I think that was as much part of the goal as anything when Hasui was in charge, that the figures had playability. I think they said as much in interviews. I don't think that's nearly as much a priority now...and I wouldn't even say it's due to Kobay as when it was still a priority of the line, he designed some rather fun figures himself...Magnus and the Van Bros to name a few. There are things that bother me about both those designs, but fun transformations is not on that list.

 

I'd love the playability to make a bit of a comeback. I love MP-44, 45 and 47, but they are a bit fiddly. I feel like this line his a perfect level of balance from MP-33 through MP-38 (yes, I know a lot of people find Megatron really challenging, but he's honestly not that hard to transform, and very robust). Things started to shift towards extreme fiddliness around MP-39, and while I still adore the look of the figures from that point on, they're less-often transformed, I've got to admit.

That said, when I finally realized what I was doing wrong with MP-44 that prevented a smooth truck mode, I was over the moon with the discovery.

 

Maybe it's part of their master plan? So collectors will buy one copy to keep mint, and a second copy to mess around with and not worry about paint wear. Dialobical!


I find MP-45 much more playable than MP-21, because of his posing skills. When he costs 2-3 times as much I also intuitively am a little more careful with him. I definitely try not to be as rough with MP-44 as I might have been with MP-10, and I think that's ok. If I wanted a figure I could pick up and not worry about messing with I guess I'd buy some deluxes, they have a good tactile feel.


For transformation, while I love Sideswipe's it's also over in a flash. Sunstreaker's has a bit more of a challenge to it. In the past I felt fine letting my brothers or friends' kids play with and try to figure out the transformation of MP-21, MP-17 or MP-12. Definitely not gonna happen with the new MPs  

 

Think it's more the paint then anything that adds to some of the extra effort with new MPs. They still do a pretty good job of not trying to make stuff that doesnt fit or not bending plastic in the transformations. I got the new Sentinel Genesis Climber and there is no other word but fiddly for that. It reminded me how solid MPs feel in comparison to a lot of other things.

Addressing the rumor posted earlier about Devastator and Superion being greenlighted for development after Raiden. While its definitely he tell me/take it with a grain of salt, its not totally implausible as both Devastator and Superion appeared on previous Takara surveys and both Unite Sets were the only two that were reissued. If true, greenlighting them at this point, I would take it we would be seeing the missing licenses soon. I cant help but think with all the 3P Mirages on the horizon, Takara may be announcing theirs soon. Kind of interesting you have BW, Transformers, and Diaclone anniversaries coming up so somebody will be giving somewhere. I wonder if they will do it like any other year with a BW release and reissue with a BW centered generations line to commemorate the anniversary.

 

I recall when Wheeljack was announced Hasui mentioning the license was very difficult to obtain. Whether that meant tracking down the license holder, or getting them to work with TT to produce WJ, I don't know. I don't remember reading anyone say (recently) that Porche wouldn't play ball ball for reason XYZ, but it's also something I could have missed. This thread is awesome, and I think it would be cool to have all of the transcribed interviews in the first post (or links to them) so we can call them up as factual evidence when it comes to these areas of speculation. It's possible TT has always been able to do Jazz, Mirage, CJ and the other "wish list" characters, but they're just waiting to do them last so we stay interested. We may never know. Having said that and if that's the case, doing one before a Sideswipe 2.0 would be a really cool move.

 

lol can we just immediately quash the shit out of Devastator and Superion as being named for a second?



some dude on facebook said he knows someone in the designer department who says they're working on more combiners. Some OTHER dude asks about Superion and Devastator. Like it's a different person who brings up those specific names. And the other dude says 'yup 100%'.

All seems like bullshit to me  

 

From a certain point of view it makes sense. Devastated is the most iconic combiner so it's obvious that they want to make it, and Superion is probably the easiest from a licensing and engineering standpoint.
Having said that, I won't believe the rumors unless they come from a proven source.

 

Oh it's a grandaddy "he tell me", but in the long term grand scheme of things it's not totally bat-crap nonsense. If Raiden sells well, I have no doubt other combiners will follow. If anything it's like a "Duh, no sh!t sherlock kind of rumor as eventually we going to definitely see 2 or the 3 things mentioned in the rumor. I guess the other question is the result of the survey from a few months back. I'm pretty sure better QC was probably seen alot, I wonder how the responses went, kind of a shame Takara doesnt post the result percentages. I wonder if the japanese are as adamant as people on this board that Takara should work linearly versus bouncing over whatever tickles their fancy. If its a 1 1/2 -2 year lead time for a single figure, I have no idea how they would work in a combiner, maybe Raiden is actually 2022 versus 2021.

 

But @Sam HE TELL ME!!!

I could see this being a conversation if Raiden is hugely successful, for sure, but we haven't even seen the thing yet. Too early to tell.

 

You would think so but the guy's uncle works at Nintendo so clearly the information is credible.

 

The guy's uncle working at Nintendo means anything he says about Nintendo might be credible. If his uncle really works there, and if his uncle is sufficiently well placed for such info.

It has no bearing on whether anything he posts in relation to TT is gospel or bullshit. He may or may not have a friend, let alone one in TT, let alone one in TT who is well placed enough to know, or most importantly tell him shit.

Could be legit. Could be nonsense. Who knows?

 

That's the joke. "My uncle works at Nintendo" is ancient playground talk from the kid who would always have the latest BS rumor. You know, the kid who knew how to catch a Mew in R/B or knew how to get to a hidden world in SMW but his game would always be missing so he couldn't show anyone...

 

Gotcha, sorry dude. Yeah, I know that sort of schtick, but didn't see the obvious play on it. I can see you've changed it to blue text now, so yeah, I'll get back in my box...

 

Whatever guys, my best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who had a real blue Bluestreak when she was a kid and she said her best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's dad works for Takara that we're definitely getting Masterpiece Beachcomber next.

Don't blame me if it's not true  

 

So coming back to this post when we get "hey, after MP45 we promised you more minibots! We thought about Cliffjumper but decided that because climate change is such a big topic these days, Beachcomber was the obvious choice for January 2021"  

 

I mean... he’s probably easier to license...

 

Don't be giving them any encouragement!  

 

I never said that...

 

Porsche has been a problem according to former Hasbro employees as well as from TT employees. At a toy show in the Q&A, TT designers said they were having licensing challenges for doing MP Jazz. It was documented in this thread before the site change, but was lost when the cutover happened. The former Hasbro employee said on a podcast he'd be shocked if Porsche ever gave TFs the license based on his experience. There was also an Alternators Jazz Porsche prototype that was never made due to the licensing being denied. All this doesn't mean it'll for sure never happen, but there has been documented issues with Porsche licensing to date.

There were also rumors about MP Jazz being designed and ready to go a while back now, just waiting on licensing...obviously it didn't happen. There are also some more recent rumors TT finally got the licensing...yet here we are with no Jazz, CJ, or announcements of either. Personally, I think if TT ever does get the license, they will move Jazz to the front of the line before Porsche has the chance to change their minds...but that's just me.

 

It's not surprising to me if we never get Jazz or Mirage, or even Skids. But what will surprise me is if we never get Trailbreaker and Hoist, and this new combiner rumor kind of has me a little bummed. I'd so much rather have the Hiluxes than Devastator and Superion. /end unpopular opinion