So then just less than two weeks until the 2013 Tokyo Toy Show, We saw three new Masterpiece figures shown at the 2012 show. Are three new ones a good marker for the 2013 show or are we expecting more to be shown?

MP-19 Smokescreen
MP-20 ??
MP-21 ??

Some new E-Hobby MP's ?

 

All I'm saying is that stands that companies take don't always last. Someone might say"any" toy depicting war goes against our credo while down the line someone else can easily say "look, toy robot Porsche with a gun," not a real war machine, what they meant were making REAL war machines.

The Nazis & WWII was what, 70+ years ago? I'm saying eventually it'll pass.

 

I bet fairly high, seeing as how this line is going now.

 

I think Smokescreen is a given. Possibly we could get a look at Acid Storm?

 

I kinda hope they've got some big things under their sleeve for the 30th anniversary. Any and all reveals will be subject to immediate pre-order.

 

I hope you're right.

 

WWII ended in 1945, so 68 years. I agree that at this point Porsche/VW are really way past that part of their history, but 70 years ago is not that long, historically-wise.

That said, there should be no reason for them not to release action figures of their cars nowadays.

 

Let me preface this by saying that I very much hope you all are right about Bumblevee and Jazz, especially now that we've seen iGear's lackluster attempt at a Mini Warriors version...

But I think some are underestimating the anti-WW2 stance of contemporary German culture... It might be more accurate to call it taboo in the strict, most literal sense... And while it may seem reasonable to assume that "money talks" and some kind of agreement can be made, in doing so, we might be falling into that common intel trap - projecting one's own cultural mores upon one which we don't actually understand at all, and assuming one might act as we do in a given situation.

I've interacted with Germans to some degree and the shame they have for the whole thing is really quite... Well, I'm not sure I can explain it. But it's a huge part of their identity, nowadays, even if they try not to talk about it. It is nothing like the "political correctness" we tend to see here now and then, to put it into a North American perspective.

Not saying it can't happen, but I would feel a whole lot better if iGear got their act together. Sure, I would PREFER an actual MP, but... Well...  

 

iGear are hacks when it comes to MP. It's FT or GTFO to fill any MP voids...

 

The licensing issue with VW has come up before and these are my thoughts on the subject:

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-toy-discussion/825635-my-hypothesis-licensed-masterpiece-transformers-2.html#post9102931

Concerning the Autobot mini-cars, I hope that TT will go the route of the super-deformed alt mode. That would be the best way to stay true to both the original toy and the animation model. I can understand why everyone would want a Cliffjumper or a Bumblebee with realistic proportions. As they would scale and display better with the other Autobot cars. But then, they would no longer be G1 accurate. Remember that the Diaclone cars were scaled-down representations of real cars, while the Microchange cars were 1:1 representations of toy cars.

In that regard, the mini-cars should be closer to the mini-cassettes in execution. Their "gimmick" shouldn't be real-world accuracy and licensing like the larger Autobot cars. But rather they would feature small alt modes, with intricate design and clever engineering, that can transform to robots with amazing articulation and detail.

Based on their original intention of being transforming toy cars, I've never seen the min-bots as "real" cars. Even in the cartoon, I like to think of them as toys that mass-shift to robot mode, in the same vein as Megatron and Soundwave. They simply remain in the larger scale in order to travel longer distances as scouts. And since they are advanced alien robots, they don't really need to have real car parts like engines and transmissions in order drive around. But they can easily mass-shift back to toy-size to be more useful as spies.

 

This is pretty much how I feel about most of the Mini-Bot cars, CJ and BB certainly being the two key characters.

 

Seems that way now. Hench and Cogz are decent, though.

 

I'm down with BB and CJ having deformed alt modes, but I'd still like to see Windcharger as a licensed Firebird.

 

They're great figures...but not MP worthy. Too much like legends class engineering and not toon accurate enough.

 

For Minibots, they're good enough for me, especially in the toon accuracy part.

Bumblebee and Cliffjumper are one thing, but I really, really don't think an MP Gears or Brawn will ever happen...

 

I think the mini-bots should look like they did on the cartoon. If they looked deformed, then they should be deformed. It's also most important that their robot modes are in scale w/ the other characters.

You could probably get away without getting licenses for all BUT Bumblebee, since a VW Beetle is a DAMN distinctive (trademarked?) design. PLUS, TT wants the license to due Jazz, and since they've supposedly approached VW for BB and Jazz, they probably wouldn't want to alienate VW by appearing to "do it anyway."

 

YES!YES! whats a firebird? and no looking at the profile pic  

 

true the mini bots don't seem mp worthy with simplistic transformations and such but that is just segregation to leave them out!! equality for the mini bots!! lmao sorry sorry i had to say it.  

 

I don't think anyone feels the mini-bots should be ignored. I think people are saying the iGear versions aren't MP worthy.

Frankly I struggle with how I think the mini-bots should be depicted. That real-car accurate Windcharger sounds great, but truth be told the Firebird wasn't a smaller car than a Datsun Fairlady. I know the figures need to scale correctly in bot mode and that's the most important thing (after consistency, right Enterlaw?   ). But I do also like the idea of Bumblebee and Windcharger being displayed in car mode next to Sideswipe and Prowl. Should they be crunched up and smaller, as they were in the cartoon? I'm torn.

Then I think of Cliffjumper and how far he was from the Porsche that inspired him. A real car accurate Cliffjumper wouldn't be Cliffjumper, frankly. Gah! I'm all over the place with my thinking.

*head explodes*

 

Miniwarriors like Hench and Cogz are pretty good, but there is space for upgrades to bring them closer to par with MPs (not to advertise, but OptimusTimeLord and myself are working on something to get Hench there, we'll see if Cogz needs anything when he releases), but for what could be quite a while they're the best we've got. If it came to crunch, I'd take a deluxe carbot at the expense of a minibot any day of the week.



Also, as a total MP-toon fanatic, it's chibi toon-style or not at all!