Black Repaint of MPM Bumblebee Optimus Prime Coming

Unexpected. I still don't even have the regular one, the two versions of Optimus are the only MPMs I don't have (I have MB-11, it looks better and about the same size). I wonder why they didn't do a black version of MPM-4?

Emerje

I think I'll stick with my Aoyi Mech Dark Knight.



https://youtu.be/gkbYH2sCvCo

Takara has new preorders for Transformers figures today on their site today. None of these are exclusive so they can be ordered on Amazon japan as well. And only one is a fully new reveal: Movie Masterpiece MPM-12N Nemesis Prime. While it is called Nemesis Prime, the deco does take cues from Black Convoy/Scourge, like the teal on the antennae. There will surely be links for the Hasbro orders soon, but Takara is the first to put them up.

Link to Amazon listing: https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/dp/B0BCTZ?tag=seibertron00-22& ... 6p2rR1eCWc

If they had just fixed the "Hello Kitty ears", I might have been interested. Oh, well, I'll stick with my 3P version for the time being, *sigh*...

He looks cool, but it would've been even cooler to give him the red mark across his face to reference The Last Knight version of Nemesis Prime to help him stand out.

If you think about it, every Nemesis Prime is an indirect reference to Transformers Armada, since it was first time the name was used.

Day 989 of waiting for Transformers Armada Masterpiece news.

THERE'S THE THREAD!

I ordered the DNA Design upgrade kit for him.

It's expensive as balls but it will be worth it.

In the meantime, he's still cool.

The past and future Prime



I still wish this alt mode was better.

I installed the DNA Design kit and let me tell you, it's far from perfect. First, the light piping of the head is pointless. You need the light of the GODS to see anything. So I painted the light-piping window on top of the DNA head black, and I painted the eyes a bright red. The results are good.



The shoulderpads are the things that motivate people to buy the kit in the first place, to get rid of the truck's "cat hears". First, the instructions are wrong for the way to knock out the pin. DO IT THE OPPOSITE WAY. Then, main problem is the damn spring in the joint. Of course one of the spring had to jump through a space-bridge and be lost forever. I struggled for a whole hour and a half to make a new spring to replace the original. Nope, it didn't worked. So I gave up, replaced the OG spring by just a normal spring that will coil inside the space to fill it up. The, I put a drop of crazy glue on both sides of the joint, then I wiggled the joint around until it was tight. In the end, I lose the spring loaded action, but the shoulderpad still work as intended. And the repairs are invisible.



Next, the new arms. Those rotating panels do not tab in as solidly as the original, but the work. They give more bot details and hold in place. But be careful with them. I ham-handed the panel and I ended up popping it of the hinge. When I tried popping the hinge back in, I didn't do it the right way and a tiny tab broke off. So I broke the other one, drilled a tiny hole trough the thing, then I screwed two small screws in the holes. Finally, I cut the heads off and sanded new metal pegs to size. The results are a bit ugly, but I was surprised that not only was I able to pop the hinge in place, the panel work flawlessly as if the incident never happened. Damn, I'm GOOD!



To finish, the longer thighs and new knees. And miracle, there were no incidents nor issues.



The transformation work fine, but the truck is a wee bit less stable due to the fact that the new thighs prevent a peg from pegging into the leg panel. Also, NO CAT EARS!



Overall, the looks of the bot are improved by a lot, but the kit was a struggle to install. I'm not sure it was worth the 100$CAN that I paid. I wish the installation process was easier. Unless you are pretty confident in your modding skills, I say avoid the kit entirely. If you know you have a steady hand and can improvise your way through some potential mishaps, go for it. Despite the frustrations, the challenges were fun to do and the final results are worth it.