So? What about the other points? Rhinox is never in command in any episode. Rattrap is 2nd in command

 

Yep. Even in 'Chain of Command', Primal himself gives him command from the alien probe... "Rattrap, you're in charge. I'm sure you worked out the chain of command peacefully..."

But it was never explicitly established like it was with Scorponok. Rhinox took command (briefly) in the beginning of 'Dark Designs' when they were all attacked, so there's that one instance.

 

I just want a Masterpiece Rhinox and a Masterpiece Rattrap. They are my favourite Season 1 Maximals.
And I hope for a Masterpiece Waspinator and Scorponok too, I love them so much

 

Maybe Rattrap was getting second in command by default due to seniority in a way, bc he was supposed to be the oldest iirc. But yeah Rhinox was never in command even tho he acted the most wisely and maturely. Remember that he was always giving Primal advice and warnings, but would always wait for orders and was never in command of anything.

 

No, he took command because he was second in command. Even when everybody was up and active he was in charge.

The Maximals were a lot less stringent in their structure, and Rhinox wasn't second in command so much as he was one to take initiative in a situation that called for it. In addition to Dark Designs, Aftermath saw him briefly take charge to get everyone back on track (and put Dinobot in his place) but generally Rattrap was the one giving orders that whole episode.

As Primal himself stated, Rhinox had the skills and initiative for command, but Rattrap was the one Optimus chose and who most often took over when the boss monkey wasn't around.

I would love to at least get the first five Maximals completed. I would also love Airrazor just to polish off the S1 Maximals given we already ave Tigatron.

 

There's definitely ambiguity, but for what it's worth, TF Wiki has Rhinox under second in command, as a sub-commander. Rattrap is also listed, but under "miscillaneous". Second-in-command - Transformers Wiki

I think Rhinox was the official second in command, i.e. when Primal was around, he was the second highest ranking team member, and was fine with that position. However, when Primal was not around, Rhinox was uninterested in actually being first, and basically allowed someone else to hold it.

Basically, I really get the impression that if Rhinox felt otherwise, he would be the de facto leader without Primal around, based on rankings.

 

I actually think that Rattrap did well when he was in charge for that one episode, is just that, just like Rhinox, he didn't want the responsibility. And I think I have mentioned before that Airazor would have done a good job as second in command as well.

If anything, any of them is better than Cheetor.

 

Also for the record, Scorponok was never leader of the predacons.

 

Big R, top of the page.

 

All eyes on Rhinox!

 

https://twitter.com/TF_pr/status/1643901367281434625

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Pre-orders for new products will start on April 7th!

This time, we plan to announce 1 product from Beast Wars Again, 2 products from the Studio Series, and 5 products from the Transformers Legacy Series!

Stay tuned for the announcement!

No one cares, TT. Hasbro has already revealed the SS and Legacy stuff, and your next BWA figures leaked this morning.

Give us some damn MP news!

 

I think it is time to face the facts here. It has been over 3 years since there has been any BW MP announcement other than that dark amber Lio convoy redeco. No news or even hints for new molds at all. For whatever reason it seems the BW MP line is currently canceled. Maybe the sales weren’t good enough for the amount of effort needed to design them, maybe it was always planned as a limited sub line, or simply a new person in charge didn’t like them but for whatever reason it is over. Who knows, maybe if they do MPM figures from RotB that could reignite interest in proper BW MPs. Until then I would not expect any news at all ever coming out.

 

They chose to do Tigatron before Rattrap, Rhinox and Waspinator. That doesn't sound like a limited subline or a line in trouble to me. They simply paused it to allow Kingdom room, and in the interim, focused on the Raiden project.

But with Raiden all but complete, and ROTB now just two months away, it's time to get back into gear with a cheeky little announcement.

 

I do have to wonder what impact Kingdom played. Like before Masterpiece was mainly our only avenue for updates. Then Kingdom came along and suddenly we basically had the entire cast updated at a far more affordable price.

It definitely played a factor for me when it came to Tigatron. Like one was $30 while the other was like $250, I went with what saved me money.

 

If it weren't for the strong rumours for Rhinox doing the rounds, I'd completely agree with you. If we hit MP60 and we haven't seen Rhinox, then yeah, it's dead in the water. Hanging on to that last morsel of hope.

 

But wasn't Tigatron more popular in Japan as he was characterized as a wandering samurai ronin? Not to mention even though hey aren't exactly the same, since they did Cheetor first they could use some of the existing shared details and upscale them for the initial computer model. This would make it easier, even if just slightly, to design Tigatron than any other character.

The only "rumors" I have seen is Verno saying that because TT has tweeted some pics of Rhinox (along with other BW characters) that means an MP Rhinox is coming. Those aren't rumors just wild hope.

 

The only rumours I'm going from are the ones from a person said to be in the know in the G1 masterpiece speculation thread a little while back who put Rhinox out there as being next in line as MP58. Granted it's not much more tangible than Verno's tin-foil hat theories (no offence Verno), but it's possibly something.

 

Stuff like that should always be taken with a grain of salt, as no one really knows when Takara actually plans to reveal it. Its a pretty big workup they've been doing on twitter the last month or so, and not even a hint of it being MP related. Seems to be all aimed at the VS packs.

The other thought was it could be MPM Rhinox they are working on from ROTB, but I would expect an MPM Primal first.

 

The suggestion being that Tigatron was some kind of last-ditch, hail mary to try to save the live? Personally, I don't see it, because TT would be well aware that the market for BW MPs stretches far beyond Japan. Figures like Waspinator and Rattrap have a broader appeal to the fanbase as a whole, and are smaller and thus cheaper than Tigatron.

None taken  

I started my little Rhinox posts in here after word came out of the G1 MP Spec thread about the possibility of Rhinox being on the table, or slab I think was the word used. After that, I went looking for potential hints, as I like to do, and found some fun stuff.

I mean, just look at the BWVS line. They're getting Rhinox out of the way in the second set, with preorders opening today and releasing in September. That clears the air for an MP, having duped everyone into buying the terrible Kingdom figure for a second time.

 

Not as a last ditch effort to “save” the line but as a nice end to it. They did all the really popular BW characters in Japan, including Lio Convoy, so Tigatron could have been planned as a last hurrah for BW MPs if it was planned to be limited from the start.

Also you say that TT knows that MPs have an audience outside of Japan but do they really care? If you look at the MP line as a whole it is catered towards the Japanese market. Every redeco is either a Diaclone character or a Japanese exclusive TF character, such as the black redeco of Cheetor and Burning Primal. The only times MPs have had western exclusive inspired decos is when Hasbro released some MPs under the Generations line like with SG Prime. There are so many redecos they could do with the BW MPs but aren’t being done since the original figures never were sold in Japan. Even the first combining MP figure is of a Japanese exclusive combiner and is so intrinsically Japanese that they revealed it at a model train expo. TT has always made the MP line with Japan as its target demographic with any foreign sales acting as a bonus, not a requirement.