If someone could please post some alt mode shots with other TFs, I would be most appreciative.

 

Since prime was the first created he set the scale for all MP's. Which means any MP's that follow have to revolve around his scale. Also the smaller they are the harder it is to make the transformations more complex (ex megatron). I do agree though that the prime is rather awkward looking but thats mainly due to the large legs they gave him especially his fat ass thighs. If the thighs were thiner and white like on the cartoon he would look a whole lot better.

 

By that logic all mainline Transformers should revolve around G1 Optimus Prime's scale, no? I guess they've been failing since the very beginning then since the minibots, for example, were obviously not to scale.

For those of you who are demanding that Grimlock has to be bigger than MP Prime, would you even buy the thing if it was that size and carried the necessary price tag of $300 or so? Because you can't get what you want at the current MP Grimlock price point. Toys have gotten more expensive to produce. It sucks, but that's the way it is. Personally I'd rather see these high-end toys continue to be released at a higher price than see them die completely.

 

They have been falling scale wise since the begining which is why MP's are supposedly where that line is drawn (i.e masterpiece). And What makes people think a size accurate version of Grimlock would cost $300 especially when the MP-04 prime WITH TRAILER didnt even cost that much? Just because it would double in size doesnt mean it would cost double the money. Its a great figure and all but it didnt take nearly as much engineering or diecast as MP Megatron or starscream, and if anything a larger figure is what the extra $50 should've covered. Every other MP cost $100, grimlock cost $150. Im still not so sure why we're paying more money for less of a figure. Japans economy isnt hurting nearly as bad as ours is and the MP Prime doesnt even cost that much and he's the heaviest with the most diecast and has the most features (communicator, moving mouth, lights, removeable matrix, leg ehausts and 2 guns). So theres really no justification for Grimlock's current price tag or lack in size.

 

No offense dude, but you don't have a grasp of how economics and finance play a role here. For example, Japan's economy entered into recession before ours did...they rely on exports much more than we do, and because of unwinding carry trades, the japanese yen is stronger vs. all major currencies, which makes japanese products more expensive to import, meaning less revenue for the japanese economy.

There's also another post I made on the futility of comparing costs as of economic conditions of 3 years ago (the "every other MP" mold) and costs which include the record highs of oil prices (MP Grimlock).

I understand you're upset about the pricepoint, but people really need to stop looking at it from 1 point of view, and actually sit back and think about what's going on in terms of prices, this year vs. last year vs. the year before, etc., not just "oh it's the same size as x, so it should cost the same as x."

Taken to the extreme, that same argument would say "because MP Grimlock is as big as G1 Trypticon, he should cost as much as Trypticon cost in stores"

 

Actually, I think more people wanted Grimlock the same size as MP Prime than wanted him larger. Hmm, maybe someone should do a poll asking about that to really gauge the fandom's thoughts. a) should be taller, b) should be the same size, c) is perfect, d) should have been called Classics Grimlock and been $70 cheaper to fit in with the line I'll display him with anyway.

The cost doesn't bother me so much - I acknowledge the world market has changed and yes, I would pay an extra $50 for having Grimlock eye-to-eye with Prime. As the ONLY line I'm collecting at the moment I'd love to know where it's going next (so I can bitch and moan again   ).

It's funny. Had TT/Hasbro done this right and actually made this Classics Grimlock, leader-class, then they would have sold more units (I assume - don't have sales figures on Classics or MPs to hand) and therefore he could have cost less and there'd be far less bitching. Everyone would have won! Having seen the new Movie Prime leader-class figure that looks WAY more complex than MP Grimlock I can't imagine that the development costs for Grimmy would have been more than those for the movie figs. Granted, the movie line probably sells better but a Classics Grimlock like this? Who wouldn't want that?!

Anyway, what's done is done. I just wish we could get another one of those interviews with the toy developers themselves to understand where the MP line is going and why.

 

Is that so? Can you point me to the documentation where Takara claims, "We've had enough of this scale problem in the Transformers line! We've invented a new line called Masterpiece that will once and for all remedy this problem with scale. Everything released under our Masterpiece banner will be perfectly in scale with one another."

Masterpiece generally just means a 'definitive' and high-end toy for a particular character. Almost everything else people say about it is just imposed on the line by fan speculation.

So you really think a big company like TakaraTomy doesn't have meetings where they try to decide how to best release a product that will please their customers yet maximize their profits? The simple truth is that if you're not in the industry you probably don't know a lot of the reasons things are done the way they are and might not even understand if they were explained to you. I'm including myself there. I have no idea what goes on in the planning stages, but I do know that it takes a good amount of intelligence and smart decisions to not just keep a company going these days but to keep them relevant and competitive. I highly doubt that in the current world economy TakaraTomy would just arbitrarily slap a high price tag on a toy without reason.

In the end, Grimlock is probably going to be a good seller for TakraTomy. If you don't like the price, wait for the US release and pay a little less (although I can almost guarantee you it will be close to $100) or wait to buy one used. Don't like the size? Learn to deal with your misplaced sense of entitlement and your suppositions of scale. It sucks you didn't get what you wanted, but nobody promised you anything.

 

Woah, awesome scale. Though, they really could have made the legs more musky,