Finally. Glad for those who have been waiting for him to appear, but still a hugely predictable character for MP-58, imo. As for a Jan 24th release ... hmmm. Every time it seems like Takara have decided to ramp up the speed of the mainline MP releases, they revert back to the glacial pace again, happy to let things coast after they drop a big release (in this case, Skyfire.) Then they slowly circle back with a retool or a repaint 5-6 months down the line to debut the next calendar year. I'd personally like to see them mix that business model up a bit instead, maybe serving up some double-whammys in more rapid-fire succession. Two months after Skyfire comes out then bang! An insecticon, Galvatron or V2 Soundwave silhouette to keep things interesting. I suppose you could argue Raiden is bubbling away in the background still, but it ain't exactly Devastator, and feels like a different line entirely to the core G1 MP in terms of how MPG is marketed, even though they're technically still part of the same MP family. But clearly, Hoist alone is not enough for the remaining 7 months of 2023. You need a BIG name character like Jazz, Mirage or a (non-Grimmy) Dinobot to really get the buzz back into the line. The first official MP triple changer? Something really WOW, and different. As for it not being CJ after that prototype existing for an age, hopefully he's been delayed to retool the tennis racket feet. My guess is they took a look at Parkour and felt that same portion of the retooled Bumblebee design just wouldn't be enough for it to compare favourably (even though I actually prefer the headsculpt and overall look of that prototype from the front in this instance.)
Nope, I think they're genuinely tweaking the feet on that Cliffjumper, or some part of the design. I also think it was legit. I don't think what 3P does holds massive sway over how TakTom approaches or preps their products for the market, but equally I don't think the idea of their designers looking at aspects of FT products or comparable figures from time to time is a flight of fancy. *Cue announcement tomorrow of MP-59 Cliffjumper with unaltered tennis racket feet.*
Blast effect is clear enough, not sure what the item in between the mask and the cartoon bumper is any guesses?
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! Looks like he still has the weird shoulders though, so that's a bit of a bummer.
Looks like he still has the wonky shoulder tops, but is looking good. Two more to go .....and then they can redo Tracks
yeah it must be the Robotic Insecticide. Hoist is in that episode and is on screen when Skids utters that line. An accessory that should’ve come with Bumblebee or maybe a future Cosmos, I guess it’s good it’s finally gonna exist anyway!
Looks far better than Trailbreaker, though I don’t like the t-top roof, which imitates an error in translating the toy design into the animation model. Open windows would be fine with me, but the Hilux didn’t have a roof like that. It looks like an unfinished or broken toy.