It's nice to get a little explanation for some of the decisions that have come out of Takara of late, even if they aren't exactly revelations. I'm not sure exactly what form of realism Mr. Kawamori subscribes to since, as others have already pointed out, the colors and some mold elements are less than truly realistic, at least compared to real F-15 aircraft. I don't hate MP-3 Starscream, but I don't like it enough to drop the money for it, and as I'm still pretty confident in Takara's penchant for repainting expensive molds to amortize the costs, I expect there will be a version I will feel better buying later on, whether a Takara toy with colors I like better, or a Hasbro release with a lower sticker price.

On the subject of Kiss-Play, I just wanna konw what kinda girls get paired with Rumble and Ravage!  

 

When the steak is $20, and the ground beef is $1.99, people get a bit more picky about factors that affect their own level of steak-enjoyment.

Hey, even people who absolutely LOVE Classics or Robotmasters Starscream unconditionally would almost certainly be royally ticked if MP Starscream was just a scaled-up version of one of those molds, because it's not "steak". There's a base level of expectation people have for the amount of money they spend, and some folks' expectations are set a little higher than others.

 

To draw that analogy correctly, what you need to do is this:

It's like we were shown a nice big, thick, juicy, flame-broiled steak with good spice rub and marinated overnight for several weeks, tantalized with the side-dishes it was going to come with. Then, after showing us this steak, suddenly it became pork chops with frozen green beans. Now, there's nothing wrong with a meal of pork chops and green beans, but most of us would have preferred getting that steak, and in fact had our steak knives all sharpened and ready for it. So, when the pork chops showed up, of course some of us were mildly upset. I mean, pork chops are even a different COLOR from steaks.

In all honesty, the mold isn't bad. But it isn't nearly as nice as the first mold we saw. Whatever reasons they have for making the changes, they won't ever fully justify those decisions to some folks, because the new mold looks worse in bot mode, and less realistic in jet mode.

I'm still curious enough I may give in and paint my own. Just to find out anime accurate paint is coming about two weeks after I finish.

 

Well, thats just it. If you remember the design sketch for this toy, it seemed very close to the G1 cartoon Starscream. It seemed like Has/tak had gotten to a place where they were able to faithfully recreate the G1 characters. There must have been a disconnect from paper to production.

 

Yes, I'm aware that this version doesn't represent any specific F-15. Still, for many persons who are not aircraft afficianatos, the fact that this design is slightly inaccurate is a relative non-issue. Again, I can only speak for myself, but I would rather have an F-15 that looks like a plane (even an inaccurate one), as opposed to one that has large portions of the robot-mode (which is multi-coloured to boot) exposed at the sides.

You can dismiss this mold as inaccurate if you please (I certainly am in no position to disagree), but your going to have a hard time convincing me that the earlier prototype with its exposed parts is somehow more accurate. Its true that this mold isn't an exact replica of an F-15, but how many F-15's have multi-coloured robotic parts hanging on the undersides of the wing?

Again, I can't agree. Yes, there were several sacrifices made to the robot mode (as well as a few improvements), but I don't think the vehicle mode suffered. I found the exposed elements on the original prototype to be disappointing. Moreover, the fact that those exposed elements would inevitably be painted blue didn't help the matter in my eyes. The Kawamori edit essentially makes Starscream look like a plane from a majority of angles, even if he isn't representative of any single F-15 type.

Those errors you continue to point out are not necessarily as jarring to other fans. As stated earlier, I still find the remold to be more convincing in aircraft mode. Starscream may not be as 'realistic' now, but to me his alt-mode is far more convincing, looking better from a greater variety of angles.

I actually agree with you about the hip kibble and poor colour choice, but its not something that will hold me back from purchasing this mold.

 

Uh, Shoji Kawamori worked on the original Diaclone toys that became the original Transformers toys. It doesn't get more original than that.

 

The disconnect was somewhere else. The first prototype came pretty close to matching the paper. It was the second hardcopy that sort of disconnected from the previous steps in the design. It was almost like they went back to the drawing board and started over after the first prototype stage. Which is an odd thing to do when people sounded real happy with where they were at that point.

At least, people outside the company were.

 

omg r u guys dissing on my MP3??!! i'ma cut youu beetches!!!!

*rollseye*

i am happy buying MP3 with the fugly colors and hip kibble and the stress marks and the light plastic and i'll buy the cartoon accurate one too.

helps i paid less than a 100 for it  

 

I think what's really important here is that we be reminded over and over again that the first mold was so much better than the new one and that the colours r teh sux0rz. I mean how else would we remember if someone didn't make it a point to piss on our cornflakes in every single MP-03 thread on this and every other board?

GREENY WHOSIT???? KIBBLE WHAT NOW?????

 

Mainly replying to blueandwhite:

While the newer mold is certainly smoother and more plane-ish to most people, to me it only highlights the inaccuracies. Think of it this way (I do):

Any robot part visible in plane mode is just that: a robot part. A concession needed to make it transform. It's why the chest and feet don't bug me much on the G1 toy. They have to be there. It's no different than a screw hole or something.

But with the new mold, they tried to make so many robot parts (especially the feet) blend in and LOOK like they were part of plane mode---but they're not, and they sure don't look like F-15 parts. But they look "integrated" and quite aircraft-ish---so to me, I no longer see them as "visible robot parts", but rather "parts from the wrong type of plane".

Also, a big part of my dislike isn't so much the actual changes themselves, but how they changed the robot mode. Conformal tanks? They themselves certainly don't ruin the fighter mode. BUT, they way they are split up and attached in robot mode--THAT ruins robot mode to me. I've always really liked the "points" at the bottom of the wings in robot mode--to me that's a pretty key part of the design. But now that they're up on the intakes, and 3x as large due to the conformal tanks attached--that just really messes up robot mode.

I would have been ok with the conformal tanks being there, if they didn't end up being on the hips and intakes. (I've mentioned many times my suggestion that they simply be a single large detachable piece--if you want to hide the arms in fighter mode, just stick them on in that mode, the same way 1:1 ones are stuck on the sides) Just don't make them permanently attached in odd bits stuck around robot mode parts. That would have been perfect---no conformal tank bits in robot mode, but very "hidden" robot parts in fighter mode. Of course, then we'd have complaints of people who hate removing parts to transform, even if they are "optional" parts.

Finally, with about 90% of the inaccuracies being on or brought about by the conformal tanks, that just makes me dislike them more. If they'd simply added the conformal tanks without making all the inaccuracies, again, I wouldn't mind them as much. Accurate conformal tanks would have been neat, especially if they were removable OPTIONAL parts for fighter mode---just like the Sidewinder missiles are an optional part for fighter mode to make it more realistic. But wrongly-sculpted permanently attached ones that mess with robot mode looks? Not appreciated.

Imagine how many complaints we'd get if there were no null-rays, and ONLY the realistic missiles. But if all the "realism enhancing" parts for fighter mode were optional/removable--we'd have the best of both worlds. Personally I'd like even more parts like that--give me some drop tanks, targeting pods, Sparrow missles, everything. Just don't permanently attach them to robot mode and alter the transformation to accomodate them.

 

Don't buy the toy (not now, not ever, not in any repaint, not in any Hasbro release) to show how much you disprove of the changes made and get on with your life. Posting them over and over for months wont change the mold (writing to Hasbro or Takara would be more usefull).

 

Now that is exaggerating.
The toy is the same, it just that the wings rest better in robot mode, it has added material to the arms and intakes, reworked abdomen and has changes the legs to move part of them to the hips (but you can still place them in the legs).

The correct way to do an analogy would be: "t's like we were shown a nice big, thick, juicy, flame-broiled steak with good spice rub and marinated overnight for several weeks, tantalized with the side-dishes it was going to come with. Then, after showing us this steak, suddenly it became..." the same steak just with the lower half cut in a different way and a string bacon attached around it. If to some the steak has turned to pork, then they should never buy the toy in any colour and be done with it.

If you want to apply the colour thing you would have the steak with a different sauce (which to some is a nice chance from the old one). The old sauce should be right around the corner, so I don't see a problem there.

 

i dont know about you guys, but i'm hankering for some meat right now :|

 

Posting on the boards is a better way to get to the development teams of Hastak than posting letters is. Letters don't get through customer services.

And I'm not buying the toy in this colour scheme (I don't actually mind the mold changes, just the colours). If it's released in the right colours I'll buy that. But just not buying something is a remarkably blunt instrument of telling a company you dislike an individual element. Takara might conclude from that that nobody wants Masterpiece toy rather than people hate the colour scheme.

To truely effect change you have to not buy it AND effectively feedback why.

Phazer

 

Which has already been done for months, nothing new is being added.

Only useful bits right now are the QC problems some people are having like the stress marks found in the feedback section.

And there are ways to get around costumer services. It just requires a more active approach. Anybody can post a complaint in a forum, it’s so easy and common that it ends up not being that important nowadays. Now, actively organising and pushing the complaints show that they are more than just internet bitching.
Doing other stuff like polls to effectively find WHAT is it that most people dislike is more useful than 12 pages of personal rants mostly by the same people (not many people like to post what has already been said). You put those results in the front page of every TF website and you will see more results.

And the colour thing is not an issue, it's Takara, they will milk the mold. They will more than happy try to sell you SS two time.

 

Lookie what I found.

Apears that many people were *gasp* wrong about those jets not being in that color. Even if you don't like the color. Can't say that it isn't realistic now.

 

Doesn't look green to me. :/

 

Looks like it to me.

 

Seriously? You should try some fiber. Most of us complaining about the mold are doing so fairly calmly. While you seem to be absolutely aghast that anyone, anywhere, dare have a complaint.

Personally, I don't hate the changes to the mold itself, as I've said several times over. I don't care for the colors. Colors can be changed, and it's not a big deal.

But do you truly believe that your harping on anyone daring to have a negative opinion is adding something more than the people pointing out the flaws in this particular release? Even toys I absolutely adore I don't have a problem stating the things that are wrong with it, or seeing someone else state negative opinions. For instance, I haven't bothered jumping down the throat of anyone daring to say MP03 is better than any Valkyrie ever released, despite the fact that I don't believe that to be true.

Or is this more a last word type of thing?

 

Honestly...Star SCream is the kind of beautiful that I pose, star at for a few hours, an d have trouble making myself pose again, becuase he looks so damn good. When I finally decide to repostion or transform him, the process starts all over. He's just that great to have sitting next to you.

1000% recomended, hip kibble, color and all.

I feel like SS was modified fromt he earlier, more show accurate mode based on an artists intuition. MP SS is different and better than any truly show accurate toy is, he has evolved to be better, more beuatiful than that design could ever be. MP SS is a higher class toy than he otherwise would have been, and I appreciate that.