Wonder what TRU closing means for the speculated simultaneous Hasbro and Takara MP releases for the future

 

Oh Boy. 

 

While I do think one is coming it would be lame beyond belief to put out a Prowl+......with a non-character repaint.

 

They simply won’t be toys r us exclusives, first one to do this is MPM ironhide

 

I meant mainline MPs, not MPMs.

 

You know something?? Cause this is very very good news. I usually just stare at my Sunstreaker and admire the mold / engineering. I’d love another color. I hope red is first. Then police will be the icing next year.

 

I would also be well up for exploring the mould in red. Sideswipe as he was supposed to look.

 

To be honest, it’s probably not a terrible thing for MPs. TRU had fewer stores than Target or Wal-Mart or just about any other chain, so it meant that the MP exclusives were limited in their exposure to the public. Theyd be planning for the possibility of TRU closing way back, and it might be what spurred some of this brand unification stuff to make broader selection possible and cheaper. Most likely, the MPs will be available in more stores now.

 

Looks like Omega Supreme is going to reach out and tap Roddy on the shoulder, or ask him if he needs a hand opening the matrix.

 

I don't normally double-dip characters, but MP Sunstreaker is so good I would get it again in red even if everything else was still the same.
That said, I wouldn't mind tweaks to the sculpt and/or a new head.

 

It will be an autobot with toy head vents and toy yellow eyes I bet. It may not actually have toy vents not that I reconsider it. I think it will be a straight recolor of Sunstreaker.

And police will be a Decepticon with red toy vents and red eyes I bet.

 

I would be ok with all of that lol.

Hmm. Since the faces are swappable anyway, I wonder if they'll do basically the same helmet but with different faces?

 

I think blue eyes for the red repaint, based on MP-18B.

I wonder if they'll bother making a new face sculpt. It's not like the original toy looks completely different from MP-39 (not like Wheeljack vs Exhaust). Then, if they could do one for Road Rage they can do one here.

 

As far as excitement goes, my excitement for the figures or G1 TFs in general hasn't diminished a bit, but my enthusiasm for this board has. Tons of great people here, but work's been extremely busy for me lately and there's just not as much to talk about given the G1 MP slowdown. The Optimus v3 teaser talk has already gone through the same obligatory cycle a couple dozen times over by now. No interest here in anything but official G1 MPs. Until we get more info/reveals, I'm happy to lurk a bit while I mess with all the G1 MPs I'm fortunate enough to have.

 

Don't be a stranger Dean!  

I'm in the same boat. Not much news lately. Things really seem to be going around in circles. But I still enjoy this place and the folks here very much!

 

I wonder if multiple brick and mortar retailers would be willing to support these releases given the high price point and (relatively) niche market

 

Well, considering that Wal-Mart used to sell them, and they're now down one competitor, they might be open to it. Remember; TRU got exclusives to help bring people in, but because we mostly all buy these from Japan first, it wouldn't' work well. If they're able to guarantee that they get the same release window, customers won't import because people prefer to buy from places nearby.

Also, you get far more exposure at places like Wal-Mart and Target than they would at TRU, and if they're boiling it back down to the G1-influenced continuity and characters, they'll be the consistent face of the brand, so people will recognize the characters more.

 

I'm going to have ridiculous amounts of fun posing and photographing Red Sunstreaker and Tigertrack together. What might have been...

This has been the problem for years now. Target has largely moved to carrying the bigger, more expensive Transformers as website-only offerings. The Combiner Wars sets and the Platinum Edition sets come to mind (many of which are still available today). I find this preferable, myself, but I don't know how Target feels about it. Convincing non-toy retailers to carry expensive, niche-market toys in the off-season has got to be one of Hasbro's biggest hurdles to bringing Masterpiece here. Because the first thing Target's going to say is "We're still trying to unload those other $100 robots you gave us."

 

Pretty much this . Without any more hints , reveals , or just news in general , this well is dried up . I’ll lurk , but other then that , talking in circles has ran its course with me .