i wouldn’t say he has a tabbing issue... the only “issue” i had was that the middle hood piece didn’t align properly with the fenders and i haven’t seen one person with it perfectly aligned yet. others have had the smaller tab pieces snap off that connects these three hood pieces, but there’re larger tabs that still keep them together. if you like the toy design, then i wouldn’t feel bad, as the figure itself is more than acceptable (i even kind of miss mine).
I’ve trimmed and pointed out exactly what I mean: In the Prime 1 Studio pic I presented, it is visible that the arms are behind the wheel well, due to the fact that the only kibble above it is the accurate placement for the tricep panel. The main culprit, as is shown here, is that the in-movie model doesn’t have the wall behind the wheel well for the arm to sit on. I have also taken the time to recreate the shot from the movie, where it becomes clear that the issues sit more with the wheel that doesn’t sit in far enough and the wall on the back of the wheel well. The arms could maybe be pushed up by a little bit, but doing that would be a detriment to the poseability.
They are designed in teams when it comes to MPM, in this case, Montano was the newer one to the MPM line. Being that MPM was a Hasbro-led initiative(which was stated in an interview by Takahashi Kunihiro this past summer), there is a limit on both weight(something Hasui Shogo mentioned years back as well) and budget. It shows. Ironhide and Prime seem like they are 3/4 of where they should be, a few secure connections here and there would've aided immensely. That's the sad part, they come off as refined rough drafts that are close to completion but fall short of the mark.
The limited budget is exactly why they need a seasoned designer- who can pull off engineering tricks to save $$$. I feel like the ingenuity has really taken a hit. They need someone like Hasui to work his magic on these figures with a limited budget
Got MPM-6 Ironhide today (via TCP), and honestly, he's glorious. The robot mode is virtual perfection. My copy doesn't have any of the wobbly panels or loose connections that are being reported in the arms or shoulders/torso so far. The head sculpt is fantastic, and the die cast, which I'm usually not a huge fan, really services the mold nicely. He's got a wonderful, big, beefy stance that really captures the movie stature. As to the alt mode, I've had similar issues to others so far in the thread, though I've only transformed him the once. Got the hood to about 98% of where I want it, the grill just doesn't quite want to line up perfectly. But that leaves a small gap between the hood armature and one of the hood-chest pieces. Clearly I didn't have something lined up quite right. The cabin windows also bow out just a tiny, tiny bit, but enough to be noticeable. Again, going to have to see if I can get things lined up a little bit better on the second go. But, even with the small problems I had, I think the truck holds up pretty well. I'm willing to forgive quite a bit given how exceptional the robot mode is, and I'm still hoping I can get more out of the look with future transformations (both MPM Prime and VW Bee took me two or three transformations to find little details I was missing about lining stuff up. Overall, I highly recommend him, if you can have patience with the truck mode. He might not be as overall fantastic as Camaro Bee or Barricade, but I feel like he's a better overall figure than Prime. Less fiddly, even if not fiddle free. Very happy to have him on my display shelf!
With what you just mentioned I think we are actually in agreement. The movie model doesn't have that wall behind the wheel well as you said. That means that arm is actually attached to something else and seeing as the joint on his shoulder is side ways it looks like it's attached to his Central chest. This means that posing the hood pieces should not move the arms as well. On the mpm their location is correct but what they are attached to is not. And that's what really screws up this figure the most.
So applying future to some of the inner chest joints that connect the shoulder pads helped a LOT. I think it might take a couple rounds to make him perfect, but for now I'm very happy with the results. I used tooth picks to dab the future into all the metal rotation joints inside the shoulder, as well as the arm panels. He moves more solidly now. Still doesn't change the fact that they should have made those pieces tab in securely (no excuse for that), but the look of this figure has me wanting to make him perfect since he LOOKS so perfect, and this is a step in the right direction. I've also gotten it so the transformation only takes 10 mins or so and the result is quite good now. I'm loving this guy more and more. I agree with your assessment. He's awesome. And these MPMs, just like any complex transformer, take some practice to get right and to not take forever. Hell half the people who got leader rotf prime back in 09 gave up halfway through and called him garbage, despite being one of the most revered Transformers ever in the fandom. And he wasn't half as accurate as this figure is. Yeah I think that grey part at the back of the wheel well where the shoulders are connected should have folded into the chest and pegged in. That would have strengthened the shoulders and given us more possibilities for posing the arms.
I think we are too, I kinda noticed after I had already posted it. The hood still ends up moving when he moves his arms though so had the hood be on ratchets or just tighter overall it could have been an alright way of emulating it.
Getting this guy is like playing Russian Roulette, you really don't know what you're gonna get, so one person's copy might differ greatly from another's
No, Takara worked with Hasbro on the MPM's but aside from Kunihiro working on MPM3 Bumblebee and Barricade, we don't know which specific members worked on what.
Hè is quit positieve about him! Makes my struggle if i should go for the original bigger! When i order it in a tf shop and its floppy can i just return it for a other one?
I tried to see the serial number on the back of his box in the video to see if there is a correlation to the ones we have already heard about, but there was too much movement.
I don't remember but I wouldn't be surprised since he's their go-to guy for sleek car styling. He may have assisted with the Camaro mode.
