by ae_productions » Thu May 26, 2011 7:17 am
- Motto: "Pew, pew, pew!"
- Weapon: Rust-Ray Rifle
*SIGH*
Takara, Hasbro have no interest in anything BUT movie toys. Their fumble of distribution over their RTS/GENERATIONS line is proof. There were more DOTM sightings BEFORE the street date of those toys than many of the RTS figures that were out for months prior. Sure, they blame the retailers. But Hasbro is in a unique position with their own website and own supply. Bottom line, if they wanted, ALL these figures would have been consistently available on their website for distribution. For more than 5 minutes anyway. I can go on and on, but the point is made.
Takara has no interest in doing anything but milking molds. 10 Masterpiece figures and how many of them are Convoy? How many are Starscream? That leaves us with only 3 other molds since 2004.
iGear is stepping up to the plate and delivering product to a market neither Hasbro nor Takara intend to satisfy.
There seems to be a lot of confusion here. PP-01 faith leader is a figure designed to be scaled down to fit in the Masterpiece line. He's perfectly to scale with MP Grimlock and Starscream*. He is to scale with Classics. Many of course, will cry that this is not true. This is partly due to the consistent lack of scale in Transformers since it was initially created. Of course, the Alternity and Binaltech lines are the exception to that. But no other Transformer line has EVER been to scale. Some will still say PP-01 is NOT to scale with classic figures. And they are wrong. It's elementary physics. A semi truck will not turn into a robot the same size as a robot which turns into a sports car. The classic line and PP-01 are roughly 1:32 scale. It's of course not true scale. But it's as close as Transformers fans get.
(*Starscream is about 1/60 scale, so he would have to be nearly TWICE the size he is now to be to scale with PP-01. Note the key word there was ABOUT. The PP-01 Robot and MP Starscream Robot is to "scale" with each other in respects to the G1 cartoon. But again, in that cartoon, a 30 foot robot can turn into a boom box that a 6 foot human can hold in their hand. Scale is always an issue with Transformers.)
From what I have been told about Ironhide/Ratchet is they will be to scale with the PP-01 Prime, and NOT the MP-01. Which means Ironhide/Ratchet will fit into the classics line perfectly. 1:32 scale-ish. Since they are vans, which are larger than sports cars, it will be larger than a deluxe. Probably Voyager class. Of course, I have not seen this figure yet, but it gives an approximation.
There's a lot of iGear bandwagon hate here. People on the internet always need to complain about something. They lack moral integrity, because they are not passionate about what they are fighting for/complaining about. The same people who cry IP infringement also own a City Commander. These badnwagoners are all in the closet. Once in a while, one will poke their head out. They will let their passive-aggressive cry of hate slip into how tempting Ramjet is. Or Dirge, or Thrust. Oh, if iGear would only release the mini-Megatron...but they HATE iGear, all that iGear stands for, they hope iGear burns in the mouth of hell. I assure you a very large percentage own 3rd party products, and will break down and buy iGear's stuff.
Like it or not, if you collect non-movie TF's, 3rd party is the ONLY game in town.
As for QC issues, it happens with ANYTHING that is mass produced.
Look at the Takara seeker Jets. I know A LOT of fans who have wings with stress joints, or that broke. Some even opened their box to find a broken MP Megatron. Or a Megatron that later would get "cosmic rust." Even MP Convoy and Rodimus Prime ALL HAD EXTREME QC ISSUES. Any mass produced product will have QC issues. Especially something as overly engineered as MP toys, ESPECIALLY products that use translucent plastic, which does NOT have the durability of other plastics. The difference is, if you live outside of Japan, and have an issue with your MP Takara toy, well...too bad for you.
IGear stands behind their product. Even to international customers. All you have to do is contact them and they WILL send you replacement parts. In some cases, it's too bad they won't send you a whole replacement toy. Still, sending out new parts is BETTER service than you will EVER get from Takara. Even Hasbro took 17 emails and nearly 6 months to fix a defective Star Wars toy I bought from them.
And...let's face it. The Classics/Henkei Ratchet/Ironhide is a bit of a let down. Parts of the toy are cool. The robot modes are okay. But overall, it's a major disappointment.
Ironhide and Ratchet are two Classic Characters (not including the movie versions) that do NOT get much treatment. It's great to FINALLY get these two characters in a form that will be worthy of the MP title, or in iGear's realm, the PP title.
This figure could be re-tooled with new parts and heads to be Trailbreaker. Or Hoist. Maybe Skids, or Swerve, or Brawn. Figures who have NOT gotten a proper Classic treatment.
Yes, we may see more Classics from Hasbro. Roughly 3 years from now. That seems to be the time frame Hasbro allows for their movie toys before indulging fans. Even then, if Hasbro fumbles the ball like they did with the RTS/Generations line, good luck finding any of them.
I think 3rd party is the prayer fans have been waiting for. Even if they are in the closet about it.
