shajaki wrote:-How do you feel about the current direction Takara is taking with slavish cartoon accuracy?
Not a fan to be honest. Bobby Skullface did a very good pair of videos that pretty much sum up my thoughts on the decisions, but I'll write them out here.
I feel like the change in focus from "Make it instantly recognizable as the cartoon character whilst also giving it details and features that make it feel more modern, visually interesting and worth the price" to "Recreate the cartoon down to the last detail (or lack thereof) regardless of how bland it looks" was a mistake. The cartoon had cool designs for sure, but for a modern toy they really, really need some extra details to not look terrible. Case in point, the legs of Prime versus Inferno. Prime isn't actually THAT slavishly cartoon accurate but we can all agree he's the best G1 Prime we've ever gotten- even the 3Ps haven't topped him. His legs, in particular, are covered in extra sculpted detailing that wasn't present on the cartoon model (for obvious reasons) but look awesome, don't feel out of place and give him visual interest. Meanwhile, Inferno's legs are completely blank and undetailed, and it looks terrible if I'm honest. A shame as his actual engineering is great, but aesthetically he misses the boat.
If you look at, say, Gundam model kits, even the most anime-accurate figures still take some liberties with the design, because the animation was from 1979 and they know full well nobody wants a
perfectly 0079-accurate Zaku.
Personally I'd like to see Hisashi Yuki take the reins back on the MP line. He's a monstrously talented designer and is responsible for some of the best toys in the franchise.
-The last Seeker (Dirge) is about to be released. Do you think that perhaps an injustice has been done by remolding MP-3 over and over again rather than starting over from scratch?
I really, really think that MP-3/11 is way past its sell-by date. No waist articuation, awful hands, loads of kibble, wonky proportions and a fiddly chest assembly that doesn't hold together. And that's before we start on the mold degradation. That thing needs taking behind the barn and shooting, and preferably replacing with a completely new mold. The jet mode was great, the original releases had cool if kibbly robot modes, but it really is time to let the poor thing rest.
-The rate of releases is pretty steady. Anyone think MP-50 will be a big deal?
Whilst I'm not sure it will be a big deal, it would be cool if it was and we got something special. An MP Fortress Maximus would be amazing- sure it couldn't be "in scale" with the rest of the line, but even if it was "only" the size of the G1 toy it'd be an incredible addition to any collection.
One thing I'd like to see is some more non-G1 MPs. The BW stuff is a nice fork in the road, and the MPMs look great, but there's others I'd like to see too. G2 Prime and Megatron (and the Scourge redeco of Prime to go with it), RID Megatron, Armada MPs in general...