TLDR; There's a new thread.

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Oof, three and a half years.

When I started this list, I had no idea how things would turn out. I was waiting for Masterpiece Wheeljack to arrive, had finally given in to the wiles of MP-10 over the larger, heavier MP-1, and Masterpiece Soundwave was the pride of my collection. Masterpiece Bumblebee and Ultra Magnus had been announced, signalling there was a serious future in the line.

My only third party figure at the time was Fans Toys Quakewave, a purchase I made in Oslo train station while on holiday. It was a tortured hour or so before a tour, while I fretted that a 3rd party product couldn't possibly be as good as an official. In the end the thought that we'd never see a Masterpiece Shockwave due to licencing issues won, and I hit the buy button. Obviously I needn't have worried, he's still in my collection today.

All of this led to the thought that maybe, if people wanted a full cast and squinted slightly, they could substitute figures in from other lines and have a semi-decent "Masterpiece" collection. I never for a moment thought we'd be where we are today, with extremely high quality third party toys challenging the Takara status quo, and Takara fighting back by releasing wave after wave of MP toys. Who would have thought we'd see Masterpiece Grapple even a year ago? Masterpiece. Grapple.

The first iteration of this list contained horrific pieces that we wouldn't even consider in today's climate. Abominable, poorly constructed figures that fell apart if you so much as looked at them. Tiny CHUG representations crept in that were the best option we had at the time. And there were a lot of empty spaces next to character names, with a lot of red.

Now, three and a half years later, we have a full season 1 cast (I still want a better Cliffjumper, and official Jazz). We've got most of the major, non-combiner characters from season 2. We're getting a Masterpiece Omega-frickin'-Supreme.

No one could have seen this coming when the original Masterpiece Optimus Prime was released.

My own collection reached around 40-odd figures about a year and a half ago, thanks to some completist tendencies that I'm sure a lot of you share. Since then I've been downsizing, eventually deciding to limit to just season 1 characters. There's a very real chance I'll go smaller, until I own just the very few characters who mean the most to me. There comes a point where you collect enough that the figures cease to be special, they just take up space. You remember the joy when you pick them up, separate them from the crowd and play, but otherwise they're just an expensive morass of colours and undefined shapes, all fighting for attention, the eye not knowing what to look at first amongst the bright technicolor shamble of Cybertronic plastic and dust.

There's elegance in having just a few pieces, and giving them the space they deserve.

All of this a drawn out way of saying: 14 years after my first Masterpiece, I'm one Jazz figure away from being complete, and it's time to seek out other passions. I'll still be about, lurking around the place, but in a much reduced capacity.

I know plenty of people have found this list useful, so I've passed it on to the person who's been contributing so many updates lately, eyescovered. Check out the new thread. I trust you'll all be as wonderful and helpful in contributing to the list for eyescovered as you have been for me.

Keep the passion alive,

Unexpectedpanda

 

I just want to say thank you for everything you've done for us. I remember when you first started this thread (I was the first comment!  ) and my own completist tendencies made this the perfect checklist. Over the years I've made my own versions of the list, destroyed then, remade, and always come back here. I haven't always been able to collect as much as I want, and I don't post nearly as much as I should relative to the time I spend in these forums, but, thank you.

The work you've done here is incredible, and your presence in the community has always been a positive and welcome one, and I look forward to running into you around here, in whatever capacity that ends up being.

 

Cheers, that means a lot   Thank you for your support!

 

Been checking this thread for a very long time, thank you so much for such a great resource. Enjoy whatever takes your interest going forward, and thank you again  

 

Since there is a new version of this thread, does this mean this old thread will be locked?

 

Thanks so much @unexpectedpanda for the years of work and dedication to this list. I know I haven't been around as long as some, but I can tell that this has been an invaluable service to the community here and I must add my voice to what I hope will be a chorus of thanks.

I too am downsizing... and then some. After I have TR and LG Kup, and then TR Blitzwing, I am probably done collecting and will sell off what little I have beyond a few favorite MPs and CHUGs. It's been awesome, but all good things must come to an end, especially when real life irreversibly intervenes.

Thanks also to @eyescovered for the new thread and continued dedication as well!

 

Hi Everyone

I am wondering if there is a guide (fan made or otherwise) that has pics of MP figures and their accessories. Thanks in advance for your reply.

 

You can always go to www.tfwiki.net and type in whatever official Masterpiece figure you're looking for to see pics. For 3P figures, I'm sure Ebay listings will have sufficient pictures.