How slavish? Not at all if it comes down to it. All I care is that the figure looks good while still paying homage to the g1 character. Screw that "Has to be 110% G1/Sunbow or forget it!" garbagio.

 

My collection is one huge mish-mash, though mostly skewed towards G1 MPs (and 3Ps) and movie toys.

G1 because of nostalgia - Transformers was my favourite show and my favourite toys as a kid.

Movie toys because I like the real life vehicles and the more detailed looks of the robots (more mechanics, cogs, bolts, etc.).

I buy whatever I like so any updated MP versions, like J4zz, who's a modern day Porsche, I'll happily buy. Or "MP" movie toys for that matter. Loved the leader classes, the Human Alliance line and KO oversized Evasion Mode Optimus Prime (my favourite figure to date with a huuuge distance to second placed Leader Class Buster Optimus Prime).

 

Not terribly slavish at all.

 

G1 is the only reason I even have an MP Collection. Slavish? I prefer to think of it as satisfying.

 

So slavish I only allow 2D figures

The term slavish is stupid though. If you hired a painter to paint you, would you say I want you to slavishly depict me in this work? If a piece of work is intended to be someone or something it should be as close as possible simply because that's how you do it. Obviously if it's a "new take" on something this doesn't apply and varying results may occur.

 

Super super well said.

 

My MP Collection started with Sideswipe and MP-10. So I'm particularly fond of that mix of toy detailing and cartoon aesthetic. The current TakaraTomy offerings have swung far too much toward cartoon accuracy for my taste, so I've gone to the 3rd Parties for new stuff.

That said, I have gone in for guys like Hexatron and I want Carnifex... so when you get to Cybertronian alt-modes, I'm a little more forgiving of G1 accuracy in favor of a good representation of the character. For Hexatron, tho, I did get Continuum, so I have the G1 looking head.  

But Earth mode characters need to have the right alt-modes for the time period. Generation Toys' J4zz does *nothing* for me, no matter how cool the robot mode is.

 

With the Masterpiece line growing into Beast Wars I hope that some other lines will be tapped as well. I love the G1 cartoon look toys, but for me transformers is more than just G1, it's all those iterations. Some characters deserve a cool Masterpiece representation. I would even go as far and hope that some more Masterpiece movie figures would be released.

iDD

 

I don't mind - in fact I prefer - a mix of cartoon, original G1 toy, real life details, and even a bit of comic, be it original Marvel G1, Dreamwave or even IWD to a certain degree.

The Sunbow look is primarily what I'm looking for, especially in terms of proportions; if it deviates from that (it pretty much has to in order to not look like a Heroes of Cybertron-type figure), that's great, but details should come from one of the above mentioned primary sources.

 

Anything from super toon-centric (Shockwave, Ironhide) to more detailed but still very, very clearly evocative of the cartoon (MP-10, Soundwave) is fine with me. I don't insist on either approach.

And for some characters I'm even willing to depart more than that. E.g. Titan Devastator for my MP Devy. It looks close enough, all things considered.

That's as far as I can go though lol. I have considered some other takes on characters in the past (came close to pulling the trigger on DX9's not-Blitzwing) but had to stop myself. I need that G1 flavor to be there in spades, whether it's 100% toon centered or just highly evocative of it. It can't stray too far.

 

YUP!

 

I'm all about the cartoon accuracy, but at the same time I rather like the embellishments made during the MP-10 era. I like to think of it as using the cartoon design as a starting point and then adding some real world details on top of it. Call it "toon plus."

I'm also willing to forgive some minor things, like MP Thundercracker being a darker blue than on the show. I like that it's a different blue than what is on Starscream.

 

Pretty much this. I've been pointing this out for a while now when people start preaching "MP is all about Sunbow". Too slavish to only one source is only going to hurt the line. The toys had their faults. The cartoon defiantly had it's faults. Take what's good about both and mix in a little anime flare and BAM!!!... MP-10. That's what makes Masterpiece what it is.... or was.

Unfortunately, this is where my collection is going. Takara has lost touch of what MP was, at least from an aesthetic point of view. They are just not leading the way anymore. Even when it comes to Sunbow "toon" accuracy (which I do not care for), FansToys is leading on that front.

From an engineering point of view, DAMN they can still surprise. I'm not fond of how Takara's Inferno "looks" but it blows my mind that the ladder tucks into the body. But this is not exclusive to Takara. Toyworld's Scavenger and Bonecrusher also have that Masterpiece moment with how they engineered the legs. Working treads AND working leg joints. That whole set is, in my view, Masterpiece.

 

I like their Inferno and Grapple, but one must wonder how thin and fragile that ladder is going to be.

 

Mix of all influences for me. Important factors in order are fun to transform, ballpark size (but not slavish to scale chart), good alt and bot modes. On the alt modes especially I'm open them being updated. Like J4ZZ is nailing Jazz, but they updated him a bit. Very clearly Jazz in both modes but they switched up a few details and updated the outer shell. I just can't bind myself to restrict it to a collection based on what a lazy animator could do in the 80s. We've got 30 years of improvements that we can lean on.

 

I might be in the Minority here, but I seem to buy whichever Version of the characters that look the best to me. I really don't care as much about "Toon" accuracy as I do with Engineering and Detail. However, every once in a while I do buy Figures like UT's Allen, that are almost painfully lacking in detail, yet look so close to their '80s "animation-alter-ego" that I just can't pass on them. So, I guess I'm just a little conflicted on my outlook.

 

For *my* collection, it comes down to nostalgia. I didn't have many of the toys, but enjoyed the cartoon, so would prefer more toon cues in general. I agree that the cartoon was under detailed and at times, oddly shaped, so some practical refinement is in order for many characters. I had G1 Slag, so I've given my Scoria the clear dino head. I didn't have Inferno, so I love the MP. It is nice to have options.

I have similar preferences in other lines...for instance, I love the filmation he-man and skeletor and am eagerly looking forward to the SHF Ninja Turtles all because of their show accuracy

 

When I only had G1s as a child I wanted them to look like the toon. Years later, with the classics, I wanted the same, so I tried to customize them a little bit or paint a touch here and there. I loved the first MPs but they were just a bunch of unscaled bots, so I didn't try to mix them until Igear Faith Leader arrived. Then MP10 arrived and I didn't like him, but then I saw that he was the cohesive restart of the MP series, so I got him and learnt to love him (though I still collapse his arms a little not to look like a monkey). All my life looking for cartoon accuracy but the toy/toon compromise of designs like Grimlock, MP10 or Soundwave won me.

Now, from MP Tracks, I am confused. I never thought I'd think a bot was too toony, but I do. I like the new designs a lot but I think they don't match the old ones. MP Inferno is beauty, but he should be displayed with Tracks and the van bros, because if I want to display that character with MP10, he may look bland and I may prefer XTB's take. The same for v2 Megatron, he is genius, but he does not match MP10 aesthetics, and unless they make a new toony Prime, I'll keep Apollyon to fight MP10. I also suffered the Shockwaves dilemma, Quakewave was solid but his legs did't scream Shockwave to me, and Laserwave, though a bit skinny legged, has a bulky chest and hits the right notes to me. But now that I have seen Laserwave and Megatron curvy and accurate legs, I look at the seekers and their legs look nothing like what they should, they seem blocky as Quakewave's, and kibly, so I want new designs for them. FT dinos match MP10, but I try to imagine what kind of dinobots could design TT now and I think they will be very different.

So, answering the thread question, I always prefered toon predomination but I am happy with toy detailed toon or pure toon, but I'd like all my MPs were the same damn style.

 

Yep, this is my standing. I want the MP line to be the toys that my childhood imagination transformed those old G1 brickformers into. (Said in love - I still love my G1 toys.)

Every once in a while, I'll come across a G1 toy from my childhood that I haven't played with in decades, and I'm struck by how different it is from how I remember it. Then I realize that my memory has morphed together the actual toy and the cartoon, and the adventures on our porch as the kid from down the street brought over his Transformers and we waged battle.

When a Masterpiece figure is done right, I look at it, I hold it in my hands, and I transform it... and I remember it... even though it never physically existed before.

It is like magic.

 

Mp scale = mp figure?

If that's the case they just have to be good toys that appeal to me in some way and be related to the subject matter of transformers.

They can be any style honestly.