"Standards" have always been weird on MPs. They're all real hit or miss. Convoy v1, Grimlock, Convoy v2, and the new Seeker mold are all pretty fantastic. MP Megatron is pretty bad and both Rodimus and the original Seeker mold have breakage problems. This sits somewhere in between. He's really good, but not perfect. Soundwave seems like he'll tend to the great side, though. Other molds made sacrifices as well. The inside of Grimlock's legs can look weird at certain angles. The Seeker mold has a really long torso and weird head attachment mechanism. Rodimus has the weird backpack that looks awful from the side. To say other MPs haven't made sacrifices ignores the bad in a lot of these molds. I'd say compared to Rodimus, the Seeker mold, or Megatron, the sacrifices made by 'Swipe are relatively minor.
Agreed on all of the above. Alternity had a proper wow factor, but I'm not sure that's as important to the MP line now as "here's those G1 characters you say you want" (and much as I'm look forward to - and have pre-ordered along with all the cassettes - Soundwave, I have that same general feeling about it). It's not the first MP to suffer from that, admittedly - MP Grimlock was underwhelming in that way too. But I think the point stands: Alternitys (a defunct line, just to rub the salt in) shouldn't really be more exciting & complex than the MPs; but perhaps that's not the point of them so much any more. Perhaps only the "big" MPs will (therefore inconsistently) have that extra something.
Alternity just released Banzaitron and Galvatron. Granted they're just straight repaints, but the Alternity line is still going, for what it's worth (all of 4 unique molds' worth XD). I can see some of the comparisons to the Alternity line and the issues with price are a concern. We're paying a big chunk of that change for the Lambo license alone, I'm sure. Heck, even the Alternity cars have rubber wheels. But I'll reserve judgment until I get Swipers in hand first. He does look beefy and solid as far as plastic content goes (geewun blockiness in all its glory).
So who all is about in scale in robot mode now? Masterpiece Rodimus MP-10 Optimus Masterpiece Starscream Masterpiece Sideswipe Masterpiece Soundwave (from the prototype pics) That's it isn't it? MP Grimlock is too short and Alternity Bumblebee is too tall correct?
Rodimus set the new scale for MPs, so it's all the ones after are all in scale. You might be able to find some non-MP's in scale, but those are the only official ones.
Yup, I think so, tho the original MP Seekers also work. So really it's just the original Convoy, Megatron & Grimlock that are the scale curios. Alternity, I dunno. I guess the BumbleJumper mould *could* be alright (in bot mode)? Not had that one myself to say either way...
Scale in Robot mode, Rodimus (not in his "hotrod" mode) is in scale, starscream is, sideswipe soundwave. MP Grimlock is definitely too short, Alternity Bee Actually is pretty darn close.
He might be the same size in vehicle mode but in robot mode it's not even close. Alternity 'bee and Cliff are too big for the new MP scale....they do stand perfectly with MP01 tho. Look at the Takara scale picture....they barely pass Prime's knee.
Yeah, I know *technically* it's still going But you get what I'm saying Personally thought they were hardly perfect (esp. the last two moulds), but so much potential in that line.. guess it just wasn't doing the business, ah well.
Oh I agree, Sideswipe isn't really the first one to be... different from the rest. I think he might be a new sign of what we can expect from a smaller range of MPs, which feels like maybe a step above classics.
I realize in robot mode Mp-10 is larger than an alternator, but again going back to my initial post it was commenting on how people always keep saying sideswipe is going to be alternator sized, in which case it's clearly not as we've seen him scaled with robot and vehicle mode to prime. And the cab of the vehicle mode of prime, which is what I was speaking of) itself is at best alternator size, therefore for vehicles to fit in his trailer they need to be alternity sized and therefore sideswipe is alternity sized. What Takara Scale picture? Alternity Bee is WAY too short for MP-01, he's a little TOO tall for MP-10, but it's not that bad considering the height that sideswipe will be clocking in at. Classics deluxe bee actually scales nicely with Mp-10 only being slightly above his knee which is how it should be according to generally not followed chart that's in the IDW Ark book. But since G1 size of bots varied all the time in the cartoon, pretty much scaling bee somewhere between alternity bee and smaller than deluxe bee work.
I don't know. I don't think you can judge any line, especially MPs, based on a single mold. Heck, we don't even have a really good idea on Sideswipe's quality. If this is the quality we can expect, I'm pretty happy. Especially for what the Hasbro editions will inevitably cost. It's wait and see right now for me. Looking forward to getting my hands on Sideswipe and trying him out. Also "step-above" classics is a little underselling it. If you look at classics Sideswipe, his proportions look awful compared to the MP edition. The paint and detailing of MP Sideswipe far outdoes any classics figure.
We will see. I like the classics mold and feel his proportions are pretty much just as good. That doesn't mean this MP doesn't look better- I think he does, but I paid $12 for the classics. We will have to wait and see what Hasbro will do.
All fair comments. Tho, I don't think many of us who've been opining on this point are knocking "quality", exactly (also, I certainly don't think anyone's said "this is shit", or any other sweeping generalisation tho Ive not read every post). It's a bit more esoteric than that It's just the initial impressions are that this Masterpiece is perhaps not quite as... Masterpiecey as some of us like to expect, somehow; especially when we're judging against some of the engineering we've seen previously in the higher-end TT stuff (eg Alternity). It'll be interesting to see how that aspect does shake out across the MP line from now on, given the increased rate of release, differing price points & sizes we now think we'll see.
Kinda pissed they made him so small and has plastic wheels with no diecast. Even alternity and binaltechs had both mentioned missing items and for far less.
I guess my only point is, what exactly is "masterpiece" quality. Is it MP-10, is it Rodimus, is it Starscream, is it Megatron? All those figures vary so greatly it's almost impossible to judge them against each other. Honestly, judging the figures on their own merits is the only way I can do it now.
