Feb 2015

 

Wow. Of all the reissues/repaints in the entire line, this is the one paint scheme that I thought would never, ever, see the light of day again. I do like that they chose to make cigarette Wheeljack a Decepticon.

Remember: smoking kills, kids, and now sometimes it uses a laser rifle.

 

I fully expected a Marlboro Repaint, but to have it a NEW, ORIGINAL character worries me. This feels very much like "Classics" and for me, takes away from the MP Line a bit. How can the MP Line be the "definitive" version of our G1 heroes/villains when they are making NEW characters up?!

I feel that this should have been Diaclone WheelJack, NOT a BRAND NEW illegitimate bastardized Decepticon with absolutely no grounds for existance. Especially with the Immobilizer as the accessory. WTF?!

A one off character I guess might be acceptable, but what if this is things to come? What if Takara begins forcing new characters in order to sell repaints? This is my fear and could potentially damage the MP Line... at least for me anyway.

 

Freaking stoked for this. New head looks amazing, colours look amazing, diaclone homage, another Decepticon. Exhaust is pretty aces all around.

Are the toy launchers new to this release as well?

Looks like he's planned for the end of February, if I'm reading the first line of the quoted text right.

 

Launchers are different. They're shorter and he's got two.

I suppose with four new molds coming out in a row we were due for a repaint. He looks pretty cool but with no pedigree it'll be down to how much I like the mold in hand that decides this for me.

 

Remember his DOTM Dino infatuation? Just put him on ignore. Waaaay easier.

 

You nailed it. But as long as we don't get the dreaded "reshells" some fans call for (Bumblebee into Cliffjumper, Wheeljack into Tracks or Sunstreaker, Prowl into Jazz), I can live with it. I don't like that I have to pick up "Exhaust" in order to get Wheeljack's Immobilizer, though. Supporting the line, though.

 

That one seems a complete done deal, IMO - since it's not just Diaclone colors Magnus, it's also how he was colored in the original Movie test footage.

This one I'm lukewarm to, but if there were a Slicer variant I'd be all over it.

 

I don't why people are confused over Exhaust getting his own number. The pattern since the MP-10 "relaunch" seems to have been that a Masterpiece needs to be a new character and have new tooling to get it's own number, and Exhaust fits that bill.

 

I like it.

I'll buy when Kapow Toys reduce the price because no one else will buy it.

 

This is a definite purchase for me.

 

I understand characters, redecos or original, are 'cooler' because they appear in fiction - like the G1 cartoon. There are definitely a couple bots I only started caring for when they were used in the comics or cartoons.

However, and the rest of my post is less directed at you and more at the general negativity I see in this thread (or most Masterpiece threads, jesus): why are people making such a big deal out of it?

If there's anything worth homaging, it's Diaclone - where many of our now favorite Transformers come from. Exhaust has no fictional appearances, other than one or two background cameos in a Dreamwave comic, but the way people are commenting on this you'd think Exhaust is some sort of great offense.


We know from Masterpiece interviews that the success of the line has enabled Takara to go for guys like Wheeljack and Bumblebee - who, unlike Prowl or Sideswipe have limited reuse possibilities, making them costlier and riskier.
I for one am thankful that great representations of guys like these are coming out - who cares whatever they get repainted into?
This guy is a nice bonus. Buy it if you like it, don't buy it if you don't. Don't pretend it's some huge misfire or a sign of the line's decline. It's not.

Some people are having the irrational and unjustified fear that Exhaust is replacing another character's slot. That somehow Takara decided to cancel another Decepticon mold to go with this - that's NOT how it works, and if they were planning on releasing a new Deception Masterpiece, that's still coming out.

Next: I know this is only a minor 'problem' to some, but still: some people are also bothered with the numbering because....why exactly? Because they only want to collect 'mainline' Masterpiece, not side-toys, and this clutters up their numbering for when they stack the boxes next to each other? What the hell, that's anally retentive if I've ever encountered it.

If you collect Masterpiece, wouldn't you either:
a) buy the ones you like, and don't buy the ones you don't like, or
b) be a completionist and collect all of them.

...but that might just be me.



Masterpiece threads are getting ridiculous. It's like a disproportionate amount of people just doesn't want to bother with any form of common sense or nuance - and yes, that makes me so frustrated this reply of mine here is kind of dickish and lacking any nuance itself.

-I'm sick of the crying how everything Takara (or Hasbro) does is somehow wrong.
-I'm sick of the meaningless nitpicking over how Magnus' buttflap or armguard's shape is off by a millimeter (or some people going as far as saying that they would've preferred the 'white Prime' over the actual, accurate Magnus).
-I'm sick of the scapegoating and demonizing of certain designers, while praising others as some sort of benevolent gods.
-I'm sick of people who have no idea - and don't bother to educate themselves on- how a Transformer toy is made and how business plans revolving redecos work, especially high end collector ones like the Masterpiece figures.

Opinions, my ass. Blurting uneducated negativity is not the same as expressing an opinion. I can deal with anyone saying they're not interested in Exhaust (I'M not interest in Exhaust either) - but I can't deal with outright ignorance of people who project their dislike onto the toy, resulting in mind-numbingly stupid posts in which Takara is the one doing everything wrong. Whatever happened to a simple 'I'm not interested in this'.


Marlboor/Exhaust looks great. They went all out to make it look accurate, with the new head and the paintjob - and as somebody pointed out, enough room for people to add custom Marlboro stickers (something Takara obviously can't include). That's great, and it will make a lot of people happy - either people who don't know who this character is and just like the deco, or people who know of Marlboor and are having their 'dream come true'.

Don't like it? Don't buy it. End. Rest assured: other Masterpiece figures are coming, and this figure is not taking up ay of their slots. Takara's been focusing on Autobots mostly (probably because they might be a less risky sale) but I'm sure more high profile Decepticons will see releases.
As for repaints: let them release as many as they want, in all the crazy colors they can think of - it will not change that we are still getting high-grade, accurate versions of 'our' G1 guys.

And they WILL repaint these into everything possible - because they want to recoup cost or make more profit - and that's cool, because that means even more Masterpiece figures.
Expect Powered Convoy for Magnus. Bugbite for Bumblebee. If they ever release Sunstreaker, get ready for the Diaclone Police version. Tracks, if he gets the Masterpiece treatment, will see a Diaclone red repaint - and not even half the people will be as mad as they are now with Exhaust, as red Tracks was a more established TF character: Road Rage.

 

*cough* G2 Sideswipe *cough*

I'm surprised how many ppl are so blinkered as to not see the bigger picture.

 

I dig it

 

Sums it up pretty well...since I like to get multiple colors of certain TFs its an easy decision for me. Since I like this fig, doesn't hurt that buying him could lead to other TFs getting repainted.

Coot

 

all over this .... same head as the diaclone toy too  

 

I might be in the minority here but I really like everything about this release. This is clearly based off the diaclone Marlboro Lancia just as Tigertracks was based off the yellow Countach before it. I'm no diaclone expert but I'm sure Tigertrack never had any name or allegiance before being made a MP. Just looking at the head sculpt, he's spot on as an update of his diaclone predecessor and a head like that screams decepticon to me. We don't know enough about this figure yet to say that the decepticon insignia isn't a sticker like Tigertracks. And even if it isn't, it doesn't bother me. As for the name, as of they would be able to call him Marlboor without getting their pants sued off. They had to call h something and Exhaust is fine by me.
Sure some people may be getting upset about numbering or not have the exclusive silver diaclone boxes. But for me I couldn't care less. That box is going into storage once I take this figure out of it and the numbering has no great bearing on my life. At the end of the day all that matters is that there's an awesome figure that gonna be on my shelf providing me with fun. At that's what the hobby is about for me.

 

I'm not sold on this repaint. I'm not that big of a fan on the name or the scheme, however accurate it is to diaclone. I may consider buying it if a high quality KO hit the markets in the years to follow, but I think I will pass on this and Star Saber.