As a CHUG only collector, I get the feeling that there is a divide. And as evidence are comments I've seen on figures that get the "mini-masterpiece" tag applied to them, but then MP collectors quickly try and shut down the notion.

Or maybe I'm misreading the situation and anything but a MP figure (scale + price point) can only deserve the tag of MP?

 

Is it just a matter of opinion/pettiness?

Like some people might drive a Toyota and call it a mini Mercedes? And Mercedes drivers get offended?

 

Lexus maybe?

 

yes mp may be nice , but vote with your wallet

 

Pretty much, its usually either MP collectors pissing on chug and acting superior, or chug collectors ragging on MP for being overpriced or something along those kinda lines. In either situation, someone on the opposing side will retaliate, then an online bitch fight erupts.

 

Hah.

I don't apply the appelation mini-masterpiece to CHUG simply because 3rd party legends scale stuff got there first!

But otherwise I don't give a damn what someone else buys or likes.

 

I’ve collected both. MPs will usually look better, but the mainline stuff will be more playable and in the end I’ve decided (at least at the moment) that is the direction I’m going in. I loved transformers as a kid for the playability and the best part is still flipping them back and forth. Having said that I’m still keeping MPs of favorite characters, space permitting.

 

As an MP collector AND a Generations/CHUG collector, I can absolutely say there is a huge difference. The Gen line has made huge leaps in engineering and design in recent years that some of these TRULY deserve the tag of “mini masterpieces”. But…they still aren’t Masterpieces level. Maybe get yourself an MP or barrow a friends and you’ll know the difference. Imagine if you have a Ferrari but the newest Tesla was able to match your 0-60 speed test. Is the Tesla now considered a super car? Still no. It’s just plain fast.

Masterpiece often double or triple the parts of a CHUG, and has lots of painted part which ups the cost to 4x that of a CHUG. These new Gen line figures are made from the very same designers who work on the MP’s so the overall look will be there but the budget will prohibit fine details. MP’s live in the refined details. An example would be the Masterpiece Hotrod from 5 years ago versus the current SS86 Hotrod. The SS86 version has better proportions, a better silhouette, and a thinner profile, and even has better articulation than the MP. But that Mp was from 5 years ago. Engineering has come a long way. Yet the SS86 plastic is not as crisp and precise as the MP, or has the nice paint that covers the car mode, or the delicate chromed pipes. Current CHUG can’t compare to current MPs at all. See Acree. What the CHUGs are getting right are the basic overall look of the design, capturing the same essence like MPs. The best examples of these are the Datsun cars (prowl, bluestreak, smokescreen)and Fuso trucks ( Inferno and Grapple). They take the MP designs and just part reduce until they get a basic figure. They really are mini masterpieces but not MP level.

 

I'm not an MP collector, but I do own Fanstoys Hoodlum, who I have as a stand in as a CHUG Rodimus. I also have the voyager MP10 KO. Granted, Hoodlum was not that well received and MP10 is "outdated", but for some were the definitive versions of the character. That being said, when I look at my Earthrise Optimus and (reviews of) Kingdom Rodimus I can appreciate them for their aesthetics the same way I do MP10V and Hoodlum. And seeing what 3P is doing with Legends scale is nothing but amazing and deserve being called mini-masterpiece even though their level of complexity is about the same as a current voyager or leader class figure.
I always saw the SS line as that bridge between mainline and MP for the fact that translating the Bay designs to toys would take another level of engineering, so I think Hasbro took that approach to the Generations line with WFC and gave the mainline a kick in the right direction and gave us some damn good, about as screen accurate for the price action figures that viewing them as mini-MPs should not be seen as a slight to other MP figures that cost two to three times as much.

 

If you read threads across the topic, there's divides on EVERYTHING.

From official lines to 3rd party stuff, to one line or another, with every line really will have their die-hard fans.

Same with the media, there are divides over cartoons, including even events that take place in a writers' mind and in a freaking cartoon where some can't understand the difference between such and a real life event.

We can't even have people get over what the name of a toy is over the color that it comes in.

To say it simply: it's wack.

My take on MP and standard lines is simple, MP is all about being very detailed and the most precise look that they can do, at a set "scale", and aimed for those that prefer the more detailed esthetics of the characters. The caveat is that these figures are more for display and can be quite complicated to transform (compared to mainline), and have very little playability. Add to that the pricing being anywhere from double to quadruple (and more) the price of the mainline figures, these are for a very specific niche of fans.

The mainlines are meant for play, for handling, and depending on the effort by Hasbro, some can be considered good enough for most as being a proper representation of the character. In the last few years, the Siege/ER lines have improved the designs for the main characters to the point that it will be hard to outshine some of the figures. Many are good enough to be "display" pieces, and while Hasbro keeps closing the gap for the pricing, they are still a more affordable approach for most fans.

I have some (non-TFs) figures that are in par to MP (quality, details, pricing), but without the fragility, and some 3rd party figures that to me are more than good enough, so while MP isn't a line that has my direct interest, I still appreciate it for what it is.

 

This is me. I'm at the point now where I've had some MP/3p stuff shatter under even light fiddling and the cost of this is a real kick in the ass. I don't cry when I bust a Hasbro figure. Also it is rare for a Hasbro figure to be so complicated to transform that I can't make it through after a couple minutes. Some MP transformations are downright harrowing.

My favorite 3P company is MMC, because they tend to be the most "fiddle-able" of any 3P company (or Takara MPs), and their customer support is top notch (if something breaks).

 

I've observed a divide between MP and Classics collectors. There's certainly been a bit of posturing between the two bases the last couple of years, especially when Siege made its debut. But as silly as it might be, infighting isn't exactly a novel thing in this fandom. It's been going on as far back as G1 vs. Beast Wars.

 

Me and a few others got into a fight with a petty 3P collector on Discord a few days ago, called us broke for collecting CHUG, and said to cope, and that shit. He got banned from the server, but I could see a similar thing happening with MP.

 

I don’t use the MP-light or mini-MP label because it’s very misleading. Yes CHUG figures have come a long away and some aspects of them to surpass MP’s. You compare Kingdom Rodimus and MP-09 Rodimus and you’re bound to find things Kingdom Rodimus did better…but it was a figure designed over 10 years later. Despite that, MP-09 did some things better and that’s to be expected with the label.

MP Tracks is flawed no doubt, but when I heard 1 of the designers call Kingdom Tracks a mini-MP… I found that to be very misleading. It leads one to expect more than they probably should especially in light of cost cuts these recent years.

 

It's been going on longer than that I'd wager considering there's the Marvel vs Sunbow crowd

 

Cut costs? No. War for Cybertron was cost cuts. Combiner Wars was cost cuts. These are the days of milk & honey as far as chug is concerned.

 

I think everything else is coverd so ill just say how i use mps these days.

MP grimlock, Hotrod as rodimusprime, mp inferno and grapple as themshelves because it makes zero sense that there not significantly bigger than prime, i also use classics 2.0 prowl and co for my main line but saying that i also lean towards using the mp versions because there rather small, i also use mp starsaber as starsaber.

because the qc has gone down the shitter with the mp line i gave up, so i decided to blend the lines, also price i mean come on after mp beast megs things just went down hill for value

 

I’ve collected both. Three years ago, MPs were the clear winners since the main line was mostly hot garbage

Starting with WFC, Hasbro and Takara massively stepped their game up with the CHUG figures. Around the same time, MPs became too focused on hyper-toon-accuracy at the expense of enjoyable transformations and solid figures.

Most MPs these days have mind numbingly frustrating transformations; if the transformation itself isn’t difficult, tabbing things into place certainly is. I’m still nervous to transform MP-44 and MP-49 because of their knees, especially MP-44. MP-36 isn’t much better. MP-48 was the final straw after it arrived to me (MISB) with paint chips straight out of the box and breaking tabs even as I followed the directions

CHUG all day, every day.

 

I collect Masterpiece. CHUG sucks.

I collect CHUG. Masterpiece sucks.

There, done.

 

Course it's a thing. Look outside of the fandom at gaming, sport, comics, music.. fuck, look at life, man. We're tribal and naturally inclined to form groups that believe their way is best while slamming others.

What folk need to do is chill out and stop taking all of this so seriously. Every frikkin' corner of collecting is covered in the Transformers game. Our cup doth runneth over yet still we piss up each others backs.

It is funny. But also very sad.