yeah, all the characters there are, it's best to not "waste" a spot on another Grimlock. Just let 3rd party fill up the void with the 4 remaining ones and you can have your own Dinobots shelf. Plus, I think Grimlock has the perfect size to build his team around anyway.

 

Actually Mp-08 just need a longer leg to tower MP-10.

 

It's not that it's bad. It's that it no longer "fits". Sure they could keep redoing them. But I don't expect them to unless it's a new line.

In another 10 years if they want to do another Optimus/Convoy the will. But the point is since this is technically a "New" line I'd rather have them redo all the ones from before so it can fit the line. That is neither here nor there that they can always do a newer one later. I just mean for currently.

 

You missed the point. The question is not whether they would sell. The question is whether they would sell better then the other options TT has for the MP line right now.

Profits are always used to fund future molds. This is nothing new.

Licensing is a big part of the MP cars line. If it works anything like the Binaltech/Alternators line, the license expire after a given time. We know that MP currently has the Lambo license. So the question becomes, why has TT not released Sunstreaker yet?

 

You guys are crazy. MP08 is still the greatest MP so far, followed by Soundwave.
From the new bunch, Starscream definitely needs a V3 mold. TT is wasting money, with a truly decent Starscream mold (properly engineered for retools of the coneheads) they would sell them like hot cakes.

I know I'd buy all of them. I only have MP03, which I treat as a Binaltech. Never cared for the repaints of it and the MP11 mold.

 

Right, and I'm certainly not suggesting that. My suggestion was simply that much of the molds that have been done thus far have been to cushion the molds that are less conducive to redecos and retools. Wheeljack is one such example.

This is certainly true. For Sunstreaker, contrary to many fans understanding (for whatever strange reason), is not just Sideswipe painted yellow. It's a TOTALLY DIFFERENT ROBOT DESIGN and the alt mode is customized. Being a different robot, it requires a totally new robot design from the ground u.p (research & design expenses, etc.). Being a customized Countach, there may be some issues from Lamborghini preventing a "custom" car being made into this kind of figure.

Some of those points may or may not be, but the main point here is that none of this is just as simple as "hey let's do this. BAM, here you go. Done."

 

I actually like MP-11 a great deal, I enjoy it much more than the MP-03 mold, I'm not so sure it needs a V3 revision. It feels more toyetic than the MP-03 mold, substantially more durable and great to pose in robot mode, whereas MP-03 was tricky to balance in robot mode.

MP-08 is a great MP.

 

i didnt miss anything......if they produce a standard number of figures for any given production run, lets say they make 5,000 figures from each mold(thats just a number thrown out there) 5000 swoops or 5000 mp12 they will all sell out but swoop would have to be the size of grimlock so he would sell at a higher price point but they would sell just as many as mp12....so they would probably make more $$$$ on the dinobots than they would on the cars...and no licencing issues. the only down side would be they couldnt make countless repaints or retools to other characters. and if all they are interested in is repaints /retools then we probbly wont see many more mps, after the datsuns what other characters are there that would share the same mold...not alot if any left....

 

You're operating on the logic that whatever takara makes is pure gold and will sell in an instant. The japanese economy isn't at its best right now and it shows on production runs of high end collectibles. So don't count on the moulds selling out that fast and easy. MP10 Convoy's reissue was out for nearly half a year before it sold out on HLJ and other places. Takara/Bandai/Yamato don't want their products warming up shelves for too long.

They prefer to invest on smaller moulds, which move faster due to smaller price points, and return a good investment back. Out of the 2013 takara MP figures, only 2 were over 10.000 yen, and even then, one was a repaint of Prime.

Your comparison in sales is slightly wrong, because in your theory an MP Swoop would sell as well as an MP Sideswipe, but an MP Sideswipe demonstrated to have 4 repaints/slight retools, so he's essentially selling 4 times the units of an other MP.

 

^makes sense to me.

A smaller mold is cheaper to make and sells better because of the lower price. Add in the repaints that sell for the same price but cost only a fraction to make, and TT makes profit on these.

Larger figures with minimal to no repaint potential, cost more to make, don't sell as well because of the higher price (unless they're wanted characters), and with limited repaint potential there's no added incentive.


I don't think we'll see additional Dinobots until TT is convinced it's financially viable. I have no doubt they've come to the realisation (probably in part due to the 3rd partyproducts) that there is a market for high prices collectables, but still...

 

mp 10 was way over priced from day one. if it was priced better they would have been gone. but my point was they have pretty much run out of characters that can be repainted and retooled. so why not make the dinobots? because thinking they would not sell like hotcakes is just naive. they would sell regardless of japans economy thats a fact.

 

Never underestimate Takara's mind when it comes to repainting. I'm surprised they haven't repainted Prime and Sideswipe as their movie selves yet. Perhaps when they round up more of the cast?

They have definitely not run out of repaint-able characters. Trailbreaker, Inferno and Ironhide would give them two releases each.

I'm fed up with the "selling like hotcakes" argument on MP releases, because we haven't had actual sales data at all, and MP12 to MP16 have had very limited production runs. Do not confuse low production runs with high aftermarket prices as good sales. I think we'll have better data once Prowl and co come out, which are rumoured to have larger production runs.

And I believe that bots like Ultra Magnus, Galvatron, Megatron and the fan voted MP [not definite who he is yet] will definitely be out first before a bunch of at best B-tiers with high prices to boot.

"Sell regardless of Japan's economy?" Do you just collect transformers? Bandai [the toy super power in Japan] limited their releases of Soul of Chogokin figures to ONE or two per year from their usual 9-11 for the past few years. And their line sold high end retro looking iconic JAPANESE robots, each with their own cartoon.

If Bandai could not justify more releases in that manner, you'd think Takara would risk it with 4 lesser known characters?

 

Do they sell alot of Soul of Chogokin worldwide? i can almost guarentee that they dont sell any where near as good as transformers . my point of "regardless of Japans economy" is that people in the states or the uk would buy em all ...lol.... and i dont think that trailbreaker and ironhide are as popular as the dinobots ( dont get me wrong i would love them in mp form) but i would trade them and their repaints for one more "b tier at best'   dinobot in a heartbeat. the point im trying to make plain and simple is that IF they made them they would sell alot ......like HOT CAKES   we can argue all day long about when and if they will make them but there is no arguing that they would sell if made....thats the point im trying to make

 

I love Wheeljack. Good to know he's in the Masterpiece line

 

Is this even confirmed? I remember BBTS once having a Wheeljack preorder (BT?) way before it was even announced, and it might even have gotten cancelled back then.

Either way, I'm not sure we'll see the other 84 and 85 bots just because they have a potential repaint. They could make a Artfire and possibly movie repaints of Ironhide and Ratchet, but on the other hand they just made an expensive collectible Artfire, and the Encore Movie repaints were clearanced everywhere. Since they're also releasing Generations Hoist and Trailbreaker very soon, I don't see Masterpiece versions of them for quite some time.

 

Why, do they make a lot of transformers masterpiece worldwide? You're generalizing stock. The discussion is and was about the japanese takara releases, which, like the SOC releases I'm talking about, are made and catered for the Japanese market.

If you generalize transformers as a franchise, including everything, then no, the production numbers and products don't match.

As for the other reply, I'm under the impression that as far as cars go, they're pushing the more marketable ones first. Hence Sideswipe, as a Lamborghini, coming out before Ironhide, a van, even though they have more or less the same number of repaints available. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a Masterpiece Tracks [a classic corvette, when they already have a working relationship with Chevrolet?] before Ironhide either.

 

^ I have no idea what the numbers actually are, but I think his point was that Takara sells a lot of Transformers figures to the western markets, whereas Soul of Chogokin...not so much. Yes, technically Takara doesn't sell to the U.S. and U.K. markets, but indirectly they do. We buy them up from online retailers who import or export the figures from Japan, bolstering sales. And Hasbro must pay Takara some fee when they release worldwide versions, so any characters that Hasbro agrees to pick up must bring in extra revenue for Takara.

It would be interesting to know how big the western market is for Takara MP releases, and what percentage of Takara's MP sales are going to the west. But its likely not insubstantial considering how hard it is to get characters like Prime and (presumably) Soundwave when Hasbro actually releases them.

 

Isaid sell worldwide not make worldwide... Ill say it one last time.. If they made the dinobots they would sell....period. This is my entire point....thats the only point i was trying to make...it has nothing to do with ,the economy, soul.of chogokin,bandai or anything else its a hypothetical situation.....IF they make them they will sell.

 

Okay, disregard any discussion about how they can be made and why there's not feasible to make in the coming 3-4 years.

I bet if they make the Wreckers [including Rack N Ruin, especially them] they'll definitely sell as well. Sold out on the first day.

The day Takara decides that they will definitely sell and goes on to announce their release to us, send me a pm. I'll honestly wait.

 

You're kind of taking things to an extreme. Yeah we have a couple do-overs with Masterpieces now and will undoubtedly have at least 1-3 more (Megatron, Skywarp & Thundercracker), but the entire/only reason they're do-overs is because Takara finally turned Masterpieces into a succinct legitimate line with a focus as opposed to keeping it the fragmented one-off sub-line it was prior to the MP-10 reboot. And again, we all thought (and some still think), for example, the original MP Seekers were the absolute best incarnations we'd ever seen... until MP-11 showed up and showed us what Takara really could do. Same with MP-01 vs MP-10. So for as good as Grimlock is, one solitary re-do to have it fit in with this new line is hardly unreasonable, let alone the greenlight for him and everyone else to get third fourth do-overs.

Maybe not right now while everyone is clammering for more new mold core characters, but as I said in a previous post, no one can tell me that 4 more Dinobots to finally make a complete Dinobot team for the first time since G1 could or would possibly sell any worse than characters like Hoist, Skids, Grapple, Gears, Inferno or even Reflector or the Insecticons. People will do their usual whining about prices and whatnot, but if they're sitting there with a near complete S1 and/or S2 cast of toon accurate figures and a stand-alone Grimlock, they will - guaranteed - absolutely buy 4 more Dinobots.