Are there any differences in MP01 and MP04, besides the trailer?

20th Anniversary Primes, the first one, and the new one with the talking soundbase, same toy? It looks like a different paint scheme to me.

 

Okay, let's see...

MP-01 vs. MP-04: Darker red on MP-04 and different pictures on wrist communicators. MP-01 has Bumblebee and Starscream, MP-04 has Grimlock and Megs. Both have a grey gun. Otherwise, both are the same.

20th anniversary vs MP-01/04: Lighter shade of red, no chrome on smokestacks, bumper and grille; rather, they used silver paint, similar to the silver used on the Classics. 20th ann. Prime has short stacks and has the same pictures than MP-04 on his communicators. Gun is blue and yellow (WTF?!) Some people say that this new version is lighter than the first run. Perhaps a different kind of diecast was used?

 

Thanks for all the detail!

I only have the first original 20th Anniversary Prime, I never opened him, at this point most likely never will! I picked him up for $35.00 at Walmart on clearance a few years ago. But he does have a black gun and his paint seems darker, more realistic than the paint on the newer 20th Anniversary Primes with the base and blue/yellow gun. The newer version seems to have more of a cartoon coloring, I thought.

I’m looking into picking up MP-04 since I never did get an MP-01
Thanks!

 

He is identicle in construction to the original US MP Prime. Way different colors though. His red is more orange, and grey instead of chrome. Also no battle burns or smoking. And they put weird yellow touches all over him.

 

His new colour scheme is a lot lighter than the original. I saw one in person last week, and compared to the original it looks really bizarre. The red is very bright, similar to a red highlighter pen. The blue is lighter too, and as previously mentioned he has no chrome. I think the silver stripes on the original are now white too.

I'd stick with the original.

 

As for the yellow, they just added yellow on his head. Nothing much more than that.

His eyes are now cartoon color blue, as opposed to the metallic blue of the original.

 

Here's what I've noticed.

MP-01 vs. MP-04

• Overall the paint apps are cleaner on MP-01, MP-04 has some sloppiness to the paint apps in some areas like the Autobot symbol on arm.
• MP-01 Prime figure is better than MP-04 figure. The only thing better about MP-04 is the trailer. Its almost like Takara took all the paint rejects from the MP-01 release and slapped a trailer on it.
• MP-04 red paint on chest does not match the rest of the red on the toy, this is extremely annoying. A very half assed effort for a "perfect" edition. Same kind of lack of QC attention to detail that is found on MP-03.
• MP-04 has cool blue windows.
• MP-04 has the trailer and new wrist com images.
• Construction on both is very solid, I wish MP-03 was the same.

MP-01/04 vs. 20th Hasbro Prime

• The first release 20th Hasbro Prime has a silver gun, but the second release 20th Hasbro Prime has a correct black gun. This is the only MP Prime with the correct black gun.
• 20th Prime has painted "battle damage". It is basically black airbrush splotches on specific areas of the toy. At first glance it is not appealing at all epecially on the front grill. But if you panel line your prime with black ink, the battle damage actually works pretty good. I have a couple so I panel lined one and used a pencil eraser to remove the black paint on the grill.
• Besides that paint apps are clean.
• 20th Prime has neutered smoke stacks, they are small and crappy, but still chrome. They are easily replaced with stacks from Ages Three and Up.com.
• Construction on both is very solid.

20th Hasbro Prime vs. DVD 20th Prime

• DVD Prime has no "battle damage" paint apps.
• Overall DVD Prime has no chrome paint apps. They are all replaced by flat silver paint.
• DVD Prime has small smoke stacks that are not crome painted. They are a flat silver.
• DVD Prime's fuel tanks on his legs are painted a flat silver instead of chrome.
• DVD Prime's front grill is not chrome painted, flat silver instead.
• DVD Prime's stripes are not silver. They are a flat more gray/white.
• The lights on the top of DVD Prime's cab do not have orange details. They are all silver.
• DVD Prime's red is a more orange red. Looks lower quality.
• DVD Prime has flat blue paint on his legs making it look like they are plastic, but they are still diecast.
• DVD Prime's eyes are a flat blue instead of the awesome reflective metallic blue on the other versions.
• DVD Prime has different wrist com images.
• DVD Prime's matrix has no chrome paint and the paint apps look much lower quality.
• DVD Prime's Megatron gun has much lower quality paint apps.
• DVD Prime has some ugly ass yellow paint on his head.
• DVD Prime has an ugly ass blue gun making him look like a knock off.
• DVD Prime comes with the talking base with the most ******ed voice over recordings that sound nothing like Optimus Prime.
• Overall the paint apps on DVD Prime are by far the lowest quality of all MP Primes, also there are some small paint app details that are not present on this version.

 

Not a fan of DVD 20th Prime, eh?  
Thanks for all the info! Now I'm torn about getting MP04, you are swaying me more to get an MP01 and buy one of the custom trailers. hmm

All I have is the Hasbro 20th Prime MISB with the black gun, the first one, NOT the DVD release.

 

Wow. Such hate for DVD Prime. I believe baby Jesus is crying.

I de-yellowed the head on mine with some alcohol (10 minutes work) and painted the gun black/silver to match the cartoon a bit better. About 30 minutes work total and my DVD Prime looks great.

As for

Perhaps mine is a good one? My paint apps are perfect. Not one flaw. He's like the Prime of my childhood TV screen, but he's sitting next to me on the coffee table. I love my DVD Prime.

 

I'm loving my 20th Anniversary Prime (from a few years ago). I picked it up last week from a guy loose/complete. So worth it. All the little accessories make him super cool! The Matrix is detailed and makes it neat that you can open it up. I did get the one with the black gun, so thats pretty cool.

 

I'm not really trying to knock anyones DVD Prime, sorry. The only reason I rate DVD Prime so low is that there are so many other versions to compare him to. And he is still at a very high price tag $75 and the bad voice overs was such a lost cause. I examined him closely at the local target.
I don't hate him. If the voice overs were simply the same lines from the movie I would totally buy him.

On MP-04 the off color red paint on the chest is a problem, but it is subtle. You can't really notice it in a photo, but in person you can. The trailer though is top notch, but is a little plain for all the extra cash. Makes you wonder what the hell goes on over Takara sometimes. Why would they change the color of red paint on only the chest for only this version? It just doesn't make sense at all. I heard that the rerelease of MP-01 has the same paint apps as the first release of it, hence no mismatch red. So why would MP-04 mismatch the red? Who knows.

 

Here's some shots of MP-04 and trailer for you.
He's posing with a Hasbro black gun.

You can see how the white paint is faded or incomplete on the left side of the autobot symbol on the arm. Subtle, but more noticeable in person.








You can kinda see the difference in the red color on the chest in these 2 photos. Its subtle, but again more noticeable in person.

 

I should have added that I got my DVD Prime for $52 shipped. That factor increases my love for the toy.

As for the stand, it's just aweful, I totally agree. But there's a ton of empty space inside. It seems like one should be able to buy a new voicebox and fix it. Heck, I'd be happy with just the transformation sound.

-edit-
GREAT pix!  

 

Hmm, looks like I'm of no use here. Carry on!  

 

You inspired me to take some snapshots, Golgo13. I don't pretend that they're anywhere close to your beautiful shots, but I did have a good time taking them. And I think they show off DVD Prime's good side.

I apologize in advance for the blurryness and bad lighting.


Modeling his new toon-style gun and de-yellow'd head.




Bumblebee borrows some firepower.


The little guy gets a shoulder ride.

 

Nice work, he's looking good. Taking pics is fun, they don't have to be perfect.
The gun looks so much better, so does the head.

You should get some replacement smoke stacks for him from Ages Three and Up.
I have some, they are better quality than the MP-01 originals.
http://www.agesthreeandup.com/main.jsp?p2=shopping/product.jsp&product_id=486

 

Definitely. Long smokestacks are on my short list of things to get. I saw some shots of DVD Prime with the long chrome stacks and was smitten. Thanks for the kind words, by the way.

Say, I think this thread now answers the original questions. With style!

 

Is there some place to buy a black gun for Prime? I have the original 20th with the grey, did get after market stacks though. I actually enjoy the not pristine look of the damage paint, and the deep red of the first releases is so much better than the DVD release it is shameful. If you have the DVD one just do yourself a favor and never look at someone elses older one.

 

Thanks for the pics, guys! Those look great!

And again, thanks to all for your input!  

It seems in order to aquire the true perfect edition, one would need the MP-01 bot with the 20th Anniversary black gun, and MP-04's trailer!  

 

Maybe I read too fast, but I haven't seen anybody mention the windshield.

MP-01 (and I think 20th Prime) have clear windows. MP-04 and DVD Prime have blue windows.