Bending forward. It can go back just fine, but he can't do an ab crunch. I can't even get to the point where I want to 'lock' it in using his belly shutter, it just won't go that far. Only works if I open up the shutter and leave the trigger out (which obviously looks silly).

I'm gonna open him up and take another look, maybe try sanding off the non-visible part of the trigger to see if that helps at all. I don't have my regular 29 here in Russia with me to compare.


I will say that 29+ has won me over. The smaller eye is cool (I wish it was housed in a more oblong painted rectangle, instead of almost a square). I'm not convinced that he's painted with purple paint all over - in fact I won't be swayed from my opinion that it's a glossy top coat over sparkly plastic. Having taken him apart, it really looks that way to me. I also think that's a slight detriment to the insignia's visibility - as usual, they're tampograhed on. However, they were tampo'd on under the gloss coat. Hold the figure under light and move it about, you can see the varnish is over the insignia. I think that's what make them a little harder to see.
(Of course there is more paint, on the barrel of the gun for example)

Those two small niggles aside, he gets so much right. The smaller eye and darker purple make him look more menacing. I've really grown to love the shade of purple, especially since it photographs so well. I'm starting to realise that's an important quality about purple, especially since I like to photograph my toys.

I still love MP-29. His colour doesn't photograph well, but it looks good in person under yellow light or at night. I know it sounds silly, but it's true. In the same conditions, 29+ looks a little too dark. I think it's just the nature of purple. I think both shades tend too much towards the blue spectrum than I'd like.
Also, MP-29 was my first ever Shockwave toy (favourite Decepticon), so he holds a special place in my heart warts and all.


Anyway, I'm going to custom paint my MP-29 in an entirely new shade of purple later this summer. Did a quick spray test, it'll be the shade on his forearm here (on the right of the photo):




I feel it'll best match the faded look he had on my worn out video cassettes as a kid:





Similar to the shade TT used in their 29+ cartoon shots on their website:




As @chchchch told me, it'll better match the 'faded' blue that they've gone with for MP-44's legs and helmet, too.

Between MP-29+ and my custom MP-29, I'll have my Shockwave bases covered.

MP-29 is also a great match for Action Master Shockwave!

 

I think you're right. I actually have a hard time judging their color tbh due to the fact that I'm always changing the lighting in my room - low light from lamps, overhead light, and sunlight when I open the blinds. Each condition changes their color drastically! As much as I prefer 29+ in the end, his hands are all wrong, they were never that saturated. He's most cartoon accurate with og 29's hands.

 

Same here, and I don't think it's a matter of just being afraid to push too hard...if I leave the trigger out, ab crunch forward, then push the trigger back in, it actually forces the ab crunch to disengage by itself and straighten out.

Oh wow, true! I never looked that closely at AM Shockwave!

For sure on the hands, I guess they were looking for something else to differentiate it maybe, and kind of defeated the purpose!

 

Very true. You could probably get a good action master Lazerwave if you did up a 29 version.

 

Man, @Sam , I wish you could get a perfect copy of this guy! Tbh, I rarely use his ab crunch. It's cool that it's there but it's pretty useless compared to a figure like Megatron.

You sure it's just a gloss coat? I should learn to trust your judgment over mine at this point, but it seems to have its own color to my eye compared to the plastic. @RichP , you have any insight into this matter?

You're definitely right about this guy being more photogenic! I loved the og but I don't know if I've ever seen a photo accurately capture his color. Always too blue! Cannot wait to see your custom! You going to coat his thighs, barrel, and hands/cannon?

29+ might just be the MP I've messed with most this past year, even more than the long awaited and heavily anticipated Wheeljack+! He's my deskbot today thanks to this thread, and he's pointing his blaster right at me forcing this flesh creature back to the slave pits!

 

In the middle of dinner with the family now, but love seeing all this color theory talk happening. I’ll have to go through it tonight and get back with some thoughts. @chchchch has spot on observations from what I’ve seen.

 

I definitely want to hear your thoughts on painted vs. non-painted MP-29+...I don't know what to think if @Sam and @Dean ML disagree!      

 

I said I thought it was a clear coat back when I got it (seeing as mine has an imperfection where the 'paint' is scraped off and the plastic underneath is the exact same shade as the rest only matt) but got pooh poohed and told I had inferior eyes.... now @Sam says it's so it's back up for debate...very cool

 

Hahaha. Nice one, man.

 

I think the real tell is that gloss over the insignia, but yup I reckon you were right all along.

How’s the ab crunch on yours BG? Functional?

I still haven’t tried the electronics out this time around. Will have to pick up some batteries.

Out of the package, his right arm was frozen - no forward/backward swing. Took him apart, missing a spring inside that allows the ratchet to function. Loosened the screw, now I’m able to move the arm in the spaces between the ratchets too. I prefer it this way, so I did it with the other arm too.

Will post a proper ‘review’ once I fix the ab crunch.

I actually prefer the colour of the plastic of the thighs and barrel on 29, it has that nice pink undertone. I’ll definitely keep that the same for my custom. I actually think 29+’s pink hands might just work on my custom too, but we shall see! Need a place for them somewhere.

Thanks to Desertion of the Dinobots, Shockwave will always be a scary disintegration-capable purple menace to me. This guy captures that persona better than the original, it’s true.
I think the MP minifigs could be better, but look much improved compared to the ones we used to get, and I’m really looking forward to posing Carly and Spike fleeing from this guy!

 

Think it looks more like a purple tint gloss. I use alot of blue tint gloss on Gundams and it kind of reminds me of 29+ coat.

 

Thanks! Nice to be vindicated. My ad-crunch works, it's not much of an ab-crunch really and I very rarely use it but it's a shame if yours doesn't work. Sounds like the QC on yours was appalling  

 

Could have some tint, that would even explain why the insignia are so dark.

Luckily I brought my JIS screwdrivers with me to Russia this time, I was ready for it!

 

@Sam , hate to disagree with you but after examining mine in sunlight this afternoon then again tonight right under a good LED lamp, my take is still that it's a thin layer of glossy paint, not a kind of clear coat. Compare the painted sections to the bare plastic spikes on the backs of his boots, the shoulder joints, the button on his cannon arm. The bare plastic is slightly more red and has a bit of metal flake to it. I've posted pics of this before, but mine has a few thick spots where the paint dripped and a spot or two where the paint's chipped and the slightly different colored plastic is visible underneath, showing the opacity of the glossy paint. Comparing him to my other MPs, his paint job doesn't really seem any different than what we see anywhere else. Definitely isn't like the clear gloss coats given to MP-06 & 07.

I'm also not seeing what you're seeing with the tampo'ed insignia as they just don't look like they're underneath anything to my eyes. In fact they really look like they are placed on top of the painted arms and as a result have their own slightly different, slightly glossier finish. I can feel their raised surfaces clearly with my fingernails, too. Only reason I feel bad disagreeing with you is because a guy like @Booster Gold 's gotta make it weird.

@RichP , you get a chance to examine your copy yet?

 

haha yeah it definitely got weird alright. been super weird around this forum lately. my ignore lists grow by the post.

I looked at my copy just now under bright daylight bulbs (colder bluer in temperature) and warm light bulbs. The big indicator that should put this all to bed are the hip skirts. Flip those up and you'll see a significantly different type of purple. The unpainted underside is a redder purple while the topside is bluer. This tells me that the top is painted with a blue glaze. There are still red notes to be seen on the top side, but it is mixing with a transparent blue gloss coat. In painting we call this "glazing", and it was made famous by Italian painter, Titian (who would use dozens of glazes on single paintings). The glaze application acts as optical color mixer, allowing our eye to "blend" the color through the usage of transparent colors laid on top of one another. Apologies for the artsplaining. So @Sam could be right in that a transparent coat of blue went on top of the tampos.

TLDR: There is a transparent coat of blue over a reddish purple plastic. Look under the hip skirts to see the difference in color temp.

 

Any suggestions on where to look to get an official MP-29+ not for $250? eBay is nothing but fakes and all US retailers have him for $250+. I really want this but passed on initial release due to already owning MP-29 and the price. I thought it would hit sale price but all the Japanese sites I use have been sold out for months.

 

huh? Weird? I'm the one who's making things weird! lol, I'm too tired to detail the wrongheadedness of that assertion or have the subsequent back and forth about it.

Anyway opaque or transparent I agree I don't think the tampos are under it, they are just very dark. Personally I'm cool with it as I'd rather they were not there at all, at least as they are I can barely see them.

 

The parts which you're referring to, the shoulder joints, back of his boot spikes and the button are all a different kind of plastic. Same thing as on MP-29, that's why they're a different colour. Kinda like how Wheeljack's 'biceps' are a different colour and consistency from his 'shoulders'.

Even with a gloss coat on top it should still be possible to 'feel' the insignia (just from my experience using decals in the past). The reflections that come off the tampos are definitely a sign that they have a gloss coat on top. I've never seen tampographs that shiny, otherwise. Even the metallic ones on MP-36+ don't have that sheen to their surface.

I like this healthy debate hehe  

Actually on the hip skirts I have a stress mark, which I'm pretty sure wouldn't be visible in the same way under paint.

Love the artsplaining! But @jackisking was the first one to suggest it was a tinted top coat, a good call!

Nothing weird about it, I'm simply bringing the debate back on the table  

I do have some experience with spray painting figures, guitars, as well as using top coats over decals.

Didn't know about tinted top-coats that jackisking and RichP mentioned though, cool to know. I need to look into that! Though I imagine I won't be able to get a hold of them in Ireland anyway.


Anyway, I dig dissecting figures like this sometimes. Point is, 29+ looks pretty damn great  

My wife bought me mine (sweet birthday present!) from Robot Kingdom. Don't know how much shipping will be to wherever you are, but between all the ebay sellers that I had saved, RK was about the same price. Felt a bit 'safer' ordering from a retailer I knew, rather than some random ebayer.

 

It sure does. Yeah Im not overly bothered by how they achieved it, only that they did...but it would be interesting to learn more about it. It's a shame TT are not more transparent/share more with us in regards to this and many other aspects of the production of the MP line.

 

It’d be so cool to get a direct view of how the figure process works.