Transformers Masterpiece MP18+ Bluestreak in Anime Colors in Hand Images

That + headsculpt just looks so perfect, bravo!

Yeah that's the thing you'll notice since Megs, they nailing the faces.. Everything is so much better than it was when they first started.

Also coming in from Snakas.blog are some new images from the Tokyo Wonderfest of Transformers Masterpiece MP-48 Lio Convoy! We've seen several images of Lio so far but this time he has his weapons drawn and is ready to take down an army of vile Predacons. There's also a great close up of the roboticized lion's mane. He is not shown with Artemis and there are likely more accessories on the way. Be sure to throw in your thoughts on what else he might come with in the forums and stay tuned to Seibertron for the ultimate in Transformers news!

Dang, those are some nice looking guns

I find the transforming shoulder so compelling it’s like a magic eye picture I just stare at it every time I see it. I feel like I see a new hinge or flap every time.

I think it’s a real testament to these figures, Siege too, when they’re so well made and interesting and fun looking that you are drawn to it whether you’ve read the comic or watched the show the character was featured/expanded in. I’ve never seen an episode of Lio’s show but I know him as an iconic character and it’s just an incredibly cool figure.

Stargrave wrote:I find the transforming shoulder so compelling it’s like a magic eye picture I just stare at it every time I see it. I feel like I see a new hinge or flap every time.

I feel the same way.

Thanks to Youtube and them finally making some English Subtitles, I've been watching Beast Wars II over the weekend and man, what a goofy, but still fun series. It's interesting seeing how Lax and too cool of school Japan "Convoys" are compared to Optimus as characters. IT's also interesting seeing just how on point this MP actually is. I know people at first complained about the lion on the robot mode, but that's literally what it looks like when he becomes a robot. I literally turns more robotic looking.

Ebonyleopard wrote:Thanks to Youtube and them finally making some English Subtitles, I've been watching Beast Wars II over the weekend and man, what a goofy, but still fun series. It's interesting seeing how Lax and too cool of school Japan "Convoys" are compared to Optimus as characters.

If I may ask, how far along are ya into the series?

And, if you wish to share any more in-depth thoughts about the show, here's the sort of 'de facto' discussion thread for Beast Wars Second (and here's the one for Beast Wars Neo, when you get to that series).

Stargrave wrote: I’ve never seen an episode of Lio’s show but I know him as an iconic character

Because of the Prime head sculpt?

Initially as a big fan of Beast Wars and back then I wasn’t really on the internet so much as a toy magazine nut and that’s probably where I learned about Beast Wars II and Neo and the awesome toys I didn’t have access to (drats!)

I can vividly remember wishing I could snag that white lion Prime I thought it looked rad. I can remember seeing the old BW Unicron in a magazine for the first time and it blowing my mind.

I never learned Japanese but I would always grab Hobby Japan any time my local comic shop had one scanning every page for hours. I’m sure through that and other media at the time crossing over to the states I became familiar with the look and the cast if not the storyline.

Much like the G1 Takara series, I had no idea BWII or Neo existed back in the day. Now, I loathe comic relief. In my view, you can be funny with your dialogue without resorting to stupidity and guffaws.
So when I did try to watch the pilot for BWII many years later, it completely rubbed me the wrong way. To be frank, I am completely indifferent to the Japanese BW Shows, to the point I see/acknowledge no link between them and the Mainframe series. As for the toys, the only figures from those lines I like are redecos or retools of existing BW figures. In their original colours, of course. As some of the repaints, such as Spittor and Claw Jaw, look terrible in Second/Neo.

My query however, was that you stated you'd never seen an episode of Second, but know Lio as an "iconic character".
As I said, yes, from a visual standpoint, he is Optimus Prime: The Lion. Aside from that. as he was a field commander of a single season show, he isn't really anymore iconic a character, per say, than other one off characters, such as Car Robot's Fire Truck Optimus or BM Nightscream...

Well I mean there you go, he’s got Prime’s head. Just like Primal or Nemesis Prime he’s one of those significant Primes of a feather so to speak. I am admittedly assuming he’s still popular given the MP treatment.

I'd say Lio is iconic, but mileage would vary between perspectives. I also have no problems with how BWII and Neo turned out. Remember they were kids shows and geared as such, and don't forget cultural differences.

ZeroWolf wrote:I'd say Lio is iconic, but mileage would vary between perspectives. I also have no problems with how BWII and Neo turned out. Remember they were kids shows and geared as such, and don't forget cultural differences.

Iconic, as in he looks like someone else. Like a famous older brother, you share a resemblance with. The character isn't really in his own right.

They're all kids shows, though. Sunbow to Beast Machines, Car Robots to [insert current show name]. The difference is not all of them narratively treat their audience like they are stupid.

Ah, yes Cultural differences... IE the horrendous Beast Wars dub. To this day, I am morbidly curious how they made Transmutate "funny".

Iconic as well as in his design, wearing the lion head like a trophy you'd expect to see on Herakles but that was my point about cultural differences, between how Japan handles kid shows to how the west does it. I'd say that the anime BW series were aimed at a younger audience then say shows like Naruto or the later parts of Dragonball Z

Indeed. The same tone is equally apparent in Car Robots and the Unicron Trilogy.
It is still so bizarre that they don't tailor these figure lines and releases to the majority of the world's view of Transformers. Preferential treatment of your home fanbase is one thing, but surely the international fans outnumber them physically and financially? It doesn't make sense to cater to the few over the many. MP Rhinox, for example, would have been infinitely more preferable over another Prime.

Depends on how the home grown fans feel and let's face it, they know that they will get overseas sales for Lio to boot, this is win win for them.

True. It is a Prime after all. HasTak know that literally, to a certain part of the fanbase, it is a head sculpt that prints money.

What's cool about Lio too is that this is falling into something Scotty and the Podcast have been talking about for months now. For the 35th anniversary, they are trying to make updates to all of the Primes/Supreme Commanders in some form or another, and they've been working this over the past few years.

G1 Prime
G1 Rodimus Prime (last year)
Fort Max (TR)
Ginrai (TR)
Star Saber (MP, hopefully something mainline soon)
Dai Atlas (Legends)
Star Convoy (Selects)
G2 Prime (TR)
Optimus Primal (MP,PotP)
Lio convoy (MP)
Big Convoy (Encore rerelease)
Armada Prime (looking like Selects)
Energon Prime (CW maybe?)
Cybertron Prime (Siege)

There aren't that many commanders left to do after the past few years