Yeah , that was my thinking in the Hero-x thread, this is the 2nd interview conducted by Ono and the "new standard" mentioned in the Skids stuff. All 3 releases outside of Skyfire have a deep connection to Ono's day as one of the original designers Srarscream, Skids, and Raiden. The good news is he also has some responsibility for Galvatron, Dinobots, Ginrai, Astrotrain/Blitzwing, if those characters are ever going to happen it will probably be while he's running things.

 

  I came to that realization a while back about Ohshima's important role with the anime bots from one of the previous designer interviews. As long as he's the one creating the idealized character model that they're working with I think the toon bots will still have the same look. THe new direction sounds like it will be more like OG MP where each release may have different goals for the bot aesthetic and features that may even include rethinking scale for some of them. Maybe they will release a non-screen accurate stylized MP BW with different goals. In a way I think it's kind of a way to rationalize all the MP bots that have been released in the line and have the ability for future stuff like non-scale Raiden so that they all have a common theme for co-existing.

 

You gotta at least use the same Masterpiece Primes:

 

It exists in my head, man. It exists in my head.

 

Agreed 100% on Kronos, but not on Phoenix. My personal hunch is we'll be lucky if it looks AS good as him. Better aesthetically "because Takara" is not a done deal on that guy when he's one of FT's finest.

Like I said, I assumed the look of MP51 would blow the 3P Arcee's completely out of the water .... until it happened.

Anybody have a clue when we may get a better glimpse of a more final prototype? Any Japanese toy shows/trade fairs incoming? We've been spoilt with quick reveals for Skids and the other V3 seeekers so law of averages, I feel this one may drag on a bit ...  

 

The problem with this comparison is that MP10 is in front of Phoenix but well behind the MP prototype

 

[laughs in MP Blaster]

 

Yep, but you have to look at where Prime's head is in alignment to the figure.

 

It still gives us a good glimpse as to the size. TT's is also a big boi. Sure, not as much of a bodybuilder as phoenix but FT tends to make all of their bots more heroic looking than they should be IMO.

 

Yup I put the TT cone heads and FT Phoenix up for sale as soon as the image of the Skyfire prototype showed up. The cone heads sold within a day and I’ve had zero bites on Phoenix so far. Once the TT version is announced the 3rd party prices plummet. I should have sold Phoenix a lot earlier.

 

Yeah dude, I paid $219 for it I guess and can't even let it with free shipping. Serves me right, I guess. Damn TT and their randomness, lol.

Seriously considering selling most FT items I have except the Stunticons/Aerialbots now. Considering TT is making GOD DAMN SKYFIRE, it sort of makes you think that the sky is the limit now with those bastards.

I just may, specially now that some of their stuff is fetching stupid money as long as there is no TT option.

 

You specifically said 'more like the animation model'. Imho Phoenix takes quite some liberties over the animation model, particularly in the chest and overall stature. To me this prototype already looks more faithful to the animation model than Phoenix. That might not mean 'better' to some people, but definitely more toon accurate.

 

Yeah this new Skyfire is definitely more toon accurate than Phoenix.

 

Yup I was smart enough to sell my FT dinobots, insecticons and Galvatron and all were easy sales. I even managed to sell all 5 dinobots and 3 insecticons to one guy!

I think Reflector will definitely be happening now. My thinking is that TT want to update the existing Decepticons first so they may do a new Soundwave next and then Reflector after that.

 

You're absolutely right @Liampope, I did use the words animation model, even if in my head I meant something like, "aesthetically imo the best take on it."

 

I have a feeling that it COULD maybe be a first step. Absolute longshot for me to assume this but a stark difference between this miniature and a proper MP Jazz aside from anything physical is the possible need for rights acquisition. Not saying that it IS due to some sort of pushback from Porsche and/or Martini but I personally wouldn't rule it out either (mentioning that specifically due to it being a noteworthy and likely point of contention that's been noted over time in other cases aside from MP Jazz coming to fruition).

 

Yes please Soundwave and Reflector. They're my favorites and if I can remember it'd be sweet also picking up the 3rd party ones at discount.

 

I’m still a bit shocked to learn that Kobayashi is out as lead for the MP line. The article did say the new direction is heading back to the MP Sideswipe and Prowl as focal points. I guess the whole debate about why MP-10 was used in the photo next to the Skyfire Proto has been settled,...It’s on purpose.

 

I think it's just a really old photo. In the interview it says they were working on Skyfire while Prime V3 was still in development. MP Skyfire was pushed back because of the Siege version. All indications are that they seem to be striving for simpler transformations and less cost, but they want to keep the toon look for most characters. I believe Skids is an outlier.

 

I think this was only on reference to Skids's design. And for Skyfire, Ono says that he himself set the "cartoon accurate" goal!