Except when it is.

 

Some people will argue with a stop sign.

 

I didn’t say it wasn’t.

 

The better question is- why would I? Espcially with recent offerings, they offer nothing but high cartoon accuracy with the sacrifice of any fun in transforming it. Just make a non-transformable super accurate alt mode and robot mode in one pack at tha tpoint.

 

This. CHUG 100% scratches the itch. The MPs look great and I'd LOVE to play with them until they break. But at those prices (and that's not even talking about the aftermarket; original purchases are expensive enough) they really aren't meant to be played with a lot, now, are they? Whereas CHUGs have 5mm systems and all sorts of fun equipment and gimmicks. If I break one--which has not happened yet (Buzzworthy shit doesn't count as CHUG to me), I can realistically hope to replace it.

There has never been a better main line than the current one, and it is an effective gateway drug into MP collecting. On this basis, Hasbro should continue issuing Siege\Earthrise\Kingdom figures, perhaps on a bespoke basis via Hasbro Pulse or something. People want them and the aftermarket and retail market are fucking fucked.

 

Same, I bought MP Primal years ago and messed with him a fair amount, but obviously not as much as I'd like. he's got minor paint issues as is. But now, with Kingdom, I basically have a version I can freely do with as I please.

 

Two reasons: scale and QC. Scale because my main collection is Generations. I can't mix in MPs. Also they take up heaps of space I don't have anymore.

QC because the cost should have dealt a deathblow to the possibility of QC but this is the world we live in: QC will exist where it shouldn't.

 

When I see out-of-scale characters, I just think back to all the wacky G1 cartoon subplots and I assume that what I'm seeing is a result of one of them. "Oh no! The Combaticons have stolen Dr. Alcazar's matter amplification ray! We have to warn Optimus Prime!" As of right now, my only MP scale characters are my MMC Combaticons (and I don't have them all yet) and I kind of love how they stand head and shoulders above Soundwave and even a bit taller than Megatron. It's not "correct" or "accurate" so I just pretend they are variants of the Combaticons that are really big, and I usually set them up in scenes where they're mugging or kidnapping the smaller figures, lol.

 

Interesting. I actually don't mind if combiner characters are taller than regular bots. In my head, I always found that combiner characters being larger is a by product of forming a larger bot. It should be a necessary symptom to make up for the additional mass and size especially for the toys. I dig your decision. For the out of scale cartoon idea though... naaahhh. I can't do it haha. I love the G1 cartoon though.

 

Too big. But I have some car bots. But would prefer smaller sizes.

 

I do not buy MPs they are to expensive and QC is lacking.

 

If I can't see myself transforming a figure back and forth between modes multiple times (and enjoying the process!), I don't buy the figure. For me, most MPs aren't a lot of fun to transform. I do love the looks of most of them though.

 

I guess technically I still am...I just have so little to go that it seems like I'm not. For my collection, I only do MP scale for characters that were released as Microchange or Diaclone, so after the Skids colors Itll just be down to really obscure recolors and the Omnibots.

 

A combination of QC issues, aesthetics and price turned me from being a habitual buyer of MP figures to a very infrequent buyer.

The quartet of Ironhide, Ratchet, Shockwave and Hot Rod, the first toys that were manufactured in Vietnam I believe, all had QC issues for me, chrome issues, parts breakage and electronics that didn't work. The shift in aesthetic to MP figures being heavily cartoon centric wasn't to my personal taste. I'd pinpoint figures like Soundwave and Prowl as being my sweet spot, they were figures which captured the likenesses of the 80s cartoon, the G1 figures and the comic. It goes without saying the spiraling costs are a consumer turn off.

It does make me feel sad that I've soured on a line I was so fond of for years, however the current mainline toys are pushing new highs in excellence when it comes to sculpting, possibility and design, and I'm very much enjoying them. MP Skids also has my attention, it looks more in line with the MP line pre MP-26 and the price is far more reasonable.

 

Funny that's around the time I switched to KO. My Ironhide, Hotrod, and Shockwave were all perfect. Still have Roddy and Red and they've still got all their chrome. Absolutely ridiculous isn't it...

Right, they were made by poorly trained, inexperienced workers exploited to maximize profit margins. They didn't move production over child labor issues they pay Vietnamese factory workers1/3 the wage of Chinese workers.

Has/Tak didn't count on the Chinese factories giving them the finger after they moved those jobs to Vietnam. Kind of had it coming though. Sorry, but its hard for me to empathize with the multinational corporation over the working man, no matter where he lives. Guess that's a character flaw of mine.

 

The selling point of MPs used to be that they were faithful to Sunbow G1 while CHUGs reinvented and modernised those designs. So basically, MPs were for G1 traditionalists while CHUGs were for G1 "liberals". But since Siege, CHUG has become as slavishly Sunbow based as MPs (except in alt-mode, really) and that definitely seems to me to make MPs now feel kinda redundant and even inferior.

• MPs lack character selection. It took 18 years from the first MP to get to where we are now while WFC and SS86 only took 3 years to do most of what MP's done and more (Jazz, Cliffjumper, Sky Lynx).
• You can mix and match CHUG scale with Bayformers and Animated for the old CHUG and post-DOTM Bay, SS, Prime, FOC/WFC, etc. for post-CW CHUG. MPs basically only work with MPMs and some expensive ass 3Ps that's it. Again, character selection is really lacking with MPs.
• Too expensive, duh. I can get 4 Deluxes for the price of the Datsun mold IIRC. I lean towards quantity over quality, but CHUGs have the quality to make the tradeoff worth it.

 

I liked the original aesthetic.

They went to what people call “full toon”, but I sure don’t see it. Shockwave didn’t look like the toon. He looked like Garbage IMO. Hot Rod didn’t look like the toon. That chest... Ironhide? Likewise. Add to it the hip skirts and butt tires... Tracks was just a hot mess all the way around. Bad design choices, a floppy mess that wouldn’t stay tabbed together.

What they call “Masterpieces” aren’t what I would call masterpieces.

 

I think most MP collectors would be better suited by an MP-scale, very high polish and QC version of what we see with REDs, at a much lower price point. Why?

Top desires seem to be:
* Accurate appearance, matching either G1 toys, cartoon, or comics, or some hybrid thereof
* Good QC\stability\tabbing\tightness of the figure, overall durability, especially for paint, chrome, electronics, and small tabs and parts
* To receive a good price for all of this, despite Ha$bro having to meet all of the difficult obligations above while also trying to pay line employees as little as possible so the execs can pocket more and pay dividends to shareholders or whatever they're doing with the money besides paying and training factory workers to make solid products.

On top of that, the bigger and more common complaints seem to be:
* Character X is using style Y and I prefer style Z
* The transformation of MPs is far too difficult, time-consuming, stressful, and deleterious to long-term quality and functionality of the joints; you "Aren't supposed to" play with them a lot.
* Character T has compromise R to overcome engineering problem Q and I hate it
* Prices are far too high, and if you're not an early adopter, it will get worse over time as these figures are not frequently reissued and we have an intensely parasitic aftermarket that does some abusive and sociopathic things.

Based on the desires and complaints, I think maybe you just want to be figure collectors, not transformers collectors. Or maybe you like collecting Transformers but you'd be better off with War for Cybertron because it's much cheaper and far more carefree and fun to play with. Owning MPs is a great way to flex and they look nice and I won't lie and say I don't want them, but I also see the headache and troublesome responsibility of owning and obtaining them.

 

Price and complexity for me. I actually pose and fiddle with my figures. If they’re pricey, I’d be afraid to break them. And they often have overly complex transformations which decreases the fun factor and increases the “will I break it” anxiety.

Plus Hasbro and Takara have been steadily supplying a lot of great molds for a lot of fan favorite figures for several years now in Generations. It’s a no-brainer if you want to save money, have higher playability and arguably more character selection.

 

Masterpieces are expensive, complex to convert, limited character selection, and not in scale with my Generations figures. I rather save money for some characters that did not have (good) toys before, or some other figures that I am truly anticipating for.