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Fellow Seibertronian D-Maximal_Primal found Transformers Masterpiece MPM 12 Optimus Prime at his local Target. This toy should have reached most areas of the US by now. The toy was $125.99 USD. He wrote a pictorial review for us, which you can read below:
First off, let's start with the strongest part of the figure, and the part that really got me excited right out of the box: the robot mode. The robot mode on this figure is stunning. The detail is incredible on the mold. The wash effect across portions of this figure contribute to the detailing and molded in greeble, and produced a pretty spectacular effect the whole way around. It is a gorgeous looking robot mode, with a ton to look at.
The articulation department is frustratingly close to being spot on. The main issue is the head: it can basically only swivel, there isn't a lot of up and down motion to be had, and coupled with the darker eyes means it's hard to get him really looking at something above his chest level. He also really needed a knuckle joint on his pointing finger, but that's a more minor complaint in the grand scheme. Outside of that, the articulation is solid and he can pose it up pretty good.
The gun is pretty big and pretty neat, but it does have an issue where it can only be held in the normal hand to forearm position, otherwise it is not tall enough to clear the forearm for poses like the 2-handed gun pose, but you can still make do with the way the hands function to loosely hold the gun.
The matrix included is a nice touch, if a bit out of place considering Prime wasn't shown to have something like this. But it is neat and a nice touch to the overall package.
Transformation isn't too bad on this, it is mostly straight forward, and things are mostly going where you expect them to. The grill becoming the movie accurate back was neat.
But you can definitely tell this figure really focused in on that robot mode and not the alt mode. The alt mode is definitely the weakest point on this figure. The back seems too long, the wheel base feels too long from front to back wheels, and the area from the smokestacks on back just isn't that good. The alt mode definitely feels like a victim of budget cuts or trying to avoid over-complicating things. The gun storage is also pretty weak, but it is what it is.
So overall, this figure ain't bad. The robot mode is a rockstar that I would say is pretty near perfect, a 9 out of 10 at least. He just needed a little more in the head and hand position. Transformation is pretty involved but not stupid complicated. But the alt mode lets it down.
Overall, I'd say this is maybe a 7 out of 10? I don't want to be too harsh, but the alt mode is pretty disappointing in the back despite the badass robot mode.
I would recommend him though. The design is pretty good, and the robot mode has some mass to it and really plays the part.
Thanks to the YouTube Algorithm gods, I happened upon what may be the first video review of MP-52 Starscream!
Youtuber Deluxe Baldwin goes through every detail including the transformation, accessories and several comparisons with the previous versions of MP Starscreams plus other toys.
You can view the video below:
With this video that shows how it transforms, this may help many people who are stumped with hard to read instructions and don't want to make some unfortunate accidents. Hope you'll find this video useful! If you were still on the fence about getting MP-52 Starscream, did that first video review convince you to pull the trigger?
Today is a great day because I already got the highly anticipated MP-52 Starscream! This is the 3rd time the Seeker has been made into a Masterpiece. The first time, MP-03 had way too much Macross influence. It resulted in a magnificent robot, but the cartoon accuracy was basically zero. Then years later, they remolded it into MP-11. A much more cartoon accurate Starscream with coronation gear. However, some faults of the ancient mold remained and what's worse, an unforgivable drop in quality.
And then today, finally, the most cartoon accurate Starscream ever, MP-52, is here in a brand new and original mold!
Without further ado, let's unbox this bad boy!
At the bottom of the box, the main pieces of the stand.
Starscream come packed in jet mode, with all of it's accessories in full display.
Unlike MP-11, the null-rays are detachable and count as accessories. Of course there's the obligatory faces, blast effects, and gun Megatron. Let's not forget the tidbits that were used in ONE episode, meaning the drill, claw, and rock.
Right from the start I'm blown away. The null-rays actually TRANSFORM into the jet's missiles! There's also two display options. For a more streamlined look, the missiles are separated from the side of the jet and simply peg under the wings. The other is to attach them on the arms as it was with MP-11.
From the top, the jet is very clean and perfect.
Here's the side with his landing gears out. The jet here is wrong. So wrong... from a "true" jet perspective. In fact, that silhouette is 100% cartoon accurate! They could have just left the bot to "hang underside", but the designers went the extra mile to give it that very specific look. Impressive!
Secret weapon of the nosecone as it was for the previous versions:
Opening cockpit:
The stand is not the best, but it does the job:
(Also, obligatory card.)
There's a pair of blast effects specifically designed for the jet in flight:
If you want to plug in gun Megatron under the jet, better be prepared to play with Jet Starscream by going whoosh! and zoom! around the room because Gun Megs plug in where the stand must peg.
Here's MP-52 compared to MP-03G. No comparison with MP-11 because I don't want to transform that damn thing.
MP-03 really have the PERFECT jet mode. No contest. But ironically not cartoon accurate.
Transformation is much more straightforward than I expected. The instructions are clear enough and I was rarely stumped.
So we begin with the "gerwalk" or more accurately, "starting to transform" mode. I did not expected that mode to be official. There's even hinges and joints designed specifically for this mode! The flight stand is mandatory once you are done:
When transforming, there's a secret weapon revealed. Powered by solar panels. For when Starscream is in orbit?
When the transformation is done, you end up with the most cartoon accurate Starscream ever! As if he popped right out of the screen! The transformation was no harder than MP-03 or MP-11. Plus at no point was I afraid of breaking something.
However, that Starscream have a serious flaw appart the lack of a waist joint due to transformation. He have very hollow and light legs and he's VERY top heavy. The knees are too weak to support all that weight. This limit poseability by a large margin.
Still, he's incredibly beautiful.
Considering that a great deal of the jet (if not all) goes to the back, the backpack is insanely compressed.
Compared to the MP-03 original, the differences are as night and day.
Guess we will compare with MP-11 too...
MP-03 is a kibble explosion compared to the newest MP-52:
MP-11 was barely an improvement.
Friendly reminder why MP-11 was such a disappointment:
(And the thing cost the same price as MP-52 at the time!)
Compared to MP-11, MP-52 feel like a QUALITY and PREMIUM toy. He also stay SOLID in hand.
He also have a perfect head sculpt:
Spare faces:
The one-shot-deal accessories. Not too shabby and they are small enough to not be a significant factor in the overall price.
Starscream can hold his null-rays in his hands because why not? However, it's a challenge for him to hold them because it's the usual bad slot design.
Same deal with gun Megs:
"All right, I'll shoot you over-glorified Targetmaster." What?
"Nothing."
FIRE IN THE HOLE!
The stand is pretty much useless in bot mode. It can only plug in on the back so flight poses a impossible. At least this will make sure Starscream's weak knees won't betray you.
STARSCREAM WILL RULE THE DECEPTICON!
MUAHAHAHAHA!
Oh yeah, breasts missiles!
Overall, this MP-52 Starscream is the best MP seeker ever and truly worthy of being called the true successor of MP-03. I still adore MP-03 for what it is, but MP-52 truly deserves the title: MASTERPIECE.
Truly glorious:¸
If you wonder where MP-11 went, he got demoted to the "random" Starscreams shelf.
So, what do you guys think of this new seeker mold? Have you already secured yours? Are you tempted to get one? Will you catch-em-all the obvious repaints?
MPM Optimus Prime is just around the corner. Seibertron user MadProject pointed us out that Prime VS Prime made a video review of this soon to be widely in store Masterpiece. The rather controversial truck mode that is heavily sacrificed for the bot mode and a simpler transformation is shown is all it's "cat ears" and "legs on the back" glory. Then on to a surprisingly simple transformation that is no harder than the voyager to transform and we finish with a pretty solid bot mode.
You can watch the review down below:
What do you think of this Masterpiece? Is the imperfect vehicle mode a deal breaker or is it forgiven for that nice robot mode and that user friendly play value? Please let us know!
Greetings Seibertronians! With sighting of the Kingdom line coming in, and some of you already receiving the first Voyagers and leader class figures, YouTube toy reviewer, Kremzeek Reviews, looks ahead to the future to bring us a review of the Deluxe Class Airazor from Wave 2!
This figure aims to replicate the characters cartoon appearance while giving the animal mode a more realistic look. Her mate, Tigatron will be appearing in the line as one of the future Voyager Class figures, in keeping with his media portrayal (as further shown by his Masterpiece toy)
We have embedded the review below for your convenience:
Will you be adding this bird to your menagerie? Does she take the title of best bird former from Energon Divebomb? Let us know in the Energon Pub and stay tuned to Seibertron for all the latest news and reviews!
Good news, Masterpiece fans! MP-51 Arcee is now shipping, and in some cases, has already shown up! I got a shipping notice Sunday, and a scant 36 hours later, she was at my door, thanks to Amazon Japan.
One Seibertronian, -Kanrabat-, got his even earlier, and was gracious enough to send us a fantastic and thorough pictorial review of the latest Masterpiece figure, the second fembot in the line (after Road Rage). Check out what he has to say and show us below!
GOT HER!
So here's my review and lots of linked pictures!
The box is your standard MP box. Small yet effective.
She come packed in vehicle mode with her accessories. Obligatory card and manual.
The vehicle is absolutely PERFECT. All the details are there.
Despite the arms hanging a bit low, the car roll flawlessly.
This beautiful BLURRY picture show that this Arcee manage to actually have the rear of the car.
The interior is perfectly detailled, down to even a painted dashboard!
You can see how everything tuck under the car.
Here's a comparison shot with all the previous G1 inspired Arcees (Except Animated whom I forgot.)
The "tire blow" weapon attach firmly and is pretty menacing looking.
Other guns can attach to the car as well but that look daff.
Transformation is long and hard, but surprisignly not frustrating. Also, everything felt SOLID in hand with nothing seeming fragile or about to break. The instructions have large pictures but sometime, some details are hard to make out. The magority of the transformation is to compress the panels festival that is the car shell in the most compact backpack scientifically manageable.
In the end, we end up with a pretty nice fembot with a backpack that is not too bad in person, considering that the car mode have NO sacrifices. Obviously, Arcee is back heavy and it limit some poses.
The visor is inside her helmet and it's easy enough to put in place. The faces are easy to change but you must mind the alignment of the face inside the head. It's easy to misplace it. But if you do well, the result is pretty nice!
The gun is very easy to place in her hand and it's SOLID. Also, her jointed hands are VERY appreciated. She have the thumb, the index, and the 3 other fingers as a single unit that can move.
Yeas, she have a high collac and "realistic" sagging "breasts". That's an odd design choice but it's not too bad. This Arcee is not the naive young girl, but an hardenned veteran. So it work.
Also....
"Haters gonna hate!"
Yup. She can ballance pretty well. I think her legs may have diecast so it help.
She can snipe.
Compared to the previous Arcees.
Arcee have blast effects compatible with her guns.
And a tiny gun that may reffer to a single episode. Complete with it's dedicated blast effect that can't go to any other gun.
Overall, was she worth the 180$CAN total, shipping and taxes included?
I have to admit, YES. Totally. Contrary to my previous purchase with MPM Starscream, I feel that here, I got the best deal and she's worth every single cents that I paid.
Could this Arcee be better? Maybe yes, but some choices had to be made. Here, it's the vehicle mode that got priority so the robot is a bit compromised with her backpack. As for the saggy chest, it may have been avoided, but still, I love that "older" Arcee.
I highly recommend the official MP. Especially for the Arcee lover who have all the official figures and even some Third Party.
Greetings Seibertronians! Fellow Seibertron user, Sabrblade has written up an informative review of the recently released Beast Wars Beast Generation Mook! A mook is a cross between a magazine and a book, and is a popular publishing choice in Japan. The Mook was released earlier this month.
Check out his words below!
Sabrblade wrote:My copy arrived in the mail from HLJ last Friday, December 11, and only now have I had the chance to talk about it.
Before I get into the book itself, I gotta say that the preview pages seen earlier in this thread must have been very early production pages since none of them are in this book. The book's pages aren't even red, they're white. Some of the toys seen in those pages aren't even in the book either. Namely, of all those Blackarachnia toys, the Animated, Legends, Universe, and Binaltech ones are not in the book. In fact, that collection of Blackarachnia toys itself isn't present either. The ones from that group that are in the book are found in their respective sections instead of grouped together like that. Basically, none of the pages in this book look anything like those sample pages.
And now, onto the book.
The cover is as shown below, but printed in black-and-white. The colored version is included, but as a dust jacket over the book's actual cover.
On the back is a list of all the series covered by this book: Beast Wars, Beast Wars II, Beast Wars Neo, Beast Wars Metals, Animorphs, Beast Machines "Transformers: Carrobot", Transformers: Robots in Disguise, Beast Wars Returns, "And… The Aftermath".
At the bottom is a row of eleven symbols, the same eleven seen on the front cover: Maximal, Predacon, Blentron, Animorph, Mutant, Technorganic Maximal, Vehicon, Dinobot, Autobot, Decepticon, and Combatron.
Like the front cover, the back is colorless in light gray while the back dust jacket is in green with a Beast Wars green eye surrounded by red scales.
The inside flaps of the dust jacket feature old advertisement text from the original Beast Wars toyline. On the front flap is the Japanese catalog text that translates as follows:
From beyond the end of the universe, in search of mysterious Power Energy, the super robot lifeform "Transformers" have arrived! The evil "Destron" Transformers who attempt to conquer the universe by abusing Power Energy, and the righteous "Cybertron" Transformers who fight to stop them. With special abilities, each transforms into a different creature! At last, a new battle has begun. Will it be the heroic Cybertrons or the evil Destrons that will win this battle!?
On the back flap is the classic English text from the 1996 Beast Wars packaging:
BIO-GENETIC ENGINEERING HAS ALLOWED THE TRANSFORMERS TO CREATE A PERFECT CYBERNETIC FUSION BETWEEN FEROCIOUS ANIMALS AND MECHANICAL TRANSFORMERS TECHNOLOGY. THE RESULT: HEROIC MAXIMALS VS. EVIL PREDACONS! ROBOT WARRIORS DISGUISED AS WILD ANIMALS IN AN EXPLOSIVE FIGHT TO THE FINISH! THE BEAST WARS HAVE BEGUN ...COLLECT THEM ALL!
The front flap also has a photo of all six deco releases of Transmetal Rattrap: Takara, Hasbro, Fox Kids, Walmart, 10th Anniversary, and the Japanese jigsaw puzzle one. Likewise, the back flap has a photo of seven versions of the Cheetor toy: Fox Kids, 10th Anniversary, Telemocha Series, Hasbro blue eyes, Hasbro red eyes, Hasbro green eyes, and Takara's second-run version with the green cheetah eyes and orange robot eyes.
Inside the front cover is a large photo of RID Air Attack Optimus Primal (not the Japanese Encore version, the Hasbro Toys'R'Us version). Behind this is an Introduction page written almost entirely in Japanese (as is every page in this book, which I'm saying now to avoid having to repeat it throughout). It appears to cover a brief overview of the Transformers brand's history, and contains a short timeline of events from 1984 to 2021, skipping over many years unrelated to the Beast Era.
The Table of Contents shows that the book is divided into three main parts:
Part 1: Chronicle (pages 4 to 98)
Part 2: Backstage (pages 99 to 129)
Part 3: Documents (pages 130 to 143)
Part 1: Chronicle is the largest part of the book, containing a near-complete coverage of almost every single Beast Era toy ever produced (I say "near-complete" and "almost every" for reasons to be given later). Toys that had variants get coverage for most of those as well. For instance, the original Cheetor toy gets coverage for its original green-eyed version, its blue-eyed version, its red-eyed version, and the Japanese rerelease with green cheetah eyes and orange robot eyes. But in cases like Transmetal Rhinox having had dark teal and pale teal Hasbro variants, only Rhinox's darker Hasbro variant is shown alongside his pale gold Takara version.
This section begins with the year 1997, the year Beast Wars came out in Japan. All of the toys covered in this year are those released in Japan, which were first released in the West in 1996, as well as the overseas releases that Japan didn't get. 1998 covers the toys of Beast Wars II, the non-show Fuzors, and the Video Pack redecos of Airazor, Razorclaw, Claw Jaw, and Spittor. 1999 covers Beast Wars Neo's released toys, the unreleased Unicron prototype, the Beast Wars Metals toys, the non-show Transmetals 2 toys, and the entire Animorphs toyline.
Of note about these years is some selective coverage between certain toys that were unchanged between the Hasbro and Takara releases. For instance, B'Boom, Snarl, Claw Jaw, and Powerpinch are omitted from the book because of Apache, Tasmania Kid, Scuba, and Scissor Boy having identical toys, and yet, both Video Pack Razorclaw and Injector are individually covered in addition to the identical Rockbuster and Latolata. Also of note are the facts that the Japanese names of Razorbeast, Transquito, and Scarem are given in this part as レイザーバック ("Razorback"), トランスキュート ("Transcute"), and スクリーム ("Scream"), respectively. Iguanus is even given two Japanese names written as イグナー／イグアナス ("Igunar / Iguanus").
2000 covers Mutant Beast Wars, a number of the Lucky Draw figures for Beast Wars II, Neo and Metals, and the entire line of Car Robots (including Lucky Draw Black Super Fire Convoy and the complete version of Brave Maximus). The book then jumps ahead a few years to 2004 to cover the Japanese Beast Machines line, Beast Wars Returns. It then jumps backward to 1999-2000 to cover the Fox Kids Beast Wars redecos released in those years. It then progresses forward again to 2000 proper to cover the Hasbro Beast Machines and Dinobots lines. 2001 covers the Battle for the Spark subline of Beast Machines toys, and 2002 covers the Air Attack Optimus Primal and Megatron Megabolt toys from Robots in Disguise. A separate "2001-2003" section then covers the entire Robots in Disguise toyline from Hasbro, and I do mean the entire line: All of the same molds released in Car Robots plus all of the Hasbro-exclusive non-beast toys and redecos.
Following this is what the book refers to as "The Aftermath", Beast Era toys released after the era's end. Beast Wars Reborn, Beast Wars 10th Anniversary, Beast Wars Telemocha Series (including the super rare Mini-Con Dragoyell), the Beast Wars Masterpieces from MP-32 Convoy (Beast Wars) to MP-50 Tigatron (Beast Wars), and the five Wave 1 Beast Wars toys from the (as of this typing) forthcoming Kingdom line (though, sadly, Megatron uses the TakaraTomy stock photography with the orange face and other wrong colors).
Also in this Aftermath part are some things labeled as "Extra", which are additional Beast Era-related toys released in other lines. These include:
RobotMasters Beast Convoy Black Version
Universe (2003) Optimus Primal
Microverse Orcanoch and Arachnid
Titanium Series 6" Optimal Optimus, RID Optimus Prime, and BM Cheetor
There is also a short essay column about the Transmetal toys pictured with a purple-blue variant of Optimus Primal.
Now, of all of the toys covered in this part of the book, there are a few missing. In particular, none of the following are in this book:
Any toys from BotCon or the Collectors Club; not even the BotCon Japan Grizzly-1 and Double Punch
Any of the 2003 Universe toys (aside from the aforementioned Optimus Primal)
RobotMasters Burning Beast Convoy and Beast Megatron Black Version (the normal RobotMasters Beast Convoy and Beast Magtron are included with their Telemocha Series redecos, but these two are not)
RobotMasters Lio Convoy (either version), Bound Rogue, and Psycho-Orb
Legend Commander Collection Convoy (Beast Wars) and Lio Convoy
Any of the Lucky Draws from Beast Wars season 1
About half of the Lucky Draws from Beast Wars II, Neo, and Metals
Any of the Car Robots Lucky Draws (except for Black Super Fire Convoy and the complete version of Brave Maximus)
Any of the 2009 Universe, 2014 Generations Thrilling 30, or 2014-2019 Legends toys of Beast Era characters
Power of the Primes Optimal Optimus and Throne of the Primes
Encore God Fire Convoy, Returns Convoy, and the two Big Convoys
Masterpiece Burning Convoy and Shadow Panther
And, as mentioned above, any secondary Hasbro variants of the Transmetal toys (aside from the aforementioned purplish Primal that's given its own essay column).
And yet, despite all of these omissions, this section does feature a ton of obscure Japanese merchandise, such as:
Collection Figure and Metal Monument Convoy and Megatron
Cybertron Buster role play gun
Cybertron Mobile Base playset
Laser Light Yo-Yo
Lots and lots of mini-figure series for Beast Wars season 1 and Beast Wars II
Matrix Cannon role play gun
Spy Shot & Claw Gun (or Crow Gun) role play gun
PVC figurines for Beast Wars Neo
The Spark driver figures that were originally going to be included in the cockpits of Optimal Optimus, Tigerhawk, and Dragon Megatron
A Japanese cover for the first Animorphs novel "The Invasion"
Part 2: Backstage contains concept sketches for toys both released and unreleased, as well as interviews with seven people involved with the Japanese Beast Era.
The released toys whose concept sketches are featured are:
Bat Optimus Primal
Alligator Megatron
Razorbeast
Iguanus
Terrorsaur
Dinobot
Waspinator
Tarantulas
Gorilla Optimus Primal
Rhinox
Airazor
T-Rex Megatron (with an actual left hand inside his tail weapon)
Scorponok
Transmetal Optimus Primal
Transmetal Rattrap
Transmetal Cheetor
Transmetal Megatron
Transmetal Tarantulas
Transmetal Ravage
Animorphs Jake/Tiger
Mutant Soundwave (originally meant to be Animorphs Marco)
Mutant Icebird (originally meant to be Animorphs Jake)
Mutant Poison Bite (originally meant to be Animorphs Rachel)
Beast Machines Supreme class Cheetor
Beast Machines Megatron
Microverse Orcanoch, Arachnid, and their mini-figures
Among the unreleased concepts included are:
Early designs of Cheetor as a cougar (often mistaken for a wolf) and a lion
Several early designs for Depth Charge that look drastically different from the final version, some of which are even completely organic, non-Transmetal versions
A triple-changer Optimus Primal that changes into a gorilla and an eagle
A triple-changer Cheetor that changes into either a cheetah and a shark
A triple-changer Dinobot that changes into either a raptor and a cobra; all three of these were proposed "power up" forms for the three
An early design for Lio Convoy that more greatly resembles Optimus Primal, has a big axe weapon, and a small bat companion
An early concept for the Animorphs toyline that involved not transforming toys but instead articulated endoskeleton figures that could be covered with human and animal skins to change them between each form
Early concepts for Animorphs Tri-Rex that, while functionally similar to the final version, somehow look even more freakishly disturbing than the final version
"Mutant Beast Wars"-style Animorphs animal-to-animal concepts for a "Bee Frog" (either Ax or Visser Three) a "Piranha Condor" (one of the boys), and a "Ram Dragon" (a Komodo dragon, that is, also one of the boys)
There are also concepts for some gimmicks that never happened.
Bat Optimus Primal with flapping wings
Insecticon with a pullback motor in beast mode
Tarantulas with a spring-loaded autotransformation that bounces up with the push of a button
Gator Megatron with a button-activated chomping gator mouth
T-Rex Megatron with a projectile-launching T-Rex head that fires like a missile from its neck with a pull of its beast mode tail
Gorilla Optimus Primal with two flails and a set of two spiked clubs that he holds and spins around in beast mode
Scorponok's Cyberbee drone originally being a little scorpion drone
T-Rex Megatron with an extending T-Rex head much like the extending tail arm that his final toy had
A sort of "Pretender"/Super Mode" version of T-Rex Megatron where a small kibble-less robot figure compacts into a torso mode while a large T-Rex toy turns into a humanoid suit of armor for the torso figure to slot into, and armed with a large trident weapon; think Powermaster Optimus Prime or Star Saber for this gimmick
A G1 Optimus Prime figure that turns into an Army truck and combines with an organic lion figure that forms armor for Optimus to wear
One of Depth Charge's early concepts has little shark minions that shoot out of his beast mode mouth and transform into their own robot modes, making Depth Charge a sort of Beast Wars version of Soundwave/Blaster. One of these concepts even has the little shark minion as a dolphin instead
A triple-changer "Buffalo Crab" Fuzor with two beast modes: a water buffalo and a fiddler crab
A triple-changer "Shark Mantis" Fuzor with two beast modes:a hammerhead shark and praying mantis
A Fuzor combiner formed by an eagle and an ostrich fusing to make a "Bigbird" (kind of a large bird with arms; funnily enough, this is the same descriptor for G1 Deathsaurus's altmode)
A Fuzor combiner formed by a frilled lizard and a rhinoceros fusing to make a Triceratops
A Fuzor combiner formed by a spider and an ant fusing to make a scorpion
Early concepts for triple-changer "Beast Machines" that have an organic beast mode and a mechanical vehicle mode: One that turns into a helicopter and a dragonfly, one that turns into a racecar and a crab, and one (that looks a lot like Optimus Primal) that turns into a four-legged cannon tank and a gorilla
A "Battle for the Spark" bird with a wind-up wing-flapping gimmick in its Spark
A "Battle for the Spark" figure of Obsidian with a wind-up propeller-spinning gimmick in its Spark
Wind-up Spark boxes that could be inserted into Vehicon figures to unlock pop-out weapon gimmicks (sort of like what Mini-Cons and Cyber Keys would later do in Armada and Cybertron) or inserted into Cheetor for a beast mode head-turning gimmick
Spark Crystals that resemble little Matrix cores and could be pushed to activate either a pop-out weapon on an early Optimus Primal design or a spinning rotor and lights and sounds cannon on an early Vehicon design
A removal Matrix core-looking Spark Crystal that could be inserted into the hips of a very early Maximal design that would later become Cheetor, with the Spark Crystal activating pop-out cannons on its thighs
A removal Matrix LED battery that could be inserted into an early Vehicon design's chest or arm to activate lights and deploy an arm blade
The rest of this section contains lengthy Q&A interviews with the following people:
Hideaki Yoke (餘家英昭) – toy development
Kozo Itagaki (板垣 耕三) – toy marketing / producer
Takio Ejima (江島多規男) – toy development
Hisashi Yuki (幸 日佐志) – toy development
Kōjin Ōno (大野 光仁) – toy development
Ryōka Yuzuki (柚木 涼香) – Voice actor for Blackwidow (Blackarachnia)
Yoshikazu Iwanami (岩浪美和 ) – Japanese version director / story editor
Part 3: Documents features the Beast Wars Data Box with lists of all the toys, episodes and movies. In particular, the specific Japanese toys that were sold in the U.S. through HasbroCollectors.com and Target are given their names written in English: Lio Convoy, Galvatron, Shadow Panther/Tripredacus Agent (both names, yes), Magmatron, Stampy, Saberback, Longrack, Archadis, Mach Kick, and… Colada! Yep, "Colada" finally has an official source for his name spelled as such, rather than the longstanding Engrishy "Cohrada" spelling.
Likewise, Razorbeast, Transquito, Iguanus and Scarem have their name written in Japanese as レイザーバック ("Razorback"), トランスキュート ("Transcute"), イグアナス (イグナー) ("Iguanus (Igunar)"), and スクリーム ("Scream"), just like in Part 1. Though, of further note is that Wolfang's name is spelled correctly in English, when in Part 1 his English name was misspelled as "Wolfgang". A similar typo appears in Part 3's list of the Beast Machines toys where the word "Heroic" in "Heroic Maximals" misspelled as "Hiroic". Other small typos like this appear throughout the book, but nothing too major and only noticeable if one is actively looking for them.
Finally, the episode guides for each series/movie arrange them in accordance to their Japanese airdates, so they are given in the following order:
Beast Wars season 1
Beast Wars II
Beast Wars Special
Beast Wars Neo
Beast Wars Metals: Convoy's Great Transformation (the Japanese theatrical release of "Cutting Edge")
Beast Wars Metals/Beast Wars seasons 2 & 3
Car Robots/Robots in Disguise
Beast Wars Returns/Beast Machines
All in all, the most interesting stuff in this book for me is all of the unreleased concepts for figures and gimmicks, but as a fan of the entire Beast Era, this book is a fine overview for much of the era's toy history.
Have you recieved this publication? Are you interested in learning more about the unreleased designs? Let us know in the Energon Pub and stay tuned to Seibertron for all the latest news and reviews!
Tigatron just arrived from Amazon Japan. He had shipped Friday so this is pretty lightning quick for a toy arriving from literally the other end of the world.
But two questions remain: Is he a good toy and, more importantly, is he worth it?
That's what we will explore now in this review, that's all that's left to discuss and it's what matters most.
I will start by addressing something, though his design has callbacks to Cheetor's (since their original toys were the exact same), this is a completely different toy. Then only aspect of the transformation that is similar is that the front legs end up in the back and can connect together in a cross pattern. That is it. Every single other element is completely different offering fans a new transforming experience.
And I'll tell you, this is a better toy than Cheetor. With Cheetor, you had a very sleek build so there was some extra kibble in the rear area. But with Tigatron, the designers really went out of their way to highlight the musculature of tigers, which are the largest felines out there.
That larger mass permits the leg kibble and feet to integrate within the beast mode. It becomes my favourite part of the transformation. While a lot of it is panel-y (or shellformer-y to some), that foot transformation is just one of those wow moments that use simplicity and precision to fully convert an elements while using the some of the same parts. You can see it below.
The Tiger mode does suffer from a lot of panels though, so posing him or inserting the gut gun will have some panels detach while to try to reconnect others. I don't know why they didn't have the thigh panels fasten properly. They end up leaving gaps and it's not like they are shaped this way to fasten more properly in robot mode.
The eyes are articulated and can be green or orange since the spheres that make the eyes are green on one side and orange on the other and they can turn on a 360 axis for you to alter colours. It's too bad that the exposed part of the gut gun is not the part with the tiger stripes, making the beast patter on the gun fake kibble. It is the only fake bit though, since, unlike Cheetor, the Tiger head is used in both modes.
So, back to conversion, while there is a lot of undoing panels and flipping and folding, I found this far more enjoyable than Cheetor or other recent MPs. There are tiny pegs and latches that do require some finesse, and folding certain pieces of Tiger skin was really stressful due to how tight they were, but nothing broke on me. And best of all, I did something rather risky, I didn't use the instructions. While I recommend you follow instructions, the fact that I was able to get from one mode to the next without them meant that it wasn't obtuse. My favourite part was the legs since that is a completely different transformation to any Beast Wars MP to date. Another part I liked was at the very end where it seemed I had finished but the hips still seemed to be facing backwards, since that robot detail was on the back. What usually happens is you reorient the entire hip but the swivel didn't allow for that kind of movement. As it turns out, that specific robot mode detail can rotate around the hip to face any direction you want.
Most joints are super tight, except for the knees. And that is my biggest gripe about the robot mode, his knees suck. They kind of remind me of Siege Megatron's ankle tilt where you felt you were undoing something rather than bending. I have a neo dodging bullets pose below that shows how he looks like with bent knees. Not great. Another aspect that could have been easily dealt with is the arm kibble does not tab into his arms. I guess it makes it slightly easier if you want to pose his hands but that could just as easily be achieved if you had a small peg you could unpeg.
He is back heavy but his heels are extra tight so I have had no problem keeping him up. And speaking of the backside, the muscular frame of the tiger alt mode is really highlighted there. He has these massive calves (probably from holding up so much upper body mass), it's pretty cool that the strength of the animal mode is conveyed in the robot mode. As for the head, while he comes with 4 extra faces, I really did not care to change them. Aside from my memory of him being really frightened once or twice, the face I most associate with Tigatron is a stoic one with his mouth closed. He was always more of the silent type. The light piping is excellent.
So, let's get down to brass tacks with the following questions:
a)Is this a good figure?
b)Do I see where all my money went?
c)Do I regret spending this much on a toy?
Answers:
a)Yes
b)Yes
c)No
Mine cost $160 USD (before shipping and duty fees). That's almost double Optimus Primal. While I can see exactly where all my money went, part of me will always think that these figures are more than they should be. But that's just the name of the MP game at this point. I prefer this toy to almost all other Beast Wars MPs and I feel as satisfied with him as I do with Dinobot or Megatron, both of which were far more costly.
I will tell you this though, he is definitely the type of figure that is way more fun to convert from alt mode to robot than from robot to alt mode. I'm going to bring him back to beast mode now, wish me luck!
Thanks to Seibertronian Tuned Agent, we have a great new review to bring to you! Regular YouTube reviewer TonTon brings us an excellent look at the upcoming Movie Masterpiece MP-11 Ratchet! We get some very good look at the details on Ratchet in both robot and especially his Hummer altmode. There are some good size comparisons with his Studio Series figure, as well as a great shot of Ratchet with the other '07 movie Autobots.
And without further ado, the review!
Ratchet is due out October 1st in the U.S., where he's a Target store exclusive, and is still available for preorder on Target's website. Are you looking forward to this figure? Let us know what you think below!
Greetings Seibertronians! Fellow Seibertron user, -Kanrabat-, has let us know that YouTube toy reviewer, PrimeVsPrime, has done a brand new review of the next Masterpiece to be released, MP-49 Black Convoy!
This is a redeco of the previously released MP-44 Optimus Prime figure, that was G1 Sunbow accurate. MP-49 doesn't come with the trailer the previous release had.
Check out the embedded review below:
Do you have this figure on preorder? Will you be adding him to your Nemesis Prime shrine? Let us know in the Energon Pub and stay tuned to Seibertron for all the latest news and reviews!
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* Price and quantities subject to change. Shipping costs, taxes and other fees not included in cost shown. Refer to listing for current price and availability.
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