Masterpiece Beast Wars Tigatron MP-50

Discussion in 'Transformers Feedback & Reviews' started by chrisr291, Sep 26, 2020.

  1. Satomiblood

    Satomiblood City Hunter

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    I also came across this yesterday. Apparently, there’s an ab crunch. Apologies if this has already been discussed here. Photos and description courtesy of Stephen van Oostenbrugge (via Facebook):
    E3AF5F48-DE6E-448C-B01A-7459F06F145D.jpeg 26543D40-72E1-4C94-937B-8269BACDDC59.jpeg AADD638A-DA84-49A1-A508-114B8162DC5E.jpeg
     
    Last edited: Oct 7, 2020
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  2. Satomiblood

    Satomiblood City Hunter

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    I probably would’ve opted for polish if there weren’t any gaps behind the eyes. Just a dab on each of the exposed rivet heads.
     
  3. SPLIT LIP

    SPLIT LIP Be strong enough to be gentle

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    That's what I did, but the eyes became so tight they would not move.
     
  4. Booster Gold

    Booster Gold Superhero?

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    Been mentally and 'physically' writing this for ages! Not sure why I need to write a review but if I didn't commit this to the internet it's gonna drive me crazy so here it is.

    First off, this is a great looking figure... a REALLY great looking figure in BOTH modes. Which really is priority numero uno for me when it comes to Transformers and action figures in general. My preference is for robot mode perfection but if I can get a good balance between both I'm extra happy and Tigatron pulls this off pretty well. The paint is, as we've become accustomed to with Beast Wars MPs, gorgeous. The glossy white and metallic teal really pop, which is in pleasing contrast to the textured matt finish of the tiger hide.The entire deco is sharp and well defined, all the tiger stripes and markings are on point and there's no obvious painting mistakes, drips, splodges or painting outsides of the lines etc on my copy. Much like the beast mode paint on Primal and Cheetor it does 'feel' like it might be easy to scratch or damage but thus far it's all good.

    The sculpt is also bang on, all the details from the show are there from the sweeping panels lines on his robot calves and knees, to the dishes on the inside of his beast legs to, most noticeably, the fantastic face sculpts. Much like most MPs these days he benefits from an excellent compliment of alternate faces for his robot mode, 5 in fact (well, 4 really as the hacking face is the same sculpt as the standard one only with blue eyes). They all look amazing, the likeness to the show is spot on and they provide a good range of expressions. Sadly the same cannot be said for beast mode, unlike Primal and Cheetor we don't get swap out beast faces which limits his expression in beast mode. The one face sculpt we do get is great, it has a sort of happy, friendly... even vacant look to it, which is cool but it's all a bit Disney. It would have been nice to get something a bit more angry or menacing too counterbalance it.

    Having a totally different transformation scheme to Cheetor the compromises made in both modes work out differently. Tigatron sports more kibble in robot mode, his arm-guards and backpack are more untidy and his chest being the actual head of the beast mode rather than a fake part means it's arguably a little out of proportion in comparison with the CGI model. However the upside is a bulkier and a 'cleaner' beast mode. I find this a mostly acceptable trade off, I would of course have preferred less kibble, the arm-guard kibble particularly is a little distracting but none of it feels unacceptable. In beast mode it's really only the backend of the Tiger mode that suffers in this regard. The rear legs are vaguely convincing but any close inspection will reveal that they are mostly robot mode kibble in the shape of legs rather than actual legs, plus there's bits of teal all over the place and a big hole where his tiger-junk should be.

    The range of articulation is top notch, particularly in robot mode. You basically have everything you need and then some... including an (impossible to access without a screw driver and/or a lever of some description and nerves of steel) ab crunch. Indeed this is my biggest issue with this figure, the tolerances are all over the place from impossibly tight to ridiculously loose both in terms of arctiulation joints and those for transformation. This is where the individually articulated eyes really drive you crazy, they were sooo loose (out of the box) that Tigatron was constantly going cross-eyed, looking 'derpy' or randomly changing eye colour. And that's just one example there is no consistency here! It's an ongoing issue with MP and one TT should be striving to fix. However a drop of floor polish here and a dab of oil there and he will pose like a dream... mostly. Sadly below the knee it doesn't fall apart a bit, we have ratchets in the hips (forward and back) for no real reason but no ratches in the knees...where they are needed becuase... there are near useless second knee joints (meant for some negligible angling of the back legs of the beast mode) as well as a sideways transformation joint just below that (that doesn't lock in place!) both of which are really badly toleranced. This make posing the legs painful without deploying the aforementioned floor polish. Once you get over these hurdles the only articulation that feels 'missing' to me is a head tilt... but i guess I can live without it. The beast mode is, in some respects, more posable than some with plenty of articulation in the front legs, head and tail. The fact the robot mode is so well covered by nice solid well tabbed in panels means you can really take advantage of it too. Sadly once again the rear legs let you down, the articulation here is very limited.

    The transformation is a largely enjoyable affair, which to be honest is a pleasant surprise. I wouldn't call it intuitive but it's not a frustrating mess of floppy joints or poorly tabbed in parts. Once you've decipher the tiny and more confusing than they need to be instructions and navigated some of the overly stiff transformation joints it's relatively straight forward and easy to learn. There are some really satisfying clicks here and there and for the most part everything has a place to be and tabs/locks in place there. The result is two very solid modes... mostly. Just to mess with us TT have left a few things inexplicably just hanging. In beast mode it's the tops of the rear legs and in robot mode it's arm guards... I am at a loss as to why they didn't just finish the job! Despite possibly being a little over engineered I really like the way the lower legs come together and even though the backpack is messier and chunkier than Cheetor's it's a really satisfying bit of engineering when it's all folded up and tabbed together.

    As far as accessories go they are sensible, useful and rarely frivolous. The gut gun (essentially the same as Cheetor's only larger) was essential of course and I've mentioned the face plates. The forearm missiles are a really nice touch, the way they connect less so. The design of am-guards was clearly changed between the prototype and the final version resulting in a miss-match between the accessory that doesn't appear to have been redesigned at all, the redesigned arm-guards and the instructions which would have you forcing a flimsy clip over a tab its just not designed to interface with... it's better to sidle the clip it over the edge of the arm-guard but what would be better still would be if it attached in a more concealed way. The hacking cable, although being of limited use, is a really nicely done accessory. It's very well painted and use of flexible translucent plastic is clever. The Megatron puzzle head? Well its nicely painted and ht works fine but... it's probably just me but I just don't get why you'd make a physical accessory out of a virtual object. I'm guessing the virtual Megatron head didn't have a Predacon insignia on it as this does not. The stand adaptor for beast mode is... interesting. I was surprised to discover that it fits the Blackarachnia/Tracks 'arm' and not the Dinobot one. Not a problem, I'd just assumed it would be the later. What is a problem is how precarious the connection is between the adaptor and Tigatron. It's not as bad as the insanity that was making Blackarachnia connection to her web via an accessory that is only connected to her by a couple of tabs, but it does come disconnected pretty easily. I'm glad we have it and it does work but I do wish they'd given it more thought.

    Final verdict, I really love the figure. Sure, it has a few issues and some seem frustratingly avoidable but on balance he hits the mark way more than his missed it. It's frankly astounding how different this guy is to Cheetor, the engineering is totally different, no two parts are the same or simply upscaled(except maybe the gun)... it truly is a brand new mould and an impressive one. TT didn't have to go to this much trouble, especially on a 'second tier character'... the first Beast Wars one they've done. A lot of care and attention has gone into designing this and it shows, which bodes well for the rest of the less popular show characters. He's a great addition to the growing stable of Beast Wars Masterpieces and overall a triumph, bravo TT but seriously... how long have you been doing this? Sort your tolerance issues out please.
     
    Last edited: Oct 25, 2020
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  5. silverbolt77

    silverbolt77 Skeptical Bronx Guy

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    THANK YOU FOR THIS - I was looking around the interwebs trying to find an answer as to why it didn't fit what I called "the MP BW" stand (since they think we're using the one stand for all of them). Wouldn't have tried Track's stand arm if I didn't see this. Kudos, friend!
     
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  6. Booster Gold

    Booster Gold Superhero?

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    No problem. The arm on Blackarachnia's stand is the same as the one on the Tracks stand, even down to it not matching in colour/finish to the one section of 'Dinobot' modular stand you get with her. It feel's like they just had the two parts laying around and thought, yeah why not this'll do.
     
  7. Smokescreen38

    Smokescreen38 Fight fire with smoke!

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    Well, I’m glad that you did. Nice write up, good insights.
     
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  8. infinite_virtue

    infinite_virtue Well-Known Member

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    Finally picked up Tigatron and I must say he does not disappoint. I am very happy with him although there are few QC issues I have with mine. Got some spots with a little bit of brown scuffing but it is not too noticeable and the knees and ankles are a bit more loose than I would like. I also have troubles getting the body panels to peg in perfectly in beast mode but I figure it's just a matter of getting the arms in the perfect position but it still holds together very solidly.
     
  9. Cheebs

    Cheebs Well-Known Member

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    The tiger mode is an adorable chonker. I love this toy.
     
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  10. BairdimusPrime

    BairdimusPrime youtube.com/billythekidsnobullshittoyreviews

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    Love mine aside for these white sub knees... they’re ungodly loose and throw his balance off . I wish they could lock in place by pushing them up into the knee...
    aside from that one of the best!
     

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  11. firetruckprime

    firetruckprime Autobot

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    Picked up tigatron via Amazon the other day. Very impressed by him. Was not expecting a double box.
     

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  12. gbm

    gbm Well-Known Member

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    Man do I love this figure.

    Even more so ever since I discovered two tabbing spots in the rear section in beast mode. It really helps hold the entire rear assembly in place when you're trying to convert the upper portion. Also, it locks in the rear legs so you don't have to guess where all the articulation should be coming from; it becomes quite obvious. Personally, it's a huge help for me, since I always have trouble posing 4 legged beast modes. This helps.

    [​IMG]

    - One peg goes into a circle port on his thigh; the part that you rotate around in bot mode.
    - the other is on the side of the winged piece that flips up, and it pegs into a small hole on the green knee assembly thingie.

    Ideally, I would've loved to have some secure point for the hands/arms in his underbelly. But it's ok.
     
  13. Ethereal

    Ethereal A Sad Flareon

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    Ever since I got this guy, I'm really struggling with the leg transformation. I was able to get one leg to straighten but the other one just will not slide out far enough.

    PXL_20210116_170216179.jpg

    You can see in the picture the correct position that I can then straighten it (on the left) and the one giving me headaches (on the right). It seems like it *should* slide out, then either have enough clearance to straighten that leg or slide the lower leg down just a bit to straighten it, but it just won't budge and I'm worried about stressing the joint. Any thoughts? Thanks!
     
  14. Joalro

    Joalro Well-Known Member

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    It can be a bit nerve-wracking at first, but you just need to that piece out till it clicks. Might need a bit of pressure. Keep the leg bent, as it is, and just push straight down.
     
  15. Ethereal

    Ethereal A Sad Flareon

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    Weird. It really won't budge an inch and the seam between the green and white of his leg is starting to spread apart if I force it. I feel like this is way more pressure than it should require.
     
  16. Joalro

    Joalro Well-Known Member

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    It sounds like you are trying to rotate the legs straight. There is a step before that where you slide it down with the leg still bent. Do not straighten the leg. You are trying to slide thigh down while keeping the leg bent.