It seems they're going for train > robot > combined mode. Fantastic trains, good but not perfect robots and potentially a real mess when combined.

My main concern is where on earth is the rest of him in this mode?


We see the backpack, the heels, the front of the shins, part of the cape and potentially part of his shoulders/arms, but where's the rest?

 

This doesn't surprise me, as others have said and I've seen trains are a bit of a craze in Japan. The silhouette did Look better than any previous official combiner offering but is lacking against third party. Just looks lumpy and ugly with no real stream line.

 

Ok, the other model is totally NOT in MP scale (component and combiner mode), so can we stop talking about it?

 

The leg attachments look messy so perhaps the rest of this guy will go there?

 

If the MP is following the G1, which is assume it will, there is not robot behind Shouki. Shouki forms the upper torso, front and back, including the arm connections, while Kaen forms the lower torso and upper legs. Much like Hook and Long Haul, respectively, with Devastator.

 

My impression is that Shōki basically forms into a block for combined mode. No parts forming in terms of pieces being removed from Shōki, just parts forming in attaching the shield (and head).

Why am I still here? I said this was outside my budget... Sigh.

 

Part of why I’m not too worked up about the silhouette, his waist and thighs shouldn’t look so “ off” with Kaen being as big as he is filling in those parts.

 

I’m curious where the head will store and how it will integrate into Raiden. If it’s like the G1 toy, the head is part of Kaen, so if it still is, will there be an armature to bring it above Shouki? (Just a general question, not specifically towards Jarrod).

IMO, the silhouette and Shouki in front of it are not necessarily accurate to the proportions of the combined mode. At the bare minimum, when looking at the silhouette picture and comparing Shouki’s placement in relation to the Raiden image behind him, Shouki is lower and slightly larger than where and how he will actually form his part of Raiden. So in that pic, half of Kaen is actually hidden behind Shouki.
... I think there’s more to MP Raiden than meets the eye.

I’m looking forward to seeing full (& clear) pictures of the complete combined mode and will wait for those before I make any conclusions about the complete Combiner. Should be an interesting 2 years.

 

My question is, who will be the first to ko this guy and make a redeco of him into thomas the train.  

 

It’s closer to MP scale than this guy and is a direct competitor, think it’s fair to discuss both lol. Don’t worry, Takara raiden’s feelings won’t be hurt by the discussion.

 

No, they're not in every wet 3p fanboy dreams, i'm sorry. It's called reality, you can push your narrative as long you want, if this can feel you better. For now, there are two options: one in correct MP scale in component mode, and not in combiner mode. Another not in MP scale in component mode and not in combiner mode. Sorry, but again, reality calls.

 

This Takara one is about as a inaccurately scaled as the 3p option, They both have different modes that scale well to MP’s. That’s the reality. People want to discuss them because they are both MP’s.

 

No real world vehicle based Combiner will ever be to scale in all modes. No need to say which is better in that regard. They both are probably more accurate to scale in 1 mode but are not in the other modes.
Comparisons are good, we have at least two options for an MP Raiden at the moment. Discuss the differences without bias though. There’s no need to sh*t-talk the “other” option (whichever that is for each person) to try to reinforce someone’s own preference. Like what you like, buy what you prefer.

 

A bit off topic but I’m curious; were the combiner wars combiners scaled accurately?

 

No, it's not. Shouki is scaled correctly as Ironhide height, the other ones are highter than MP10, not much to say, Sorry. Maybe the one that is blatantly repeating the point "takara is not in scale,

 

Depends, most of them were pretty much the same standard 12” with Devestator randomly being 18” which definitely wasn’t in scale with them. I’m not sure if G1 combiners varied that much in height as from what I can tell, they generally were the same size.

 

MP scale is set by TakaraTomy, so theirs is in MP scale by default.

All evidence so far points to MPG Shouki’s robot mode matching his height in the animation scale chart. That’s been the basis of the MP scale since MP-10, with only a few exceptions, like Ultra Magnus.

 

Meant the combined mode is closer to MP scale. (Closer to those charts everyone uses for MP’s). And yes while Takara sets MP scale, they themselves said the combiner is UW scale, not MP scale.

 

They said that Raiden will have a size similar to Unite Warriors, true. They didn’t say it’s using the UW scale.

Regardless, anyone’s version has to choose one mode that will be “in scale”. We all know that combiners had some major mass shifting in the cartoon. We also know that “MP scale” is primarily based on the robot mode of individual characters.

So far, it seems that MPG scale is likely maintaining individual robot mode as a basis, which will naturally result in a combined mode that’s not in scale with the size chart since toys can’t grow like the cartoon did.

Besides, the official one is in MPG scale.