Masterpiece V2 Starscream MP-52

Discussion in 'Transformers News and Rumors' started by PoweredConvoy, Jul 5, 2020.

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  1. The Allspice

    The Allspice Seasoning is the right of all sentient beings!

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    Stress marks but no cracks on the ankle posts, no forearm damage, and it did expand as soon as it was rotated.
     
  2. Shin Densetsu

    Shin Densetsu I WILL DESTROY YOU Content Contributor Veteran

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    Does it expand further if the stabilizer is swiveled back and forth?
     
  3. Shin Densetsu

    Shin Densetsu I WILL DESTROY YOU Content Contributor Veteran

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    This is impossible to know at the moment. I get wanting to be optimistic but there’s no real way to know until well after most owners have opened their copies. Cross fingers my copy doesn’t develop further issues but it’s too early to determine that it won’t. Which is why I like figuring out what’s breaking so we can figure out ways to address it.
    I can’t in good faith do that. If anyone wants this I suggest they read up on the issues, study ways to address them and if they feel they’re capable of fixing the potential issues on their own, then make the decision to buy the figure or not. YMMV on this.
     
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  4. The Allspice

    The Allspice Seasoning is the right of all sentient beings!

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    I'll never understand hand waiving cracks in your 250.00 luxury good because you don't want to upset business daddy by harming his bottom line. Calling cracks in a figure that we have no way of verifying the longterm issues with a non-issue is a huge stretch. Especially when the entire issue was preventable if Takara had used an, admittedly slightly pricer for their bottom line, screw. We have an entire thread seperate from this one in order to track issues on this figure, and no way of knowing how many others are hand waiving their issues the same as this. The fact that there was enough discussion to warrant the thread in the first place speaks Ill of the figure quality though.

    I want more figures from Takara too, but not if they're cheaply made at the expense of the consumer. Designs that lead to breakage in the name of lowering production costs is a great way for Takara to steer consumers to 3P.

    Unfortunately it did.
     
    Last edited: Jul 15, 2021
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  5. Silvershot

    Silvershot On The Double Dutch Bus

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    I feel like when MP-3 and MP-11 came around, many people at the time exclaimed "it looks like it jumped right off the screen!" At those times, it was the closest we had ever come to a cartoon representation. Amazing how wrong we were.
     
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  6. Shin Densetsu

    Shin Densetsu I WILL DESTROY YOU Content Contributor Veteran

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    Damn, sorry to hear man
     
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  7. The Allspice

    The Allspice Seasoning is the right of all sentient beings!

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    Not your fault! They never should have moved from a screw to a rivet on a piece as fragile as this one.
     
  8. Ratzo99

    Ratzo99 Well-Known Member

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    It's a luxury item, and that's part of it. If people like us don't buy them, or say "don't buy this", then they'll stop making them. Or, that's my fear anyway. Sure, 3P exists, but their designs are never as good as Takara's, and I don't think 3P would last long without official offerings to supplement and encourage them. I don't like the cracks any more than you do, but I have a massive collection of all sorts of toys, and stress marks and flaws are apparent on just about everything, regardless of price. Speaking of price, yeah, it's not cheap, but the days of Asian workers getting paid cents are disappearing, so we can no longer expect (to the same degree) that higher prices ensure perfection, especially as these types of figures become more and more complex, with more and more moving parts.
    Anyway, I understand the frustration, but look at how freaking expensive MP-44 was, and the QC still wasn't perfect on him. I feel like we're not going to be getting QC perfection ever again. The days of MP-01 are long gone.
     
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  9. The Allspice

    The Allspice Seasoning is the right of all sentient beings!

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    If you're making a shoddy product, then you don't deserve money. Why would I want to shield a toy manufacturer from failure? There are quite a few designs from FT, XTB, and MMC that outshine many Takara offerings in terms of aesthetics, ease of transformation, and most importantly to this conversation: build quality and customer support. Outside of TT apologists, I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone that agrees 3P is not as "good" as Takara. I never thought I'd make an allusion to anything Fran ever said, but that's straight up Takara Simpin' right there.

    I also have a substantial collection of MPs, and if the majority of yours are showing stressmarks and hairline cracks, then you're buying the wrong products. The only MP I've ever had with QC issues was MP-09, and that's a well known issue that was an excellent reason to only buy the DX9 offering until Takara finally fixed it with the third release. If you want to set money on fire so Takara execs can keep their mistresses in a higher quality of penthouse, then go to town, but it's insane to say we should all keep paying because it might hurt them. My figure has a design issue that only existed in order to lower costs. Jim, Janet and Larry making a living wage has nothing to do with that. Though even if they did, an increase in the cost of doing business is no excuse for a decline in quality.
     
    Last edited: Jul 15, 2021
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  10. Ratzo99

    Ratzo99 Well-Known Member

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    Do what you want, I tried to offer a different view, but you can't seem to discuss anything without a huge attitude. Shrug.
     
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  11. Cal

    Cal Well-Known Member

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    I agree. The only way this Starscream can be more accurate is if you find your MP Megatron missing in the morning.
     
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  12. Shin Densetsu

    Shin Densetsu I WILL DESTROY YOU Content Contributor Veteran

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    Probably not likely since this would break the sculpt from the front, but would you like it if future versions of this mold are retooled to have thigh swivels with more range? This would necessitate a new thigh piece as the current one is solid from the front and the piece that extends from it to cover the hip ends up blocking inward thigh rotation. If that description isn’t clear, you’ll probably notice the thigh rotation limitation when posing the legs on Starscream and trying to get a better stance out of them.
     
  13. Paco Grande

    Paco Grande Well-Known Member

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    Man this thread sucks. Hopefully Thundercracker will have a better experience.
     
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  14. GX9901DoubleX

    GX9901DoubleX Just a passing through rider...

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    I know the thigh articulation is a bit limited, but I haven't really found myself wishing it had more range. What I would like is more range for the ankle rocker (side-to-side), which I think might be doable with a re-designed foot.

    I'd also like waist swivel, but I understand that's impossible with the way MP-52 is designed.
     
  15. banjoted

    banjoted Timelord

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    I think that's unfair, dude. You both make valid points and I can empathise with parts of both your arguments, but I don't think Allspice is speaking out of line.

    Should we put our money where our mouth is and support the companies making these amazing products? Yep, for sure. And are people fussier than they rightfully should be? In my opinion, yes. I confess that I do cringe when I hear about people double buying from the likes of Amazon Japan and returning both figures - and time after time, at that. Unless these people have genuinely been spectacularly unlucky, that's the sort of behaviour that jeopardises things. For the record, I have a near 400 figure collection and I've never once returned an item, and only had to source replacement parts a couple of times. I'm not troubled by slight imperfections. I'm not troubled by cracking if something remains functional and aesthetically fine. I do think the race for 'perfection' is often self-defeating as there's no such thing. Folk are just robbing themselves of the joy of the hobby.

    But does that mean we should put up with absolutely anything because to complain is to risk the bottom line and the future of the product? Of course not. You have the right to expect anything you buy to be fit for purpose, and I do not think it's unreasonable that a person whop drops 200+ notes on a toy action figure expects it to be pretty fucking spectacular. These toys should not be breaking through the use they're designed for, certainly.
     
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  16. GX9901DoubleX

    GX9901DoubleX Just a passing through rider...

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    So is MP-52 approaching MP-47 level of clusterbleep? I've been reading this thread for the last few weeks and it seems like the issues are pretty widespread. I know there are plenty of people with perfect copies, but it seems like there are a lot of people having QC issues with MP-52, and a pretty large percentage of Youtube reviewers reported some of these issues. In the case of MP-47, mine was (and still is) pretty flawless, yet I totally acknowledge that as a whole MP-47 was a hot mess of a release because of the number of people with problematic copies.
     
  17. Prime of Shadows

    Prime of Shadows Quick as Lightning

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    Lol what
     
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  18. Shin Densetsu

    Shin Densetsu I WILL DESTROY YOU Content Contributor Veteran

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    Not yet
     
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  19. Dean ML

    Dean ML Well-Known Member

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    Not 100% sure what you mean, but are you talking about something like this? I wanted his legs in this kind of posture right away but it took me a minute to figure out how. The plate on the butt might to be angled out of the way of the tabs on the backs of the thighs, the thighs pushed back, and the feet put in a toe down position (made tight by the Future I added). I haven’t found his thigh articulation too limited but I was hoping for more from the feet (still - better than MP-11!).

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
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  20. Shin Densetsu

    Shin Densetsu I WILL DESTROY YOU Content Contributor Veteran

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    No, you see how in the 2nd pic the thighs are swiveled outwards a bit? Notice the extension of the thigh that covers the hip joint. That blocks the thighs from swiveling inwards. That piece hides the thigh swivels from the front and sides. I was asking if people would be down if that piece was retooled to not cover the front and sides of the hips as to free up range of motion for the thigh swivels.
     
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