Love that bot mode. Even the backpack doesn't bother me.

Truck mode is an absolute mess. How can MS and TE have such clean alt-modes and MP-44 can't?

 

Hopefully they'll show pictures with Prime's death wound at some point. I suspect he'll need replaceable damage winshield panes and maybe even a mangled grill to look right.

 

The same thing can be said for potatoes.

Value is relative and subjective.

 

Carly was a mistranslation of Carrier. (Roller?)

 

Holy fuckballs! Say what you may about his price but that is one beautiful bot! Sunbow G1 perfection! I love this picture.

   

 

In fairness, MP-44 looks to have the best ariculation of the three. Perhaps that came at a price... Or maybe MS/TE just have more clever designers. Time will tell.

 

This is not confirmed. Where did you hear that?

 

80-140 =/= 450 and as one of those people I have bought zero MPM's

Have the 3P's ever charged this much for a single figure? It's possible, but I don't know of any examples of it And Takara also manufactures in Vietnam.

 

For somebody who supposedly doesnot want to be involved in this thread anymore, you certainly do a lot of posting here...

 

I got it from here
Takara Tomy Masterpiece MP-44 Convoy/Optimus Prime Ver. 3

 

I don't know if this has been mentioned yet on this thread (there are a lot of pages to sift through), but there is a potential 'unnamed accessory' that would make sense and go some way to justifying the leap in price. So far as I am aware, TT originally planned to include a Masterpiece Huffer with MP-10 (see attached image). It could be that they are intending on doing so now. Not only would Huffer be a natural accompaniment to Prime (or, more specifically, Prime's trailer) he is also one of the only G1 Autobots who wouldn't require a license to produce faithfully, being just a generic semi-truck cab. By bundling him with MP-44, at an elevated price, TT would also be able to tick off another member of the Ark crew who might be less likely to sell well on his own. It might also tip the balance for collectors who already have MP-10 who are on the fence about shelling out for another Prime. Just a thought.

 

Frag, he looks so damn good. Sooooo tempting.

 

It would be nice and I would be ok with the price if Huffer was included but it's not happening. Takara are just trying to lube us all up unfortunately.

 

Didn't realize the front of the cab had the tilt. I guess another plus of using "faux windows".

 

3P has tried hard to avoid crossing certain price barriers but they always end up pushing the line further back every so many years.

I’ll concede that it’s possibly there is a premium up charge because it’s Optimus but the griping is absurd. Prime has always been the ceiling of MP prices since day one. Also this is slated as an August release. Even those of us on limited budgets can get him.

 

@Retroheavy. These pics should be added to the first post of the thread.

 

Perhaps I'm not remembering accurately, but I'm pretty sure I've read in interviews with a Takara designer about how they have less rigid "price points" than Hasbro does. They have something more along a size class but the prices fluctuate within those classes depending upon the particular mold. (At least, that's how it appears to work for the MP line. I haven't paid much attention to the other lines to know about those.)

Regardless of those specifics, your response and all of this discussion made me curious about how the MP prices have varied from one release to another in their respective size classes. So, I did some research. Here's what I found regarding MSRP of the original molds for MP releases in different size classes (I'm intentionally not including repaints for simplicity):

"Real Car" Series / Small Beast Wars MP

• MP-12 Lambor / MP-14 Alert, original MSRP 6,090 JPY (both released in 2012)
  
• MP-17 Prowl / MP-19 Streak / MP-19 Smokescreen, original MSRP 5,800 JPY (all released in 2013)
• MP-20 Wheeljack, original MSRP 6,5000 JPY (released 2014)
• MP-24 Cheetus (BW), original MSRP 7,560 JPY (released 2017)
  
• MP-25 Tracks, original MSRP 8,100 JPY (released 2015)
• MP-28 Hot Rodimus, original MSRP 8,640 JPY (released 2016)
• MP-39 Sunstreaker, original MSRP 12,960 JPY (released 2017)

"Real Car" Series Larger Size Class / Medium Beast Wars MP

• MP-27 Ironhide / MP-30 Ratchet, original MSRP 10,800 JPY (released 2016)
• MP-32 Convoy (BW), original MSRP 12,960 JPY (released 2016)
  
• MP-33 Inferno / MP-35 Grapple, original MSRP 15,120 JPY (released 2017)

Large MP Figures MP-10 and Beyond

• MP-10 Convoy, original MSRP 23,100 JPY (released 2011)
• MP-11 Starscream, original MSRP 13,650 JPY (released 2012)
  
• MP-13 Soundwave, original MSRP 16,590 JPY (released 2013)
• MP-22 Ultra Magnus, original MSRP 19,440 JPY (released 2014)
• MP-24 Star Saber, original MSRP 19,440 JPY (released 2015)
• MP-29 Destron Laserwave, original MSRP 16,800 JPY (released 2016)
• MP-36 Megatron, original MSRP 24,840 JPY (released 2017)
• MP-41 Dinobot, original MSRP 28,000 JPY (released 2018)
• MP-43 Megatron (BW), original MSRP 37,800 JPY (releasing 2019)
• MP-44 Convoy v3.0, original MSRP 50,000 JPY (releasing 2019)

Sources for prices: shmax.com, amazon.co.jp, amiami.com

I left out MP-21 Bumble because the price was not documented.

So, there are some numbers for people to play with. I'd analyze more but I really need to get some work done and have spent too much time on this already.

I still maintain that comparing the price of MP-36 and MP-44 isn't a valid comparison due to the differences between the two characters. If there was precedent for a stable price across the board in each size class, I'd have a different opinion. Prices are based more on the individual mold within a range for its size class.

 

I apologize in advance if any of this comes across as rude, it's not my intention.

The only 3p figure I know of that approaches this price is Pandinus, although I might be wrong.

There seems to be an idea that only reason we're angry at this price is because it disallows us from experiencing the mold officially, but that's not reason for all of us. I have a friend who will likely buy it, and if I should want to I can mess with his. I knew before the price was even announced that I wouldn't be able to afford to get it, but it's also a question of how much Takara can charge before it crosses a line into lunacy and clearly I and many others think that Takara has crossed that line. I think this is most evident in people saying they believe that Huffer or Hound will be included, Takara building an entire separate mold to be included as a surprise with no advertising and no fanfare just to explain why the price is so high.

I have a different explanation, it's a corporation pushing the envelope beyond what is (in my opinion) acceptable and we're concerned about what it could do to the pricing in the hobby more generally if it's allowed to succeed. Hence why I and others are complaining so vehemently.

 

Right? I sometimes question myself about dropping $350 on this, and then I see this and remember the whore that I am.

TT will do me without lube when they reveal Galvatron, I'm telling you. And I will take it all.

@oku mentioned it. It sort of made sense, and the fact that we haven't seen Carly anywhere yet.

 

Will be updating first post tomorrow!