Its no secret that Takara Tomy is ignoring the children's toy market and pursuing adult collectors. Are recent developments evidence that the MP line will become a flagship line for Takara Tomy? Another question is, will a ramped up MP line really succeed? The release of MP Starscream in September and the rather sudden announcement of MP Megatron this month show that Takara Tomy is taking the MP line very seriously. MP Megatron must have been in development even before MP Starscream was released. Its even probable that MP Megs was developed simultaneously with MP Starscream. Regardless, the appearance of Megs so soon after the release of Starscream show that Takara Tomy is pushing the MP line a lot harder then it has in the past. But will it succeed? Takara Tomy effectively 'restarted' the MP line with Starscream. The long periods between the releases of MP1 and MP2 showed that Takara was cautious about the MP line. The MP line is clearly a very risky line for Takara because of the high overall production costs for each figure (and the possible non-involvement of Hasbro). Takara's previous success with MP1 can't demonstrate the strength of the line because it was a Convoy figure. And Convoy figures will always sell in Japan (especially G1 Convoy). So now, from being overly cautious in the past, Takara Tomy is seemingly going full throttle with the MP line. The toy company didn't even wait to see how well MP Starscream sold before developing Megatron. Megs will be released in March, can we expect the next MP figure to be revealed in April/May for a September release? Again, is this a good idea? MP Starscream and Megs have gotten mixed reactions from fandom. What do you guys think? I love every single MP release but I do have qualms about SS and Megs. And I love the fact that Takara Tomy is seemingly going full throttle on this line but I am a little bit concerned too. At the very least, TFs are finally returning to Japan.
Megs will be out nearly 6 months after starscream was released. At that rate, they would do 2 a year, which is good. I would rather see them do binaltech (instead of a tiny plastic girl with a giant robot as an accessory) and put out more new molds for that.
Well I think they missed the mark on MP 03 if you ask me, Megs is looking pretty good so far minus his skinny legs, I do think there needs to be more attention placed on the bot mode like with MP 01 as opposed to the recent trend of binaltech/aternators izing with SS, although in fairness with Megs its probably a bit more difficult than Starscream. But I would love for this to be an ongoing line, the MP Convoy is the best toy and cartoon representation of Prime I've seen, I would love to see all the best and most loved charachters getting the treatment in oncoming years, if its well designed I'll buy it.
Not if they continue to release shitty or incomplete versions of Masterpiece's only to re-release them later the way they should have done in the beginning. I was fine with MP-01 not having a trailer, so MP-04 was a nice treat. But there is no excuse for what they did to Starscream. Color, size, lack of QC, etc. The jury is still out on Megatron, but if he's released without a silencer & stock only to get those accessories later through a re-release, every fan out there should feel ripped off since it will be crystal clear what kind of deceptive marketing Takara are attempting. As for ramping up the MP series, I think it's too early to tell since there are technically only 3 molds released over the course of what, over 4 years? MP-02 is just a bad repaint of MP-01, and MP-04 is just MP-01 with a trailer. Until we see another 2-3 unique molds instead of repaints, I'm still not holding my breath about how long or big this line could go. Re-releasing MP-03 in accurate colors and repaints of Skywarp & Thundercracker are no-brainer decisions, so I won't really be counting them as "new" Masterpiece's per se.
I don't care for the girls, but I actually really like the painted plastic that is the Kiss Players. Very well executed so far, as much as I liked the weight of the BT's I don't have a problem with an alternators plastic style, but better approach.
Yeah, its clear that TakaraTomy is targeting the collector but what isn't clear is how serious they are in expanding the MP line. I agree with the fact pointed out well by Incepticon - the MP releases over the past few years are quite far from each other. IMO, the real yardstick for TakaraTomy to dive further into the MP line depends are the sales figures for Megatron...most of the time, villians are not popular with Japanese collectors.
Lets just hope it runs longer the the Binaltech/Alternators did. I push for MP Grimlock and Jetfire/Skyfire
I hope it does, just not too much. 4 a year would be about as many as I could handle. Between the size and the price, any more than that would be overkill. But so long as they make Hot Rod at some point (sooner rather than later I'd hope) I'll be happy.
I didn't buy Screamer because of his coloring and concerns over QC issues, and the jury is still out on Megatron for the same reasons. I know I'm not alone in this, so I wonder how much a success an MP ramp-up would be. Anyway at MP prices, at least my wallet is getting some relief. Maybe the nay-sayers won't make a difference. I wish Tak-Tom well, but I sure miss Takara.
Really no different than what the DVD industry has done with multiple editions of the same movie coming out. As much as I dislike the practice, it seems to be working for them. And money's what it's all about. If they can make the money and keep the line going...then I guess it's for the better. If they only make 1 or 2 MPs a year I'd be a happy man. More than 2 a year I think would be overkill....especially on my wallet & storage space.
