Has hastak accidentally removed the need for mp?

Discussion in 'Transformers Toy Discussion' started by The13Primes, Sep 4, 2020.

  1. Kevin Iaquinto

    Kevin Iaquinto 8 Strings Enthusiast

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    No, lmfao
     
  2. JazzIsBack

    JazzIsBack Well-Known Member

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    Yes! Never understood why people hated psying $20 for a figure you can play with but $100+ for a glorified paper weight is acceptable.
     
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  3. DarkLiger

    DarkLiger Well-Known Member

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    I feel there will always be a market for Masterpiece figures. I prefer mainline figures but there will always be those who prefer the high-end collector oriented version
     
  4. Yoshimon7

    Yoshimon7 Potion Maker

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    Never collected MPs before but I’m very happy with the direction chug line is going. Basically affordable mini MPs
     
  5. imfallenangel

    imfallenangel Well-Known Member

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    The trouble here is the word "need". They are for different clientele, and have different purpose.

    Personally, I never had interest in the masterpieces for many reasons, but at the same time, they do have a role in "pushing" for better engineering.
     
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  6. SureShotSniper

    SureShotSniper What?!

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    In 1 word, YES. I'm dumping 80% of my MP collection for the new earthrise figures... screw them and the "let's remaster one of the iconic MPs before we finish the rest of the characters" mentality.
     
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  7. Optimus1138

    Optimus1138 Well-Known Member

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    MP, mostly, MPM, definitely not. I still want to get MPs of my absolute favorite designs, where I really care about a high degree of vehicle mode realism (Jazz and Bluestreak are the main ones I'm wanting right now, and possibly still Starscream), but I'm definitely not planning on building up a larger MP collection when all the characters I'd care about getting will have nearly-as-good mainline toys available. I'm still planning on building up a small collection of MPMs and MPM-style KOs though, because there aren't as many characters I care about getting and the official figures are just way too simple to do any of the live action designs justice.
     
  8. ErickCruz

    ErickCruz Well-Known Member

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    Not really, the way the Generations line is going it's MP-Light and I think that's where it will stay. But there are things they won't don't (not can't) the little things we complain about, like hollowness, more articulation, better paint apps, etc, because if they push the boundaries of what a CHUG figure can do it will go into MP pricing, and already people are complaining about the price increase with every new line. Despite being mass produced and having more resources than 3rd party companies the pricing of the Takara MPs still keeps going up. You'd think there'd be ceiling at some point but it doesn't seem like they've hit it. If Hasbro ever decided to give true MP quality figures then I'd expect price doubling at the most.
     
  9. motorthing

    motorthing Too old for this $hit

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    This is a YMMV issue and then some. Those that still hang around the MP Threads will be "Hell No!" And those like myself that got pissed off with the MP Line long before we got to Earthrise will be "Um.......actually....."

    Siege/Earthrise has just made it that much easier to stick with a change in buying habits I'd already made.

    The MP Line has a lot wrong with it, but while TT are still making them they will keep being bought by those that want to complete an MP Collection. Generations figures won't work for that.

    Will the numbers sticking with it take a dent from Siege/Earthrise increases in quality? Yes, maybe a little. But probably not a significant blow either way.

    Will the MP Line disappear? Of course not. I imagine that if a complete and shameful clusterfuck like Hound can't kill it off only TT themselves can. That said, they shouldn't be pushing their luck with anymore Hound-type horrorshows.;) 
     
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  10. Electro Rush

    Electro Rush Just a guy waiting for the perfect Whirl

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    I personally have no need for the MP line, but thats me. The MP line is Takara's thing anyway, in the past Hasbro mostly picked and chose figures from the line that they thought would do well in their market but after the demise of TRU, they have laid off bringing figures over. Anyone in the US that wants an MP figure can just get the Takara release anyway.
     
  11. herugrim

    herugrim N/A

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    They did, which is exactly what people were asking them to do. Many still push to make legends scale an MP clone, so we'll have the same exact designs at three different sizes.
     
  12. bossman328

    bossman328 Well-Known Member

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    kinda. the newer MP's are not nearly as fun to fiddle with as they used to be. I find myself picking up the main line figures to transform back and forth more often. MP's are just display pieces for me. usually only transform them once or twice.
     
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  13. Terradives

    Terradives Well-Known Member

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    Was there ever a need for an mp line?
     
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  14. HuffR_WFCTX_91135

    HuffR_WFCTX_91135 Well-Known Member

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    Current MP's seem to forget that Transforming the figure is part of the fun, today I transformed MP 44 for the first time back to truck mode since I first got it out the box in truck mode, and it's just fiddly with all these tiny bits, plus with that and how coated in paint these things are i'd be feart to transform these guys more than a few times. When the MP 44 Nemesis repaint got announced I just decided to get the mp 10 repaint since it's more enjoyable to transform and frankly looks better in certain areas. I do like the sweet articulation modern MPs have and the face plates are great, but I don't think they need to be done how they currently are to get those features. I had been collecting both lines but certain things about Arcee made me question if she's worth getting, and I fear Starscream and his ten thousand repaints will be just as bad as MP 44, so I guess I'll be sticking with mainline for now, but even then I'm picky, the Starscream and Arcee of ER have their own problems.
     
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  15. Maximus Danz

    Maximus Danz Trying to achieve something

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    For me, Yes

    In general, no
     
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  16. Houstonian Prime

    Houstonian Prime skilled tradesman

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    this past weekend my buddy was telling me about seeing MPM Starscream in-store at target. so we were chatting about the price, necessity, etc. so i was telling him about how i gave up on MPM after only purchasing Prime & Bee. and at that moment it made me realize that ever since Studio Series began, i have not felt the need or even really desired anything else from the MPM line. then realized i haven't purchased any movie masterpiece since SS began.

    therefore i think this one of these instances that sort of applies to the theme. because the current movie mainline has completely voided me from masterpiece..
     
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  17. Sandman0079

    Sandman0079 Well-Known Member

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    For a long time a lot of people were into MP not because they wanted perfection, but because it was the only way to get most of their favorite characters beyond homages and reinterpretations. It was terrible for their wallets, but it was the only way. The same happened for those who were in 3rd Party figures because a lot of characters were absent from the mainline. It was a slow process, but now all those people are checking off because the mainline reached a standard that's a nice compromise between cost and quality compared to a quasi Titans price for a mp Bumblebee. There will be always a market for MP, but those who were forced to stick to it for their collecting needs are now free to choose a cheaper alternative.
     
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  18. Johntimus Prime

    Johntimus Prime Where's my perfect Legends-scale Ultra Magnus?

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    Possibly. I admit, I'm not nearly as enthused for Arcee and Tigatron as I would have been a few years ago.

    Also, the prices are getting frustrating. I don't care about twenty alternate faces or an accessory featured in exactly one episode of the show if that means they justify tacking an extra $30 on the price. MP cars used to be $80-$100; now they're $130+.

    Also, they're close to exhausting the viable non-combiner options. They have maybe some season 3 characters and triple changers, possibly Dinobots, but idk if we'll ever get those since allegedly dinosaur robots don't sell in Japan (weird given the popularity of Godzilla).

    Another sticking point for me is the increasingly intricate transformations; show accuracy is nice, but hot damn the step counts are getting insane.

    I'll probably end up buying the MP 3.0 Seekers, maybe Kup, Blurr, but I'm actually getting burned out on MPs. I'm so impressed with the detail and playability in Generations these days that, while MP used to clearly outclass CHUG in every aspect, as toy engineering gets better, the gap is closing.

    I mean, look at the MPM series - cool in theory, but prices are rivaling G1 MPs, and they all seem to have QC issues that hold back what could have been a great toy and make it into a disappointing and overpriced mess. Studio Series scratches the itch for movie toys well enough and the figures are so much better than the ones from over a decade ago it isn't funny.

    Not only that, some toys will obviously never get an MP release - Omega Supreme and Optimal Optimus are probably way too big in terms of scale for TT to justify the size or potential price.

    And then, where will the MP line go? As I said above, they've largely exhausted their options, and unless they go into RID 2K1, Armada, or really obscure territory (because some TT employee might get a fit of insanity and propose MP Star Convoy), the line will eventually run out of gas.
     
  19. heltskelt

    heltskelt Well-Known Member

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    Alright, maybe “Masterpiece-Level” was a bit too high, but the effort that went into HasLab Unicron was more than the usual chug figure. My point still stands: there is a market for those who want a more screen-accurate display piece even if they pay a much higher price. The market may be shrinking, but it isn’t dead.
     
  20. T-Hybrid

    T-Hybrid Gnodab Kidult (He/Him)

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    No.
     
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