I think this is a really great and interesting question.
The fandom was really divided on the Herc/Giant debate, but seems pretty unified on this one.
I will say, the latest pics look like there has been improvement in War Lord, but I'll try to answer you question from my perspective.
xyl360 wrote:I find it odd that so many have decided to go with MMC over this one. Looking back at the history of the two 3rd party Devastators (Hercules and Giant), everyone who wanted Giant over Hercules (which seemed like most) claimed it was because it was more 'G1 accurate', yet now here we have 2 Predakings, one of which is a massive departure from G1 (MMC) and one which looks much closer to G1 (War Lord), yet everyone is going for MMC.
First, I'll disagree that MMCs is the larger departure. Predaking had a couple points in G1 that really stuck with me. First, his overall size. While the other combiners were smaller than the common cars of the era, Predaking was made up of Dinobot sized figs, so he was BIG.
Also, all 5 bots were the same size, as opposed to the scramble city guys that had a "commander" and 4 limbs. This gave him a bulky, squat appearance ... perfect for the combined form of a beast!
IMO MMC's design nails this on both counts. He is BIG. He'll be bigger than Giant by a decent margin, and should be bigger than Herc as well. Also, from the renders at least, he retains that squat body design, which for me captures Predaking.
The Beasticons are on par with Giant as far as size ... maybe smaller, and the overall design makes for a leaner bot, that has more in common with the scramble city guys. Add in the shoulder guns and over-long hand spikes, and I'd argue that this is the further departure.
xyl360 wrote:I just don't understand what's changed. Maybe it has to do with the less significant price difference between the 2 Predakings vs the price difference between the 2 Devastators or maybe it has to do with the fact that MMC is a more well known company and at the time, many claimed (incorrectly) that Giant was made by someone affiliated with FansProject.
Price is also a factor. MMC is only slightly more expensive, and you are getting a lot more plastic for your buck. This is probably because MMC has been around a while and, I'm guessing, has the business end of the operation set up already.
xyl360 wrote:Maybe I'm stirring the pot here, but I can't help but wonder about the reasoning in all of this. Fans seem very fickle to be certain.
No, like I said, I think it is an interesting question.
xyl360 wrote:I'm sticking with the reasoning behind getting Herc for getting MMC. It is not about price. I want the one I like better, which in this case is MMC. I like it because it's so different from G1, not because it looks more similar to it (because as I said, it doesn't, the War Lord version is much more 'G1').
I'm also getting MMC's offering for the same reasons I got Herc. Size + design. I perfer larger sized combiners, and as long as those don't disappoint on design, I'm a happy camper. But I don't see it as a departure from G1. While I'm not slavish to G1, as I mentioned above, to me, MMC IS the more geewunny offering.
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