I still can't get over the tabs on the legs being so glaringly obvious in bot mode.

 

In terms of design, paint & plastic colours, and overall finish, I've never seen an official Masterpiece figure that looks less like a masterpiece.

 

The studio series version did it much better. I was impressed with it having such a realistic truck mode, including the rear section which is kibblerific on most Primes. The MP has gone back to that style.
Also;

Meow!

 

I genuinely want to know the story behind the design and production of this toy. A professional toy designer doesn't make choices this bad in a vacuum. Every toy needs compromises, but on every other toy at this budget what we see are much smarter compromises.

The budget is there. The CAD files are there. The institutional experience is there. What on earth happened? Internal politics? Executive meddling? Somebody disgruntled so much that they just didn't care? I'm super curious.

 

Yeah can't say I like it much. One thing the MPMs have generally been good with is having clean alt modes. For all the QC and design issues the line has had, every car and truck has looked solid. But even Starscream which has some flaws in alt mode doesn't have anything quite as egregious as the back of that truck.
I'm still gonna get it admittedly because I like MPs and I like having an army of MP trucks but maaan this one feels like a ball drop. Glad he at least has trailer compatibility though (makes me kind of lament they didn't with MPM4 to have him compatible with MP44 as well.)

Kind of curious on this as well. Especially because I recall someone mentionining that Kunihiro Takashi was the one who designed this and this is the same guy who made ROTF Leader Optimus, a figure that was incredibly clean in alt mode and pretty much an MPM before MPMs were a thing so clearly no slouch and capable of amazing things.

 

Ya know, before these pics I was actually one of the few positively optimistic people about this toy. But after seeing these pics, never freaking mind. I\'ll only say 2 things that may be a deal breaker for me: Those stupid long arms and stupid large head. 

im just dying for a MPM scale BB movie Optimus that looks half decent. Until now I thought this was it. I hope I\'m just catching a wrong angle with these pics or something. 

 

I’m absolutely buying this. After owning the Toyworld version and the wei Jiang version (kept the Toyworld and sold the weijaing) this one seems the most fun while still being fairly accurate in robot mode.

I’ve only really disliked two of the MPM figures so far and even then they were still fun. I’ll have fun with this figure all the same.

 

Interesting, unsure what is going to be final with the ears. The ears on the "official" photos look good.


But here they are curved so my guess would be that bad figure I guess?

 

Just watched the video review. Transformation didn’t seem fiddly which I appreciate. Color scheme looked better in the mag scans, this one looks okay but looks more G1 idealized moreso than movie accurate. I still want this but there’s baffling decisions behind it, like the cat ears that weren’t on a hinge to fold down in truck mode, the gun not being used in truck mode to fill gaps and instead mounting sideways, the white stripes on the side of the cab, loose wrist hinge(hopefully can be tightened via a screw or have enough room to mitigate while still holding the gun by merely twisting the wrist and dark light piping).

If anything it looks fun to play with. The issues I mentioned above bother me more than inaccuracy actually.

 

"Movie Masterpiece** Optimus"

**Usage of this term does not in any way shape or form legally represent a work of outstanding artistry, skill, or workmanship, or work by a craftsman accepted as qualification for membership of a guild as an acknowledged master. Masterpiece is only referenced as a naming reference for a pricing class by Hasbro(tm).

 

If this ever gets as low as MPM Screamer did i might consider buying it.

 

Big disagree on Ratchet. Yeah, he has a backpack, but he is pretty awesome otherwise and likely the most accurate Movie Ratchet that we'll get.

 

Hmm, not sure what to make of it. The legs look good but it\'s probably the weakest masterpiece... going to get it as I missed out on \'07 Prime. How does primevsprime get them early? 

 

It is not perfect but it looks awesome. I preordered it at RobotKingdom. Look forward to it.

 

Shame his lack of paint sucks tho. At least the KO dealt with that.

 

I suppose, but even the SS deluxe was cleaner than he was. He just has a bunch of panels on the inside of his legs just sitting there and a massive amount of car parts hanging off the back and cluttering his neck area. He just isn’t anywhere as well designed as previous MPM’s. He’s only the best ratchet because he had a higher budget, but he is barely any better than previous attempts.

 

He looks great but truck mode with smoke stacks look like he have ears coming out from back

 

People steal them from the factory and sell them to reviewers.

 

I'm really conflicted on this one. On one hand, this seems like the most playable of the MPMs released thus far. The transformation was surprisingly simple and pretty intuitive. But it feels almost too simple for an MPM. The engineering feels like something more in line with the Studio Series figures, and I think I'd appreciate the figure a lot more if it was downsized for the Studio Series. But for what it's asking for, I'm having trouble justifying the price.

 

They're too niche for the price at retail. Kids will see them and want them because they look cool, but the price and obvious complexity will turn off parents. And even if they go on deep clearance, by that point a parent has likely already bought something else as an alternative. Failing that, the complexity would still be a turn off.

And even if they sell out on Clearance, that's not something Walmart or Target is going to waste shelf space on for long. They'll still sell them on the website, but that's shelf space better served by product that'll move at MSRP.

The Bee Prime is overall a less busy design compared to the original Bay Prime, so that would go a long way towards making the transformation less complicated. But if you want a cheaper version of this character....that was SS38.

Which HasTak should consider reissuing if they decide to add Voyagers to the Buzzworthy line.