Communication between Hasbro to get the Targetmaster for the first release of the MP Hotrod mold. They've had enough time to do so, wouldn't you agree?

Communication between themselves and their customers, in order to show release dates or release orders for various versions of the same character. Takara has been lax with this regarding their MP line, giving the impression they want to milk costumers into buying multiple versions of the same character/mold and/or being too inept at communication or planning their line to foresee new versions coming and releasing them at the last minute.

Regardless of the reasons, it is eroding my trust in them. Why bother to buy any Takara MP when they'll probably sell it, slightly better, several months later? Why bother at all when I can just get a KO if I miss the official sales window entirely?

 

Milking the mould.

 

new number for old mold, damn, TT need to catch up, up to MP-711

 

When have TT sold an MP and released a revision later besides MP-09 V2? They probably decided to release Targetmaster Hot Rod after having success/feedback from Artfire with Targetmaster. It's simple, you either want the Targetmaster and buy MP-40, or you don't buy it. Why are you making this bigger than it is?

 

If this is in toy colours I don't really see why it's any different from a Diaclone MP (or why the second Optimus Primal was, for that matter)? Both are reuses of older molds with colourschemes based on an old toy and usually come with some form of retooling or new accessory? The only difference is that there are no Diaclones to base Hotrod or Optimus Primal's redecoes on.

At this point isn't Megatron the only MP that hasn't been recoloured or retooled? Why would people not expect Hotrod to eventually be? We'll probably get a toy-coloured Megatron eventually too, maybe with his original gun and sword.

 

This. Can I get an

 

MP-40 is Hendry cavill!

 

Fanstoys's targetmaster is worthless now.

 

Curious about this. If it's just MP-28 with some changes and a Targetmaster then I don't have much use for it.

 

Not me. And the reason I didn't pick up the previous release of MP Hot Rodimus? No Targetmaster.

So as far as I'm concerned, Takara knows what they're doing.

 

Takara really sunk low. So low, the pressure hurts us.

 

Anyone who thinks this will be re-mould s in ANY way is kidding themselves. They may change the paint apps a bit and they'll probably skip a lot of the random accessories in favour of the Traht master but that's it. Anime Sideswipe and Red Alert and the second Primal where all straight up reprints with Zero moulding changes.
It's actually pretty ridiculous to try and do this as an MP release. Because it means that Takara had a discussion when they were designing MP-28 where they asked if they should include a Targetmaster with it. And Takara decided then and there that no, they would do a second release of the exact same toy, exact same character and include a Targetmaster with that.
I was dumbfounded when I first saw this listing, and that's when i thought they were re-releasing MP-28 as a Headmaster, which would at least require some remoulding. But a Targetmaster? Ridiculous.
Makes FansToys 3P, who has a better chest AND comes with a Targetmaster in his main release, even more appealing to me.

 

Nothing more than a completionist drive keeping me buying TT figures at this point. This will likely be the one that finally breaks the chain.

 

Oh, here's an argument we need to see for the billionth time again.  

 

Again, why have they sunk low?

Tigertrack/Clampdown came with the previously Amazon-only piledrivers
Soundblaster had Ratbat
Bluestreak came with two of the previously Amazon-only Launchers
Exhaust came with the Immobilizer
Roadrage came with a gun based on Track's original weapon
Delta Magnus came with Marrissa and new faces for the original Ultra Magnus
SC Optimus Primal came with the mace and toy-accurate face
Artfire came with Nightstick
Ironhide, Inferno, Sideswipe, Prowl and Starscream got heavy retools into other characters. Optimus has a million redecos without any new accessories. Bumblebee, Red Alert and Streak have just had straight redecos.

There is an established pattern of Takara releasing MPs again with extra accessories. The only thing that sets this and Optimus Primal apart is that they don't have Diaclone characters (or Soundblaster/Artfire) to base them on or a new character made for the deco like Bluestreak. Again, Megatron, Cheetor and Shockwave are the only MP that have not been redecoed in any way. Even the cassettes have been reused. I don't know why this is so shocking to people.

 

They've had plenty of time, which should go to show that they clearly felt the old Targetmaster from Hasbro's Rodimus didn't work for the new mold so they didn't settle for a lazy repack of an old accessory.

If you want them to tell you every possible reuse of any MP mold before hand, that's never going to happen. But I think it's naive to believe that just because they didn't announce a reuse for the mold as soon as they announced the original that there isn't going to be another release down the road. These cost a lot for Takara to produce, of course they're going to get as much mileage out of them as possible.

And again, what "last minute"? There's been a two year gap between the releases, that's more than enough of a window there.

Several months is actually two years, and stuff like that is not uncommon for the collectible toy market. And I don't know if it's really a better version so much as different. Buy it or don't. You can just buy a KO Targetmaster for your MP-28, too, for all that it matters.

 

Well, if it's just a reissue (and a rather recent reissue at that), then I'm out. But if they fixed up the quirks and such, at least people would have some tangible reason to get another. I usually point to MP 28 as the turning point for really loose QC and errors in general. After him, they became the norm. Before, it seemed to be hit and miss (with the exception of design flaws like the first MP11 with waist issues).

 

ATTENTION MASTERPIECE COLLECTORS! If they decide to release Kup, Blurr, Cyclonus, or Scourge, be prepared... There a good chance they'll get a Targetmaster version released a couple years later. So don't be surprised!

 

This is only the second use of the mold. How is that milking it?

 

Yes, Takara's numbering system is a bit nonsensical in it's method, there's no debate with that. But that ship sailed when Exhaust somehow got his own number, so there's no point making a fuss over it anymore.