The MP book is The Transformers Masterpiece Official Guide from 2014. It has interview, product pictures and art for the many design steps of the Masterpiece figures up to MP Magnus and a peek beyond. Outside of this, many designs also featured in Generations books.

This picture is, I think, from that the MP book:



It shows MP-9 in an earlier design stage: it's a Hot Rod robot that can become Rodimus Prime by breaking up the trailer into smaller pieces, transforming those and adding them onto the core Hot Rod mode to form a Rodimus Prime robot. Obviously, that Rodimus Prime would be far from accurate to anything, but they were more concerned with getting Hot Rod right.

This also shows in the designer interview in which Koboyashi states: "I had a rough concept of quadruple transformation, but first of all it was difficult to recreate Hot Rodimus, and he's the core."

Hot Rodimus is the name for Hot Rod in Japan and the design of MP-9 was first and foremost to get that right. And from there add pieces to also get a Rodimus Prime out of it, but the important part was to get Hot Rod right and if as a result Rodimus Prime was wrong somehow, then that was al right, just as long as Hot Rod was right.

And MP-9 is clear evidence of this: everything centers around the Hot Rod mode. The Rodimus Prime altmode is basically a fake (you can leave Hot Rod out and it's almost complete), while the Hot Rod altmode is perfect. Likewise, you can't transform the Rodimus Prime robotmode to altmode without first going to the Hot Rod mode (save the face, that can stay). And the robotmode has elements that are clearly designed to work for Hot Rod first. For example the faces (the Hot Rod face is excellent, the Rodimus Prime face is too skinny) or the piece protruding from his sides that slide in somewhat during transformation (those are a direct translation from the look of the G1 Hot Rod toy). At the same time, the Hot Rod proportions are very good, but the Rodimus Prime robot is too lanky. And the colours are more correct for Hot Rod than Rodimus Prime (note that the image on the box is darkened to maroon to fit the maroon coloured Rodimus Prime from the cartoon.

There are a few more pictures (TFW also has them somewhere on the main site, not the forum) and save one that actually shows a Rodimus Prime design that could hold passengers in the canaopy, they're all for the MP Hot Rod that became MP-9. And MP-9 is the best MP Hot Rod we've gotten, but not a very good MP Rodimus.

 

Note to self: never tell @Max Rawhide he's wrong  

 

Thanks for that.


Oddly enough, part of me would have preferred that.

 

at the end of the day, there's a reason why it was fixed and reissued...TT saw people wanted it and it's a damn good figure. TT didn't go cartoon accurate until recently, and that's how many MPs later? i look at MP 10 and thought it was damn ugly. robot mode was not cartoon accurate either. MP 44, got it now and can't wait for the black version and any other colour that gets released. MP 10 certainly was not cartoon accurate in robot mode but hey, whatever, some liked it and as far as rodimus goes if people don't like it, that's fine. there are many MPs i don't like that i didn't get and many transformers lines that i don't like and don't bother with...all i collect is the actual G1 stuff and its reissues, ehobby reissues and masterpiece...and the haslab unicron (which was a big exception but couldn't resist).
as far as kobayashi goes...he's said elsewhere they didn't know if MP would last and figured they'd do both modes. sure, book might say otherwise (this is the first i've heard of it) but whatever. i personally don't have that much investment into the who said what, when and why. all i care is i've got a masterpiece of a masterpiece figure that gives the best of both worlds.
and that pic...that's a rodimus base that hot rod is in. so who really knows what the designer of hot rodimus or as the actual figure was presented, rodimus convoy, was aiming for because as far as we ever saw, hot rod never had a base in the cartoon if we're going to look at accuracy of story, etc....so the book and designer had some flaws in thinking i guess because hot rodimus never had the trailer-base so why would it be displayed like that in the pic...? if we're going to get exact in details...hot rodimus in a rodimus convoy base...i wonder what kobayashi was thinking...then of course, there is hasbro's masterpiece....masterpiece rodimus prime had a target master and was a hot rod vehicle...but who is really looking at cartoon accuracy??

i guess the devil is always in the details. oh well. I'm happy. one and only mp rodimus around and it works. especially compared to mp10, mp 9, etc...if we're going to start talking about cartoon accuracy before that was even the focus.

like i said, it's not for everyone but TT found value in it and there are those that do....much like hasbro's unicron. so much love and hate for the thing. when i look at it, i see a figure. not much else.

 

LOL/ I've been wrong many times in the past and I will be wrong many times in the future. (Although I do hope I will be less often wrong in the future than I was in the past, if only because otherwise I will have learned nothing. Plus, there's the thing of life expactancy, the amount of years behind me and those still in front of me, and of course that wisdom comes with age.)

It has a certain appeal, but in general, no thanks. I also had and sold out of dislike, the Fansproject Classics Rodimus Prime armour. I just don't care for armoured TF's (save Magnus, but then I prefer the CW leader/PE approach).

I think my preferance would've been for MP-9 to be just Hot Rod (and sold as MP Hot Rod), but coming with a trailer that just slid over the Hot Rod car (so you'd get a Hot Rod car inside the trailer, with the Hot Rod car forming the actual front of the trailer) and perhaps an alternate face for Rodimus Prime.

 

A damn good figure?! A damned figure would be a more proper description  

The first release had ankles that had issues with the springs making them useless. This was not an isolated incident, but quite common.
Then there was the black version that had knees that broke. Not on one, but on all. Why? Because it wasn't designed with the idea that they would repaint it and thus the tolerance was wrong.
And let's not forget the Hasbro version that has shoulders that will just fall off over time. Not they could possibly fall off, but they will break even if you do nothing with the figure. (Thus many MISB examples have a loose arm in the package.)
To fix this misery, TT released v2. This didn't have the Hasbro shoulders, it didn't have the black knees, and if didn't have the ankles undoing themselves. It seemed to be good, save for a redesigned elbow that hindered articulation. Oh, and over time the chest/window connection started breaking resulting in the chest falling off. And again, this was not an isolated incident.

And that's ignoring the fragility issues that plagues the mould. I sold my v2 and the next day the buyer came by with tears in his eyes: the backpack was severed, the knee/lower leg was a pile of plastic parts. It's a very fragile mould.

We're now on the TT v3 version and so far it seems to hold, but only time will tell. Maybe it still has the chest/window issue (that will take a few years before it starts cracking. Maybe something new will show up.

More accurately, they didn't go consistent cartoon accurate until recently. MP-01 is already pretty damn accurate to the cartoon, but just in a different way than MP-44 (and with an aweful altmode). I'd also argue that MP-9 is a hell of a lot more cartoon accurate than MP-28. In fact, the only thing MP-28 has over MP-9 is the durability (and I look at the arms pegging into the clear plastic canopy with fright -- or I would if I hadn't sold off MP-28 in less than a month after purchase).

Actually, if memory serves then you've got the quote wrong. Koboyashi didn't say he wasn't sure if the MP line would last. That would be strange because while he was working on MP-9, Hasui started working one MP-10. No, what he said was that he wanted it to work as both a Hot Rod and a Rodimus Prime, because he wasn't sure he (or anybody else) would ever get the chance to design a MP Rodimus Prime. So best to use this opportunity to do both.

Since he was the designer of MP-9 his statement that for him designing MP-09 to be a good Hot Rod (and not a Rodimus Prime) plus all the art surrounding this, plus the figure itself, does make clear MP-9 is intended to be a MP Hot Rod first (even though the box promotes it as MP Rodimus Prime). And the Rodimus Prime mode is a bonus.

But in the end the most important part is whether or not the buyer is happy. I wasn't because a MP Rodimus Prime was my wish the moment MP-1 was first shown. And MP-9 is a MP Hot Rod. And a damn good MP Hot Rod, a lot better than MP-28 as far as looks go. And maybe, if he could've hold his gun(s) properly, if he didn't have issue with some poses due to the ratchet joints limiting him, and if he hadn't so fragile, and if he hadn't been so cumbersome to transform, I possibly would've stuck using him in his Hot Rod mode as my Rodimus Prime. (I'm not a stickler for cartoon accuracy.). But DX9 happened and Carry may not be cartoon accurate, but he's the best damn Rodimus Prime figure ever made. Solid as a rock and incredibly fun to transform.

Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar  

In this case, they designed MP-9 to be a MP Hot Rod. But as stated, fearing there would never be the opportunity for a MP Rodimus Prime, Koboyashi decided to also get a RP mode of it. But the core, as said in the interview earlier quoted, was Hot Rod (robot and altmode).

To also get a RP out of it he played with some ideas. And an early idea was a trailer that would attach to the HR altmode (we don't know how) and could break up to form armour for the robot for RP. But that would mean the trailer could also be used without the HR figures as a base (mimicking the G1 toy to some extend). HR being in altmode on this base is just a display of possible playability. It doesn't take away from the fact that Koboyashi though the Hot Rod mode was more important and the core of what he wanted to do.


But then he got a different idea and found that with some extra ratchets in the hips he could extend the figure half a centimeter, move the spoiler a bit and add an extra face and it could pass as Rodimus Prime robot. And deforming the HR altmode could make it fit inside a trailer to get a RP altmode thanks to a fold out, fake front of the truck.

 

that's alot to put down for an argument against a figure so i read bits and pieces because i don't have the damn time you do - or the investment to make a point the truth or whatever the hell it is you and some others that need to be right do. yes, this long life design is a damn good figure. done. secondly, you obviously picked and chose what you wanted to point out - and you picked the wrong thing. i was being sarcastic in the cartoon accuracy. i have been collecting since mp 1 - it wasn't until recent they went cartoon accurate lol.
i've got better things to do for now than argue with someone who doesn't like a toy. afterall, that's what this is, isn't it? don't you have better things to do? damn, its like the hasbro unicron thread all over again.
gotta go - i have patients to see.
see ya.
and sorry i did the unforgivable - insult mp10....there is sarcasm there in case you didn't pick up on that either. MP 44 is a much better figure as was MP 1.
this is a very interesting fanbase on here. another to the ignore list.

 

I would rather have MP-09 put together by rubber bands and gorilla glue.


I don't care how well put together that thing is (carry), or how many ratcheted fingers it has. It is one , if not the ugliest versions of RP ever to be conceived. Jesus Christ.

 

​

Well, I didn't say anything about how he looked, did I  . That's all in the eye of the beholder. Personally, I like the look of Carry (he's more robust looking and pretty accurate to the Studio Ox design), but it very obviously isn't for anyone. However, his transformation is a lot easier and more fun than MP-9's. And likewise, he's a lot sturdier. You don't have to worry about the figure breaking when you own him or play with him. But all that is moot when you don't like how he looks. And it's important that you buy things that you like the look of.

(EDIT: it's actually MP-9 who has all the ratchets -- DX9 Carry has very few, what I think is another plus for Carry since I found posing MP-9 often troublesome due to the ratcheted knees and ankles and hips.)

Well, since you already put me on the Ignore list, I'm not going to reply that much. However, I do want to point out that it's an international forum. So not everyone lives in the same time zone. For all you know, it was evening for me. (Besides, I've chosen to work only a few days per week to have more time with my GF and my hobby's, and Friday is one of the days I don't work.)

And hell no this isn't a toy. It's an adult collectable. That's a huge difference. We're not children talking about a toy here, we responsible adult arguing whether or not this highly valuable and priced collectable is accurate to something we remember from a childhood long past   (hint: blue is sarcasm here)


At the end of the day, if you enjoy MP-9, then I'm very, very happy for you. And I hope you get to enjoy him for a long, long time. (The history of the mould suggest otherwise, though.) And if you think he makes a great MP Rodimus Prime, then good for you. The box says you're right. (But then the box also says he's a different colour.) Just be ready to have people disagree with you when you discuss the figure on an online forum. It's a part of joining an on-line forum: people with a different opinion. A very refreshing, interesting concept.

And uh, I never said anything about MP-10  

​

 

why do you keep coming back to this thread if you despise it that much? it's a goddamn toy for christ sake.

 

Read again.

 

Bit the bullet on BBTS's $179 sale.

I....can't believe these words are gonna come out of my mouth, but this is easily my favorite of the MP-style Hot Rod/RP figures out there.

I've come full circle; my first MP Hod Rod was the garbage TRU version of this mold. Didn't last more than 5 minutes out of the box before the shoulder and ankle joints disintegrated. My MP-28 held together just fine, but the sculpt/proportions were ghastly and I could never get the damn car to roll. FansToys Hoodlum's sculpt was somewhat better, but he still looked...off, barely latched together in robot mode and was a nightmare to transform.

So, yeah, I was really to settle. And you know what? When he stops exploding in your hand, this guy isn't half bad! This 3rd release definitely holds up better. I wouldn't exactly call him durable, but after repeated transformations, I'm no longer terrified that he's going to break. I actually like this guy's sculpt. Perfect? No, but a hell of a lot better than MP-28. Limbs are all proportionate and his chest doesn't look like a pizza box with a flame painted on it.Transformation isn't the most fun, but once you learn the ins-and-outs, it's perfectly do-able. The car mode is decent too...and it actually rolls!

The 'Space Winnebago' mode is as much of a joke as I expected it to be, but overall, I'm surprisingly glad I picked him up.

 

What Takara needs to do is give Kobayashi ample time for a V2 Rodimus Prime, with no pressure, no hint that the line is doing bad, no hint that he can't do another one after, just ample time with no rush. He seems to do his best that way. I see brilliance in his design, full of MP moments, but when he's under pressure, we get something like MP-09:

Highly ambitious yet not quite ready to handle.

 

Still no pic of him with mp44?

 

I feel the same way. I bought him with very low expectations given the checkered history of this mold and was stunned when I took him out of the box.

He's an excellent looking figure, proportionally so much more accurate than MP28 and just a really clean look. Funny elbows and skeletal hands aside he's a great stand in as Rodimus Prime IMO albeit he's really an oversized Hot Rod.

 

I apologize for the poor image quality (and the mess). I think they scale well together if you use him as Rodimus Prime.

 

I really wanted to get the latest reissue of MP-09 to replace my original MP-9. However, the orange butt flaps and the same elbows joints from MP Hasbro RP were deal breakers for me.

I almost feel like the G1 Rodimus character is cursed, with the exception of G1 Hot Rod, which was pretty good toy release for its time, Takara/Hasbro hasn't nailed the character in toy form yet. G1 Rodimus Prime, in robot mode, was very underwhelming, in comparison to Optimus, and had a horrible head sculpt. The original MP-09 release had numerous QC problems, and MP-28 was designed by Onishi who had a limited budget and doesn't have the same skill level as Kobayashi or Hausi.

Fans Toy Hoodlum looks like it was design a few years ago and has worst articulation and alt mode than MP-09 and MP-28 .

Hopefully, Takara will release new MP versions of Hod Rod, Rodimus Prime and Galvatron soon with the new focus on toon accuracy and greater articulation like MP-36 and MP-44, without having to take out a second mortgage.  

 

There's no doubt this is still the best looking version (and the best option) for a MP Rodimus (I love MP 29 as Hot Rod more, because the size is more accurate than MP-09's version and there is definitely more playability). But then again, it is not saying much as there is no other option available. Can't count the 3P one as it looks nothing like Sunbow Rodimus. Hell, I don't even know what its trying to represent. Ugly on all counts.

A true V2 (V4???) has got to be in the works, damn it.

 

I really want an updated Rodimus Prime. He is always screwed over when it comes to figures.

 

Agreed. A 3P offering by Mech Fans Toys, MS-19 Flame Commander, looks promising. Too bad it's in legends scale.