ALL THINGS TRANSFORMERS!!!!

[Spiderwebb13]

NYCC Hasbro panel was yesterday. Prime season 3 will be called Beast Hunters, and

Spoiler

has the Decepticons reclaiming Cybertron, the Autobots on the run, and Shockwave coming in to use the ultimate weapon to hunt down the Autobots. Ancient, long thought extinct Cybertronian 'dinosaurs' called the Predacons, led by Predaking!

The toyline will probably not be for anyone here though. They look fun, but are rather over the top, with a lot of remolded characters to look more savage (guns and spikes everywhere).

They didn't reveal anything about new Generations figures, except that it will get a new subline called Platinum Edition. This is essentially Generations Premium, with metallic paint jobs and they are exclusive to online retailers like BBTS and Amazon. Looks like this is how they will be bringing over future Asia Exclusive toys too, because the first thing they will be releasing is Year of the Serpent Omega Supreme.

And thankfully, he turned out a whole lot better then Year of the Dragon Optimus:

Remold of the Energon figure, with a new head, a whole new arm, and a more G1 accurate colorscheme. I gotta say, I dig it. The Energon mold was always cool, but the colorscheme was a mess and I really disliked the claw. This fixes both of those issues nicely, and the new head is a nice bonus. Would have preferred them to remold both arms, but eh, the battle cruiser look still works for him. Makes for a pretty good Classics Omega and a good opponent to TFC Hercules.

That Omega Supreme will be mine!

 

[thecorsair]

I really hope we see a Sunstreaker very soon.Takara made Sideswipe and Red Alert that are both Lamborghinis so.

Takara's deal with Lamborghini is reportedly for 2 years.

Sunstreaker is rumored to be released towards the end of that agreement and will be an original mold.

So it may be a while yet, but I don't mind waiting for an original mold as a yellow repaint of Sideswipe with a new head would not be acceptable in the Masterpiece line.

 

[loricstone]

Takara have responded to the rising popularity of 3rd party TF's with an incredible lineup of Masterpiece figures as well as some new Encore releases.

Prior to MP12's announcement the line had become very stale and predictable but Takara took their heads out of the sand, recognised what a lot of fans were asking for and have proceeded to kick large amounts of ass.

If they sell well then more new molds are sure to follow and even now it's looking likely that Sunstreaker and the Nissan trio are already in early stages of development.

Hasbro's gameplan?

"Here's some repaints of stuff you may already have bought before with different paint apps and a bit of retooling."

Like who? I haven't heard of anything beyond the Soundwave, Sideswipe (Lambor--what a dumb name), Red Alert and the cassettes. This is all old news. What else is in the works? And where can this information be found?

 

[karamazov80]

MP-10 came out only after Faith Leader demonstrated a market for a Prime more in scale with other figures. The Starscream changes for MP-11 did seem influenced by iGear's work. And Soundwave only popped up after an unlicensed version was shown off. Plus, MPs are being announced more rapidly than in the past, and I don't think it's a coincidence that this occurs alongside this huge growth in 3rd party, mostly G1 cartoon or promotional art inspired TFs.

I would not underestimate the influence of these 3rd party companies. When I started getting back into TFs initially circa 2007, tfw2005 seemed to have, as a whole, a very anti-unlicensed/KO figure mentality. There wasn't much out there (due in some measure to Has/Tak's apparently more strict and litigious point of view at the time), and I remember the mods over there being really careful about what they allowed to be discussed. Now, it seems that site embraces all this, and is as much a forum for unlicensed as licensed figure talk.

 

[Furyan]

MP-10 came out only after Faith Leader demonstrated a market for a Prime more in scale with other figures. The Starscream changes for MP-11 did seem influenced by iGear's work. And Soundwave only popped up after an unlicensed version was shown off. Plus, MPs are being announced more rapidly than in the past, and I don't think it's a coincidence that this occurs alongside this huge growth in 3rd party, mostly G1 cartoon or promotional art inspired TFs.

I would not underestimate the influence of these 3rd party companies. When I started getting back into TFs initially circa 2007, tfw2005 seemed to have, as a whole, a very anti-unlicensed/KO figure mentality. There wasn't much out there (due in some measure to Has/Tak's apparently more strict and litigious point of view at the time), and I remember the mods over there being really careful about what they allowed to be discussed. Now, it seems that site embraces all this, and is as much a forum for unlicensed as licensed figure talk.

Its strange yet awesome to me how the site pretty much morphed before my eyes with 3Party hate then love. I believe TFC Herc had a LOT to do with it personally. There was so much hype behind him it overcame most of that negativity. Not to mention Green Giant and all those other dope 3P announcements. Just a few years back almost everybody hated Igear,now people love them. Ever since Hercs announcement Ive been a 3P fan. However now 2-3 years later Im focusing towards official releases, mainly because of rising costs and a way larger variety of TFormers and Hot Toys.

Oh just got my MP10 today. All I can say is WOW he is stunning.

 

[thecorsair]

Like who? I haven't heard of anything beyond the Soundwave, Sideswipe (Lambor--what a dumb name), Red Alert and the cassettes. This is all old news

I was referring to the releases from MP12 onwards.

Aside from people with inside connections at Takara I doubt that anyone with any knowledge of the history of the MP line would have expected so many all new Masterpiece molds being announced this year and the Lamborghini license would have been considered off limits because Volkswagen are their parent company.

MP01-MP11 was made up from just 6 molds including 2 versions of both Prime and Starscream and they were spread out over a number of years.

MP12-16 will all be out by early next year and there's a total of 5 new molds in that lot.

According to Takara insiders who post at TFW2005 ( and have been correct with past predictions ) it's also looking as if Sunstreaker, the Nissan trio and a new Megatron are probably in development. And a proper trailer/armor for the inevitable Ultra Magnus repaint of MP10 was hinted at by a Takara designer who did a mockup using G1 Ultra Magnus.

Seeing tiny companies like iGear, TFC and others come in under the legal radar and make superior versions of Takara's own characters has clearly motivated them in the best possible way and this is why the Masterpiece line has suddenly been given a much needed boost.....Takara can see the demand for more new characters in that line and are acting upon it.

And finally,

Lambor has always been Sideswipe's name in Japan, just as Prime is usually called Convoy.

 

[badboy074]

My favorite plane when i first saw this in the cartoon

Glad it went in a different mold than the other jets.

 

[Gipetto0812]

MP-10 came out only after Faith Leader demonstrated a market for a Prime more in scale with other figures. The Starscream changes for MP-11 did seem influenced by iGear's work. And Soundwave only popped up after an unlicensed version was shown off. Plus, MPs are being announced more rapidly than in the past, and I don't think it's a coincidence that this occurs alongside this huge growth in 3rd party, mostly G1 cartoon or promotional art inspired TFs.

I would not underestimate the influence of these 3rd party companies. When I started getting back into TFs initially circa 2007, tfw2005 seemed to have, as a whole, a very anti-unlicensed/KO figure mentality. There wasn't much out there (due in some measure to Has/Tak's apparently more strict and litigious point of view at the time), and I remember the mods over there being really careful about what they allowed to be discussed. Now, it seems that site embraces all this, and is as much a forum for unlicensed as licensed figure talk.

Its strange yet awesome to me how the site pretty much morphed before my eyes with 3Party hate then love. I believe TFC Herc had a LOT to do with it personally. There was so much hype behind him it overcame most of that negativity. Not to mention Green Giant and all those other dope 3P announcements. Just a few years back almost everybody hated Igear,now people love them. Ever since Hercs announcement Ive been a 3P fan. However now 2-3 years later Im focusing towards official releases, mainly because of rising costs and a way larger variety of TFormers and Hot Toys.

Oh just got my MP10 today. All I can say is WOW he is stunning.

while I'm not inot buying too much 3rd party stuff besides accessories, i have to agree with you guys. I do think that the increasing popularity of 3P stuff has lit a small fire under Tak to get them to put a but more effort into at least the MP line to get us some G1 accurate MP figures. not to mention their usually better paint ups on figures compared to Hasbro

 

[farrrs]

just missed out on that loose MP sideswipe that someone has in hand on ebay,i lost out by £1,it ended up going for £49 and comes with the amazon extras

 

[sharpnel]

while I'm not inot buying too much 3rd party stuff besides accessories, i have to agree with you guys. I do think that the increasing popularity of 3P stuff has lit a small fire under Tak to get them to put a but more effort into at least the MP line to get us some G1 accurate MP figures. not to mention their usually better paint ups on figures compared to Hasbro

Good! Takara needs to get their act together on the Masterpiece line. Where is my MP Devastator?

 

[Rock83]

Im starting to wonder that takara didn't realize the potential the Masterpiece line had,because they did make some variants that i saw as pretty pointless compared to what fans really want.

 

[Jaycepticon]

Im starting to wonder that takara didn't realize the potential the Masterpiece line had,because they did make some variants that i saw as pretty pointless compared to what fans really want.

I look at it more as them just not putting 100% effort into the brand. Now, whether it was because they just didn't believe this line would work or not is another story. Besides MP Grimlock, I used to see so much complaining about every MP release and eventually saw every figure hit the discount bin before their prices raised in the secondary market but I can't fault Takara if the initial sales were scaring them. Although it seems as if they've finally hit their stride with MP-10/11 and going forward.

 

[thecorsair]

Im starting to wonder that takara didn't realize the potential the Masterpiece line had,because they did make some variants that i saw as pretty pointless compared to what fans really want.

I also think that the cash to develop new Masterpiece molds wasn't there because of the huge focus placed on Bayformers and toys from the recent cartoons....all those Bumblebees probably ate up the budget for several new MP molds alone.

Takara needed a large kick in the behind from the 3rd parties but they've now got themselves in the zone and are doing exactly what was required to revitalise the Masterpiece line and unless prices go too high I can't see any of the new molds selling badly.

 

[Rock83]

I look at it more as them just not putting 100% effort into the brand. Now, whether it was because they just didn't believe this line would work or not is another story. Besides MP Grimlock, I used to see so much complaining about every MP release and eventually saw every figure hit the discount bin before their prices raised in the secondary market but I can't fault Takara if the initial sales were scaring them. Although it seems as if they've finally hit their stride with MP-10/11 and going forward.

Well the poor sales was their own fault.Black Optimus,White Optimus they call Ultra Magnus,Ghost Starscream,Black Rodimus and those variants.

Hard to say where they will go from here though,sure the next year brings a few new characters but then again we see MP-10 Black Optimus again,and im not sure what to think about Sunstorm,i don't even remember him from the cartoon,could be from the comics?

 

[karamazov80]

The more logical re-releases would have been minor mods to molds, like changing the heads/wings/paintwork to give us the conehead seekers, or changing a few things to turn Sounwave into Blaster. Or adding some armor add-ons to give us a genuine Ultra Magnus folks would want. Again, examples where 3rd party folks are ahead of the curve, and seem to be tapping into real demand. I know it's a lot cheaper to just repaint the things, but it's lazy and unappealing to the bulk of TF collectors.

Still kinda blows my mind that Has/Tak can't give us a single combiner that looks anything like their cartoon/promo art counterparts. That recent Bruticus had potential, but ended up being a huge miss in my mind. Hopefully that's the next frontier of MP Transformer.

 

[loricstone]

The more logical re-releases would have been minor mods to molds, like changing the heads/wings/paintwork to give us the conehead seekers, or changing a few things to turn Sounwave into Blaster. Or adding some armor add-ons to give us a genuine Ultra Magnus folks would want. Again, examples where 3rd party folks are ahead of the curve, and seem to be tapping into real demand. I know it's a lot cheaper to just repaint the things, but it's lazy and unappealing to the bulk of TF collectors.

Still kinda blows my mind that Has/Tak can't give us a single combiner that looks anything like their cartoon/promo art counterparts. That recent Bruticus had potential, but ended up being a huge miss in my mind. Hopefully that's the next frontier of MP Transformer.

Can anyone list for me here all the 3rd party companies? I just recently saw the molds or early protos of the Insecticons (Thundershred, Backfiery, and cant think of the last one) and I must say, they look downright UNBELIEVEABLE!!!!

Have those been made and released already? What about other robots they have made. I am very interested in them. The collector in me though, wants the official original names from Hasbro. I have the Skywarp and Thundercracker MP by Hasbro and am trying to acquire the Rodimus (I wish Hasbro released the version with his trailer), Optimus Prime MP (new one with trailer) and of course Grimlock. For consistency purposes, I want Hasbro to come out with all the G1 in Masterpiece versions (if I had my wish) and maybe even do some of the War for Cybertron TFs in Masterpiece form.

Why the hell has this been so slow? Why is Hasbro not doing more of these? I'm just confused and upset by some companies lack of interest in what they have best.

 

[karamazov80]

Only problem with consistency is that Hasbro probably won't give us all the seekers in the same mold I'm really hoping we'll get Starscream at some point, though. Would seem insane not to.

There are several 3rd party companies nowadays making good products. The major ones I keep an eye on are TFClub (who did the Devastator and are working on Superion) and iGear. Fansproject also puts out some good stuff, including some Classics add-ons and the improved figures to go with the official Hasbro Bruticus from a few years ago.

 

[golobulus]

My original plan wasn't to buy all of the MP-11 variants, but it just ended up that way... except for the original I guess. I know a lot of TF fans don't care for the ghost Starscream, but he's the first one that I got and definitely my favorite. Thought you guys might like to see Thundercracker, Sunstorm, and Ghost Starscream together. I have more detailed pictures of them posted on my collections thread (or will shortly).

MODs - need some help here! The IMG link has F-C-k in it which is being overwritten as *** I'm sure for censorship purposes. Is there anyway around this? It's a google generated link so unfortunately I don't know how to change the reference.

Found another image that doesn't have the offending 3 characters:

 

[karamazov80]

Try to rehost the picture on a photo hosting site, and give it a different name. I have an add-on for my browser (Firefox) that automatically rehosts pics and copies the link to your clipboard.

 

[golobulus]

Try to rehost the picture on a photo hosting site, and give it a different name. I have an add-on for my browser (Firefox) that automatically rehosts pics and copies the link to your clipboard.

Thanks for the tip... so no way around disabling the censoring of the link... or just not worth messing with. What's the name of the Firefox plugin?