Awesome pics, does anyone know if it has the same loose hip tab problem as the regular MS seekers?

 

this picture had me at the Great Mazinger 1969 box behind. once a Mazinger Z fan, always a Mazinger Z fan LOL

 

No? They are in a loose bag. Don't tell me they are pre-order bonus again.

 

I hope not. Mine are still on the way from ShowZ (slow boat) and I'll be disappointed if I don't get the bombs.

 

Now I cannot unsee this. These forums are a double-edged sword 

 

Seriously?! Well crap, yeah, I checked the packaging and the box it came in, no bag of bombs. If it isn't a bonus and they're supposed to come with them, I really have crappy luck with MS- first missing Viewfinder and having an extra Spyglass in the Diaclone Reflector set, the missing pin on Soundblaster, now this? I guess I'll check with TCP, they're prolly sick of hearing from me by now.

Loose hip tab problem? Like the set of hinges in the hip that fold in and out for transformation? They don't feel loose at least. If I hold them by the chest, the lower body seems to stay in place.

 

You have the worst luck with MST. Maybe you are a NA kind of guy.  

There's a separate bag:



I thought it was standard cos cluster bombs are the coneheads' signature look. I now vaguely recall a Chinese reviewer say they are pre-order bonus.

 

Well dang, yeah, that was definitely not in the box. If it is a pre-order bonus, then its kinda silly that the box itself actually has pics of them with the cluster bombs. What are the replacement Starscream head and intakes for?

 

They are for MS-B18 Optimus Prime.

 

Ah, I was guessing that may be it. I'm kinda amused they did such a thing- like yeah, MP-44 had those, but I didn't think too many people were clamoring for pieces to do the Starscream disguised as Optimus thing at a legends scale. Yet they didn't bother with trailers for Nemesis or SG Optimus Prime!

 

Interesting. I got them (yes, the exact pieces) with Starscream's coronation gear, and was wondering what the hell they were for.

 

Thanks for the great pics and comparisons, as a MS and NA collector, its good to see these side by side.

I feel like NA is doing better on the robot front, maybe not over all fit and finish for cartoon accuracy and MP feel but certainly on the design and pose-ability side. From what I can see, MS over exaggerated the jet modes for some reason and I feel like if they trimmed here and there in jet modes, they would look 100% better.

I will still get these of course but I think I'm going to wait and see if the price goes down a bit more first.

 

Yeah, having the MST ones in hand, I think they have better overall detailing, they just made some bad design choices that are really frustrating. Which in a vacuum are not deal breakers, but since I think NA gets more right, I feel they outshine MST's.

Some comparison points:

1) NA's seekers have the open sides of the chest, which to be fair, at that size, and being under the arms, its hard to notice in most poses. MST does have side panels for a more solid chest, but since as far as I can tell they don't tab together (that might be hard to do at this size) they can look a little fiddly. And as I said the MST chests have better detailing, but I think NA has better proportions.

2) As I said in my previous post, I really don't like how MST did the wing transformation on Dirge and Ramjet (Thrust is a push in my opinion). Those little wing bits on the back are unsightly, but to really pose the legs, you need to swing them out (which looks a little goofy):
And yeah, I don't know why they made the wings so over exaggerated! BUT, what I do like about them are the connection points on the legs. I don't know if its because NA's wing kibble are all on the legs so they need more support, but they also have some unsightliness going on- like NA Ramjet has those huge honking cylinders on his legs, and even the bits on Thrust and Dirge are a little thick. If I had my druthers, I'd have the NA wings on the leg connection points of MSTs. But again, maybe that would be too heavy for those points.

3) The shin thrusters- I think they look better on MSTs, but that's because they're nice and solid, while NA's contain the landing gears. But MSTs pay for it by having the really weird rear landing gear design. And I'm not a fan of the chest fans folding out to be the front gear either.

4) The arm transformation. Squeezing the arms back in for the NA transformation is a bit harrowing. With them being so tiny, you feel like you might break them pulling them out. But it does make for a more solid transformation. MST just feels comparatively loose, its not as well fitted.

Which, having fiddled with MST Soundwave, Reflector, and the Coneheads, it is amusing to see the repeating design choices. They all have the, "fold the fists 90 degrees and have the arms fold forward or back". But at least with their Soundwave and Reflector, something locks the arms in place. Maybe I missed a part of the transformation, but as far as I can tell, nothing secures the arms. Not that they're coming out of place, but some tabbing would make the design feel better put together.

But yeah, Reflector and the Coneheads (and I presume the original Seeker trio) also have that, pull out the front of back cover of the legs, rotate them 180 degrees, and push them back in. It is a kinda clever way to do things.

 

I wish both companies did away with the landing gear completely, i get why some people consider them necessary but its not a feature I ever see myself using and it would make the figures look much better.

 

I dunno'. I feel like MST's landing gear are pretty easy to ignore. The chest fans can just stay folded in and they don't disrupt the mold all that much, and the rear gear are in the underside of the feet, right?

 

For the MST arms, you can tab the arms to the back. I see the same arm tab on your coneheads that are used on the seekers, so I would assume they work the same way. Hope the pictures help.

 

On MS' original Seekers the nose cone of the jet tabs into the outer sides of the torso (if you can manage to get it to work) to hold it together. Since you mentioned the jet nose cone is their head I'm not sure if they did something else or just left it.

 

Man, it really burns me that they only released the coneheads in a three-pack. I really like their Thrust. I would totally get it if I could just buy it alone.

 

Ah, okay. Yeah, I could not tell there was anything to tab to from the instructions. That does provide a better fit.

Interesting, does the nose cone split and fold in kinda like NA's? Yeah, I guess since the nose cone forms the head on these, its just a whole bunch of empty space in the chest now.

 

I hate to be one of those people, but if anyone is interested in selling off just Thrust, please message me. I REALLY like how the Magic Square one looks, but I don't have any interest in the other two coneheads.