The Energon Pub

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:True enough. But they just seem to be going around in circles with the G1 line now? It must be so frustrating to those invested in those releases.

I agree.

We'll be seeing that again when they reveal the next MP Seeker mold.

Seekers... Again!?

We dont know, but of all the main characters out there, the Starscream MP seems to be the most outdated by far, especially since there never truly was a Starscream MP 2.0 mold, compared to Megatron, Hot Rod, Magnus and Prime 2.0 who all got news molds from scratch.

There have been Twelve MP Seekers in this line to date, with the Coneheads being the most recent. Surely there have been enough refinements made to the mold since MP 3, to have dwarfed even MP-36 and MP-44?

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:There have been Twelve MP Seekers in this line to date, with the Coneheads being the most recent. Surely there have been enough refinements made to the mold since MP 3, to have dwarfed even MP-36 and MP-44?

Refinements have been minimal. Do you own them? They have a very low parts count compared to MP-36 and their articulation is quite lacking in comparison to the MPs of the last 5 years. They are very much still basically the MP 03 mold made to look more show accurate.

william-james88 wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:There have been Twelve MP Seekers in this line to date, with the Coneheads being the most recent. Surely there have been enough refinements made to the mold since MP 3, to have dwarfed even MP-36 and MP-44?

Refinements have been minimal. Do you own them? They have a very low parts count compared to MP-36 and their articulation is quite lacking in comparison to the MPs of the last 5 years. They are very much still basically the MP 03 mold made to look more show accurate.

No, that was a general question. So if very little has been altered, wouldn't that imply it was fit for purpose? MP-36 had to exist for a defining and Cartoon accurate Megatron. The various Primes have been experiments with scale and articulation IE MP-1 to MP-10. Surely, if 2017 Dirge isn't too far removed from '06 Starscream, Takara are happy with this as The MP Seeker mold?

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:There have been Twelve MP Seekers in this line to date, with the Coneheads being the most recent. Surely there have been enough refinements made to the mold since MP 3, to have dwarfed even MP-36 and MP-44?

Refinements have been minimal. Do you own them? They have a very low parts count compared to MP-36 and their articulation is quite lacking in comparison to the MPs of the last 5 years. They are very much still basically the MP 03 mold made to look more show accurate.

No, that was a general question. So if very little has been altered, wouldn't that imply it was fit for purpose? MP-36 had to exist for a defining and Cartoon accurate Megatron. The various Primes have been experiments with scale and articulation IE MP-1 to MP-10. Surely, if 2017 Dirge isn't too far removed from '06 Starscream, Takara are happy with this as The MP Seeker mold?

No, I think they just didnt want to redo them completely yet. MP 03 was advanced for it's time, but if you were to own them you could see how they are completely removed from a toy like MP 36 in terms of articulation or show accuracy.

I write about all that here if you are curious for just how out of league they are with the rest of current MPs: https://www.seibertron.com/transformers ... oys/37528/

And I think takara knows that, or else they wouldnt make them super exclusive and limited. Crazy to think that out of all onscreen g1 characters, the seekers are the only ones who are exclusive.

william-james88 wrote:I write about all that here if you are curious for just how out of league they are with the rest of current MPs: https://www.seibertron.com/transformers ... oys/37528/

And I think takara knows that, or else they wouldnt make them super exclusive and limited. Crazy to think that out of all onscreen g1 characters, the seekers are the only ones who are exclusive.

Yikes!

(A) Good List (yet again)

(B) Thunderblast is horrendous

(C) Fair Point on the Seeker Mold. Although I still think they should keep moving forward with new characters. I'd even welcome a MP Tetrajet over Seeker 2.0.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:
(A) Good List (yet again)

(B) Thunderblast is horrendous

(C) Fair Point on the Seeker Mold. Although I still think they should keep moving forward with new characters. I'd even welcome a MP Tetrajet over Seeker 2.0.

A) Thank you very much

B) I am glad you agree, she is. And yet she is still in ridiculously high demand, going for some serious though even loose https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Thunderblast-10 ... Sw9Mtcy76Y

C)I agree with you 100% I too think they should do other characters. I was just agreeing with you that they were doing this stupid cycle of revisiting characters before moving on and I was predicting they would do the same with the seekers (many are predicting that). I don't want that, but I fear it will happen. Most do.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:I think it wouldn't hurt for them to test the water though. A single release, MP Hot Shot or MP Demolishor? People were receptive to MP Beast Wars releases, so it stands to reason should they get a better than expected reception to MP Car Robots/Unicron Trilogy/Animated, to put G1 and all its licensing issues, to one side and push forward with representation from the rest of the series rich history.

Its too soon. Another tenish years and they'll start with the Unicron Trilogy stuff. Maybe fiveish for the Rid2001 stuff.

Honestly, if they would just finish the 84 cast in molds AKA getting out a Trailbreaker, Mirage, Jazz, and some minibots in the bots side and a Reflector on the cons side (I think that's all for 84?), I think we would be far better off. Finish the cast, don't start the wheel turning again.

I would like that so we could move on to incorporate more stuff from the 21st century, and considering with Blackarachnia we are already 5 into Beast Wars out of 14 for the first season, the Beasts are far further along too percentage wise I think.

Honestly, we may finish with Beasts and move onto RiD or UT before they finish the 85 cast, and who knows, maybe around the same time they finish the 84 cast.

Ironhidensh wrote:Its too soon. Another tenish years and they'll start with the Unicron Trilogy stuff. Maybe fiveish for the Rid2001 stuff.

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:Honestly, if they would just finish the 84 cast in molds AKA getting out a Trailbreaker, Mirage, Jazz, and some minibots in the bots side and a Reflector on the cons side (I think that's all for 84?), I think we would be far better off. Finish the cast, don't start the wheel turning again.
Honestly, we may finish with Beasts and move onto RiD or UT before they finish the 85 cast, and who knows, maybe around the same time they finish the 84 cast.

Too soon to what timetable? By the end of this year, the Masterpiece line will be 16 years old and how far has it gotten? They haven't even finished Year One of G1, which still leaves another four/five if carried on until Zone. To which they have completely slammed on the brakes and begun to restart the line with anime+.
Meanwhile from 2016 to 2019, Masterpiece Beast Wars will have 5/14 principal Season one characters. Roughly a third of the cast complete within 3 years.

Now we've discussed this before, but in light of the four immediate MP releases (MP-43, Beast Wars Megatron, MP-44 Overpriced Prime, MP-45, Bumblebee 2.0 and MP-46, Blackarachnia) I think it says to me that the design staff at Takara are more interested in moving on to something other than G1. Like the re-releases imply G1 is just a means to an end, to give them the funds to work on the characters they want to do.

As I said, maybe it might give them pause to reflect on how they have neglected the mandate of the G1 line - MP representation for each year - to see greater interest in MP UT/RiD/Animated etc instead of their current G1 output.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:
Too soon to what timetable?

The timetable of fans of Unicron/RiD to reach an age of sufficient expendable income to support an MP line.

Ironhidensh wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:
Too soon to what timetable?

The timetable of fans of Unicron/RiD to reach an age of sufficient expendable income to support an MP line.

I would guess that in order to expend affordable income on masterpiece versions of their childhood favorites, people tend to be in their early 20s at least, maybe 30 to 35 to be more conservative with the current job market and what fields people would go into.

Now your's truly is 24, and I really hit that age where I could regularly buy MPs at 23, but I am also a really big fan, and some UT/RiD fans might not be as into it at that age. So I was right around the target age for Armada when it came out, maybe RiD, maybe a little young for that one. So people who had UT as their childhood might be just getting to that point of expendable income, but they might also still be several years out on average. I'm an early bloomer for this is comparison.

Also think of this: Considering the first MP came out in 2003(?) and the cartoon started in 1984, and the first Beast MP came out in 2016, and beast wars started in 1996, there is about a 20 year gap from TV start to MPs. so for RiD, that would mean 2021 would be a good guess, and the UT would be more around 2023, if they kept with that timeline.

Ironhidensh wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:
Too soon to what timetable?

The timetable of fans of Unicron/RiD to reach an age of sufficient expendable income to support an MP line.

That includes being able to pay 500$ for a MP super mode armada prime (smaller bot and trailer)

Ironhidensh wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:
Too soon to what timetable?

The timetable of fans of Unicron/RiD to reach an age of sufficient expendable income to support an MP line.

That, of course, is based on the presumption that only a particular age group cares about a given series. I'm 35, although I have a fondness for The '86 Movie, I couldn't care less for G1. It's finished and as already stated, it has been 32 years since the cartoon too.

In regards to the new re-issue Soundwave pre-order how many times does it make for this MP mold? As oppose to all the times our beloved Prime's mold that's been used time and time again.

To paraphrase a friend of mine, MP-13 is practically perfect and arguably the best in the Masterpiece line, so you can never see enough of it.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:To paraphrase a friend of mine, MP-13 is practically perfect and arguably the best in the Masterpiece line, so you can never see enough of it.

Rather than another reissue of MP-13, I'd like to see a reissue of Laserbeak and Ratbat in a two-pack similar to the ones for Frenzy and Buzzsaw and Rumble and Ravage. Why? Well, first, I want a cheaper way to get Masterpiece Ratbat, at last. I don't want to have to buy MP Soundblaster too. Second, I want a second set of all of Soundwave's Masterpiece minions for use in my "Generations" collection. For G1 accuracy, they're the best there is, and they still scale well with Voyager Class Siege Soundwave, way better than the Legends Class versions we've gotten from the Prime Wars Trilogy. I'm not at all certain that we'll get all of the minions released as Micromasters in the War for Cybertron Trilogy either.

Wolfman Jake wrote:Second, I want a second set of all of Soundwave's Masterpiece minions for use in my "Generations" collection. For G1 accuracy, they're the best there is, and they still scale well with Voyager Class Siege Soundwave, way better than the Legends Class versions we've gotten from the Prime Wars Trilogy.

Slugfest, Overkill and technically Howlback, are still awaiting their MP debut.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

Wolfman Jake wrote:Second, I want a second set of all of Soundwave's Masterpiece minions for use in my "Generations" collection. For G1 accuracy, they're the best there is, and they still scale well with Voyager Class Siege Soundwave, way better than the Legends Class versions we've gotten from the Prime Wars Trilogy.

Slugfest, Overkill and technically Howlback, are still awaiting their MP debut.

Whaddya mean "technically"? There is no Masterpiece Howlback.

Sabrblade wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

Wolfman Jake wrote:Second, I want a second set of all of Soundwave's Masterpiece minions for use in my "Generations" collection. For G1 accuracy, they're the best there is, and they still scale well with Voyager Class Siege Soundwave, way better than the Legends Class versions we've gotten from the Prime Wars Trilogy.

Slugfest, Overkill and technically Howlback, are still awaiting their MP debut.

Whaddya mean "technically"? There is no Masterpiece Howlback.

There is an MP Ravage however

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

Wolfman Jake wrote:Second, I want a second set of all of Soundwave's Masterpiece minions for use in my "Generations" collection. For G1 accuracy, they're the best there is, and they still scale well with Voyager Class Siege Soundwave, way better than the Legends Class versions we've gotten from the Prime Wars Trilogy.

Slugfest, Overkill and technically Howlback, are still awaiting their MP debut.

Whaddya mean "technically"? There is no Masterpiece Howlback.

There is an MP Ravage however

Ravage is a different color from Howlback. Howlback is blue.

Sabrblade wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

Wolfman Jake wrote:Second, I want a second set of all of Soundwave's Masterpiece minions for use in my "Generations" collection. For G1 accuracy, they're the best there is, and they still scale well with Voyager Class Siege Soundwave, way better than the Legends Class versions we've gotten from the Prime Wars Trilogy.

Slugfest, Overkill and technically Howlback, are still awaiting their MP debut.

Whaddya mean "technically"? There is no Masterpiece Howlback.

There is an MP Ravage however

Ravage is a different color from Howlback. Howlback is blue.

Point is, Howlback (and her partner Garboil) already has a mold available to her if they decide to make her. Slugfest and Overkill don't.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

Wolfman Jake wrote:Second, I want a second set of all of Soundwave's Masterpiece minions for use in my "Generations" collection. For G1 accuracy, they're the best there is, and they still scale well with Voyager Class Siege Soundwave, way better than the Legends Class versions we've gotten from the Prime Wars Trilogy.

Slugfest, Overkill and technically Howlback, are still awaiting their MP debut.

Whaddya mean "technically"? There is no Masterpiece Howlback.

There is an MP Ravage however

Ravage is a different color from Howlback. Howlback is blue.

Point is, Howlback (and her partner Garboil) already has a mold available to her if they decide to make her. Slugfest and Overkill don't.

Indeed thank you That would be the point I was making.



That said, I did completely forget about Beastbox and Squawktalk... Do they count towards Soundwave's default Cassette count though?

Dont know if you all heard but the price for MP Houndvwas revealed. 160$ USD msrp.

william-james88 wrote:Dont know if you all heard but the price for MP Hound was revealed. 160$ USD msrp.

Again, really feel sorry for the G1 MP collectors.