Japanese Ultimate Bumblebee to Contain Die-Cast Metal?

Front paged and credited!

Phew... busy news day...

I need some ice tea...

Man, America always gets the cigarettes butt when it comes to die-cast.

Wow, a BT/Masterpiece with sound. Who DIDN'T see this?

Bleah, not sure I;m impressed with this BB though.

Wow, he's going to be more than a little heavy then. He'll be the Ultimate Sumo BB.

Dark Ops wrote:I'll probably draw the wrath of quite a few purists, but being born in '80, I think I have a little bit of weight when I ask: What is the big deal about die-cast? I've always preferred plastics for the lightness and ability to hold a color, as opposed to joint-tasking weight and the chipping issues. Besides, plastics seem to have really improved since the original TFs.

Am I missing something? Is there a reason for the near-mystical status of die-cast?

The reason so many purists demand Die-Cast is because it ties the new to the old in a way. It's a piece of nostalgia ("They don't make 'em like that anymore!") and it brings back memories.

That's why there's a near-mythical status for D-C.

It's understandable, but it's not my cup of tea. I look at all of my collection pieces and then hold 20th. DVD Prime in my hands and then my sight and touch senses kick in and I see the major difference, and I don't get it either. I get the emotional attachment, I get the whole "Oooh, aaah!!" thing...but logically, it makes no sense to build something partially out of D-C. It really doesn't.

It's not cost effective.
It's heavier to ship.
It's easier to chip and lose it luster, where plastic won't. (well it can, but you know what I mean)

To me, a true Masterpiece line would be made of a full plastic construction. Although, the D-C pieces on Megatron and Starscream are required for the contruction...that level of metal content, I'd be fine with.

Part of the reason I don't tinker with DVD Prime all that much is his over simplified look, his lumbering size, his metal enhanced heft. Don't get me wrong, he's an essential piece to anyone's collection, but he has his flaws and the metal is one of the biggest thorns in my side over all of it.

I compared DVD Prime (the mold) to Movie Leader Class (the mold) and you can see the differences between the two figures. LCP is lighter. LCP can have paint chipping, but nowhere near as bad as DVD. LCP has more detailing because plastic can handle it better. (Don't get me wrong, the D-C on DVD is detailed, even has battle damage marks on his legs, but D-C just can't capture all the minute details like plastic does. At least not in my experience.)

LCP is leaps and bounds better as a toy/collectible than DVD. With that said, DVD still has it's merits like all of the Masterpiece figures do.

I think if they spent less money on the metal, and more on the design (like the 6 inch Convoy (w/ trailer) super detailed figure. I can't think of the line's name...) then I'd be hard pressed to decide between a Masterpiece figure and the current movie line figures.

...but that's not what we got.

So don't feel bad, another 1980'er feels the same way you do.

Yeah freakin' right, I bought into this for Leader Class optimus and I just ended up getting screwed!!!!

Again as I have said before. I wish I was Japanese. They get all the good stuff!

He's still not the kinda toy I'd buy.

If he were diecast here he'd be even more expensive.

I liek Die cast because of the weight mostly.

And 20th Prime has flaws? I like the use of Diecast on him ... well, different strokes, right?

if they would change the apperance in robot mode interchangeable hands to gun mode, battle mask, and make his chest propper looking like the deluxe version 08 bunblebee then maybe just maybe i will buy that figure but i doubt that they would make that many changes to figure like that.

Have to see what the changes are before I commit.
I wasnt going to pick up UltBB until he went on sale anyway.

Being all yellow, I hope the diecast doesnt stick out like sore thumb.