It would have been nice if they gave him some filler panels for the lower legs sides/rear. Back with MP-12, I found it ingenious how Tamara made Sideswipe not look hollow by using some additional panels on his legs.

 

It’s cause for concern but the good thing is it looks like it’s limited to just the outer panels and windows of the train. I’d be worried if any of the robot mode joints were made out of translucent plastic but that doesn’t look that’s the case here so far.

 

Current estimates are 17-18cm in bot mode. For comparison, I just checked MP Sunstreaker and Ironhide and they are respectively 16 and 21.5cm, so Shouki seems to be slightly bigger than a carbot.

 

It's always fun when people talk (write) about something they clearly don't know anything about...  

#CHUGCHUGCHUGUTSCHUGMOMMY

 

C'mon Crancky, take it to the fridge!
B-B-Bing Hand, CHUG, twelve inch height
Backpack, not painted, and clear plastic shell!
Ahh yeah!

 

THey?  ( I think I got it now  )

In general, for those who really really really don't like this and the rest of the team, so simple, just walk away and do a Frozened Elsa. 

Remember MP Arcee? When first images of her came out, her face was like  
But on hand, actual fig processed by natural eyes, she came out Satoshi U gorgeous! 

 

You're being provided with the animation reference model, which is literally his intended appearance, plus stills from the show where he looks in line with that reference model, but you still claim 'Shouki looks nothing like that'??? I don't even understand your argument at this point! And no, digging out that one scene where all six Trainbots were shown together and they were all drawn with the same slender proportions (and Daniel was half the height of Ultra Magnus  ) wont help. That is inaccurate, not the mountain of other sources.

I did not say scale alone qualifies him as MP. I listed six characteristics that indicate he is made to MP standards. Again...

- MP scale for bot mode
- Without typical CHUG hollowed out waffle board thighs and other cost saving shortcuts
- Multiple point hand articulation
- Fully painted
- Painstakingly accurate licensed alt mode
- Die cast parts

And I'd add...

- MP transformation complexity/parts count
- Highly toon accurate appearance

So far you tried unsuccessfully to refute his scale, and also his appearance. What about the other points? Show me a CHUG with all the above features, or even just most, and we can entertain the notion Shouki is made to mainline standards, not MP.

 

they really should just show us a prototype of the combine mode

 

Surely he cant be only 12 - 13"? That would be crazily small.

 

We've already done the estimates and measurements, and the 12" height seems to check out, unless the teaser silhouette is skewed in some way.

It's been brought up many times throughout this thread already, but that's just a reality of how the design functions.

You can already see it with Shouki himself. Despite having a ~12" long train mode, most of that length gets compressed on itself to create a bulkier robot torso instead, that's only about as tall as just the cockpit/nosecone section of the train, less that 1/3 of its total length. And that's the way a lot of the toy's engineering seems to be going. Raiden's animation model is pretty bulky, but it's based on the original toys that have slightly "chibi" vehicle modes. MPG Raiden has realistically-proportioned alt-modes instead, so most of them are long and skinny. So to not have a combined mode that looks like a weird noodle-man, a lot of the toy's mass appears to compress on itself to create bulk, instead of height. The result being a surprisingly-short combined mode.

 

You can trybto justify the awful price all you want but an 18cm transformer should not be 200.

I'd like to add the cost cutting measures you described are totally present. Those legs are awful, hollow with random bits hanging off.

 

Practicalities aside, its a shame that after all this time waiting for an MP combiner it is something that is never going to fit into an MP collection in combined mode. I hope the information is wrong somehow as I would like the chance for an official combiner in my collection. Wont happen for a £1000 set that cant be displayed combined though..

 

I can almost guarantee that if they do any other Combiner other than Raiden, it will not end up as short as this. It's a design sacrifice that's unique to the constraints of Raiden's design, in conjunction with their licensing.

 

He's the same MSRP as MP Hound who's even shorter, smaller in alt mode, no third mode... Yeah MP pricing is high, we know that, but that's the reality.

 

Ah ok understood, well thats more promising then if other combiners wouldnt necessarily be scaled in combined mode to Raiden.

Hes 40% more expensive than Hound in the UK. That being said given SS pricing I dont think anyone should be surprised at this point!

 

£91 at anime export, plus delivery. I usually pay £8 - £15 for the slow one. Not been hit by customs yet. Really big mark up at kapow this time. Wonder why? Brexit?

 

Wow that is a massive discount, even if VAT paid on arrival.

Kapow has been significantly more expensive for a while now, I am assuming either due to higher overheads or maybe even a pricing agreement with Hasbro given their supplier status as per the Unicron funding. Kapow's MP prices are consistently £25 more than Omegalock (/TF Express).

Edit: just checked 3P products between the two and Kapow has a £15 - £25 mark up across the board seemingly so I am discounting the Hasbro pricing agreement theory.

 

They both had the same original Japanese MSRP of 19800 JPY (including Japanese tax). Sadly Shouki only hit 20% discount at the usual places while Hound got the typical 30%, plus things have changed drastically in the UK, so I'm sure what you report is right, though I haven't looked at UK pricing. I'd always use Japanese retailers even when I was still in UK.

He's still no.1 top seller on AE, and #11 in AJ 'action figure statues' (??), so must be selling well.

 

Blimey just looked at the prices for starscream on kapow.

Kapows pricing for this one is in line with ID toys. Cheapest dealer I could find in the UK is £150. Can't see it on omegalock.

 

Omegalock had it for £190 before, not sure where it went, might be on the old TF Express site before Brexit led to the website split.