I don’t think that it needs to be a perfect line. I think the name often confuses that with people and doesn’t do them much help. But if they didn’t do a Nightbird cause it’s not really what they do I’d get it. Not cause of some brand standard and not going so low or cheap, it’s just like that.
Totally! Up until 2016, The masterpiece line was "ONLY" G1 centric, and Beastwars wouldn't fit the line. That changed. From MP1 to MP26, the Masterpiece line was a combination of cartoon/comics/toy/art and the "ultimate version" of the characters. Then from MP27 on, it's toon first, everything else be damned. Until MP33, all Masterpieces attempted to get as close to the altmode accuracy as possible. Who's to know how the masterpiece line will evolve in the future? I expect an eventual Masterpiece Slipstream and Windblade, since both of those characters have a growing fanbase and are both heavily pushed in modern Transformers lines. Anything is possible in the pursuit of the almighty dollar or yen.
I'm not sure if it's a "perfectionist" attitude. It just kind of keeps the line seperate from Generations. Like... is there much point in having two lines with the same design philosphy? I get that that's a touch hypocritical given what WFC has been putting out recently but still.
I didn't say "perfectionist". I said "protectionist". Just the notion that your personal definition of "Masterpiece" is set in stone, and any deviation from that is somehow an affront and travesty. TakaraTomy's own usage of the brand is decidedly more loose and evolving.
My bad for misreading but, "perfectionist" or "protectionist", it doesn't really change the point. While some people have been using some very passionate language, I think the point is that people would prefer the Masterpiece line to not be doing the exact same thing as the Generations line is doing. While the Diaclones are just as easy a retool as, say, Nightbird from Arcee they are something unique and special to the MP line. There's nothing wrong with the line evolving in new directions... but I would rather they be new directions. ...And again, even divorced from that I personally don't love the idea of MP going the recent Generations route of "one mold for all girls". I'd prefer it if MP Arcee didn't become the POTP Moonracer/WFC Chromia of the MP line.
Oh my bad. You just didn’t explicitly reply and I thought that was at both of us cause I also mentioned perfection.
I feel Takara has become more protectionist of the line in recent years. That Battle Ops Bumblebee release was a long time ago, and doesn't feel at all like something that would fly today. I don't even expect a Masterpiece Bludgeon or Thunderwing, actual vintage characters that have established fanbases. In my estimation that's simply not what the line is about. But I agree, nobody's changing anybody's mind here, and it seems to have turned fairly acrimonious since I was last on, so it may be best to just let this go.
*shrug* I dunno. You've got people saying how doing the Nightbird thing again, hypothetically, would be an affront to the line's integrity. But on the other hand, you've got Road Rage, who actually exists, who instead of remaining faithful to her Diaclone and E-Hobby roots, seems to adapt many of her Animated features, instead. So again, TakaraTomy allows themselves more artistic leeway than the people claiming to know how the brand works. Hey, if MP-51 Arcee remolded into Nightbird bothers you that much, then maybe she's not Masterpiece G1 Nightbird, but Masterpiece Legends Nightbird, instead. Whatever. TakaraTomy could totally do it if they so wanted, and it'd be in violation of nothing but some arbitrary standards placed on them by people that have no say in the matter.
I'm basing my assumption off the fact Takara did make lg-15, when there was no reason too, really, There was no great need to recover mold cost, they simply chose to make Nightbird Shadow a character that physically resembled their Arcee. They basically turned Nightbird from "that thing in one epepisode into an actal character with a backstory. I look at lg-15 was her introduction as a transformers character by Takara, which at this point they can use how they want.
I may be misunderstanding what they were going for, but I took Roadrage's retoolings as making a hypothetical Sunbow character model for her, which is something she's never had. It's kind of similar to what they did with Delta Magnus, who was a pre-existing IDW character who had intentional similarities to Ultra Magnus but was not a straight recolour.
That's essentially what they ended up with, is a G1-ized version of her Animated character model. But Animated/G1, whatever, that's beside the point. I'm just saying that there's no internal mandate that states that the character must be solely adhere to the Sunbow character models or to the Diaclone source. They've deviated and applied artistic license before, and they can certainly do it again.
No. That's just you. Even the manga said the mask less version made her kawaii. And you can't argue against authors intent.
Wasn't Delta Magnus the previous "pitched animation"of UM before the finalized colors he got in the 1986 movie? He was not a pre existing "character" but the original Diaclone colored set who would eventually be the UM we all know and love.
I think Road Rage was a misstep, and (fully acknowledging I'm talking out of my ass here) I think Takara thinks it was a misstep, in hindsight. Road Rage was not well received, as we can glean from the poor sales and deep clearancing that happened. It was an experiment--that failed.
I remember Tracks being on deep discount for a lengthy period of time as well, though. The mold itself was just not popular.
Yup! Imho, the mold itself that wasn't good. Too ambitious? Takara tried to fit everything into the Corvette Stingray shell. If they only made the rocket launchers an attachable accessory and focused on fixing that big ugly gap on the shoulders and the horrid lameass neck locking mechanism (it didn't have one )
Yeah. The Tracks mold was their first attempt at going more 'toon accurate, but with a much lower budget than the current slate of magic plastic origami figures, and I think those design constraints had them a bit stymied.
That's true. It's an example of trying to get creative in the Masterpiece line in the wrong way, and why I don't see them going that way again in the future. Look at Cordon and Spin-Out. Creative goldmines, total blank slates. Takara could have designed new heads, even new accessories, in an attempt to bring some diversity or evolution or whatever into the line. But instead they adhered strictly, almost obsessively, to the original Diaclone designs. I can interpret that as evidence that they learned there's a right way and a wrong way to be creative in this line.
