New Images for Takara MP-39 Masterpiece Sunstreaker Showing Transformation Scheme

I'm stoked it has the same head reveal as the generations figure. That figure had the perfect reveal with his head rising up from his chest and the ears popping out like rays of a rising sun.
Now we just need a 3rd party to make a way better head than this official version.

I don't have any of the G1 MPs, just Optimus Primal and Cheetor from BW, but I really, really like the look of Sunstreaker, also I had the episode "Hoist Goes Hollywood" on tape when I was a kid so that alien mask really takes me back.

Hoffrod wrote:I like the look overall with the transformation and body in both modes, but I HATE the head sculpt. I lean towards more detailing in the Masterpiece series versus the 'cartoon' look. To me, the original toy had the best head for 'Streak by far. I never understood people wanting a cartoon look to a character. Animation back then was deliberately simplified to reduce time and money in the cells, but wasnt meant to be an exact image of each character. Masterpiece means just that....a masterpiece. The detailing should be crazy intricate in every aspect.

100% agree!

Hoffrod wrote:I like the look overall with the transformation and body in both modes, but I HATE the head sculpt. I lean towards more detailing in the Masterpiece series versus the 'cartoon' look. To me, the original toy had the best head for 'Streak by far. I never understood people wanting a cartoon look to a character. Animation back then was deliberately simplified to reduce time and money in the cells, but wasnt meant to be an exact image of each character. Masterpiece means just that....a masterpiece. The detailing should be crazy intricate in every aspect.

I agree with this whole heartedly. And what is odd is that they do exactly that... in car mode. So you have this gorgeous looking real life car with intricate details which of course ends up in several parts of the robot mode but then you have a deliberately cartoony head that just clashes with all the more detailed alt mode parts.

TK415 wrote:Do you expect them to release a different version with a less cartoony head in the future? Sideswipe got another release with more accurate colors, right? Which still looked like 80-90% the same.

We've seen them go from a realistic version to a cartoon-ish repaint (Sideswipe, Red Alert), but not the other way around. Right now their only interest is either cartoon accuracy or G1 toy accuracy, but they seem to have lost interest in real-world accuracy some time ago.

Emerje

I think we are all on the same page. While I love that we DO have a cartoon accurate head, it's so different from the crisp, pointy, technical original design. If ANY figure gets released with an alternate face and head to make it toy accurate, it should be this one.

I mean, this IS the first transforming character ever designed. (per discussions and reveals at Botcon.) Sunstreaker truly deserves a masterpiece release that pays homage to the toy mode in addition to the toon model.

All that said, I think it's interesting how they included a street legal mode, but I know I'd never display like that. We have the yellow repaint of Sideswipe if we want a yellow Lambo. This is all about the super mode. Hoping that doesn't compromise the design too much.

gothsaurus wrote:I mean, this IS the first transforming character ever designed. (per discussions and reveals at Botcon.)

Small caveat: first transforming real world vehicle ever designed. There were transforming toys before him, he's the first car to do it.

Emerje

Now, just mere weeks before it's release, we finally have some in-packaging photos of MP-39 Sunstreaker! The pictures, coming from an account over on Weibo, show the traditional, high-quality box that most MP releases come in. The packaging also shows off his articulation, accessories, and scale compairisons, like normal. Something interesting to note (and something that's shown in the photos) is that his front-of-box pose is inspired by his classic G1 packaging, something we haven't really seen in Masterpiece releases. It will be fun to see if this is a running change with MP packaging! Check out the photos mirrored below, and then tell us in the Energon forum if you'll be picking this figure up!







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I'm bummed there is no alternate G1 toy head. Hope a 3p will chime in with one of those in case we want to swap out.

Oh don't get me wrong. That's my preference, BUT some of the other Masterpieces they've included both options.