A shitpost. He's got something obnoxious/funny in mind. Love a good shitpost.

 

This is it exactly. I have figures from Takara MPs, Hasbro, Zeta, XTB, Keiths, the FT astrotrain KO, TE01, MPP10, etc.

It’s not based on a feeling or subjective. The plastic is not good quality and for me feels on par with cheap gundam KOs you find in Chinatown shops.

Almost like model styrene plastic that stress cracks easily. I have not even transformed him to alt mode and I already see white corner stress marks on the backpack hinges where the pins were inserted, and the corners of the top panel that goes between the cab windows.

Like others have said. The robot mode has awesome articulation and is great save for some design items, but the plastic choice is not of premium quality that I think would call for the current price point.

 

Finally, FINALLY got around to looking at Magic Prime and putting him through his paces. And to be honest... I was a bit harsh on this guy.

(TE left, MS mid, MP44 KO right)


I realise that a lot of my initial distaste was due to having TE Prime for so long it's coloured my expectations of what Prime should look like (in this case, a broader torso, smaller head and a more orange tinted red). The details and sculpt in the upper body are much softer than either MP44 or TE, which does kind of give it a "cheap" look, but once you've played around with it and gotten used to to the style, it actually looks really nice. Proportions are overall excellent and pose-ability is great, which is what I was after from this figure from the start. TE Prime is a like a statue in comparison, lacking thigh swivels and having clunky, wide ratchets that limit movement (plus I'd totally forgotten that I had to buy a 3D printed piece for TE Prime just to give him a bloody neck). I'd say that in terms of range of movement, MS is on par with MP44 (the KO anyway), but I've not tested that much due to fear of breaking those shitty MP44 knees. Of particular note is the superb head sculpt on MS Prime (on a ball peg for maximum range), and the solid but fully articulated hands and fingers, and I cannot stress how much I appreciate a Prime that can point and gesture convincingly.



Transformation is fairly simple compared to TE and MP44, but the process felt a bit tense, mainly because It just doesn't feel solid in hand. I've not had an strains or breakages, and the plastic might be perfectly fine for all I know, but it certainly doesn't feel that way during transformation. Besides, the results are distinctly... meh. Your mileage may vary of course, but truck mode looks a bit crap to my eyes. That soft, undefined look really hides the details (hard to show on my shite camera) and makes the whole thing look like a fisher price toy. Plus the cab seems squashed in at the front. In contrast, TE looks great in truck mode, with solid proportions and tons of details that don't compromise the bot mode. That's just my preference, though; I like my alt modes to look like an actual vehicle.



On the negative side, there's no disguising the fact that MS is incredibly light in hand. Joints are tight, and the figure seems sturdy enough, but the feet are floppy and the whole thing just feels iffy in hand. I can't help but feel that a decent coat of paint, at least for the red portions of the body, would do wonders for this figure. The plastic used looks out of focus, if you follow me, and has the effect of obscuring the angles of the sculpt and hiding the details. Speaking of details, the eyes on MS are part of the face sculpt (as opposed to a separate, removeable piece), and painted really poorly with a matt blue. I'd recommend getting some glossy or metallic blue paint and painting over them yourself, since the brow of his head places the eyes in shadow and you need something to make them stand out. A small detail, but it works wonders.

After all that, I have to say that this is probably my Prime of choice right now. Better proportioned and more poseable than TE, cleaner and more cohesive than the messy MP44, and easier to transform than either. I'm not a fan of truck mode, and the whole thing feels... I have to say it: Cheap. Especially when he's in proximity to painted figures. A coat of paint would do wonders for this figure, which I dare say will be coming at some point in the future. Buuut still, all in all, this a soft recommend from me. It's not a massive upgrade, but I do feel it's an upgrade from TE none the less, albeit a flawed one. The search for the perfect Prime continues...

Oh, and MP44 can piss right off.

 

The joints do look a slightly different color.

Someone with painting skills should try painting the figure to see how it looks. This might be a good way to test if the material is easy to paint or not.

 

Add me to the club with no broken anything. I was highly anticipating this figure and for the most part, it did not disappoint. I have very few minor qualms in regards to certain engineering decisions but overall I’m loving him. Bring on the Nemesis recolor.

 

Yes, mine says that too.

 

the materials is disappointing

i cancelled my pre-order it just is nto any better then the TE-01 and KO mp44 i already have and the negatives to me out weigh the few positives

 

Mine arrived from ShowZ yesterday. Long story short, I like him.

I absolutely get why so many think there's a certain cheapness to it all but in no way do I feel that the plastic is weak or brittle. Take a gander at WeiJiangs Warbotron Bruticus OS KO and you'll quickly understand what real cheapness feels like. God, I'm so glad to've gotten rid of that thing.

Anyways, no broken smokestacks. Instead, the right smokestack is missing chrome on the spruemark. Also, WTF happened to his chest? Looks like Ravage got at him  

 

I feel like this figure has gorilla hands and the giant forearms kind of hide that. Definitely not a good look when you take a minute to compare it with the rest of his arm then with his whole body.

His hand is bigger than his head...makes his fingers freakishly long and almost kind of creeps me out.

 

That doesn't mean it's premium anyway! Maybe MS-01's materials would not work on MS-02 and vice versa! I keep reading people who criticize the material used but still, no signs of breakage. I have other "premium" figures that would break in some areas with what seems to be higher quality plastic...

Oh okay, I guess I didn't read it that way. Thanks for enlighting me, again!

Great objective review! Although MP-44's knees don't break, they just turn into friction joints if operated badly. This knee design is actually pretty clever. I understand you don't like MP-44 but you actually enjoy MS-02 when it actually has the automatic hipskirt feature MP-44 introduced... Maybe you shouldn't be that harsh with it.

I thought of that from all the pictures we actually see. I guess that's actually weird looking.

 

He looks like he should be doing a hot tub stream on Twitch.

 

I see your flirtatious Prime and raise you this.

 

Hanging out with his little buddies.

 

I don’t normally buy decals for my MP scale figures, but I’d love to see what Toyhax comes up for this guy. Could definitely use some decals for those lifeless eyes.

 

Shouldn’t he be facing the other way?

 

Or looking inside the dryer???  

 

Shame we can only "Like" once.