I understand how most of you have a hard time believing the thing cracked because of a sponge with water but it seems the entire white plastic is made from very fragile plastic. It is cracked practically everywhere. That’s just me I guess...

 

It's interesting to see everyone's Amazon boxes, seems like the packing is different depending on who packed it... mine was wrapped in paper with the tracking barcode sticker and then shrink-wrapped to a piece of cardboard that was then hot glued onto the bottom of a larger cardboard box, probably about 1.5" of space larger than the MP44 box on all sides.

I've seen some photos of people who had the tracking barcode slapped onto the MP44 box, and I've seen some with the shrink wrap, but not wrapped in paper.

 

that’s exactly how mine arrived. No damage to box whatsoever

 

Hahaha

 

This was how mine was packed. When I opened the box I just said WTF to myself.
I consider myself a bit lucky as I can picture the packing box and front OP box corners being damaged if handled wrong.

 

I know @BrutiKing is about to do the same but I will post about my experience with getting a replacement. Mine should arrive on the 17th of September

 

Alright, so, I just opened up my replacement MP44, and I'm going through every single detail, with Prime #1 sitting side-by-side with Prime #2, including the trailers, and all the accessories. I haven't transformed Prime #2 yet, but here are all the differences I've noted for everything else:

1. Amazon Japan packaged Prime #2 in a different size shipping box than Prime #1, as Prime #2's box is smaller. Also, there was no shrink wrap on Prime #2, nor was there a cardboard spacer inside the shipping box.
2. Despite there being more secure internal packing material for Prime #1, the box for Prime #2 was in much better condition, with no dented corners.
3. Prime #1's Season 1 head has antennas that are exactly the same length, whereas Prime #2's Season 1 head has one slightly longer than the other. Also, the paint on the crest of Prime #2's Season 1 head is crisper than on Prime #1's. I should be able to just swap out the parts to make the perfect Season 1 head.
4. The battle damaged heads are pretty much identical and in perfect condition.
5. The Starscream heads are pretty much identical, except the paint around the Starscream's eyes from Prime #2 is a little cleaner. So I'll just swap the heads.
6. As for the mini figures, the paint on the ones from Prime #2 is way cleaner, as is the assembly of the limbs. So I'll be swapping for all 3. Also interesting: the skin tone and hair color for Sparkplug from Prime #2 is slightly different than the one from Prime #1.
7. The paint on the Starscream shoulders part is much cleaner on the one from Prime #2, so I'll be swapping for that one.
8. The paint on the Matrix from Prime #2 is much cleaner, so I'll be swapping for that one.
9. The blast-effect pieces look better from Prime #1, so I'll be keeping those.
10. The axes are identical.
11. The ratchets and paint were better on the scout drone from Prime #1. Also, the locking mechanism for the armature of the scout drone from Prime #2 didn't seem to work. So, I'll definitely be keeping the original.
12. The paint of the battle damaged abdomen piece is way cleaner on the one from Prime #2, so I'll be swapping.
13. The clear plastic on the adapter piece was more translucent than the slightly cloudy one from Prime #2, so I'll be swapping.
14. The paint on the Sideswipe jetpack was a lot cleaner on the one from Prime #2, so I'll be swapping.
15. The hose accessories are identical.
16. The rifle barrel from Prime #1, when fully extended, seemed to be just slightly crooked and not inline with the rest of the gun. But the one from Prime #2 extends perfectly straight. So I'll be swapping.
17. There were little differences between both trailers, and it was hard to pick the one I planned to keep. The one from Prime #1 had flawless paint, whereas the one from Prime #2 had a tiny brush hair left under the grey. The internal blue flip-down command post pieces flipped down to a perfect 90º on the one from Prime #2, whereas it was more like 89º for the one from Prime #1. The doors closed perfect with a satisfying snap on the one from Prime #2, but the left door on the one from Prime #1 is kind of hard to get to stay closed. The pull-out ramp on the one from Prime #2 had what looked like a dark spot in the plastic, whereas the one from Prime #1 was perfectly even. In the end, I decided to keep the one from Prime #1, because aesthetics are a lot more important than function to me when it comes to the trailer. I'm not going to be sitting around playing with this thing. And as for the door not closing all the way, I think I can fix that with some Future polish on the friction tab.

So, there you have it. Your experience may very well differ, but I will say that it was really kind of cool to be able to pick the things I liked best, and put together the best MP44 set I could.

And now on to transforming both Primes for comparison. Crossing my fingers that I got working knee joints on Prime #2. Stay tuned for notes on differences.

 

The boxes are different??!!??

 

amazon shipping box, not the actual mp44 box.

 

Finally received my copy.. I even transformed it last night.. The only thing i find slightly annoying is that the shoulder joint and ankle joint have different clicking sound on either side.. But all in all, no issue whatsoever

*even my 4 years old can appreciate the quality of this figure.. He especially loves to play with Roller and the truck mode .. Playability checked

 

So to me what it looks like is you tried to pry this piece out for repainting and did not realize it was connected by pins and you broke it. Not trying to pass judgement, but it’s okay to admit to us you did it. I’m not amazon jp. You don’t have to lie to kick it!  

 

Seems you ruined it yourself. SOL.

 

Got my replacement MP-44 out of the box and mix and matched. Got the perfect figure other than this little chip here. Will do paint fix on that, so it should be all good. BOTH knee ratchets work! Wooo!

 

Came for the guy claiming a sponge with water destroyed his MP-44, was not disappointed.

 

My copy is decent and works fairly well.

There are however, a handful of paint defects especially on the chrome gas cans and white thighs which is kind of a bummer.

Great figure overall, the articulation is fantastic.

 

Looks like it wasn't water but some sort of thinners that has then dried the plastic out and made it brittle. This would also be why the yellow\white paint have mixed. I wish you luck on trying to get a replacement.

 

Part II of my notes regarding my replacement from Amazon Japan:

I just finished transforming Prime, and I'm happy to announce that there were no mechanical defects! The knee joints work exactly as they're supposed to--which makes me feel better that I wasn't just an idiot with my first one. I wasn't going to admit this, but, I started to think that those of you who claimed your knees worked perfect either just didn't want to say that theirs were broken, or maybe didn't understand what working knee joints were actually supposed to be like. My apologies for ever thinking that, because I can now confirm that some were just assembled better than others, and that there were in fact figures that shipped with proper, working knees, as well as some that were shipped with sloppy assemblies that broke immediately, or were already broken from the factory.

Some notes about Prime himself to add to all the other notes I posted earlier:

1. While the knees is Prime #2 work 100% perfectly, there were some things about Prime #1 that were better. So, while I was transforming Prime #2, I took that as an opportunity to just swap those parts with Prime #1. It took less than 2 minutes with my screw driver.
2. Parts that I swapped between Prime #1 and Prime #2: the rear backpack/speaker box(paint scratch/ding on Prime #2's), the left arm(ratchet made a nice, crisper sound on Prime #1), the right side/abdomen grey piece(better paint application on Prime #1).
3. The backpack collapsed WAY more compact and flush on Prime #2 than Prime #1. I don't know if it's because there's some hidden flash molding sticking out on the backpack of Prime #1, or what, but it's a dramatic difference. Every piece and hinge move so much more precisely on Prime #2's backpack, particularly the rounded pieces(that transform into part of the truck bumper) on either side of the voice box. Prime #2's backpack looks exactly how it's supposed to look.
4. The windows of Prime #2's chest close and lock in a lot cleaner and more secure than Prime #1's. They line up perfectly even, as opposed to them being just slightly off on Prime #1.
5. The movie heads on both are identical, in that both have perfect paint, including the helmet crest.
6. The legs of Prime #2 transformed and compacted WAY more precisely than Prime #1. Night and day difference. Every piece snapped or pegged together totally flush and in perfect alignment, whereas Prime #1 had some slight tolerance inconsistencies with panels/covers not fitting exactly right.
7. Both Primes have perfect chrome.
8. Both Primes have perfect paint for the Autobot logo on the upper left arm.
9. Prime #2's white waist area looks a lot cleaner, without the small flash molding bits and pits that were mildly there on Prime #1, and that I've seen on other people's.
10. The only thing that isn't exactly perfect with Prime #2 is the right foot's heel spur, which doesn't fold out perfectly flat. Maybe there's a little bit of flash molding inside the pin joint--it's hard to tell. I could just swap out the foot with Prime #1, but it seems to sit flat when the weight of the figure standing is on it. So I'm not going to mess with it.

Final thoughts about doing a replacement with Amazon Japan:

I can't imagine it would be a guarantee that you'd get a better, working figure by doing a replacement. You might get one with crappier paint, and knees that are still defective. But for me, requesting a replacement has essentially corrected everything that was wrong with my original MP44, either because the factory assembly was dramatically better with the replacement, or I was able to swap out parts and accessories to make the best MP44 possible. Should ANY person have to go through all that trouble? Absolutely not. I blame Takara for poor quality control, and I hope more people send their defective or blemished ones back for replacements like I did so that they might get the message for Hound, Bumblebee, and all future Masterpiece figures. Honestly, having to go through all of this really killed my initial excitement. But, I'm also not one to dwell on negative things--I'd rather look for a solution, and then enjoy. So, now I can FINALLY sit back and marvel at just how incredible MP44 is. Personally, I wouldn't trade him for either of the 3rd party Primes, mostly because MP44 looks way more "alive," and has more personality that's akin to the character and father figure I considered a childhood hero back in the 80's. The 3rd party figures look great, but they don't evoke the same emotion from me like MP44 does. In hand, the backpack really doesn't look big at all--it seems to be a total camera optical illusion. When I stand it in front of me, the backpack looks perfectly proportionate--even though I definitely thought it looked terrible in photos. All in all, I'm very glad I took all the trouble to get this right.

 

Just an fyi.

Anybody still want MP-44 from amz-jp direct?

It's currently at 38,093y for japan-domestic, but 36,871-yen shipped/delivered in 2-3 days if you have a US address. Exchange-rate is currently 107y-US$1 as of this posting (check your cc's actual exchange-rates):

https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B07L324QLS/




There's another shop there that is a fulfilled-by-amz-jp-Prime shop that also offers it at slightly less than amz-jp direct at 37,680y. Think they ship to the US, too.

 

I am not sure if this was mention anywhere. Found a way to locked the stand for convoy.

There is a square on the dark long piece where u can push up. When u does that it hinge on the rotating piece and held it in place.

Not too strong though but it can hold convoy in its stance.