I'm hoping that they start off with the cartoon as the foundation, but add a high level of realism to Masterpiece Grimlock. If they make him just cartoon accurate, he will look like crap. The cartoon had bright yellows and very little detailing in either mode. They toy was actually better. The Masterpiece toy should improve on both. My 2 cents.

 

Having spoken with one of the Hasbro designers this weekend, here's the full story: MP Grimlock is always at the top of the consideration list, but Hasbro is unwillin, at this point, to pay for the new tooling that would be involved in something like that, when the resources can go towards more profitable items. That being the case, it's not coming anytime soon. Thundercracker is a probable release for 2009- maybe near the end of the year- as a MP Starscream-type exclusive. I think a few others here on the boards can back me up, as man of s heard the same thing. You may now return to seibertron's intrusive ads.

 

I don't want to offend anyone on here...but I can't understand why Hasbro has to be soooo cheap. They keep releasing redeco's of figures and shit. Yes I understand they are guaranteed profit off of repaints...but man as a company I feel youd want to take a few risks and see if they work! You can't make major profits without taking risks. I for one am fed up with them repainting figures they have repainted like 2 or 3 times already or rereleasing figures that have been released many times already. One example is the new 25th anniversary prime figure. Yes its good for people who don't own a g1 prime...but they already released how many reissues of that figure already. DOes anyone else feel the same way I do??

P.S. the above rant isnt meant to offend anyone, Im just tired of repaints and tired of hasbro not taking risks. I really wanted a masterpiece grimlock figure!!!

 

I dunno that I'd accuse HasTak of not taking risks, particularly in light of the movie and Animated. They movie was a pretty big risk.They massively underestimated the popularity of the movie and ensuing demand for the toys, which led to the drought last fall. You can pretty much draw a direct line from the success of the movie to the onslaught of product in the pipeline.

Animated was no doubt well on its way before the movie toys even hit the shelves, but they certainly took another risk by taking the main line a radically different direction from every TF line evar. While it doesn't do it for me, it looks to have gone over well with the fandom in general and the show has been well-received by the kids, who will in turn probably go apeshit when the toys hit mass market. Score 2 for Hasbro.

I didn't buy a ton of movie stuff, and I don't plan to get any Animated except maybe Soundwave, but I appreciate the fact that the rampant success of the former and likely imminent success of the the latter allows them to throw us all the fanwank goodies that are coming, repaints included (because c'mon now..some of them are fuckin' sweet).

 

No, not really. For one, I actually enjoy repaints, and for two, it's just not economically feasible for them to pump out only new molds. All that tooling and production is expensive... if the figure doesn't sell well, that money is a loss. A repaint is after materials (plastic, boxes, shipping, etc), pure profit. It lets them dump that money into other new designs.

Though I'm not sure what you consider not taking a risk.. they've utterly redesigned the entire franchise twice in the last 2 years (movie style, now Animated style). Both of those seem like pretty drastic risks, especially had the movie been a flop.

I cant blame Hasbro for not wanting to pay for a Masterpiece themselves. Everyone cried about wanting an domestic version of MP Prime, and he got clearanced to crap both times they released him. I've heard reports of people seeing clearanced MP Starscreams too, though I've never actually seen the figure at retail myself. When Takara gets around to finishing Big Grim, I suspect Hasbro will release him as a store exclusive too. Seems to be the better route for more expensive items.

Also, you gotta remember Hasbro's beholden to their stockholders. No profits = unhappy shareholders. So sometimes they have do things just for the sake of making money. They are a business, they're not just in it for the fun of making toys. Too many risks can ruin a sucessful business.

 

All the hype for a MP Grimlock. I want him bad too, but is it really going to happed (hopefully sooner than later)

 

Idk I see your point with the movie and animated...but I dont know...I find myself losing interest in transformers with these series of toys. There are a few toys from both lines I may pick up, but I find most to be boring or just not my style. I actually lost interest in TF's after Beast Wars ended since I wasnt big into Beast Machines and only just got started again once masterpiece prime came out. But once again I find myself let down as Masterpiece Grimlock was one figure I was hoping and waiting for, for so long. Lately I find myself trying to collect lucky draw transformer figures since they are more unique to me, but even then its hard to track them down and they cost quite a bit.

Now if they cant release MP Grimlock, I wish theyd at least release lucky draw figures in the U.S. It'd give me more of a reason to keep collecting Transformers.

But once again, I do see your point and appreciate your opinion!

 

That I can agree with.. The animated designs dont do it for me at all. Loved the movie guys though. There's always Universe 2.0 though,which is more traditionally styled.. maybe those are more to your tastes? Universe is what I'll be focusing on myself..though I wish I could afford a few LDs... but that's unlikely anytime soon. :\

 

I love Grimlock and he is an iconic character and I'd definately try to get one if he were released, but I think his original toy does enough justice that other characters should get masterpiece treatment first. The original Grimlock toy was one of the best in the early G1 lineup IMO.

I'd like to see a Rodimus Prime Masterpiece. Everybody knows the original Rodimus toy sucked, regardless of how sentimental I may feel about it or how much it meant to me in my childhood. I'm willing to admit that.

But I think Ironhide should also be very high on the list. That mold was the purest garbage in all of G1, and Ironhide is basically Optimus' right hand man/2nd in charge (show continuity). Hmmm... come to think of it I think these characters should be considered...

Rodimus Prime
Galvatron
Shockwave
Ultra Magnus Trailor for show accurate combination look
Ironhide
Arcee
Grimlock
Jazz
Soundwave
Remaining Seekers

 

Yes please!

Sooner or later it will happen.

 

I'll be pretty surprised if MP Thundercracker (aka another easy peasy repaint) doesn't show up before 2008 is done. Hasbro might wait until next year's 25th Anniversary to do it, but I can't see Takara waiting that long.

Truth be told, I'm surprised Hasbro are even considering it all. I truly figured MP Starscream would be an exclusive one-off.

 

MPs

Here's my thoughts on the MPs. I can understand why Hasbro is so loathe to make versions of these for the US market. They're big, they're expensive, and they're not high volume items. There's no way that you can hope to sell gangbusters on a $99.99 toy. The smart thing to do would be to take a page from NECA's scale Balrog and make them available as online exclusives, thus eliminating the need for excess packaging. You save money, can still sell the figure for the same price, and thus increase profit.

As a note, my list of MPs reads something like this:
Grimlock
Soundwave (Hasbro inferior, Takara Tomy superior)
Shockwave
Ultra Magnus with armor

Megatron is just meh, and there's Starscream and the billion other jet repaints I can pass on.

As a note, I've got both leader class premium figures, and I've ordered the rest of the line. Should be here later this week. I plan on doing one mega Premium Series review thread once they arrive.

 

cracker we will go again

 

I LOVE repaints! I usually like them better than the originals. I'm going insane over Universe Ratbat.

Is not! 

 

ive always felt like what rodimus posted ya grimlock is a great char but what more can you do to make him a MP. the original toy was a great representation of him. more or less you add some fluff features and articulation to a blown up g1 grimmy and thats all i can really think of. if you got more ideas post em but id like to see chars that could be alot cooler like an MP ironhide that would be awsome.

 

I'd only buy MP Thundercracker if they fixed the flaws in the molding. Cracking wing connectors anyone?

 

I hope it comes with a technobot and helmet. =]

 

They should make him HUGE!! scaled to Prime and Megs.

 

MP toys are the one line I will continue to collect as long as they maintain high quality- as good, or better than MP 01. I hope an MP Grimlock would be bigger than 12" in both robot and dino modes, with plenty of diecast. As far as being cartoon accurate and having a yellow chest...i'm pretty sure that it would be gold chrome like the Henkei and G1 Grimlock toys.

 

I am actually not looking forward to any new MASTERPIECES. I think they are unnecessesary and expensive.

I had a real problem with Megatron legs, and I did not care for Starscream because he was redundant with the perfection of the Classics mold. I ended up trading MPSS away.

Massive large molds I cannot see the repaint factor as much as the small stuff. Like it feels like an Either/Or with the large seekers. But more power to them if people want all 3.

And again, grimlock... Seems Unnecessary. The G1 toy was pretty good, all the Retreads of Grimmy are pretty good. I don't know what triple-sizing the mold will do to make it 'better'.

I would much rather 'masterpiece' Voltrons style of the G1 Gestalts where we get better teams and an articulated combiner. If we are paying 100$ for a figure, make it a Metal G1 Devastator with great articulation and 6 sub figures that have decent articulation.