It's a good question. When I joined these boards, Bumblebee and Wheeljack had just been announced, Prowl and his repaints were on the horizon, a lot of things seemed possible. Even up until 2016, when the MP schedule was reasonably full, it seemed like a lot could still happen in terms of how many characters they could get through.

I don't think it was unreasonable at the time to expect a lot. Yes, fans projected much of their own wishes about the series onto their expectations, but then so did the designers. In every interview Hasui mentioned wanting to do combiners (and this was even before we'd even had combiners in Generations). Looking back over interviews, the one thing that seems to be consistent, and based on that scale chart shown when MP-12 came out, is the desire to complete the Ark crew. With or without minibots, that did seem like an end goal (and I would say still does seem like a realistic target, as long as they can acquire the necessary licences).

At this point, it seems much more likely that they'll continue to branch out into other series, while perhaps continuing to redo the A-lister G1 MPs in the cartoon-focused style (Grimlock, Rodimus, Starscream, Soundwave, Sideswipe). Pepper those releases with continued carbots, or perhaps some other Diaclone era Transformers like Blaster/Perceptor, maybe the Insecticons, sounds like a reasonably 'full' schedule for the G1 side of things.

I voted that they won't complete G1 or BW, but that they will finish off the Season 1 Beast Wars characters. It might take ten years, but I can still see them doing their best to finish that group off. Maybe I'm off-base, they have gotten out some of the most popular characters first, but I can't see them ignoring the Axalon crew, and then we're only a few more away from rounding out the two sides. I guess it depends on how well certain characters sell.


As for my own personal collecting experience, I luckily haven't had a desire to complete any 'crew', I mainly set out to get my favourite characters (I even made a list of characters I would buy from the entire cast list). I'm lucky now that I really enjoy the toon direction with the emphasis on incredible articulation. I look forward to a new Starscream and Soundwave in the same style, and will probably buy any G1 character they choose to make at this point. I'm also fortunate that the A-listers happen to be my favourite characters. It's pretty great that 3Ps have stepped in to fill people's needs, though I would say none of their offerings have screamed 'definitive' to my tastes enough for me to purchase. Came pretty close with Soar and Downbeat, the former mostly because of my affection for the character, the latter because it gets pretty close to the right look.

 

As others have mentioned, I think the official MP line is going to become a random character showcase reaching into the various continuities and selecting the most popular characters.

 

Honestly I doubt we’ll ever see Takara complete any of these lines. Which is fine. It’s fine. Just fine. It’s fine. But I hope 3p go on to fill holes in more than just G1. Yes I want a complete cast of every bot that appeared onscreen in G1 from seasons 1-4 could pass on most of the season 4 guys but I hope they get made as I know there is demand. I want to see more third parties fill in the gaps in the other displays. More 3P beast Wars. More 3P movie stuff.

 

Takara is dragging their feet releasing G1 Masterpiece so much it’s VERY unlikely we’ll see all of the cartoon figures from Sunbow. MAYBE one day they’ll finish season 1 characters. But, I’m really doubting we’ll even see that happen at this point.

 

I think there is a decent chance that we get the MTMTE cast from season one- at least the ones that had toys released in the 1984 line. I'm not sure that they would do Reflector and then the obscure random seekers that have names like Hot Link and I doubt we get a V3 Sun Storm and Hauler are unlikely. It is still questionable as to whether or not they will do the Minibots which is the only real question I have but I think they are fairly likely but I think the holdup is deciding exactly what direction to go in with them since their alt modes are Chibi. Since V2 Bumblebee's Chibi mode seems to be generally well received by fans I think that increases their odds. If we get a Ciffjumper or a Brawn in the next couple of years they will almost certainly complete the MTME cast aside from the above exceptions.

The thing about the other releases is of course characters like Optimus Prime are going to sell very well but the direction of the line has also shifted and MP-1 and MP-10 simply don't fit the current aesthetic and direction of the line in addition to the obvious- oh yeah they sell really well. But it doesn't make a lot of sense to me to have the most popular characters not fit the line while someone like Sunstreaker is so very well made. There is demand for the products to "fit" into collections which is what I love about Masterpiece- the aspect that they are trying to obtain perfection or as close to it as possible.

The other aspect and why I partially think a few characters like Jazz haven't been released is they don't want to put all their eggs in one basket on the front end and release all of the popular characters and not have a few "still out there" to keep people interested in the line. Obviously licensing is an issue too- but I feel like if they really want a character to be released they will do whatever they need to do. Everyone has a price. Even Porsche.

I'm only really interested in the MTMTE cast than anything and part of it is because I feel like that and then maybe BW S1 and maybe from the first live action movie are the main ones that would get released in their entirety. Even then I would be fine going third party on Reflector and going custom or 3rd party on the named random seekers. Grapple can serve as Hauler. I'd kind of like to see 3rd party do a G1 inspired version of Barricade with Datsun mold and maybe G1 inspired Sentinel Prime and other random stuff like that.

Sorry for going wishlist at the end there.

 

By who? There was some question about how it might work being that Sunny's G1 accurate self wasn't really a Countach...but I thought they could easily do a yellow, accurate Lambo and have his engine as an accessory. Turns out they incorporated it into the figure instead. But I don't recall seeing many people saying it would NEVER happen. Bumblebee would be a better example...

I wouldn't go as far as saying never about Jazz or CJ, myself, but it's funny to me seeing people talk like there's no licensing issue and it's just TT's release plan (not saying this is you, fran) when Takara reps have come out and said it themselves. Maybe they overcome the hangup someday. Or maybe it continues to go like it has for the last 15-20 years where it's been a problem.

 

Better include Mirage in that. Ligier isn't big on licencing either.

 

I would agree...but honestly, I don't know why they'd even bother trying to license Mirage. A generic racecar would be easy, accurate, and most people probably don't even know what brand Mirage is...then again, it's sort of his Japanese name....so maybe it is a big deal there? I'd be more curious how they'd handle the livery, though. My guess is they'd skip it altogether or change it to something sort of like Citanes, but further from Gitanes.

I don't think they'll get close to finishing season 1. First, season 1 in Japan is season 1 and 2 for the US. Second, I don't think they'll do all the Dinobots, or minibots, or Skyfire, or Devastator...and I don't think Reflector or the Insecticons are that great of bets either. And then there's the licensing deal with Jazz, CJ, and whatever they do for Mirage...or maybe they just keep it simple and skip Mirage, too. I really don't think it's important to TT to complete anything. They care about making money. Between all that, though, IMO there's roughly a zero percent chance TT finishes US season 1.

 

I don't think the reason why we wont get a complete official collection is because of licensing issues. Microscopes, dinosaurs, Cybertronian alt modes from season 3, they all have no licensing issues to deal with and we haven't got those popular characters.

 

Licensing is not the only factor, but it is still an issue contributing to whether the figures get made or not.

Having Nissan on board is a bonus to both Takara and Nissan in marketing. Porsche had made it clear that they are not interested in that kind of marketing steategy with their branding. Ligier has even less incentive, as they aren't big on the consumer market.

If given the choice of a difficult path to releasing characters where licensing is an issue or going after ones where it isn't, or where a joint marketing strategy can be employed, the path of least resistance is the more likely one to go down.

 

Maybe that's the crux of it. How popular are those characters really? To a die-hard Transformer fan, sure, they are popular characters. But those people are going to buy whatever TT releases in most cases...so it really doesn't matter what they make for those people. The smart decisions are the ones that get the 'maybe' and 'typically no' people to buy.

 

We also do have to look at this culturally. These toys are made primarily for the Japanese market. What is a popular character there, may be very different than in the US.

Also, how many kids were jumping in 1985 to get the toy that turned into a microscope, vs those that turned in to jets or sports cars?

 

I'm just glad I'm not a completionist, in any way.
I've seen the toy people. The action figure crowd. I've heard them say "This one is too difficult to obtain, collection incomplete, collection invalid. Time to throw every one of them away" or "They stopped making these, so all the ones I have are now stupid, getting rid of all of them"
Team building is no better. "If I don't get a complete roster of Giant Size X-Men, then I don't want any of them" "Why bother making a Hellcat if you're not going to make the rest of the Defenders?" "My collection will always be incomplete without a Cliffjumper"
I don't hear a lot of that out of the Transformers crowd. I think you guys have more realistic expectations, and maybe that comes from what some of you have already said in this thread - there is no complete G1 lineup in any TF toy line except one: G1. That's it. Aint gonna happen. Not Classics. Not Binaltech. Not Masterpiece.
Luckily for me I make up my own teams. My head does not want some group made by someone else, taken from some outside source. I just want cool toys. But I've seen how passionate the fanbase is about the subject.

 

Actually there was a lot of that back in the day. Jazz, Mirage and Sunstreaker are the three that are always held up as examples of characters difficult to make due to licensing.
Jazz because of the combination of Porsche and Martini, Mirage due to sponsorship logos, one of which is for a tobacco product (let’s not forget the Exhaust debacle) and finally Sunstreaker due to his alt being an aftermarket modified Lamborghini. Mirage can be faked the same way Smokescreen was, and it turns out they were able to get Sunstreaker through by adding a stock Lamborghini mode. But for a long time he was held up as a figure Takara wouldn’t be able to do or at least would find difficult to get done right.

 

People questioning it, sure...but I dont think many were saying it would never happen.

 

Thats because TT faked it till they made it by making a more "toon" car. Just make a toony looking Cliff and we'll be good. I thank Jazz would really be the problem with his design looking so similar to the car/toy and Martini.

Mirage has all of Jazz's problems when it comes to the Liger's logos.

 

I was, because a friend of mine had Perceptor.

 

There are always people saying with great conviction that something won't happen.

There were people stating with absolute certainty TakaraTomy wouldn't release an MP G1 Megatron that turned into a gun because of American laws against toy guns. Others pointed out that a) TT is Japanese company and those USA laws don't apply to them, and b) they had already done so with MP-5.

There were people saying MP Sunstreaker absolutely wouldn't happen because he turns into a non-existing variant of the Lamborghini and thus couldn't be licensed. Others pointed out that the issue was that the cartoon/toy accurate car altmode couldn't be licensed and thus TT would have to find a solution, with an add-on piece on a licensed. realistic Lamborghini considered to most likely solution. But it was never deemed impossible or unlikely.

For Mirage it is argued that not only are there two license owners, but one is a cigarette company. However, TT have already proven with Smokescreen that they're willing to use fake livery, while Wheeljack's + deco shows a cartoon deco could also work. Plus, Mirage never had the accurate livery in the first place.

Porsche has been troublesome ever since the first attempt in 2003 (Alternators). Is it because Porsche demands a certain accuracy (exact replica + exact livery)? It doesn't seem likely because they are okay with deformed and chibi versions of the car. Is it because TF aren't worthy? Not impossible, but also not likely because other licenses and the succes of the movies. Is the reason possibly their war history? This seems probable, because F. Porsche designed the beetle, was a member of the NSDAP party, was friends with Hitler, converted the Beetle into a jeep-like vehicle, designed and built tanks, and was put on trial for war crimes and spent time in prison because of it. Guilt over the war is still very much present in Germany (explaining their reluctance to build a large miliitary or refusal to play a strong role in the EU -- and definitely not helped that when they do, other countries depict Merkel in a Nazi uniform). Oh, and just a few years ago there were large protests against the Porsche company exactly because of their WW2 history.

Despite this I'm convinced we will get a Porsche licensed MP Jazz. Either something will change with Porsche (e.g. a new, younger CEO who was a fan of TF's in the 80's), or perhaps the track record with VW and Lamborghini (both part of the same VW group as Porsche) will create goodwill and open the door to negotiations. In the meantime, we just have a good and understandable explanation why it hasn't happend yet.

 

Without having read the walls of text in the previous pages:

No, at least not while I wont be retired (currently 34 years of age).

And no I am not kidding.

 

Not only I never thought for a single moment that Takara is going to give us a complete MP collection, I'm also under the assumption that they expect us to use big chug figures like the titans and the new commander class to complement our collections.