When is Wonderfest?

 

Like July 28th?

 

I'm still betting on Jazz being shown and not Galvatron (unfortunately). At the moment Takara doesn't seem too hung up on repaints, or anything outside the "plus" realm so Red Sunstreaker may very well windup being an exclusive. A little over a month to go until some of the questions are answered.  

 

Man, I get a post deleted for mentioning that G1 could possibly get dethroned in terms of popularity one day (which IS speculation), and I check the thread to see a page full of wish lists???  

Also, speculation beyond maybe five years, tops, is wish list territory too.  

 

I could very much see this happening. I'm sure as soon as that Jazz license is green lit, TakaraTomy would throw him out the door just to show Porsche them big sales numbers come in like "See, told you so!"

I feel the climate has changed added with an increased budget/market share, plus all these awards and accolades lately can't have hurt.

Starscream v3, Jazz, Mirage or Galvatron are instant pre-orders for me, Fuck the price.. I'll figure out how to hustle the cash along the way.
I think the chance of a wild Rodimus V2 appearing in the safari zone is always going to be high too...

For once I feel content for the year, If we hear nothing I wouldn't even be stressin, this is the best year yet!

 

While I'm still going to pick up specific Siege characters next year, I'm going to mostly budget for MPs.

 

I think Lio Convoy will sell well enough. He is a HUGE character in Japan certainly bigger than the likes of Tracks, Inferno or Grapple. He's a Convoy and a very popular one. I'm sure domestic sales will more than make up for a reduction in export sales. However I think in terms of Beast Wars II Lio Convoy is a one off. If he does well I think we are more likely to see more big ticket characters (read Convoys) from other lines receive one off releases from time to time rather than more BWII moulds; Big Convoy, Star Convoy, Micron Legends Convoy etc etc... I'm not saying they'll never return to BWII but I think it's less likely.

Yeah i have a terrible feeling this is true and I will have to see the entire MP line remade on the toons image. It's exactly why my enthusiasm for G1 MPs is at al all time low. Im mildly interested by the prospect of a V3 Starscream and do fully expect him, but I'm about 75% sure that once I see him and his price tag I'll go get myself a MakeToys Howling Meteor.

Glavatron...probably. Detritus likely. MP-28+...I'm not so sure about that, my feeling is they are done with that mould. It wasnt ideal in the first palce and already feels dated compared with newer moulds. I don't care about Trailbreaker of Hoist but...yeah maybe. Mirage and Jazz will come in time provided they can sort out licencing issues.

I highly doubt we will get Silverbolt before the rest/big hitters of the season 1 cast. In japan Silverbolt was essentially in a different show(Beast Wars Metals). I think (with the odd exception like Lio Convoy) they'll stick to season 1 for the foreseeable future. Fuzors and Transmetals a a good few years away. Waspinator on the other hand is a good shout but it could just as easily be Rattrap, Rhinox, Tarantulas, Terrorsaur, Tigatron (I still think he is happening despite the white cat mix up)...it all seems possible.

After that...a redo Soundwave...I imagine I wont like it but sure it could happen. Blaster seems likely also. I honestly don't think an MP Devastator is feasible. Not at todays prices, but I've gone over why I think that here before.

The rest of your prediction are super tenuous and I'm sure a little tongue in cheek...if TT are anything its unpredictable  

 

I think people underestimate the cross-market appeal of Lio Convoy; If there is one character from Beast Wars that not only attracts G1 fans, but other japanese (super)robot collectors as well, it’s Lio Convoy. And look at all the updates he’s received over the years (here in the West as well). He’s made history in the 3P scene on top of that. He’s got something primordial and majestic that just stands above your average US G1/BW robot designs. Even the cutesy of the lion mode won’t be anything close to a dealbreaker for many I reckon.

There’s only one real hurdle here and my feeling says this could be the moment that Takara will finally ‘get’ that.

 

I Absolutely agree(I was arguing he'd likely sell better than Sam expects)....although I think Takara have always 'got it'. They know how popular/profitable a character he is, which is why he and many Lio Convoy inspired redecos have appeared over and over again since BWII. MP-48 is just the latest example of their dedication to this character.

 

Yeah and that’s why you may be right in that most likely he’ll be the only BWII character we’ll get besides MP38 (and certainly I changed my opinion on the viability of more BWII MP’s after I watched bits of the show).

 

I think the factory schedule is too full for a Red Sunstreaker this year. The Vietnam factory will be producing Blackarachnia for November, and Smokescreen for December.

Would love that Wonderfest reveal! I'm hoping for that, but expecting just a silhouette or tease of one of the two.

This is what I believe to be a best-case scenario for G1 releases. That was my main focus when doing the list.

I think they'll have one more go at G1 Optimus Prime (and maybe Megatron) before they decided the G1 crowd have outgrown the line, and to make it special and different they'll supersize it.

Would love to see other people's takes on a 10 year plan  

Nope, it's still speculation  

I meant that MP-48 wouldn't sell well enough that suddenly we'd get a slew of BWII characters (which I imagine is what happened with MP-32). Outside of Japan I don't see him selling that well.

I hope you are prepared for the continued rerelease of A-listers, at least you've mentioned this year finally accepting where the line is at G1-wise  

I could see them throwing out MP-28+ because he's one of the last possible anime + releases, just as an 'easy' repaint to tie in with Galvatron. It's not guaranteed, they may just do a whole new version instead.

I timed Silverbolt close to Blackarachnia, but you could be right about them waiting for Transmetals, though I really don't buy into any theories that they're trying to finish one group before moving onto the next. Absolutely right that the order in which the S1 cast come out is entirely privy to change, I thought Waspinator would time well with a v3 Starscream, though.

I think if Devastator can happen it might only be once the A-listers are mostly redone, and it might be a final 'hurrah' of the G1 side of the line (if things are still selling well). It's just as possible that it won't happen in my mind, but I was aiming for a best-case G1 scenario with my list.

Of course all of the predictions are pure speculation but it was fun to do. Would love to see more people's takes on a 10 year plan!

Thanks, it was fun to write and imagine the line ten years from now! I'll still be around and collecting no doubt, so I'll refer back to this post in a decade and see what I got right  

 

Yeah and I agree. However I think he'll sell very well in Japan, more than enough to counterbalance any reduction in orders from export retailers. TT wont care who's shelves their MP-48s will end up, just that they sell. So my point was overall I suspect he might sell better than some of the more 'obscure' MP releases have and therefore be considered a success by TT. Which might fuel further investment in BWII or (more likely IMO) Convoys/Iconic character from other Transformers lines exclusive to or more popular in Japan.

I'm prepared and saddened by it. I wont begrudge you and other like yourself your 'ideal' line, but sincerely hope once it's all over they adopted a new more visually imaginative approach. As for 'finally' accepting it...yeah guess I so, although I'd use the term 'resigning myself to it' rather than 'accepting it'. This year MP-44 and MP-45 have 'finally' very clearly set out the stall for TT very singular vision for the line going forward. Sure, we could see it coming over the previous year or two but those two were the proverbial nails in the coffin for me.

Thats a good point, I guess that could happen. However I do think MP-28 already seems dated and very much ripe for a redo, if MP-45 proves anything it's that TT are not shy about revisiting more recent MPs. He'd actually be one of the few redos I'd be interested in as, unlike many other G1 characters, Hot Rod's 'Sunbow' look, most specifically his appearance in TF:TM is definitive to me. A V2/3 Hot Rod could take advantage of a lot of the 'improvements' the line has seen in recent times, however I'm obviously worried they'll paint him pink..which is why a plus would be undesirable to me. As i've said before Galvatron I'd only buy if we got a toy/comic deco and even then it would likely be an extortionately priced TTMail exclusive  

I totally agreed that they have no solid intention to finishing anything. I don't think its even in TTs interests to do so! There's great thread about that actually..

Does anyone think Takara will give us a "complete" MP collection?

I just think next year is WAY too soon for Silverbolt, I'm happy to be proved wrong of course! I agree the order of BW releases is very hard to predict.

Heh, I'd give it a go but anything past next year seems arbitrary. What seems most likely to me is a reveal or two at wonderfest, maybe V3 Starscream and one other...Galvatron, Tigatron or one of the remaining carbots. Then MP-48 will be out early in the year much like MP-43 was and then there will be another long wait for the next batch of releases, which will likely feature another plus edition or two.

 

I will say that I know next to nothing about him, but kind of want one regardless. There is something appealing about the design. I suspect the price may keep me away, though...

 

I'm not sure about him selling well enough to counteract the lack of sales from the Asian market in particular, but I also have no idea how popular Lio Convoy is in China or Singapore etc.
I agree that the MP line will and should continue to include Japan only characters though (I want my God Ginrai already!).
A lot of what I missed out from my speculation, because I simply don't know enough about it, is all the Japanese series that were popular after BW.

Yes that's what I mean. Not that you or others are happy about it, but hopefully you'll feel less of a need to bemoan it, since it's so obviously the direction of the line now (not that you don't have the right to continue to complain about it to whatever degree you like  ). It's also a direction of the line which you seem very happy with when it comes to S1 of Beast Wars (and Lio Convoy too, I think?).
I don't know what you mean about it all 'being over' at some point. We've been heading to the cartoon direction for so long, it's clearly beyond what any one designer wants and now encapsulates what the Masterpiece line is about, I don't see them deviating from that. They'll continue to accurately reproduce characters from future cartoons/movies with lots of articulation and accessories, as long as it keeps selling.

I'd be down for a brand new Hot Rod, and he's as much an A-lister as Bumblebee. I guess I just want a Hot Rod in my collection sooner rather than later, and I'd prefer that to be one that actually comes with a smiling face. But you could be right, no reason why they can't start fresh (and maybe make him a little bit taller, as he should be). One that gets closer to his movie look would be pretty great, I think I could live with whatever colour they choose, as long as we get a toy-accurate + repaint too. That's my definitive Hot Rod.
Sadly you may be right about Galvatron II being a TTMall exclusive, although since he's technically a separate character maybe he'd be deserving of his own MP number and a mainline release.

That is a really good thread, I already replied in there, some interesting opinions to read through (and surprisingly only one or two head-scratchers!).

Yeah it's totally arbitrary, but I do wonder how much of a plan TT has in their minds. When I say 'TT' I guess I'm not referring to the designers, but the marketing team and the long-term planners. If they even do think that far ahead. Most companies do look at least 5 years into the future though, right?

 

I'm pretty sure BWII and Neo was shown is Asia outside of Japan, reason being Korean version of the toys exist and if you look at the TFWiki pages for Lio Convoy and others they have Korean and Mandarin names listed in the foreign names section. As for how popular they were...well Im sure someone here can confirm that.

Hummm...yes and no. Largely I'm happy with it but I do think there are areas for improvement that due to the literal approach to show accuracy TT wont address. For example Primal's elbows and knees. I do worry that if TT move on to season 2 and 3 designs that will become more apparent/compromising, because I personally feel that those designs (due to the show models more closely matching the toys) could do with more improvement to make them look less goofy. Very much like what Perfect effect had done with their versions of Optimal Optimus and TM2 Megatron. So across the entire MP line it is a problem for me, it just bothers me to varying degrees.

You've answered toy own question there. I'm not going to bang on about the prices but I personally don't think the MP line is sustainable on it current trajectory. Only time will tell of course but noting last forever. I'm more talking about what might replace it when it's 'over'.

I'm sure they do have long term plans, but the history of the line shows us that their plans are clearly quite fluid.

 

I've heard this claim about Optimus Primal's elbows so many times. His elbows actually aren't show accurate. They should bend in the middle of his elbows, and not look like they're cut off. The issue was the budget at the time, which didn't allow a piece to be present in his forearm which could depress (think of MP-43's calves). I'm sure a similar solution could've been thought of with his knees too. Of course that would've meant Primal being more expensive. Maybe for the v2  

Obviously if you have other examples then that's fair, I just wanted to address this myth of Primal's elbows  

Time will indeed tell. Most high-end Japanese toylines seem to be doing very well, with things instantly selling out despite their higher prices, but I guess they're much popular markets. That is certainly in the realm of speculation, since no one knows how well things are selling compared to previously.

As for the history of the line, I haven't seen huge shifts. Apart from the focus on making releases in-scale, and initially reducing their budget to allow them to up the schedule (to better illustrate the in-scale selling point), I don't feel like the line has been that up and down. The trend towards toon accuracy was there from the beginning (compare MP-1 to the initial 'sketches' for Masterpiece Prime), Hasui veered it off course with MP-10 (coming right after MP-9), but had begun to veer back with later releases himself. It's unfortunate that it's alienated so many people, but we don't know how many other people it's brought onboard (I'd say a lot, based on the views for MP-44's thread).

 

We are straying into TomAto/tomaHto territory on some of this so I'll keep it brief.

I have plenty of other examples. MP-48's paw kibble and flat detail-less/non-premium in appearance deco, Cheetor's 'pixilated' spots, Blackarachina's 'oversized' chest and visible nipples etc etc...

It's true Primal's elbows were a little show inaccurate, indeed they were infuriatingly toy accurate actually but its sort of by the by for me, its still an example of copying an old design rather than improving upon it. As for whether the issue was budget and time....well you don't know that for sure....or that if these things were included he would have been more expensive...that is just conjecture.

I wasn't really talking about shifts, more the many surprises and inconsistencies along the way in regard to predicting the future of the line.

Sure there's been a gentle trend towards toon accuracy but theirs been many blips along the way and it's taken a long time to become cemented as the primary focus it is now...hence the need to do all these V2/3's and plus editions. It now feels as stable as its ever felt in terms of focus...which makes it all the more boring for me. I honestly think fatigue will set in over time, there's only so often you can convince someone to buy the same characters over and over again.

Personally I'd put the amount of views on the MP-44 thread down to the following; a) he is G1 Convoy is the biggest character in the entire franchise, b) He's a major redo and the most expensive MP ever made, c) that makes him quite controversial and d) he's G1 Convoy is the biggest character in the entire franchise  

 

It's funny to me we're talking about seam lines in the spoiler being a problem, meanwhile most of the recent MP figures have looked like their alt modes are made out of fuckin' Legos to accommodate the super hyper-articulated bot modes. I think the spoiler is near the bottom of the list of things to worry about in pulling off an MP Jazz...

Nope, it's the same thing it's always been...licensing.

First of zero?

The Combaticons are strong individual characters? I think Devastator as a whole is a fairly major character...as major as any Decepticon not named Megs, Starscream, Soundwave, or Galvatron. The rest of the combiners, and more so the individuals, IMO are all minor characters. That said, I doubt Dev (or any other) Combiner happens in the MP line for reasons I've stated previously. It's way too expensive to release in a single go and I just can't see them tying up the line for a year or two to release them separately back to back. And I really can't see them stringing them out occasionally over several years.

 

At least we both agree that it's pronounced tomAHto

Guess it's all a matter of taste. I think Cheetor's pixelated spots work best with his non-real-world Cheetah mode. No comment on Blackarachnia 

Tastes aside, I don't think it's conjecture to assume that better joints that use more parts would be more expensive. I think that's grounded speculation. There's a basis in interviews that more articulation requires more parts.

Fatigue has set in for you, that doesn't mean it will set in for others (and obviously won't set in for new fans). As long as they balance redone A-listers with new characters, and characters from different series, I think it could work pretty well in terms of printing money for TT and the MP line as a whole. Obviously it's hard for me to separate myself from my enthusiasm for the line and its possibilities, as it is for you to separate yourself from your disappointment in certain aspects and the 'lost' future. I thought stability was a good thing for a line, though? Even when it's not one's preferred type of stability.

 

Ahh...well I guess that depends on what you meant by expensive, expensive for whom? TT or us? I assumed you mean the consumer I apologies if you did not.

You gotta wonder where this endless flow of new fans is going to come from...at least for the older lines. Can they continue to trade on G1 nostalgia when there are less and less who remember it fondly? Fans come and go but the hardcore of MP collectors are those that watched it as a kid. Which is likely why we're seeing the line brach out into other areas, it remains to be seen if it will ever 'branch out' of the older ones due to diminishing returns.

Hummm... another word for stability could be stagnation. All I was saying was the MP line feels very one note these days (in design and aesthetic) and I find that a bit boring is all I'm saying.

Anyway I'm sure I've gone on long enough