One thing they do have going for them (and certainly the Sharkticons too) is that many fans with deeper pockets may be inclined to double and triple purchase these guys. Though I'm not sure Takara is going to think about it from this particularly fan-obsessed angle.

As to mini-bots, it does seem like they would make sense from a "lower price point" angle, but they might not be that much cheaper to produce from a parts-count perspective. If they are still really complicated in terms of transformation, TT may be less inclined to bother. Though really, they'd likely just impose top-down part counts on the designers and have them work within those restrictions.

 

Constructicons, Insecticons and Triple Changers please.  

 

It could be any number of reasons why we haven't seen any more minibots. IMO i don't think it is a budget issue anymore. With the current toon direction maybe they can't decide between licensed or chibi. Price could play a factor as well. As popular as Bumblebee is he still cost close to the other carbots and had a pack-in. Maybe TT doesn't think minibots would sale well.

As for cassettes they were made to interact with Soundwave. As long as we get a Blaster i'm sure will see his cassettes. No clue why they haven't done any others orany repaints.

 

So this ^ (first two certainly)

Hoist / Trailbreaker would be fine, if not a bit boring - Jazz would be infinitely more exciting.

On the age thing, I'm 40.5 years and counting... creak  

 

You havent' steered us wrong thus far, so this brings a glimmer of hope back to my eye. I think after Megatron, I'll just ease back on the 3rd party purchases and trust in your word.

 

Probably because they're actually not cheap to produce. If you look at Bumblebee, he's got a similar parts count to Prowl or Sideswipe, and comes with that exo-suit, which is a fairly simple pack-in. They probably did that to improve the appearance of value and justify a better (for them) price tag. That'd be my guess as to why we haven't seen any other minis.

I had a radical thought - what if they did Reflector soon? Now that Megatron is going to land soon, they're the only part of the original 'Con crew missing. The Insecticons are S1 too, of course, and probably more popular, but man oh man, getting Reflector would be cool to round out that initial bunch.

 

I'll expect a reveal for astrotrain and blitzwing this year, i FEEL it.

 

Yeah, most collectors wouldn't bother troop-building at the MP size and price point, so I don't know if this is a factor Takara would consider. As cool as having Cyclonus and his armada, Scourge and two Sweeps, and a gaggle of Sharkticons on the shelf would be, I think I'd have to pass on multiples of those characters.

 

All I want at this point, is MP Jazz. Yes, I have Downbeat and really like him. It's just, I prefer Official MPs.

He then needs to be followed by Sunstreaker, Blaster and Mirage.

 

Yeah, you're probably right. I know I couldn't afford it!!

 

There's a certain "prestige" aspect to most of the carbots with regard to either alt mode or character choice, or both. Certainly with all the large characters that have been released, as well. I think this is something we all tend to forget, here... This is is still marketed as a "high end" line, after all. It may be more affordable than, say, Hot Toys, but it's conceivable, at least, that this is still a big factor.

Takara has never shown any inclination of taking a "MOTUC approach" to this line, as much as we'd like it if they did.

TCracker's statement is interesting, but again, "designed" has a very broad defitintion. It might mean conceptual drawings, maybe some rough schematics consisting of transformation ideas, etc. at best. I'd bet that the process is further along for guys like Trailbreaker/Hoist, Sunstreaker, Jazz, Hound, Mirage and Skids, though! And there's probably prototypes for Jazz and Cliffjumper at least, since they're transformations are so similar to the Nissan and Bumblebee molds, respectively.

 

Agreed. As incredible as it would be, I just don't think it's financially viable at this point in my life. And if not now, it's never going to be. That said, there are a FEW collectors o could see doing so, maybe. But I think it's so few that the thought process wouldn't even be on the radar at Takara.

 

...heck, i'm still trying to track down even a second titans return sharkticon at original retail retail pricing, three months coming up empty: i can't imagine how bad the run would be on masterpiece troops...

 

I'm pretty sure that Dinobot is MP-39, hopefully we will hear something on that this coming week. With Megatron, Artfire and Beast Convoy repaint I'm quite hopeful we could get at least 1 more (2 if we are lucky) announcements before the end of the summer. I'm also going out on a limb here and hope even further that Takara could do Reflector as a Mall exclusive after Dirge is released.

Lots of hopes in there I know LOL! And I got 2 months till I hit the big 40 Yay!

 

Well, with MPs you pretty much have to order from e-tailers, so at least you wouldn't have to worry about the hunt. And since it wouldn't be part of a "wave" per se, you'd have no worries about it being shortpacked.

I have to say, though, IF Takara did MP Sharkticons, I'd probably buy three at least. I'm not much of an army-builder when it comes to Transformers - for example, I'd have zero interest in getting multiple Sweeps or Cyclonus' "Armada" - but one Sharkticon all by his lonesome just wouldn't look right.

Oh, and I'm 39 until November.  

 

I was told (with a pinch of salt) the next G1 MP reveal is going to be some character out of the left field. Which is not many to choose from if you take into account S1 and S2 characters. (Combiners not counted).
But honestly, i prefer Jazz because he is long overdue

And speaking of age, yeah. 41 here.

 

Maybe someone like Warpath? Reflector?

Seems to contradict the reports of a long-overdue character, unless we're getting both of them  


27 here. Grew up on G1 videotapes and was bought original G1 figures in Portugal in the early 90s where they'd been warming the shelves for nearly a decade.

 

Hmm....wonder if that Skyfire rumor still has some legs. Blaster,Dinobots, Wrec-kgar or Springer would be pretty left field right now.....but dammit wheres Hound? 

 

It's Seaspray, isn't it? Dammit, I knew it. F*cking Seaspray.

In all seriousness, my guess then would be Skids. Although he's not totally out of left field given his diaclone history.

Other thoughts are Powerglide, Perceptor or Windcharger.

And I'm 40, turning 41 in July.

 

To me, the most left-field releases that would still make a logical sense would be:

• Skids. He's a nobody in the cartoon but he still conforms to the established Diaclone carbot pattern.
• Chromedome. He's like nothing we've gotten so far, yet he's popular enough to make the jump up the list.
• Blitzwing/Astrotrain. They're very plausible, but we've never gotten a Triple Changer before so they fit the "left-field feeling."
• A Microchange car. I would guess Brawn. Opening up a new subset, the lower-tier non-Diaclone characters.
• Skyfire. Nobody really expects him... makes him a perfect possibility.

I don't know how "far" left-field to cast the net, but it's important to keep in mind that Takara is still a business making characters they think will sell. A MP Devcon would certainly be left-field, for example, but it's also pretty ridiculous at this stage in the line.