hot Wheels, and now by the Hong Kong-based Maisto. That license has so far only been used for die-cast model cars, so I guess nothing beyond that is in the cards. The supplier of the license makes the conditions.

I think Volkswagon owns Porsche or vice versa. My Dad had a Porsche back in the day that had a Volkswagon engine.

Volkswagen owns Porsche and Lamborghini. But the rights to license are owned by whichever brother has the controlling interest of whichever country. It's complicated. Too complicated. They give the licenses out very greedily.

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:Was going to find the Road Rage thread, but figured this might work better here.

I did get the MP Road Rage figure today from a buddy, and I now see what a lot of people were talking about with the Tracks mold. The backpack and floating neck do bother me some, and I can see why this was not a popular move. But having her in person, she is pretty dang neat, the alt mode is super awesome, and she isn't too bad overall. I wish she came with Track's flight stand, but I wonder if MP Blackarachnias works in the same fashion? I need to try it.

Anyways, I like her, and I'm glad she got made

There are a few generic ones on eBay...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/193770945722

https://www.ebay.com/itm/184475743575

Hello Everyone,

First post, decided to start revisting transformers with my oldest son, and became hooked on the masterpiece figures. I have used this forum as a way of vetting which hold up quality wise and what is out there! Definitely a wealth of knowledge.

Right now my son is collecting the earthrise figures (Mirage, Wheeljack and Smokescreen) and I have purchased some masterpieces "for when he gets older ".
MP20 Wheeljack, MP 12 Sideswipe and a KO MP 19 Smokescreen, just purchased a MP 25 Tracks.

Its a slippery slope, but fun!

Oh and I did dig out my old toys and do have a G1 Jetfire, Thrust, Kup and yellow Devastator set when I was a kid.

Anyways happy to be here!

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:I don't really get the fixation on Jazz. I think more on all the non-licenced Season 1 & 2 characters they should have been adding to this line instead dilly-dallying. Even I might have been tempted by MP Insecticons.

I dunno, I think it might be because he's one of the most popular characters in the franchise.

Spartron wrote:Hello Everyone,

First post, decided to start revisting transformers with my oldest son, and became hooked on the masterpiece figures. I have used this forum as a way of vetting which hold up quality wise and what is out there! Definitely a wealth of knowledge.

Right now my son is collecting the earthrise figures (Mirage, Wheeljack and Smokescreen) and I have purchased some masterpieces "for when he gets older ".
MP20 Wheeljack, MP 12 Sideswipe and a KO MP 19 Smokescreen, just purchased a MP 25 Tracks.

Its a slippery slope, but fun!

Oh and I did dig out my old toys and do have a G1 Jetfire, Thrust, Kup and yellow Devastator set when I was a kid.

Anyways happy to be here!

The Pandora box have been open!
Soon enough, you'll import Takara exclusives and most importantly, buying the same exact toy over and over again just because it's in a different color.

ONE OF US!

ONE OF US!

ONE OF US!

sol magnus wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:I don't really get the fixation on Jazz. I think more on all the non-licenced Season 1 & 2 characters they should have been adding to this line instead dilly-dallying. Even I might have been tempted by MP Insecticons.

I dunno, I think it might be because he's one of the most popular characters in the franchise.

What may also play is that he's one of the last Car Robots to get the MP treatment outside of Hoist and Trailbreaker, and the last one with a specifically called out car model, the Porsche 935 Turbo. Hoist and Trailbreaker are 4WD Hi-Luxes by Toyota, but the maker wasn't called out on his original Diaclone toy so it wasn't that known I believe.

Anyway, Porsche is pig-headed with it's licenses, while Toyota should be a bit easier: Binaltech Skids of all characters happens to be a Scion xB aka Toyota bB, so HasTak have dealt with them before.

Jelze Bunnycat wrote:

sol magnus wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:I don't really get the fixation on Jazz. I think more on all the non-licenced Season 1 & 2 characters they should have been adding to this line instead dilly-dallying. Even I might have been tempted by MP Insecticons.

I dunno, I think it might be because he's one of the most popular characters in the franchise.

What may also play is that he's one of the last Car Robots to get the MP treatment outside of Hoist and Trailbreaker, and the last one with a specifically called out car model, the Porsche 935 Turbo. Hoist and Trailbreaker are 4WD Hi-Luxes by Toyota, but the maker wasn't called out on his original Diaclone toy so it wasn't that known I believe.

Anyway, Porsche is pig-headed with it's licenses, while Toyota should be a bit easier: Binaltech Skids of all characters happens to be a Scion xB aka Toyota bB, so HasTak have dealt with them before.

The licensing, which you are 100% right about, wasn't what he was saying. He was saying he didn't get why everybody wants Jazz and demeaned that desire with 'fixation,' like Jazz is, y'know - Skids or somebody and not Jazz. Why would ANYONE want an MP Jazz?

Sometimes I think HasTak should just make a new line that has all the same quality and scale as Masterpiece, but without the need for costly licenses, just "close enough" proximities. Call it Master Classics or something.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:Sometimes I think HasTak should just make a new line that has all the same quality and scale as Masterpiece, but without the need for costly licenses, just "close enough" proximities. Call it Master Classics or something.

Emerje

We already have that: Studio Series 86

I wonder though: the original Diaclone toys were almost perfect replicas due to lack of licensing laws (something that wouldn't be dealt with until the 90's to 2000), how much of the detailing were omitted or simplified for animation, and would those be enough to avoid licensing?

Emerje wrote:Sometimes I think HasTak should just make a new line that has all the same quality and scale as Masterpiece, but without the need for costly licenses, just "close enough" proximities. Call it Master Classics or something.

Emerje

That seems to be what the did with the Bumblebee 2.0? Maybe thats their solution - be more cartoon accurate and hence not have to license the automobile license?

Shamefull self promotion here, but ya gotta love when they make major accessories like the MP-10 trailer compatible with other figures in other lines.



More pictures here.

Do you guys use MP accessories to enhance your regular figures?
Or the opposite?

Spartron wrote:

Emerje wrote:Sometimes I think HasTak should just make a new line that has all the same quality and scale as Masterpiece, but without the need for costly licenses, just "close enough" proximities. Call it Master Classics or something.

Emerje

That seems to be what the did with the Bumblebee 2.0? Maybe thats their solution - be more cartoon accurate and hence not have to license the automobile license?

MP-45 Bumblebee v.2 is still officially licensed, despite the Penny Racer proportions... Like the recent Walmart G1 reissue. That may be a consequence of them already holding the license for the Beetle because of the Bumblebee movie and HasTak wanting to be consistent.

-Kanrabat- wrote:Shamefull self promotion here, but ya gotta love when they make major accessories like the MP-10 trailer compatible with other figures in other lines.



More pictures here.

Do you guys use MP accessories to enhance your regular figures?
Or the opposite?

That looks amazing!!

The metal Decepticon logo looks very familiar The keyring from the Part-Work??

As far as customising goes. I had a wallet that had a similar piece attached a couple of years ago. The wallet fell apart but, someday I'll find a use for this...

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:The metal Decepticon logo looks very familiar The keyring from the Part-Work??

As far as customising goes. I had a wallet that had a similar piece attached a couple of years ago. The wallet fell apart but, someday I'll find a use for this...

Metal.jpg

Metal2.jpg

Almost. It's from some keychain. You know, the kind that the thingy barely hold on with a cheap-ass ring that tear appart with very little force. Useless as a keychain, but damn useful as material.

Click on the link for more pictures. The insides of the trailer are very... sweet.

Jelze Bunnycat wrote:

Spartron wrote:

Emerje wrote:Sometimes I think HasTak should just make a new line that has all the same quality and scale as Masterpiece, but without the need for costly licenses, just "close enough" proximities. Call it Master Classics or something.

Emerje

That seems to be what the did with the Bumblebee 2.0? Maybe thats their solution - be more cartoon accurate and hence not have to license the automobile license?

MP-45 Bumblebee v.2 is still officially licensed, despite the Penny Racer proportions... Like the recent Walmart G1 reissue. That may be a consequence of them already holding the license for the Beetle because of the Bumblebee movie and HasTak wanting to be consistent.

That sounds right, it does seem like a possible out on other figures though.

Jelze Bunnycat wrote:

Spartron wrote:

Emerje wrote:Sometimes I think HasTak should just make a new line that has all the same quality and scale as Masterpiece, but without the need for costly licenses, just "close enough" proximities. Call it Master Classics or something.

Emerje

That seems to be what the did with the Bumblebee 2.0? Maybe thats their solution - be more cartoon accurate and hence not have to license the automobile license?

MP-45 Bumblebee v.2 is still officially licensed, despite the Penny Racer proportions... Like the recent Walmart G1 reissue. That may be a consequence of them already holding the license for the Beetle because of the Bumblebee movie and HasTak wanting to be consistent.

Could also just be Hasbro not wanting to betray VW's faith in them. Both companies know what G1 Bumblebee was supposed to be so releasing the squat little figure without a VW badge while having a current license could have been seen as an insult.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:

Jelze Bunnycat wrote:

Spartron wrote:

Emerje wrote:Sometimes I think HasTak should just make a new line that has all the same quality and scale as Masterpiece, but without the need for costly licenses, just "close enough" proximities. Call it Master Classics or something.

Emerje

That seems to be what the did with the Bumblebee 2.0? Maybe thats their solution - be more cartoon accurate and hence not have to license the automobile license?

MP-45 Bumblebee v.2 is still officially licensed, despite the Penny Racer proportions... Like the recent Walmart G1 reissue. That may be a consequence of them already holding the license for the Beetle because of the Bumblebee movie and HasTak wanting to be consistent.

Could also just be Hasbro not wanting to betray VW's faith in them. Both companies know what G1 Bumblebee was supposed to be so releasing the squat little figure without a VW badge while having a current license could have been seen as an insult.

Emerje

I agree. Has/Taks, as well as other companies, got away with a lot in the 80s that I think those companies are paying for now. If I remember correctly there were a few licensing issues during Alternators that were due to some bad blood from the early days.

Next MP might be Beee Prime, wondering if Rattrap got lost in the sewers or trampled by Oxen

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

Emerje wrote:

Jelze Bunnycat wrote:

Spartron wrote:

Emerje wrote:Sometimes I think HasTak should just make a new line that has all the same quality and scale as Masterpiece, but without the need for costly licenses, just "close enough" proximities. Call it Master Classics or something.

Emerje

That seems to be what the did with the Bumblebee 2.0? Maybe thats their solution - be more cartoon accurate and hence not have to license the automobile license?

MP-45 Bumblebee v.2 is still officially licensed, despite the Penny Racer proportions... Like the recent Walmart G1 reissue. That may be a consequence of them already holding the license for the Beetle because of the Bumblebee movie and HasTak wanting to be consistent.

Could also just be Hasbro not wanting to betray VW's faith in them. Both companies know what G1 Bumblebee was supposed to be so releasing the squat little figure without a VW badge while having a current license could have been seen as an insult.

Emerje

I agree. Has/Taks, as well as other companies, got away with a lot in the 80s that I think those companies are paying for now. If I remember correctly there were a few licensing issues during Alternators that were due to some bad blood from the early days.

Not quite true, back then there were no licensing regulations AFAIK; they came into play in 2001/2002 with Dodge for RiD Side Burn (that possibly planted the seed for Alternators/Binaltech). It's mostly reputation and being associated with "war toys" or "toys having guns", and given the history of some companies and that of the country they are headquartered in I can understand. Volkswagen was a holdout during that time, initially Chevrolet was one for Tracks (now look where they are now), and Honda USA (not the main Honda HQ) requested the gunbarrel removed from Windcharger.

Weird then that Hound, Powerglide and Warpath were delayed for as long as they have been (and still are, in the latter cases). Military vehicles wouldn't really care about the association, with what others consider the negative reputation of toys with guns.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Weird then that Hound, Powerglide and Warpath were delayed for as long as they have been (and still are, in the latter cases). Military vehicles wouldn't really care about the association, with what others consider the negative reputation of toys with guns.

There may be a distinction made between Civilian vehicles, and vehicles for Armed Forces, with the latter harder to acquire due to confidentiality or cost I guess. The F-22 Raptor and SR-71 Blackbird (both by Lockheed), and Pave-Low MH-53 are the only ones of their kind licensed in the whole Movie range outside of Studio Series as far as I can tell. I really need look into that and update my lists.

When I was younger, due to his ..unusual toy and animation model. Plus being a mini-vehicle, I didn't think Warpath was based on a specific vehicle at all. Just a generic tank.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:When I was younger, due to his ..unusual toy and animation model. Plus being a mini-vehicle, I didn't think Warpath was based on a specific vehicle at all. Just a generic tank.

I never really knew which tank he was based on, but I always knew he was based on something.

TFWIKI wrote:Warpath transforms into a General Motors M551A1 Sheridan ARAAV tank.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Weird then that Hound, Powerglide and Warpath were delayed for as long as they have been (and still are, in the latter cases). Military vehicles wouldn't really care about the association, with what others consider the negative reputation of toys with guns.

Might work the other way around too, maybe toy companies are a bit recluctant to have licences from pearls like Mitsubishi and cars for GermanZ?