Well about the cartoon accuracy, both MS and NA strive for that - sadly, QUITE SADLY - since Iron Factory which used to cover most of what I want went either Samurai or just the minibots (most opf which do look good, but most of which are characters I have little to no interest in) and even so, they used to fail hard with alt modes sometimes (Arcee for instance)... so given the lack of Options, for example, Ironhide and Ratchet, it is either MS or NA, now before they both at least went with more realistic alt modes (Van Bros V1 by NA or Optimus V1 from MS - still my choice for Optimus for now - are good examples).

The thing with cartoon accuracy is that a lot of how the cartoon looks is not because of great design but to cut costs and save time, which is understandable but most of the time it made the robots and vehicles look too plain, even for my kid self back then. The other point is inconsistency - by that aspect both NA V2 and MS van bros are cartoon accurate depending on what scene you refer to.

But in the end all I want is a good vehicle mode which to me, as far as G1 goes since they were based on real vehicles mostly, is the real vehicle or something close and robot mode just need to bring the key aspects from the characters, not like every single detail and proportion as I understand that the cartoon was just a redesign of the toys.

The tabbing gets better with some cleaning actually though, and I see many people online even reviewers having problems with those, now with NA it is way soother in that aspect - which is not to say they are built perfect, had my share of problems with a few figures, specially loose joints.

Well I priorize both... and the transformation xD I mean, it is a transforming figure so I aspect both modes to look good and transformation to make sense (hence I highly dislike fake parts or silly steps like flipping the windshield sides like on those two).

To me V1 was perfect in all 3 areas aside from size - which goes for any initial NA and I am glad they are upscalling things, now people who collect from more than one line may have more options.

V2 improves on robot mode but vehicle mode is ok enough - not perfect, but cute xD

 

Sina Visitor System

Comparison between NA v2.0 and MST Ratchet:



I was surprised by the size difference.

 

I like the cleaner chest on the MST, but the proportions in both modes are better on the NA.

 

MST Ratchet is the whitest of all MST figures, right? It looks yellowish here.

 

Why do so many MST robots have hips so wide it looks like they could give birth to their own alt modes?

 

Yeah mine is super bright white

 

Looks like the chest was transformed incorrectly in the NA and MS comparison pics. They need to spin the sides of the windshield around so that the white inside line is showing.  .

Looks much cleaner like this.



Than this…

 

It was indeed wrong in those images, but I still don't like that NA attempted a visual reduction of the windscreen, simply for the sake of cartoon fidelity. It adds unnecessary complexity to what could be a simpler, cleaner design. This is part of the reason I prefer V1.

 

Just the lighting in those photos. It's not at all yellow.

Totally disagree about the proportions, in terms of toon aesthetic.

 

They need to paint the rest of that crest dang gummit!

 

Cleaner, but even less indicative of the vehicle mode.. I have the feeling quite a few people prefer the window trim, than the ‘Lego technic’ look. That said, both options look less good than the v1 chest to me!

It’s’ fun seeing NA and MS side by side, and the different aesthetics and design philosophies at play. Same but so different. It’s another reason NA shouldn’t be trying to play MS’s game of size and toon look, given their predilection for panel lines and visible hinges angles to a more toy look, to many people’s obvious delight.. lean into that. It’s why I hope this v2 is their worst seller.. get them back on track doing what they were doing, beautiful realistic alt modes and nice paint and deco, and more mechanical bot look.

 

I don’t really agree with this. NewAge have always leaned hard into the Sunbow look, and panel lines are inevitable on a complex transforming toy made from this type of plastic, especially ones as small as this.

Aesthetically, I don’t really see this Ironhide mould as a massive outlier in their canon, and I’m more than happy to see NA continue down the path they’re currently on.

I do think the van bros. must be quite a hard design to perfect, with their boxy van modes that turn into well-proportioned robots. Not even the MP was able to render both modes perfectly, and I think there are always going to be trade-offs for this particular character.

That both the MS and NA versions look as good as they do, at that size, is an excellent achievement in itself.

 

I think you hit the nail on the head. They’re both awesome. Imagine getting toys like these 10 years ago!

 

Both of them are superior to the Masterpiece.

 

Oh, I really like the MPs!

 

I may be in the minority here but the TT MP Ratchet & Ironhide are some of my favorite figs in my collection.

 

No doubt. The only thing I might complain about are the hip skirts...but those don't really even bother me, to be honest. They are solid, the transformation is fun, materials are great, they come with a shitload of accessories and they look great in both modes. MP Ironhide was the second MP figure I ever bought (after MP01, anyway).

 

disappointed that these aren't the same height or closer in height...my rationale was to have one MS and one NA bot. I chose the MS Ratchet because of the longer alt, thinking it fits for an ambulance...but I waited on the NA Ironhide for the shorter alt. I also went by the listing that NA was 10.5 cm vs 10 cm for MS thinking that Ironhide can be a little taller than Ratchet...now I can see that is inaccurate.

 

I agree with that, been venting about this for a while.

I mostly agree, except when it comes to size - it is not just MS, IF has more or less a similar scale at least in car boths, to MS, so Newage being smaller in that regard makes it hard to mix and match lines.

I also like MP van bros, don´t collect MP anymore, but their alt mode was great and robot mode was quite nice :3

 

More comps with V1 from Hobbymizer on FB

HOBBYMIZER 玩具群（DIACLONE、ROBOT、人偶） | 1.0 & 2.0