Transformers MP-50 Tigatron Is Shipping Out, Here are In hand Photos and an Instruction Video

got charged today by amazon japan, but hasn't shipped yet. can't wait to get him in hand

Sometimes it’s like Strongbad is doing the instructions;

Step 1: move this piece a bit

Step 2: move that piece a bit more different

Step 3: put that piece back where it came from but in a different way

Step 4: kick The Cheat.

Damn that figure does look perfect. It looks better than the cgi cartoon model in some photos. I'm not collecting MP anymore. Very happy Kingdom is a thing, I do like Beast Wars a lot but some of the main characters are very hard to get new.

I think this Tigatron will make a lot of fans happy.

Nice. I've been so busy today that I hadn't even checked my email until just now and the first thing on there was a shipping notice from DHL saying Tigatron would be here Tuesday!

Emerje

god, he looks so good, they seriously nailed it with this one; I can practically hear Blu's voice

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.



We have had many in hand images, so you know he looks great.
We had a conversion video so you know he's complex.

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!

Yay! for not getting broken during transformation (or after by supernatural and plastic chemical means).

The MP looks really good, kinda makes me wish Cheetor was revsited with a version whatever they want to label it. Tempting to have the MP and the kingdom figure as Snow Stalker depending on how it turns out -and if I had the money.

He looks fantastic, great review Will.

Let's GO!!!









Full set of images here!

https://imgur.com/a/zCFVy6b

ZeroWolf wrote:He looks fantastic, great review Will.

Thanks man!

blackeyedprime wrote:Yay! for not getting broken during transformation (or after by supernatural and plastic chemical means).

yeah there were times where I was sweating it with some tight joints, but in the end it all worked out.

Really happy with this overall.

Tigatron looks really nice!

I am glad I didn't order him though, with one potentially coming in Kingdom.

mine is arriving thursday, cant wait.

Man, he looks fantastic! It was worth it for them to not take the easy way out and just copy Cheetor's transformation or even just do a straight repaint like so many suggested they would (I think most of us knew that was never an option, though). Mine comes in Tuesday, can't wait!

Emerje

Transformed him back to beast mode, once again without instructions. Everything was fine and it was quite the treat. He holds together even better now since I placed everything in the right way during transformation.

I do love Transformers that look like they're the same but then transform completely differently. Like MP10 Optimus and MP22 Ultra Magnus, and MP12 Sideswipe and MP39 Sunstreaker.

Very happy they didn't go the easy way with this guy. I'm really looking forward to it. The Beast Wars masterpiece toys are incredible.

I had a box waiting for me when I got home from work today...

I'm seeing words like "incredible" and "fantastic".. really??
This looks terrible! This is panel gapping taken to a whole new level! For close to $200, imo, this is completely unacceptable.

transformers_va wrote:I'm seeing words like "incredible" and "fantastic".. really??
This looks terrible! This is panel gapping taken to a whole new level! For close to $200, imo, this is completely unacceptable.

Do you know of a toy that goes from organic animal to robot with out paneling like that for the same price?

Not for that price, no. However, for lower prices, I think Primal and Rhinox were done a lot better.

Primal is a more valid comparison as Rhinox is only a Voyager class toy with a different design brief. However I think Tigatron had more of his beast mode to hide then the big monkey man.

ZeroWolf wrote:Primal is a more valid comparison as Rhinox is only a Voyager class toy with a different design brief. However I think Tigatron had more of his beast mode to hide then the big monkey man.

He does. Monkey man doesn't even fully change between his two modes.

Though I do admit that those Beast hips on Tigatron are easily the worst part. I really dislike how they don't actually snap in and instead just hover there.

Beast Mode is kinda weak IMO. But robot mode is pretty fantastic, as has been the case with all the BW MPs. Although, I can’t figure out the arm middle thing; pictures show it inserting into a slot on his arm flap, but I don’t quite understand how that works. If anyone has successfully mounted that piece, do you mind sharing a pic with ol’ Maximo?

Nemesis Maximo wrote:Beast Mode is kinda weak IMO. But robot mode is pretty fantastic, as has been the case with all the BW MPs.

To be honest, in light of who we've had so far I was expecting that. Aside from Primal, The Maximals were always the weaker figures of the first toy line. They did botch Blackarachnia's Beast Mode due to laziness, but I am expecting better with the other Predacons. Terrorsaur being a potential wild card in that respect, however.

Nemesis Maximo wrote:Beast Mode is kinda weak IMO. But robot mode is pretty fantastic, as has been the case with all the BW MPs. Although, I can’t figure out the arm middle thing; pictures show it inserting into a slot on his arm flap, but I don’t quite understand how that works. If anyone has successfully mounted that piece, do you mind sharing a pic with ol’ Maximo?

Can you show me what you mean? Not sure I understand.

Is that making sense? It’s completely different to how the box is.



So it seems as though there was a late change to the figure? There’s no way mine’s the only one like this.

william-james88 wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:Primal is a more valid comparison as Rhinox is only a Voyager class toy with a different design brief. However I think Tigatron had more of his beast mode to hide then the big monkey man.

He does. Monkey man doesn't even fully change between his two modes.

And they still didn't do a particularly great job with the ape legs from behind.



The original figure did a better (though far from good) job of hiding that. If he had been given the budge of a $150 figure instead of a $125 figure I wonder what they could have done?

Emerje

Emerje wrote:And they still didn't do a particularly great job with the ape legs from behind.

I'd take that anyday over this:

I understand that this was the character design though, rather than explicitly the toy design, but it just looks awful

Emerje wrote:The original figure did a better (though far from good) job of hiding that. If he had been given the budge of a $150 figure instead of a $125 figure I wonder what they could have done?

Emerje

I was thinking the exact same thing

Tigatrons mistransformed in that pic tho with at least the tail needing folded up. The animal legs crossed are show accurate. robot lower legs look a bit odd from that angle though.

Nemesis Maximo wrote:

1351E74C-ED7E-4280-9CDF-4D9AC65AFCE7.jpeg

BC7B95EB-376D-45CD-8894-139AF5E7FB11.jpeg

Is that making sense? It’s completely different to how the box is.

ED6EBB9A-E391-4F07-A506-B9EBE5FE220C.jpeg

4EFB98CC-7513-49FF-B656-B745F916D206.jpeg

So it seems as though there was a late change to the figure? There’s no way mine’s the only one like this.

Ok good new and bad news, and it's the same news:

All figures are like that.

What is shown on the box can't be achieved and some have reported breakages with trying to insert that piece. So I just left mine alone. What you have set up though looks as good as it gets.

That’s what I figured was the case. That’s really weird to me that it’s so obviously different from how it’s displayed...we Haven’t really seen this with the masterpiece figures To my memory.

... He's ok!

Tigatron is a mixed bag for me. On the one hand I like the figure more than Blackarachnia (still the weakest in the Beast Wars MP line, to me), Because they didn't take the easy way out and he is very much a new figure in his own right. This is mostly down the Beast Mode and it's proportions. He also has a good size and weight to the figure which I think add to the positives.

But when I thought about it, the things I like most about Tigatron - in bot mode - the impressive engineering of the legs, were the same things I liked with MP Cheetor. Only bigger. Ultimately what I don't like, is the altmode kibble. The arm guards that don't tab in. The fact that I almost broke the tiger back, before having to look at the instructions. Because I assumed all the hinges move. They don't.
As a final minor niggle there are these two flaps. They ultimately reside around the shoulders of the tiger legs in bot mode. But I think something could have been done to hide them completely (mine is likely mis-transformed, it doesn't really matter) instead you just sort of tuck them in?

Ultimately though, this is a bigger Cheetor. A design I didn't really like the first time. Transforming Tigatron from his majestic Beast Mode into the bot mode with arms I don't like and a horrible backpack of kibble (not talking about the folded arms, as they are accurate). My conclusion is the same...



7/10

On the plus side, only single use characters from now on with the Maximals.

I think 7/10 is a fair and realistic score, AllNew. I’ll be the first to admit that I am biased and easy to please on these Beast Wars MPs, and I even give Blackarachnia’s beast mode a pass because of how absolutely-fucking-lutely perfect her robot mode is. But Stripes here, yeah. 7/10. Which isn’t bad by any stretch, in fact I’m still almost completely satisfied with him (aside from the wrist-rocket, which is feature I was greatly anticipating. Wrist-mounted weaponry is my jam.)

In many ways he is an improvement over the Cheetor mold. No faux Beast Head in bot mode, for example. But he doesn't reinvent the wheel either. The main take home I get from Tigatron, is hope that Tarantulas will correct the errors of his mold partner in a similar vein.

My one concern is the brilliant white elements of the bot mode. Long term, direct sunlight will be an issue for him in particular. So in my view, his pros and cons leave him with the same score I gave to Cheetor. Primal is still the best of the Maximals though. I am looking forward more towards who is to come. Even Airazor, who I don't like at all.

I mean, Cheetor needed that faux beast head, for the same reason as Dinobot: the shape-change would be impossible to achieve with plastic. So I don’t see that as a detractor, just an unfortunate necessity of not having actual magic.

Nemesis Maximo wrote:I mean, Cheetor needed that faux beast head, for the same reason as Dinobot: the shape-change would be impossible to achieve with plastic. So I don’t see that as a detractor, just an unfortunate necessity of not having actual magic.

I dunno. Maybe some kind of vertical hinge on the top of the Cheetah head could have flattened it a bit for Bot Mode? It was supposed to be the actual head in the show too. By the same token, Dinobot's design (and TM Megatron) never claimed that was the actual Beast Head on the chest.


In light of Kingdom, I am really hoping Takara gives the MP line someone who doesn't feature in that line as the next MP. Terrorsaur or Tarantulas perhaps?

Terrorsaur and Tarantulas aren't ruled out of Kingdom, we only know the retail releases, not Exclusives

True. But I do think in light of Waspinator, Starscream and Cyclonus, Terrorsaur might be replaced by a Fossiliser instead. Like Dinobot.

ZeroWolf wrote:Terrorsaur and Tarantulas aren't ruled out of Kingdom, we only know the retail releases, not Exclusives

We've never had a new mold for a toy that goes with the mainline released as an exclusive, in these generations lines. It's always redecos and retools. And Terrorsaur needs a new mold.

I am 100% confident that Terrorsaur would not happen in the Kingdom line but he could come later. I have no clue how they will pull it off, since he by far has the most variation between both modes. He is by far the character release that interests me most for the MP line (staying on topic).

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:True. But I do think in light of Waspinator, Starscream and Cyclonus, Terrorsaur might be replaced by a Fossiliser instead. Like Dinobot.

I don't really understand that statement. If you mean in terms of spots, sure, since there will be a pterodactyl fossilizer. He doesn't replace the character though.

And I am not sure what you mean by Dinobot, he is coming as a voyager in the the Kingom line.

Mr. Stan's review of Tigatron:
transformers-masterpiece-mp-50-tigatron-review-t115319.php#p2083182