Black Blaster Hello, is there any shop that sells the black blaster of 1st anniversary Prime? I think I will buy a "MP-04" Prime, but I dont like the silver blaster.
To Hasbro's credit (for once), the chest doors on their 20th Prime seem to close much tighter than any of the Takara versions. My MP-01's chest closes reasonably well, but it definitely could be a little tighter. As for my MP-04, I dunno. Looking at it still in the box, there seems to be a very noticeable (to me) gap between the doors... even with the tight packaging wires wrapped around the chest. Makes me worry that if I ever take it out, the doors will just kind of hang there barely closed. The fact that the lower legs & feet seem to be slightly misaligned where they're glued together doesn't help matters either. Hmm... maybe I should sell this guy and just try buying another one now that I think about it.
I bought a 20th Anniversary Prime at Wal-Mart the second I saw it. It was $69.99. No matter what I did, that damn thing would not stand up! It's legs were floppy and loose like a rag doll, so I took it back. Fast forward a year later, and I decide that I simply MUST have one, even if it is floppy and loose, and I snag one on ebay for $32 shipped (sweet!). Figuring it would be all floppy and loose, I unpack it, only to find that it was nice and tight. I have no evidence to suggest it other than my own antecdotal experience, but perhaps later releases of 20th Prime were tightened up a bit? Or maybe I just got a crappy one the first time around? And for what it's worth, the Classics DVD edition Prime is clearanced at both Wal-Mart and Target right now to less than $30. Definitely worth it!
Anyone know of a reliable place I could get the first release of MP-01? I've got 2 20th Primes with black gun and an MP-02, MP-04. All of them have properly aligned doors and they are all very tight, no loose joints. I guess you could say that the MP-04 doors are slightly off, but barely. They are all on a much higher level than my MP-03's construction. On the 20th, the battle damage is a little half baked on the arms and chest, but if you panel line you Prime with black pen, the black battle damage blends in much nicer. I also removed the battle damage paint on the grill with a pencil eraser. You don't want MP-04 for the best Prime figure. The trailer is sweet, but the figure is second to worst, the worst being DVD Prime. On MP-04 sloppy paint, mismatch color red and many paint defects. I still think they took paint reject diecast parts from the MP-01 release and used them for MP-04 figures. In terms of the figure I would rank them like this: MP-01 20th Prime Black gun MP-02 20th Prime Gray gun MP-04 MP-03 DVD Prime
I would like to see that. Seriously. If they don't have aligned chest plates even in the official photos, and every single one I've ever seen either in stores, or at people's houses, or at toy shows, are mis-aligned, how do some people get special ones? I even took my first one apart once to try and figure out why they weren't aligned properly. I've tried to bend it back to the correct shape. No good. Always, misaligned. The door on the right on mine sits about three milimeters lower than the door on the left when looking at it. It's the same on every other one I've ever seen. It's the same on the box photos for both MP and 20th, though not as pronounced as mine. It's the same on all the pictures I've seen online. A search on images.google for MP Convoy and 20th Prime turn up not one that have perfectly aligned panels. The TFKenkon pictures of it have the mis-alignment as well. I'm not trying to be a dick about it, but I would very much like to see a first edition version with perfectly aligned chest panels. I would like to know that they do exist, and that through some miracle of fate I've just never come across one in the store or online.
Here's mine, I don't have an MP-01 though. You can see on MP-04 they are off slightly, but that is mainly because the one door doesn't stay snuggly closed. The second 20th Prime I got was loose on ebay for $65. He is especially nice with tight joints, just luck I guess. 20th #1 (panel lined, not a good picture) 20th #2 MP-04 (with 20th Hasbro gun) MP-02
I never said perfectly aligned, I said properly aligned. Personally, I think you are being too anal retentive, if that tiny gap in that pic is what you are talking about. In all my years of collecting, I've never seen a "perfect" toy of anything. They all have some sort of minor flaw. Toys are made to be played with, not to fly in space. I doubt they will start having aeronautic engineers start building them to make them precise. That gap is no bigger than the gaps between his shin and his thigh... it's practically unnoticeable. Case in point, I'd never noticed it before.
It would be un-noticeable if it were the same gap on both sides. Unfortunately, I've been cursed with my grandpa's eye when it comes to off-centered things. It's great in the wood shop, but a pain-in-the-ass for almost anything you buy off-the-shelf. And yeah, I knew the anal-retentive comment was coming. Because heaven forbid I expect the same quality out of a hundred dollar toy from Takara or Hasbro as I do from Yamato or Bandai.
I only have the original 20th Ann. version. My only gripes are the short stacks, and the too loose ankle joints.
In this economy, $100 isn't much. It's not that Hasbro or Takara dropped the ball on quality, it's that Yamato and Bandai went far and above where they had to. You've been spoiled, bub .
I agree that little things like that can be annoying for that price. The companies are all suspect from time to time on QC, MP-03, VF-0S to name a few of my problems. Although I don't have any complaints about Bandai, the SOC stuff I've been getting lately is just awesome, all the Mazinger stuff and GX-34 is amazing.
I absolutely have. One problem I run across with the Hasbro/Takara stuff is the fact that they can get a ten dollar toy so awesomely right, and a fifty to hundred dollar toy suffers from rudimentary problems from time to time. Just seems kind of wrong to me. But, the bread-and-butter of their business is probably easy for them to get right at this point. While the MPs and the THS line are so new that they're practically an experiment.
I could never get myself to get a 20th Ann. Prime. The Short stacks really put me off on that one and the battle damage just looks bad too me so I just got the MP Prime and Magnus.
Aren't the Yamato Valks (1/48) far more expensive than MP-01? It would only make sense that they are of a finer quality. Honestly, given his size, MP-01 was a pretty good deal at $90.
The yamatos are more expensive, but not always finer quality. Some of the 1st runs had their share of QC problmes/defects. Right now the first VF-0S release is questionable. Mine has no broken pieces, but its joints are a floppy ******ed mess. It can barely even hold a pose in gerwalk or battroid.
A better comparison would be some of the smaller SOCs. I have a few of those and no known QC issues. As for the Yamatos, while there have been known issues in the first run, Yamato is known for making improvements in each new run. I'm a bit gunshy when it comes to first runs, except in the case of really, REALLY desirable stuff, but in that case I only buy first run because I know I'll buy another down the line. With Takara/Hasbro, first run is usually the way it is throughout production. Though on occassion we see changes. (See Classics Bumblebee's roof-vent for example.)
personally, i'm probably going to get the 20th movie prime, because of the price *basically half the price* and the fact that i am not a big fan of metal any more, makes the toys too heavy, and more easily broken at plastic joints. and way too hard to pose. just from my experince with bt's vs alternators. plus 20th movie prime resembles the show character, better then the takara version, and the trailer verison has been having lots of reports of poor Quality Control, and if i am paying $190 for a toy, it better well be the highest quality standards on earth. i mean it's just 1 toy. it's not like it was predaking where there is lots of tiny parts. this is a masterpiece toy it should be at their highest standards. so even with the "blue gun" i'd still prefer it at the price and quality controls of hasbro, then takara's. other then chrome and bigger stacks the toy it self is not that much different.
