So my position is that it should NOT be slavish to the toon. The designer of MP-10, Shogo Hasui, agrees in this interview quoted and linked below. He actually says, "Neither making the cartoon version into a three dimensional form nor making it as realistic as possible is a good idea. The important thing for me has been to create a MP product through which you can meet yourself from the past, in which you can find a toy you have been dreaming of." That sounds perfect to me. Make the best looking G1 interpretation of a character based on cues from the cartoon, toy, box art, and comic. Take the best most iconic elements and make the ultimate toy of that character ever. So the quote above shows the line was never intended to be focused 100% on cartoon details. This has to be one of the most repeated falsehoods on these forums. Every MP thread has people repeating over and over on how MP's are supposed to look exactly like the toon. MP-10 designer Shogo Hasui on inspiration for the Masterpiece line... "– How do you feel about MPs now? H: I created them in the hope that they would supplement the memories. The toys in the 80s are not even close to the modern toys in terms of refinement, but I think the fans who followed Transformers back then used information obtained through various media such as magazines or the cartoon to supplement the image in their mind. I believe MPs are meant to be the embodiment of that image. Neither making the cartoon version into a three dimensional form nor making it as realistic as possible is a good idea. The important thing for me has been to create a MP product through which you can meet yourself from the past, in which you can find a toy you have been dreaming of. It was certainly a difficult and harsh challenge. I made a list of candidates (to be made into a MP figure) and I thoroughly checked what they did in which episodes and with whom. I referred to the list when planning the MP lineup. I also studied the impressive parts of the original toy’s transformation process to see if they could be incorporated into the new toy, and extensively collected cartoon reference materials and comic book illustrations. The MP series was always highly anticipated by the fans and I myself desired to create a better product – I suppose those factors worked out positively in me." TakaraTomy Staff Interview - Shogo Hasui on Masterpiece - Transformer World 2005 - TFW2005.COM Cartoon fundamentalists forced me to make Shogo into a meme... LOL.
If that's the point of the MP line then eventually Masterpiece sets have to change to include other Transformer story line and universes. For example my high school cousin (I'm in my mid 30's) doesn't remember crap about G1 Transformers but he does LOVE the Beast War Series. He knows of the G1 stuff but since he didn't live in that time he doesn't really care for it the way I do. I know there are many G1 elites out there but I think many of them are slowly starting to realize that times are changing. So what if some one grew up with Beast War or is a Bayformer fan? What if they follow the new cartoon Transformer series? That's them! That's there time. I want them to love their Transformers 10-20 years from now as I do with the G1 figures. If MP all the sudden decided to make figures out the G1 realm - go for it!
Beast Wars MPs are coming soon. I'd say the popularity of each version of TF would dictate just how much attention they get in the MP line. I hope I am around to see MP TFA.
No. Especially seeing as the cartoon could barely remain consistant with itself how can you expect a toyline 30 years on to? Give us the 'best' representation, but not slavish.
this again.. yes.. masterpiece is supposed to be representative of how they looked in the cartoon. .. i've said it before, and i'm sure i'll say it again.. we already have the G1 toys, and for most of these characters we already have updated generations/classics versions of them as well.. so, the masterpiece line is the first time that we're getting proper toon versions of these figures. i mean.. you don't see hot toys adding different details from their source materials for their iron man and star wars figures. i don't understand how or why people argue over accuracy. if you're not a fan of it, and want something different, there are plenty of other lines of figures that may be more to your liking. but the masterpiece line is meant to give us perfect versions of the characters that we watched as kids. i'd be furious if the masterpiece line turned into some sort of glorified generations line.. or made figures with a bunch of unnecessary superfluous detailing and inaccurate paint detailing.
make the MPs good figures with top notch paint apps and design. They should of course be based as much as possible on the original designs for the characters but not bound by them.
That's me right there. I was born in 87, G1 wasn't my childhood, the Beast Era was. Before when I got a figure from the line, it was because I thought it looked cool. Masterpiece Optimus Primal though is truly the only figure of the line that made me ecstatic upon seeing the news. That's a character I grew up with from a child to an early teen, from Beast Wars part 1 to Beast Machines Endgame part 3. That one figure to me means more than any figure that came before in the line. This time it's my childhood nostalgia. Anyway on this subject, as long as I find it cool looking I don't care either way.
The thing about the Masterpiece line in particular, is that it's made for the Japanese G1 otaku market in mind. It's a love letter to G1 for the people who really, REALLY want this stuff. Honestly, the way Masterpiece rolls out there's YEARS of G1 left to do. Not to mention that Star Saber is the first foray into Japanese G1, opening the doors to much, much more. But anyways, it's a moot point as I believe there is an Optimus Primal coming out in Masterpiece in a year or two.
Wow. Youve managed to simultaneously argue and agree with the OP. I love that you harp on about accuracy when not a single MP toy is as accurate to the source material as Hot Toys product is. Its been stayed repeatedly in interviews that the MP line is not about accuracy to any on source, but to evoke what we always imagined these characters to be as a child. But hey, screw designer intent and all that, fanboy opinion has to be right eh?
I don't want them to look exactly like the cartoon. But like how Mp Soundwave is and the car's is what I'm good with. But like FT Shrapnel, the visor needs to be bigger and would make that figure better.
I would argue that the fanboy's opinion is what drives them to purchase a MP figure in the first place, and is therefore the only concern that really matters - especially considering that none of our opinions actually affect how they do or do not design toys. It's my understanding that if a super-show-accurate representation of the characters is what you want in a TF figure, buy Masterpiece. If not, don't buy Masterpiece in lieu of other figures that are more representative of what you're looking for in a TF figure. If the Masterpiece line - geared towards fairly literal representations of the G1 cartoon - isn't what you want, shouldn't the conclusion be that this line isn't for you? Rather than "this line isn't what I want, let me lobby to change it so it is"? They are just expensive toys at the end of the day, not a deeply flawed society. Ugh, speaking of deeply flawed societies. That's not so much a matter of "it's their time" as it is a matter of poor taste. I grew up with G1 and also happen to be a devoted Beast Wars fan, but if a younger fan started to spout off about their abiding love for the Unicron trilogy, I would still want to vomit. That's like saying Justin Bieber is the epitome of musical refinement. I say we take a cue from drag queens and educate our children to respect the finer points of their history. /endcrotchetybitchrant
No. The Cartoon may be the main reference but as has been well stated it could barely remain consistent with itself from panel to panel and MPs that genuinely reflected what you got on that screen would be variations on different coloured Gumbys that would never be able to transform. Heroes of Cybertron and BA Engineer General show us in the plastic what that would be like, and pretty much nobody here would call those Masterpieces.
Exactly. There seems to be a wilfull determination in this fandom to use 'accuracy' and 'inspired by' interchangeably. Then again the same fandom has no idea of how to appropriately use the term 'scale' either so it's hopeless.
Did you even read the quote from the man that designed MP-10? Who are you to tell him what Masterpiece is "supposed to be"? LOL. It's okay for you to believe it should be that way, no doubt. But the way you speak you are putting words in the designers mouth that aren't there... talking about what it is "supposed" to be. Again you are directly contradicting what the designer has said the intent of the line was. You say the MP line was "meant to give us perfect versions of the characters we watched as kids." That means only the cartoon. Some kids also read the comics, and played with the toys and stared at catalogues and look at box art etc. All of these come together to create G1 in your mind. That is what the designer said. and thats why we have fanboy polls attached.
Iron Man and Star Wars are based on Real Live actors and live action movies, not 30 year old poorly animated cartoons. All the detail they need to be awesome is right there in the source material. Nobody is talking about making Generations type deviations from G1 sources, just not 100% G1 toon accurate. You don't seem to understand so if this hasn't helped you then I will have to leave it at that.
i like the factor that they are combining the original toy, with the g1 cartoon, to create a single toy. i think that should continue.
A long time ago, the only G1 Bumblebee we had was the G1 one with the weird armor face (Pretender Classics aside). In every bit of other media, Bumblebee's cartoon face was used, because that was his face. Then Dreamwave came along and had Bumlbebee use his G1 toy face as a mask in battle. This happened in a few other places - like Ironhide using one of his Toy guns as a rifle I think that kind of synthesis is great.
However, Chosing the practical solution, is in no way an excuse to cram in a redundant amount of random surface details/reliefs and to skew the robotmode proportions into something overstyled anime-esque either. Too many times, people casually drop G1 names and they actually don't mean the original G1 style anymore.... because subconsciously, they already warped their perception of what makes that G1 character G1, into something out of an overstylized contemporary comic book version. It's like people talking "asperine" ....when it's actually just anti-headache powder. Asperine was the brand name.... but it got so well known, that everyone thinks of anti-headache powder as "asperine". Of course, for some characters updating the style works better than others. It's always a bit arbitrary.
An MP figure is only as good as the person designing it. You simply CAN'T take the character directly from the toon and make it look good. For me the cartoon creates more problems than it solves. Also there isn't one set aesthetic, It's very easy to pre-empt a look and at the same time make the physical item look overly dated or too basic. My answer is an emphatic No
