oh ...Front-paged...of course lol.
I wondering “has the thread lost it’s damn mind?”

Yikes! I really hope that’s finger grease because otherwise, that looks like unfinished plastic. I would think they’d have at least vapor polished the bugger. You can get a decent finish on abs with that alone. Example: the red on Sinanju

Edit: Looking at the promo images, doesn't actually look that glossy. If it looks like the promo images, i'll be happy

 

The antennae aren't bent either. It was an easy fix on MP44 but again nice to see Takara making improvements.

Honestly the thing I'm liking the most about this is the potential improvements being applied to future MP44 reissues/variants. The lack of paint I'm hoping is just a one-off on this version (and the plastic looks pretty rough too).

 

I am more interested in this than I was the original (especially hearing there may be fixes to the common issues) - I don’t see a reason to replace my MP-10 Optimus.

but what I really want is a version of either in Diaclone blue.

since Hound and Optimus v3 I’ve stopped preordering ones that I want, so I’ll wait for reviews, but this is real tempting.

 

Hound was pretty damn good. I blame the materials they used rather than the engineering, he is one of the few new direction MP i like (can't wait for Spinout). so far my Hound has held up without any breakage or cracking

I had MP-49 on preorder but decided to cancel. I wasnt impressed with MP-44 between the panelforming mess, all as the QC issues, and massive paint chipping. I decided MG-49 wasnt worth it to me. I stand by MP-10 being the superior mold and MP-10B is all i need for my Black Convoy.

 

Sorry if these are repeats, but some more pics I think from the same set:

MP-49ブラックコンボイ・画像レビューとアジア限定特典ピン

 

Quick notes on the changes I like:

- Thank god for the less unsightly sprue marks especially around the crotch. I never really was bothered by it from the original, but looking at this right now, it's bugging me.
- Good! They fixed that stupid problem with the horns.
- It's nice they remolded the backpack to make it look less like a speaker. I don't think anyone would have complained if it didn't, but it gives Takara that kind of polish I like to see from these companies

The questionable stuff:
- I really can't tell whether it's painted. If it isn't, what a shame. You're paying 180 dollars, and the paint on the original makes it really POP. That's why I think the knock off MP44 from Wan Xiang looks really gross especially with the plastic color they chose. Thankfully, this is black, so I don't think the lack of paint will look too apparent in the right conditions.
- WhY ThE F*** WoUlD YoU ReMoLd tHE KnEes? It's not the actual idea or design that's the problem. It's actually an awesome idea like the hip skirts - if it worked like it was intended to, it would be like an RG/MG gunpla without the hassle of making sure the knees go in the right order to close the legs up properly. Literally, all you had to do was make it one piece or glue those two parts together, and it would have worked fine.

Also, going off anecdotal evidence, a few of the original MP44s had it glued together. Why waste the extra manpower and design work when you could just tell the factory people to do their f*** jobs right? (Is that a bit harsh? I know this is a very complicated piece to put together, so I can understand a few not being together right. But come on!)

I really want to get a second MP44 that's a reissue. Just please, get the paint and knees right.

 

Holy crap look how straight the antenna are! Hopefully that means a material change..like the material used on MP-10’s antenna which isn’t prone to flexing/bending.

Glad the knees were retooled as well. Makes me more confident that the inevitable MP-44 release will largely be fine.

 

It looks like they just removed the clicking part altogether.

 

Looks great, the S1 face looks as evil as expected. Would be nice to see the connection of the energon ax, see if they've managed to make that more flush or not.

Looks to me like there's no black paint at all, if they had black paint they would've applied it to the back of the knee I think. The only paint apps are the grey they've used for the aides, shins, toes and face, and the green on the pelvis.

Great to see the antennae straight out of the box like that. Hope the paint apps on his sides is better this time too.


Overall I think MP-10B looks better than MP-49, the dark colours suit that mould a little better and the glossy paint really elevates it. Of course MP-49 trumps him in articulation.

 

Yeah, looks like "no paint" from the pics. Reminds me of Walmart Skywarp. Whatever, though; less chipping I guess. Would've been nice to see that deep glossy black like the promo pics.

Could just be the lighting giving the pics that grayish tone.

 

By reworking the voice box out, the backpack would be thinner and about half the thickness; the matrix would be able to sit in the voice box's place in alt mode, allowing for cleaner flanks in bot mode.

I would normally be ok with this, but the black they chose looks cheap. I would've expected the plastic to have a clean satin finish, and for it to have no spue marks.

 

Oh, in-hand pics of MP-49 Nemesis Prime are out? Let's see what--

(*reads about changed knee joints, nixing of voice box, and apparent fixing of antenna so they're not warped.*)

Huh. Those are awfully interesting points to make over MP-44. I wonder if a hypothetical second production run for MP-44 will include these significant changes...

Regarding the apparent "no paint" observation, I'm thinking it might be to combat complaints from people over how MP-44's paint tended to chip off, which shouldn't be happening on something they paid $400+ for...

 

I may give mine over to my friend to clear coat if he is not painted. Give him some shine. He is the new leader of my all black assassination group. Feral Rex is not going to be happy; Black Judge is okay with it.

 

What I find truey funny about these pics is that they make me think my idea to paint this guy into an MP-44 would be a possibility. I have an MP-44, so no need for me to do that, but atleast I now know I had the right idea.

 

Man, I thought I was gonna pick this up, but not interested in paintlessness

 

Yeah impressive engineering feats like that are what keep me buying these things!

 

No paint is an ABSOLUTE deal breaker for me.

I simply don't understand the reasoning here. Glad they fix the antennae, but I'd gladly fix them again if this were to have paint.

I'll contact AJP and cancel somehow. This mold is not meant to not have paint.

 

So, they've removed the sound box, removed all but the most basic of accessories and left it unpainted and it is still $230-250 USD?   I guess removing the sequential knee lock is a good thing, though I've not had issues with my MP-44.

On a slightly different note, I would have much preferred the axe and blast effect in red, like all the previous Nemesis releases. This is a bit too much teal for me. (shrugs)

 

I would have preferred a nice glossy black, but MP-10b isn't painted and in hand that was okay, hopefully that's the case here, but who am I kidding I love this mold anyway

 

If they rereleased MP-44 with the remolded backpack and knees i would be tempted to buy another and sell my original.