I've been wondering about this for quite awhile.

I'm curious as to whether the TF mp series can be compared with other high-end japanese toylines? or the TF mp series is in a totally different ballpark. also i noticed that most of the high-end japanese toylines tend to have a bit more die-cast content in the figures, whereas in the MP line, only OP/Convoy have a decent amt of die-cast content.

Hmm..

 

I'd say it's a fair enough comparison. It is, after all, a high end Japanese toy line itself. You have large, complex designs, some die-cast content, collector friendly boxes... about the only thing missing is the styrofoam inserts to sit them in  .

 

I am very curious as well. I have several MPs and they seem just fine. But Yamatos seem to look nice but not play well. I want to get a SOC but am unsure of there quality.

I look forward to input on this.

 

I often hear Takara QC simply can't compete with Bandai, but I don't know because I have none of those high end products except for TakTom DMZ series (which is all plastic even though they cost well over 10000yen.)  

 

what i'm waiting for is master piece beast wars figures

seriously people tigerhawk and ultra transmetal 2 dragon megatron would look dam sweet given the masterpiece treatment

 

i dun own many of those high end jap toys, nor the masterpieces, but from what i have, and what i have seen, somehow TF MP still lacks that certain something. TF MPs just doesn't have the feel like those high end jap toys.

One thing might be the packaging and box art. Of the high end jap toys i know, CM's Brave Gokin, Bandai's S.O.C., they come in huge boxes, elaborate box art (not applicable to CM's, lol) and great packaging, styro insert, the way each part is intricately placed. Itz almost as if the toy can be opened and left in display in that manner. Whereas TF MPs, for MP1 at least, the toy looks trapped when you open it, and you know it doesn't look nice. You definitely have to 'free' the toy from the 'chains' to feel good. For the S.O.C., you already feel good by looking at the toys resting in the inserts (or for me at least).

Another thing is the size of the toys, S.O.C.s generally aren't too big and tall whereas MPs , Convoy and Megatron, they are rather huge and the proportion they have, just make them look like toys. S.O.C.s on the other hand has their figures smaller scaled and they just look like collector's items.

Itz a feeling thing for me i guess.

 

Sad to say the TF masterpiece line doesn't compare very well with Bandai's SOC in my book. Packaging, accessories, gimmicks & dare if I say so, transformations if applicable.
Especially so at Takara's cost cutting measures, & overall qc.

 

MP Prime is very close to SOC levels, but the others are not even close IMO. Bandai SOC's are 100% class and really make you feel you are getting what you paid for. With MP Screamer and Megs I felt TakTom skimped a little.

SOC also handles die-cast very well. It gives the toys good heft and really makes them pop more than any other robots I own. On the other hand toys like Screamer and Yammy 1/48 really don't have a practical use/place for die-cast.

 

That's what i noticed abt Takara too. the cost cutting measures tend to affect the overall QC of the toys they make. that's why they can never match-up w/Bandai in tems of overall quality. Bandai will always be the leader of the pack in Japan! Bandai is king!  

Edit: In fact their (Takara) Brave Masterpiece series have more in common w/Bandai SOC line.

 

My sentiments exactly. The Takara MP Convoy/Prime is very very close to SOC standards in overall terms of fit, finish, sculpt, built, plastic quality, die-cast use, paint and design. It's not quite there, but close. All the rest of the MP toys, including the Exkizer and Dragon Kizers, aren't comparible by any stretch of the imagination.

SOC toys feel like something more than a toy when you hold them and play with them. They feel more like a fine precision tool or something. That's why I loves 'em.  

 

My own experience with my SOCs and the two MPs (Optimus, Skywarp) is that they're equal in the QC department... granted it's a limited sampling but there's only so many choices in the MP department. I've had SOCs with rubbish QC (Eva-01, whose joints were awful) and questionable design (Voltes V's hips... hate hate hate that blasted hinge. I'm still trying to find a way to make it immobile), so nobody is perfect.

Bandai isn't the only player in the high end collectible market, either. CM's corp, Yamato, Megahouse, Fewture, they all have their own niche markets and methods of presentation and design. Yamato's packaging is notoriously awful and flimsy, and their past QC issues are almost legendary. Megahouse makes tiny but gorgeous display pieces, but have also been known to have extensive paint chipping and in the case of their GGGG, snapping joints. Not so great for a $200 figure. The list goes on.

I'm going to stand by my statement that they're fairly typical in the Japanese high end collectible market as a whole. A bit below the Bandai SOC mark for their larger figures, but the same could be said of almost every other manufacturer as well; Bandai doesn't pull any punches when it comes to their big ticket items so it's almost unfair to try and compare them.

 

I agree with the opinions here. MP Prime was a close contender to SOC in terms of quality, but the other MP's are closer to the Binaltech toys. Not bad toys, but just not as good as SOC. I don't have any of CM's toys, but they seem like SOC quality.

 

can we get some pictures of these BANDAI beauts? I never paid particular attention to them yeat

 

In my experience, SOC Gunbuster in particular beats the crap out of the Masterpieces. It's not that he's particularly designed better or anything (and actually, he's a bit of a partsformer, in that you need to connect a couple of extra pieces in order for his alt modes to look good). But it's just the accessory loadout, and the stand, and just the general combination of everything you get that makes the figure seem so much fun compared to pretty much every other toy I own.

And it's not like there's fanboyism or anything to account for here. I've never seen the Gunbuster anime, nor do I particularly have the urge to.

 

There's a SOC thread over in the Toyark:

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/showthread.php?t=149217

I've got two SOC (Gaiking Legend of the Daiku Maryu version and Baikanfu), three MP Transformers, and two of the CMs Brave Gokins. The SOC feel far and away the most impressive of the bunch - the finish, lots of optional parts, display bases, incredible articulation - although they aren't perfect.

The Masterpieces, on the other hand, do feel like the zenith of Transformers. Convoy has a certain feel to him that sets him above the other two, but he is pretty near to the same standard as the SOC figures. The only area he feels a bit lacking in are accessories, the two SOC figures have loads and loads of them, Convoy doesn't have so many. But the attention to detail, like all the moving pistons and stuff, and the moving faceplate, puts him on that level. The other two, not so much. They seem to lack touches like those.
None of the Masterpieces have alternate hands either but they went for articulated fingers which is probably more impressive.

The CMs figures are similar to SOC but I would say those are far less "toy" and more "collector models". They feel a whole bunch more fragile and have loads more tiny pieces. Even the SOCs sort of fit into this category, but they feel much more sturdy. Poseability is less apparent on those guys too. They can't strike as many poses, because the designs are so slavishly accurate, and there aren't any things like Masterpiece Convoy's shoulders that pull out to allow for a greater range.

Overall, I'd say the Masterpiece Transformers are on the edge of Bandai's SOC territory. The SOC are, in my opinion, the king of high end robot toys. The Masterpieces are extremely close to emulating that kind of high end impressiveness. The CMs stuff is somewhere beyond the realms of SOC and yet somehow falls short as well. The designs are perhaps even more impressive, and yet they lack the kind of polish the SOC line and Masterpiece Convoy has.

The SOC and my Masterpiece Transformers also go together quite well, though Convoy is much taller than the Baikanfu:

 

I only have Masterpiece Braves but on the accessories load out they are quite good. They have lots of hands for each robot and they have quite a lot of accessories for Exkaiser and King Exkiser. it may not be as much as some of the SOCs but you've got to realise that the amount of accessories depend on the specific character. If Great Exkaiser comes with everything he has on the show, why would he need any more? SOCs can be lacking in accessories too. Dancougar hardly comes with anything other then his Dancouken.

 

Do SOC's even transform or just a figure?

 

Depends on the character. Many of the figures based on transforming or combining mecha do transform, and in more sophisticated ways than most TFs.

 

Some do. It depends, SOCs are, for the most part, modern interpretations of vintage toys and robots. If the originals transform, then the SOCs do. Some are complicated, some are simple, but they're all pretty well done.

Some good pictorials on some of the better (in my mind) transforming SOC's:

Gunbuster

Xabungle

Ideon

Gold Lightan (Truly the purest form of "brick" transformer)

 

some are pretty sweet man