Hasui or Kobayashi this man is not ... let’s hope TT keeps him at the fry station where he can pump out MPMs til his little heart’s content ... save the G1 MPs for the big boys ... we saw with Hot Rod what can go wrong when novices enter the fray ... we get Combiner Wars leg transformations polluting the ‘Masterpiece’ line lol

 

Fortunately, I’m a 41 year old kid!

Thanks @Shin Densetsu for the translations!

What a fun group these Takara guys seem to be. You can tell that they love what they do and have a lot of passion and respect for the toys. It’s easy to see how TFs have lasted so long with people like this working tirelessly behind the scenes. No Takara means no TFs, after all.

 

Why do you have to say such a thing?
Novice? Big boys? He's a veteran staffer at Takaratomy with various skills & flexibility to design all types of TFs.

He joined the co way before either Hasui or Kobayashi joined TT.

 

My tongue was firmly planted in cheek ... but in all seriousness, ‘guest’ designers have flubbed Star Saber and then Hot Rod so I’m a lil gun-shy when it comes to any new faces ... no matter how long they’ve been with TT in what ever other capacity ...

 

Even well known mp designers cut their teeth during '09 ROTF era working on Bayformers toys complex transformations.  

 

I really dig Star Saber (though more as an upgrade of his original G1 self, not so much as a "Masterpiece", if that makes sense.)
And Hot Rod has a ton of appeal to me. Buuuuuut.... I can see how people can be put off by his aesthetic when compared to Sunstreaker or Prowl, etc.
Not trying to argue or anything, just throw in my two cents.  

 

They're not "guests" if they've been creating Transformers for over thirty years I think.

 

So my favorite childhood toys were designed by the same man responsible for my favorite MPM? Damn that feels good.

 

I get that you are joking but Kunihiro is no novice. He's been with Takara since 1984 and started working on Transformers in 1985. He's got years on Kobayashi and Hasui. Kobayashi joined in the late 90's.

Yuki designed MP Star Saber and is not new to MP's. He designed MP5 Megatron in under 2 weeks. If he can design something like that in under 2 weeks, imagine if he was given 2 years to work on something.

It's assumed Kobayashi designed MP36 but the jury is still out. With recent MP's, Takara hasn't been outright in saying who designed which. We didn't know until this interview that Kunihiro was behind MPM Barricade.

Not to shift blame to Hasbro but we do know Hasbro did play a part in designing some of the MPM line. Which figures and to what extent, we don't know. We know Ben Montano worked on the line but we don't know which Takara designers were paired with him(aside from Kunihiro designing MPM Barricade and Yuya designing MPM Bumblebee). MPM4 struck me as being designed by a newer member of the team due to the lack of secure locking mechanisms going to truck mode and the way the head was designed. At this point we know that any collaborative effort is led by Hasbro, so the MPM differs from the main MP line because it's not a Takara-led effort.

It's been a big misconception that MP's are largely led by 1 designer. It's a team effort. The whole team was giving Hasui feedback when he was designing MP10. They all bounce ideas off of each other. A main designer isn't permanently there, they all switch off every few years. So while there is sometimes a main designer, the resulting toy is a team effort.

We may not all like the end results and that's fine. I just find it odd that one of the most experienced veteran designers out there is being referred to as a guest and should be relegated to the fry station, especially when he's one of the guys the other designers turn to for advice.

You're welcome

Thanks! It's probably something to do with the 35th anniversary next year. I'm pretty excited but have no idea what it could be. I'm thinking a rather big/important G1 MP.

You're welcome. I love how their interviews are a treasure trove of background information. Being that he's been at Takara for over 30 years, it's great hearing about how things came to be from him.

Transformers would outright SUCK without Takara.

You're welcome and I agree, it was an amazing toy. It was one of the rare times I liked an RID figure a bit more than its 1st Edition counterpart.

 

Somehow I knew it was Night Viper. That was one of the standout figures.

 

I wonder if he designed Ultra Optimus Primal. Whoever designed that was a freaking GENIUS. Even today that toy holds up(I have that and Kobayashi's MP, yes the MP is good but I look at both toys differently).

If he designed Primal maybe he also designed voyager Incinerator from 2007. That's another favorite figure of mine since like Primal, its gimmicks are still able to work no matter which mode they're in and no matter how their limbs are arranged. There's so much going on yet parts still work in unison.

 

I love getting into the mindset of these designers, interviews are kinda rare which is unfortunate but I reckon somewhat necessary to keep things secret and to build momentum. I still find the same level of amazement that I did when I was 6 years old for Transformers, and I really do appreciate the efforts of these guys! My fingers and toes are crossed as to what may be coming for the 35th anniversary!

 

Alright it's ok but I find it odd Takashi Kunihiro has been involved with so many lines & iterations in the TF franchise but hasn't been openly involved in the MP line. Maybe he's there behind the scenes in an advisory role or something (who knows?).

I would love to see him as a guest star designer just like what TT did with Yuki san for designing MP Star Saber. Other than some weak ratchets on mp Star Saber, overall that turned out great!

Although some fans moaned abt the lack of paint apps on mp Star Saber, making it less premium. But there's a reason for that, Yuki san openly said in an interview, he purposely used mostly colored plastics instead of painted parts bcoz he wants the figure to be played with and transform back & forth without fear of paint chipping. He didn't want it to be a static display piece hence it's more toy-like in appearance.

 

I want to say that was Hisashi Yuki, since he also designed Leo Convoy and Big Convoy, and his designs in BWII and Neo were in the style of original BW.
I'm only making a guess because i've never seen beast wars designer credits unfortunately.

 

Exactly where was Star Saber "flubbed?" In fact outside of the chrome how was Hot Rod "flubbed?"

 

Star Saber was just ... boring ... I know that’s super subjective but even with the travails of Dinobot, which I purchased at a roughly similar price point, he still feels miles more engaging as a MP figure ... Hot Rod’s boxy chest and simplistic spindleshanks just scream ‘fuck it, they’ll buy it anyway’ and the whole ‘designed MP-05 in a wkend’ narrative always rubbed me the wrong way ... a true master of his craft, one w/artisic vision and professional integrity, would reject such a comprised proposition out of hand ... so yeah, I’m out on “guest designers” in the MP line ... my bad

 

They aren't guest designers. Takara didn't give Yuki a choice for MP5 Megatron, it was 2 weeks or nothing.

 

Thanks for the translation!

Nightviper and cyclonus were unexpected additions. Nightviper was definitely unique and I enjoyed cyclonus at the time. Don’t have movie figures so I can’t comment on those. I know the vehicon is well-regarded - may have to see what the buzz is about.

 

!!! I am so glad the vehicon made it on to his top 5. Anyone who loves the vehicons and their frame, especially the toy is an awesome person in my book!