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Thormind wrote:

ScottyP wrote:

Thormind wrote:I never bought the original Bee but I just got the golden one thinking he would look nice with YOTH Prime. It is a nice figure but is it worth the price? He's so small, light and frail that he feels like voyager class. He's almost legend class height!

That's a pretty far reaching exaggeration on the size. What Legends figure should I go put next to it to see your point?

I did say "almost"... Put him beside Powerglide or Cosmos, he isn't too far...

ScottyP wrote:Also, the Bee toys have been very inexpensive. I think G2 Bee was all of $40, if that, from Japanese retailers.

Most "major" retailers have G2 at 64.99$US. Cheapest I could find in Canada on preorder was 74.99$CA (53$US). Cheapest for G1 Bee 79.99$. Leaders sell for 54-59$, Voyagers for 30-35$ and legends for 10-15$ (CA). If I compare him to Leader Megatron, for example, I really don't see any justification for the price outside of the mp title.

I'm just getting tired of Has/Tak not listening to the fans and just "milking" the mp line with repaint after repaint. Just some minor retools on top of the red repaint and they would have produced what we've all been asking (and waiting) for!

Are you serious? Powerglide is as close to MP Bee in size as a current deluxe is to a voyager. That logic doesn't work.

Also, he clearly stated Japanese retailers. Two "major" Japanese retailers, AmiAmi & HLJ, both sold Bee for under $50.

This is fine. The CJ you're so sore about will happen eventually & be better than Bee with a new head.

Thormind wrote:I did say "almost"... Put him beside Powerglide or Cosmos, he isn't too far...

I did what you said to do.
Then THIS happened.


click to enlarge

Not only am I not surprised by this, I think there would feel like something was missing had they not done this. I remember Way Back In the Day (henceforth WBD), it was easier to find a red Bumblebee on the pegs than a yellow. Also, this just in: after regular Cliffjumper is released, TT will release MP-XXy, Yellow Cliffjumper. Accept it now, it will make it easier later.

Convoy wrote:

Thormind wrote:I did say "almost"... Put him beside Powerglide or Cosmos, he isn't too far...

I did what you said to do.
Then THIS happened.


click to enlarge

That just made this whole thread fixed up and wonderful again. Five points to House Convoy

Thormind wrote:Most "major" retailers have G2 at 64.99$US. Cheapest I could find in Canada on preorder was 74.99$CA (53$US). Cheapest for G1 Bee 79.99$. Leaders sell for 54-59$, Voyagers for 30-35$ and legends for 10-15$ (CA). If I compare him to Leader Megatron, for example, I really don't see any justification for the price outside of the mp title.

G2 Bee only cost me US$39 shipped, you just have to know where to buy them.

Also we're talking about Japanese figures so we need to compare his price to other Japanese figures. MSRP on G2 Bee was 5,500JPY (taxed) while Leader class figures are 7,500JPY, the same as MP Tracks. Knocking 2,000JPY off the price seems fair to me.

And BTW, nobody is being forced to buy red Bee or blue Bluestreak or any other minor redeco. So far they haven't included anything that fans MUST HAVE to complete the line. Their presence helps to fund new figures in the future and they rarely take the place of another figure in the line. I don't see anything at all wrong with Takara Tomy making them.

I do wish they would have really taken a leap and done Bugbite or Wasp so we could get some more bad guys in this line.

Emerje

Milk the mold! I am going to have to pass.

Emerje wrote:I do wish they would have really taken a leap and done Bugbite or Wasp so we could get some more bad guys in this line.

Red Bee could have been Stinger.

.... But.... Why?

I would've loved to get a white and purple version and call it Bug Bite. We deeeeeefinitely need more Decepticons in the Masterpiece line any way we can get them.

Bounti76 wrote:
Also, sidenote......Takara missed an opportunity to do this in blue, with a facemask, and make it Glyph. They'd maximize investment in the mold with minimal to no changes except for plastic/paint color, and have another MP fembot to boot.

Also this, and also, I didn't know Glyph was a fembot!

DecepticonFinishline wrote:.... But.... Why?

To cash in on the nostalgia of this figure:



I'm sure we'll get a yellow MP Cliff at some point after we get a red one, too.

Convoy wrote:

Thormind wrote:I did say "almost"... Put him beside Powerglide or Cosmos, he isn't too far...

I did what you said to do.
Then THIS happened.


click to enlarge

Ok, with another perspective...



Were talking about what, 1" difference? A better example if you want:



Hes actually bigger, about same quality. Ok he's got a bit less articulations, but not that much. Is there really a 40$ worth difference between them? "Bee" honest...

Some other examples:





Has for some Japanese store offering him for much less that's good to know and might be worth taking a look, thanks. But 40$US is 54$CA and normally you need to add import/custom fees on top of that. And the shipping cost will usually be higher than if you order from Canada/US. At least that's how it works in Canada, if the store is not acting legally. In the end I'm pretty sure that 40$ will be closer (or higher) than 65$.

But i'll take a look and would be glad to be wrong on that one. Any Canadian buyers can tell me the best store to deal with and get those low prices?

Also, I think you missed the point of my original post, or maybe I was not clear enough. A much smaller company can release new molds after new molds of figures the fans really want. They only do a reasonable amount of repaints, just to please the fans by making G1,G2,Toys and Diaclone versions. All their products so far are of much better quality.

My 1st FT was Soar. When I got him and compared to my MPs I felt like for the first time I was handling a true masterpiece product. Why cant Has/Tak have that kind of commitment, care and dare I say "love" for their mp line?

FansToys is releasing their Slag 3 times & their Snarl 4 times. I'm not sure what your definition of reasonable is but I don't think that's a good argument. Also, Cosmos comes up to Bee's abdomen. I'm not sure what your argument is there either.

Doctor McGrath wrote:FansToys is releasing their Slag 3 times & their Snarl 4 times. I'm not sure what your definition of reasonable is but I don't think that's a good argument. Also, Cosmos comes up to Bee's abdomen. I'm not sure what your argument is there either.

Lets agree to disagree then. To me the FT repaints are to please the fans. I'm sure not many people will buy more than one variant of the same figure and it does not look like it's their intention. For example I prefer the black version of Sever so I will just get that version. Most variations are announced in advance so we can choose. They do not do this to sell many versions of the same mold to the same buyer but to allow him to get the one he really wants. At least that's how it feels to me.

I don't think many of us wanted a red Bee. What we wanted is Cliffjumper. I think (just an opinion) that they are making the red version to give us something like a Cliff. To me it feels like a lame attempt at making quick and easy money with minimal care for us. I bet Cliff wont be coming out anytime soon now. I do hope time will prove me wrong but I doubt.

I am not satisfied with only a few new molds per year and a load of repaint/retool. Many of us think they are becoming to greedy. Look at the CW line. How many time are they reusing the same molds? They are even making some placeholder limbs just to sell us the proper ones later at a higher price. There was Quickslinger and Breakneck and there will almost for sure be Groove and Blastoff. I'm sure it's not necessary at all for them to be profitable. It's milking...

FT is proving that you can release many new mold per year, with high quality materials, and still be profitable. No reason Has/Tak cant do the same.

As for size, I did give better examples...

You're comparing apples to oranges & speaking as if you're the voice of the fandom. Since FansToys listens to what you want, maybe you should tell them you want a Cliffjumper.

Takara is dealing with licenses with these MP's while the third parties are clearly not. When the license is acquired from Porche or whoever, I'm sure we will get a good looking CJ. And then hopefully Jazz! The Repaints coming out aren't required buys. They are for niche collectors & collections just like a diaclone colored Snarl. This red BB isn't taking the place of any beloved character.

Doctor McGrath wrote:You're comparing apples to oranges & speaking as if you're the voice of the fandom. Since FansToys listens to what you want, maybe you should tell them you want a Cliffjumper.

I did try to present all this as my own opinion. I'm sure some will agree

padfoo wrote:Milk the mold! I am going to have to pass.

and some won't. No need to become aggressive or personal...

Doctor McGrath wrote: They are for niche collectors & collections just like a diaclone colored Snarl. This red BB isn't taking the place of any beloved character.

You have your opinions just like I have mine. I do not present mine like a fact... (well I try not to)

Haha, right on.

This thread actually did get me thinking about licensing costs. Q-Transformers are, mostly, officially licensed vehicles. They're almost $9 retail in Japan, and smaller/less complex than most $6 Legions are over here. Gotta be due to the licensing, eh? Wish I had anything besides anecdotal evidence to base that on.

Preorders up for MP-21R from RobotKingdom
http://www.robotkingdom.com/tftrmp21r.html

"Pertinent Quotes"
I hate to admit it, but...
You're not entirely wrong.
After I got MP-01 (Mostly in scale with Binaltech/Alternators.) I figured the future release of MP Jazz would almost need two hands to hold.
Oddly enough this thread got me thinking about licensing too.
In real life, the guy who designed the classic VW is the same guy who designed the classic Porche.
(Pretty sure both are owned by the same company now.(Chrysler?))
I wonder at this point if TakTom doesn't already have the rights to Porche with the rights to Volkswagon.
At any rate, if that's the case, I'm a little afraid that Jazz will be the size of Cliffjumper who will be the size of Bumblebee, who, despite his robot mode has a tiny altmode. (I realized this after transforming him after his photo shoot and walked in on him.) BB is a complex CHUG deluxe. (Still worth hunting for the right price w/exo-suit, IMHO.)
side note: CW is a Hasbro baby. MP is a TakaraTomy baby. Now and then one "fixes" the other.
Did I forget anything?
I don't think I'm feeding a troll and I think this thread is on her last legs anyway.
MP Jazz!

Takara is basing the scaling on the Masterpiece line, beginning with MP-10, on the robot modes and their relative sizes in the cartoon. So, MP-10 Optimus Prime is in scale with MP-21 Bumblebee in robot mode, but NOT in vehicle mode. Even for a VW Beetle, MP Bumblebee is undersized in vehicle mode compared to Optimus or even most of the other Autobot cars. Jazz will be about the same size as Sideswipe, Prowl, and Wheeljack in robot mode, believe me. His alt mode will be whatever size it needs to be to fit the requisite robot mode scale.

Wolfman Jake wrote:Takara is basing the scaling on the Masterpiece line, beginning with MP-10, on the robot modes and their relative sizes in the cartoon. So, MP-10 Optimus Prime is in scale with MP-21 Bumblebee in robot mode, but NOT in vehicle mode. Even for a VW Beetle, MP Bumblebee is undersized in vehicle mode compared to Optimus or even most of the other Autobot cars. Jazz will be about the same size as Sideswipe, Prowl, and Wheeljack in robot mode, believe me. His alt mode will be whatever size it needs to be to fit the requisite robot mode scale.

Bingo! They're just scaling the robots and the alt modes do what they do. Soundwave is both a good example of this (gigantic tape deck so that the 'bot scales) and a counterpoint to it (cassettes are the size they are to fit into Soundwave, so driven by alt mode size primarily).

Is this some sort of convention or Webstore exclusive? or are we expecting the usual Japanese retailers to get these too?

mooncake623 wrote:Is this some sort of convention or Webstore exclusive? or are we expecting the usual Japanese retailers to get these too?

Cybertron Satellite exclusive.

Sabrblade wrote:

mooncake623 wrote:Is this some sort of convention or Webstore exclusive? or are we expecting the usual Japanese retailers to get these too?

Cybertron Satellite exclusive.

Awesome

ScottyP wrote:This thread actually did get me thinking about licensing costs. Q-Transformers are, mostly, officially licensed vehicles. They're almost $9 retail in Japan, and smaller/less complex than most $6 Legions are over here. Gotta be due to the licensing, eh? Wish I had anything besides anecdotal evidence to base that on.

The Q-Transformers are mass produced, MPs are not. The licencing cost is more spread out and easily made up for the Q-Transformers while a more limited item like the MPs have to charge more to make up for the cost.

Railbomb wrote:

ScottyP wrote:This thread actually did get me thinking about licensing costs. Q-Transformers are, mostly, officially licensed vehicles. They're almost $9 retail in Japan, and smaller/less complex than most $6 Legions are over here. Gotta be due to the licensing, eh? Wish I had anything besides anecdotal evidence to base that on.

The Q-Transformers are mass produced, MPs are not. The licencing cost is more spread out and easily made up for the Q-Transformers while a more limited item like the MPs have to charge more to make up for the cost.

If MP Transformers aren't mass produced, I feel even worse about spending all the money I have on the Masterpiece line