I hear ya there! I have gone into semi lurking as there just isn't too much news these days. I feel that news is incoming real soon though! And OMG at those prices for Cheetor!!! When did that happen!?!

 

Going by the leaks from august and the favoritism of ROTF in the Studio Series line.

We most likely are going to get a buster MPM Prime.

 

No-no. Not Nemesis, but FINAL BATTLE Optimus Prime. I really hope TT announces a MP Armada Optimus simply because it means we will likely get a Final Battle deco which is probably my favourite colours for Optimus Prime. It's one of the two Armada moulds I still have (Megatron being the other).

But it does mean it's a potentially interesting mould for TT. They get at least three cartoon based releases: regular, Nemesis and Final Battle.

 

That is another reason I chose that characters

The four have a repaint that represent a power up

 

I'm convinced there is an obscure, forgotten Seeker.
I'm also convinced this obscure Seeker is taking vengeance on us all via our weather.

It's mid-April and we here in WI are expecting another fragging snow/ice storm on Wednesday, on the heels of the snow/ice storm over the weekend.

Please Takara or 3P, produce an MP of this pissed off, obscure Seeker and end this neverending winter.
For the love of Primus (and sanity of the Midwest USA), appease Ice Storm
   

 

Almost every Armada character has a repaint that represents a power up. Cyclonus and Demolishor even have two repaints, counting their Energon decos.

Yeah, but you live in Wisconsin. That's like daring it to snow. It snowed where I live today too, but you know the difference? I live in Kentucky. Last week we had a high temp of 80. 80! And today it snows. So yeah, I'm with you on the wrath of Ice Storm. And you know, I think he won't even be satisfied with an MP11 repaint. He demands a new mold!

 

Maybe if I got my mind off MPs for a while, then...

 

Sooo.....should be seeing a magazine next week, odds we see something?Whooo?

 

Pretty good odds, I should think. This will be for revealing a November release (Prowl+ is October, right?). If MPM Beetle Bumblebee is still on track for December, this is it--if there's nothing revealed this month, we could theoretically close the door on any more 2018 releases, barring the still-possible TTS exclusive.

 

I think that at this point we're also relying as much as anything on the history of + releases being a pricey accessory pre-release to a new mould. This is us hoping that Takara can stick to a pattern.

We're all doomed  

 

Well, there's also the unshakable pattern that a company that doesn't actually sell anything goes quickly out of business. Making toys and releasing them is a pattern they really kinda have to stick to.

 

I'm taking the "no expectation" approach for the next magazine release.

 

Prowl is September along with Ironhide for them. So hopefully we are looking at Oct/November. Fingers crossed we continue the trend of Diaclone/popular character. Better yet the last 2 years of a Diaclone /Deception.
Odds 42 isnt Trailbreaker? Just have a feeling they will be prempted, only because Prowl has partnered better with other bots.

 

While he should be paired with Meister, my guess is either Hound or Blaster.
Out of left field would be Mirage, CJ or Windcharger.

Pairing him with Trailbreaker would just be awkward and make no sense.

 

We discussed detritus extensively in multiple classes today...I think the universe is trying to tell me something....

 

Let's not forget that Hastak makes a bunch of other junk besides Transformers and I'm willing to bet that the profit margin on MP/MPM is minuscule compared to almost everything else they do. It's seems that the MP line is really just more of a "for fun" side project that they do for fans and to showcase what they are capable of. Like a car companies bread and butter is their economy sedans/suvs but still spit out a high end sports car to show off a bit. So it's no big surprise when the MP line may take a back seat once in a while.

 

I think that is very likely true... but that we also have a really bad tendency in here to forget that the MPM set is part of the line in the sense that it's taking up the design and production resources that would otherwise be devoted to G1 and BW characters.

They're doing well with them right now too, and as much as I dislike the Bay stuff, you can't really blame them for focusing on that set when you consider that Takara has had a few tough years on other departments, and that it's allowing them to share more costs with Hasbro, in all likelihood.

MPMs may not be actually part of the MP line proper, but the same people work on them, and that means that other things take a backseat. Beyond that, sure, Takara has a bunch of other lines, but the MP line is a notable prestige set, which the mature collector market loves, and that's a bigger and bigger part of the toy world these days, particularly in Japan.

 

Or they could just not pair him with anyone and release him on his own and then release whoever they feel like.

This isn't a criticism of anyone here but it just feels like trying to determine Takaras next move is like determining the position and momentum of a particle. And sadly unlike star Trek we can't just install Heisenberg compensators, lol.

 

I liked MP40 do much I really want another movie bot. 
Making yours fans wait a year for a new G1 mold TB/Hoist ends up being kind of meh, next year with Prime is a different story. I just think were getting somebody that doesnt make the year a total waste, unless we do get 2 molds. Then TB and Astrotrain /Blitzwing / Cyclonus/Scourge/ or Galvatron sounds freaking amazing.

Still wonder with TFs not being as popular there would they go with the Insecticons as a set like the reissues. Or would minibots not named Bee come in pairs.

 

Very good point and I have to admit to being one of those that forgets MPM completely. Sadly I also think Takara is dead on the money doing a focus on MPM now. It's too early to play to nostalgia of the movies and the failure of The Last Knight had resulted in the film universe being pretty much dead now. They have sunk a ton of cost on these molds and if they're going to recoup those costs they need to be more mpm aggressive.

Doesn't play to what I want but I'm not the only person in the world, lol.