You mean "half of the obscure ones that Hasbro/TakaraTomy haven't done yet", right?

If you're talking specifically the Masterpiece line, there's a lot more riding on the character decisions there than simply "I want it". For a high-price, low-production line like Masterpiece, they're not just going to go and throw out anybody and everybody, no matter how much a handful of fans vocally pitch their votes for them.

 

Yeah, I'm guessing we'll get that Sunstorm as some sorta eHobby deal, then maybe Magnus, then Thundercracker for those who didn't go for it the last time... then... MP-10 Black, Ultra Magnus, MP-10 Black with Battle Armor, Skywarp, Ghost Starscream, Teeny Tiny Galvatron who, like MP-10, is shorter than Rodimus [cause we'll never get one that's as tall as MP-01 because that would be awesome], some sorta 80's toy styled eHobby version of Galvatron, MP-10 Sleep Mode... MP-10: You know you'll buy this version too, another Rodimus will get thrown in there too and then, maybe Ramjet.

So, not to kill the joy of the counter above, but this is a Masterpiece Line. While I agree that this means characters like, I don't know, Swerve and Autojetter may never make the cut, there should be some degree of catering to the fans that are supporting the line with purchases, handful or otherwise.

Now granted, I can't get enough of MP-01. But I would gladly trade the last MP-01 Final Edition and MP-10 for Galvatron, Shockwave, Soundwave of course. I hardly think that any of those are obscure characters to the adult collectors who purchase this line. An honest to God MP-02 Ultra Magnus [which would, oddly enough, please both the fans and Takara we'd get the armor, they'd get a Prime Repaint] would be nice too. You know, you can defend character choices all you want on the logic of cost to the company, but there's no reason to be making excuses for Takara's lack of producing new figures for this line dedicated to collectors who are willing to spend more for good, high end merchandise.

Think about it, we're officially on MP-11 with the retooled Starscream, what's led up to that?

MP-01 Prime, Convoy
MP-02 Magnus
MP-03 Starscream
MP-04 Prime finally with a trailer and still not complete
MP-05 Megatron missing stock and supressor and he got a second release still missing all the good stuff for his alt mode.
MP-06 Skywarp
MP-07 Thundercracker
MP-08 Grimlock, missing a lot of the items shown in the prototype images, but wait,
MP-08x King Grimlock with a lot of those gimmicky little items that we were missing the first time
MP-01B Black Convoy
MP-01 Sleep Mode
MP-01 Final Edition
MP-09 Rodimus, awesome figure, terrible shoulders full of defects
MP-09 Second release, surprise, no one's gonna trade out your first buggy figure for the new, better one so buy it again
MP-09B Black Rodimus
MP-03G Ghost Starscream was in there somewhere
MP-10 a whole new Prime Mold, somewhat more show accurate, complete, but so, so small that Rodimus stands taller
MP-11 Starscream with more of the original prototypes design
MP-XX Proposed Sunstorm

That's 17 [19 if you count the second attempt Rodimus and rumored Sunstorm] figures using only seven molds. One of those being a retooled design that probably only happened because a third party company made the original look bad. And only ten of those releases are actual different characters.

Not to mention the fact that Takara then sells the molds to Hasbro who uses them too which surely helps to offset the costs.

Anyway, all the above rambling basically boils down to the fact that I don't see it as absurd for fans to demand more from a line declaring itself Masterpiece than a bunch of Prime and Starscream repaints.

 

Dear God, Go with the one on the Right, Make him more G1 accurate that way he'll blend with the other Masterpiece figs. Please............... They look fantastic.

 

Oh I fully agree with you, I would love an official MP Shockwave (christ knows I bang on about it enough!!) but I know a third party will get there first. The guys making this have said they'll be looking at him IIRC.

Truth.

For the demograph the line is aimed at Soundwave, Shockwave, Galvatron, Ultra Magnus etc are not obscure in the slightest and would sell by the shit load.

Thankfully third parties are taking up the slack and I for one am grateful.

 

Sir, your post is at or was at the end of the thread... What's "the one on the Right" do you mean in you post?

 

I think he means the old proto versus the new one. The ones calling for the one on the right are gonna be disappointed......

 

I'm disappointed with Tak/bro but I'm very happy to see this.

50$ and I'm good.

 

Not.A.Chance.

 

Agreed. If a Third Party MP could sell for $50, then HasTak would have a lot to explain about their pricing.

 

$100 is the target price quoted last year. That was before they added laserbeak to the package.

 

How about $50 for the KO version?  

 

Official ones went for 20$ CAD on rebate at Walmart.

Makes you wonder what the real cost is of MPs.

 

$50 dollars will never happen. You are looking to spend $100 minimum, which in my opinion is a very reasonable price.

 

Nah... im talking about just the main characters from the G1 series "DONE WELL". I am tired of seeing all the seekers/jets. I would love to have a full set of dinobots as well all scaled accordingly to the MP 10 optimus.

 

In the cabbage patch thread in Gen Discussion I read that when you clearance an item, say for $20 but you paid , say $50 for it Habsro refunds the $30 to Walmart.

The numbers are made up but the point is when they clearance for for under the value the production company foots the difference. With MP'S selling for about $90 in Canada I auume TRU and the likes pay about $45.

The real sad part is that they foresee a $100 price tag on this, add lazerbeak and you are looking at about $115. The fact that this is going to beat or match an offical MP price makes you wonder just how much official MPs are and just how much TT is marking them up. $150 for a slight remould of a figure that has already seen at least 4 official releases makes no sense to me.

The way I see it. HasTak had many mnay years to put out Soundwave and instead they went back to Prime and Starscream. I welcome 3rd party groups to fill in the void that HasTak refuses to do and does so with lame excuses.

 

What is this rebate thing you're talking about?

 

Well put.

 

Soundwave does not require a ton of engineering for his transformation in comparison to other figures in the MP line. He turns into a rectangle, and he's supposed to look pretty boxy in robot mode too. He doesn't need nearly the number of articulated parts as, say, MP Megatron did.

I would bet it would cost an awful lot more to develop and produce an MP-scale figure that's more complex. This Soundwave's more reasonable price point is likely because it just didn't cost so terribly much to develop. The tapes are likely more difficult to engineer than a transforming rectangle; even the G1 version of Soundwave got it almost perfect. All we're looking at here are some scaling and proportional changes with increased articulation. It really makes you cringe to think that HasTak passed on making an official version, because their MP team could likely have worked out the basic design elements within a matter of days and gotten a prototype in less than a month, and they would have sold very well.

That said...give me Soundwave looking this good and including at least one cassette at any price below $150 and I'll be all over it. Over that and I'll still do it, I'll just grumble a little.

 

Aren't the tapes themselves....transforming rectangles.

 

@ Rahvin. I agree completely. The nature of Soundwave is that his transformation is simple and there is no way around it. It is what it is and it works very well. BUT if HasTak were to produce him, and all his limited engineering required, do you think he will be less than $150? Nope. So to have a 3rd party take advatage of SW's simplicity and to put out a MP figure at official MP prices is pure genious.