All $300 of it.

 

Can't really see Jazz properly  

 

it's not a case of if but when now for mp jazz !!



ss86 leaked

 

same time post?   you can zoom in enough to see it has porsche parts

 

I'm on my phone, so it's really blurry and small so I couldn't really see anything that I felt was sufficient to shout from the rooftops. If folks can see this clearer and reckon it's definite, that great stuff!

I've just caved on 52, but I'm not sure what will make me jump off from Downbeat if I'm honest.

 

as good as downbeat looks it has always been a placeholder for me ..... it will be between takara and fanstoys for my definitive jazz

 

The MP line will always be the main focus of my TF collection , but I'll sometimes throw in some mainline releases as stand-ins until MP versions are released, but the Studio Series '86 figures make me think I might not have to do that anymore.

 

the line looks like it will be good for what it is but it's still pretty much meh for me , that kup is the thing of nightmares !!

have to admit from the low quality picture jazz and grimlock are looking ok and i might pick the dinobots up if they nail the dino alt modes

 

At the bottom it says ‘recommended age: 8 years and up’

soooo that’s insulting     

I just wanted to translate that before speculating gets out of hand.

 

Could've sworn it said "MP versions to follow in 2021-22"  

 

Grimlock is promising. Glad he’s finally a leader class and not voyager. Might even make a fun stand-in.

 

Playing Devil's advocate here, but: yes, and?

There have been many main line figures with parts from real cars that were not licensed. Simply because they also (in altmode) had parts from another car and thus weren't a (faithful) recreation of an existing car. This is a very common feature in the main line: licensing is the exception and often only when they have no alternative.

Until we see better pictures and more important altmode pictures, we don't know. Perhaps the front is very accurate to the Porsche and the rear is very accurate to the Pontiac or some other car. Such a mix would not need licensing from either and thus having Porsche parts visible in robotmode would not be an indication of it being licensed.

 

I'm stoked that he is using bright yellow instead of gold chrome or something similar. That tells me a future MP version would definitely be yellow.

That SS86 line looks amazing and I may be buying all of them to go with Unicron. I'm of course hoping for proper MP versions of them all as well. From what I've seen their designs all look great without a huge amount of kibble.

Jazz definitely looks like a Porsche to me but hopefully on Friday we get to see detailed pics at the reveal event.

 

Recently I've begun thinking that Takara really needs a win in terms of the Masterpiece line. Between the huge price jump, the questionable design choices, the questionable character choices, and long waits between releases and reveals, it's been tough to keep a constant excitement. That coupled with the fact that there are so many more options coming out with 3P, I mean, there are like 4 or 5 different MP Seasprays out there! I my mind, Hound really could have been an impactful release that would have given a lot of confidence going forward. Problem is, he fell apart in most peoples' hands. More recently we've seen a highly controversial design choice with Arcee and an ungodly upcoming financial decision to make with the new Seekers. So while I've been a bit down in terms on the line recently, I'm not out, and was thinking about how upcoming releases could change things for better of for worse. So I thought I'd put together a completely subjective speculation list of the Best (of the most likely options), Worst, and Blow My Mind for both new molds and recolors.

New Molds
G1 Best - Probably a really good, really differentiated Trailbreaker and Hoist.
G1 Worst - Anything movie. Ultra Magnus is too big, Hot Rod is too square, and Arcee doesn't look like her character model. I'm just kinda meh about all three of these and I don't want to put together a movie shelf that looks like it's from a bunch of different toy lines and designers. Also, even though I do want a Sideswipe v2, I don't think after Starscream v2 is the right time.
G1 Blow My Mind - A double reveal. Powerglide and Moonracer. Think how many options that would open up! Minibots! Elita's crew! Maybe even entice Ironhide to work out a bit and lose that belly and roll those shoulders back!

BW Best - Terrorsaur. After handling Tigatron and seeing how well panel folding can be done without it seeming like panel folding, it would be a real treat to see a lot of those cues go to one of the more impossible Predacons to figure out. It would also really go a long way to show they are committed to completing the entire first season.
BW Worst - TM2 Megatron. Please don't do this to us Takara! I don't really have much of a connection to his dragon form, and it would open up a lot of questions. Are they just doing leaders now? Are they finishing the first season? What version of Rattrap will we get? How much will it cost?
BW Blow My Mind - Tripredacus. I know, this is kind of the opposite about what I just said about TM2 Megatron, but hear me out! First off, the two Beast Wars combiners were amazing and way ahead of their time. They represent some of my favorite Beast Wars memories. Tripredacus would also represent something interesting, links to both season 1 and season 2. The actual components (Sea Clamp, Cicadacon, and Ramhorn) fit in perfectly with the season 1 organic beasts, but their appearance in season 2 hints at Ravage and Transmetals. But there's also another connection that could be exciting, as they were recolored as Maximals in Beast Wars II. We already have Lio Convoy, so it would be essentially building two different series with one mold! This would really open the door for dual purpose characters like B'Boom, Transquito, and Claw Jaw which I think would be a lot of fun. Bonus points if they can somehow find a way to incorporate the different looking CGI models.

Repaints
G1 Best - Deep Cover. While it might be hard to get too excited about a mold that's now 8 years old, I think it would be great on a few levels. First, it would show commitment. There are a lot of people (both Transformers and Diaclone fans) out there that have been waiting a long time for this character. After all this time it would be a nod to the fanbase and their patience to finally be able to complete the Sideswipe mold rather than quietly sweep the one repaint they forgot about under the rug. There's also somewhat of a history of one final release to "retire" the mold before a newer version comes out.
G1 Worst - Paradron Medic. For like, a million reasons.
G1 Blow My Mind - Ironically, Detritus. But you have to really make it look like a Junkion. I want all those sticker details to be molded spikes. I want one wheel to be able to stay of the side of his leg. I want that face shield gimmick to be something useful (maybe goggles? WW2 sunglasses?) Maybe throw some extra junk all around to really change the profile. But actually, most importantly (and this is the ironic part), it has to be built perfectly. Like throw it against the wall, transform it a billion times, have Rumble hit it with piledrivers and it doesn't break. This would go a long way of showing that Takara fixed the problem, and ease people's mind if they wanted to pick up another copy after theirs broke (or maybe get an eventual toy version).


BW Best - Orange Tigatron. I get it, this would be a really expensive repaint. But considering the alternatives, it's one of the *least* expensive. It's also got history as the prototype of Tigatron, and it was kind of in the show in Law of the Jungle.
BW Worst - Tie between T-Wrecks and Grimlock. I have a bit of a vendetta against these two molds, as they were some of the first with the huge price jump that really made me wonder if they were worth it. So to pay that kind of money for characters I have no connection to is a flat no from me. Also, there are some figures that simply don't work well as repaints. Seekers are great. Sunstreaker is great. But especially Dinobot in this case, he *is* the mold. Somehow having a repaint of it lessons what Dinobot represents. I don't know if I'm explaining that well... but picture a 1984 Decepticon shelf. Now throw in an extra repainted Megatron. It takes something away from Megatron himself.
BW Blow My Mind - *Unless* you change it enough so it is something completely new. I don't own Dinobot yet so I don't know if this is even feasible. But it would get me excited because it opens the door for not only more BW II, but also BW versions of Wolfang and Cybershark.

 

IF a Porsche deal/relationship for multiple licenses can be or is worked out, I wonder if Porsche would force a compromise of sorts with Cliffjumper, like how Takara had to compomise with Lamborghini on Sunstreaker's super tuned bits, and release a real-world accurate Cliffjumper, while Takara tries to work them on a licensed chibi version down the line.

This isn't a wish list thread, and much of what I could speculate on regarding your choices would fall in the BW MP Speculation thread anyways, but why would Paradron Medic be the worst G1 redeco choice, for like a million reasons? The Medics were actually in the cartoon, so they have a place, albeit an obscure one (that's been referenced in toy form more than most Diaclone or Microchange options).

 

Anyone wanna touch on how it looks a whole lot like that jazz transforms into a porsche? And like he may include his grappling hook rather than a gun. Which could mean MP jazz and cliffjumper are possible but may not be allowed to come with any weapons...

 

I’m pretty sure that is Jazz’s gun, and he’s holding it in the package art.

It does look highly possible it could be a licensed Porsche, though! Here’s hoping!!

 

Wheres @Ikkstakk he should be able to see and tell us, he picked Hound out of a bunch of blurry blobs last time. 

 

I’d guess that the difference there is that Takara has what looks to be a fairly positive and long-running relationship with Lamborghini, so it’s probably just a concession on both sides there (which I love, FWIW) while Porsche may be less inclined to budge. If Takara is working on them with Jazz, I’d bet it’s going to be closer to the progression with VW on Bumblebee.

Jazz can be pretty true-to-real on the Martini car, so if they can please Porsche there... then maybe they get to do the chibi? Frankly, I’d say CJ is the worse one for odds because of that.

 

I don't see why the chibi proportions would be an issue considering TakaraTomy has already released a Porsche 924 in the Choro-Q line. Aren't those licensed as well? Isn't the existing licensing relationship for the Tomica and Choro-Q lines something that works in favor for licensing TFs?