Takara Tomy MP-45 Bumblebee 2.0

Discussion in 'Transformers News and Rumors' started by TTemploy, Feb 4, 2019.

  1. Dean ML

    Dean ML Well-Known Member

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    Hey, @Paco Grande , you mind posting a pic of exactly what you sanded down?:) 
     
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  2. Jdk504

    Jdk504 REDWOLF

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    Happy "Bee" - day!

    bee.jpg
     
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  3. Dean ML

    Dean ML Well-Known Member

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  4. Paco Grande

    Paco Grande Well-Known Member

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    Sure. I'll use your pic to demonstrate. :D 

    The damage happens when you rotate his chest forward. The part that is chipping rotates into that cavity I've circled below. On his right side there appears to be too much grey plastic. Or the yellow paint is too thick. So what I did is take a hobby knife and attempt to shave a bit of grey plastic from that lip to provide more clearance for the yellow part to rotate. After I painted, I tried to rotate that chest piece and I noticed that it was still getting hung up and chipped a tiny bit of the new yellow paint off. But I think my paint job is thinner than the factory paint so after that first scare it seems to be fine now. I rotated a bunch of times and I'm not losing anymore paint. So I think it's fixed.

    I've also attached a pic of mine that I just snapped quickly. If I look really close I can sort of see the depression where the chip was but it looks really good in my opinion and not visible from a normal viewing distance. Mine looked exactly like yours before painting.

    Edit: I also applied the Toyhax blue window stickers to mine which is why the windows are blue tinted.

    Bee_Fix.JPG

    After painting:

    Chip Fix.JPG
     
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  5. crazee928

    crazee928 Well-Known Member

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    it’s almost like a lot of the recent mp releases don’t factor in painted joints and allow more tolerance, causing paint scratches such as this. you would think that as they move towards fully painted figures, this would be easily caught during development and addressed.
     
  6. ChromeMagnus

    ChromeMagnus Well-Known Member

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    Agreed. If I do get it it'll have to be one of those $70-$80 factory bulk copies or a KO once it comes out.
     
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  7. Paco Grande

    Paco Grande Well-Known Member

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    I think in cases like Bee V2 and Grapple, who were the worst offenders for me, the factory is putting on the paint too thick. Grapple seemed to have MUCH thicker paint than Inferno so he chipped more. Someone told me once that if a car has paint that is too thin it will chip easily, but if a car has paint that is too thick it will chip even worse. There`s an ideal thickness apparently. But I`m not a paint expert. All I know is that MP Ironhide had great paint that does not seem to chip easily and Ratchet seems to have thicker paint and he chips a lot more. Same mold but much different paint like Inferno/Grapple.
     
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  8. betsuni

    betsuni I'm just here for the robots

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    Wow, I didn't realize that I got mine in January way after you all got yours. The one good thing I got it for less than the KO from Amazon Japan when they were clearing their stock. I didn't like him at first, but he grew on me as my fiddling toy to transform at my desk. I haven't transformed him in a while so I should try it again from memory as a puzzle.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
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  9. Temp1

    Temp1 Well-Known Member

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    I remember hearing that there was an unofficial way of folding the feet ...does anyone know where I can find how to do it?
     
  10. 4249david

    4249david Click my avatar, you won't regret it...

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    Ebay:
    There's a couple of ways, but here's mine
    16033633889446326738194870191788.jpg
     
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  11. Dean ML

    Dean ML Well-Known Member

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    Ah - ! Thanks so much for the helpful & illuminating info, @Paco Grande ! Gonna have to do this. I never noticed the offending flashing till you pointed it out!

    @betsuni , nice shots! Yeah, it's funny, I was underwhelmed for about a day after getting him. A lot of that was due to me not understanding how to lock the backpack up nice and tight, one of my copies having some sloppy paint, and that he was $90 and came with so little. But the sting of the price quickly wore off, I sorted the backpack out with the help of friends here, and I haven't been able to stop looking at him, posing him, and transforming him since :) 

    I don't recall snapping any shots before with these lovely energon conductors MVP @Sam made - had to fix that! Sam's craftsmanship is so good these things look official!

    [​IMG]
     
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  12. Temp1

    Temp1 Well-Known Member

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  13. gbm

    gbm Well-Known Member

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    I noticed you mentioned, "not knowing how to lock the backpack up?" Are you referring to the proper compression of it, or actually LOCKING it in?

    I ask because, I have resigned to the fact that my backpack will never fully lock. I have tried everything in the world, including watching a million videos and reading a ton of threads.

    In the end, I simply wound up Futuring all the joints that are involved in compressing the backpack, and now it "lock-holds" just fine.

    But I was wondering if there was something you could share in your own discoveries of this mechanic. (again, I don't think it'll make a difference, since I've had this type of convo many, many times over. lol )
     
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  14. Paco Grande

    Paco Grande Well-Known Member

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    On my copy if the backpack is transformed properly I can hang him
    by the backpack and it doesn’t move.

    Did you make sure the fake spare tire is in the correct spot so the windshield wiper fits perfectly into the little cutout in the spare tire part? That’s an indicator that it’s in the correct position.
     
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  15. gbm

    gbm Well-Known Member

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    Yep. I went through all those steps for sure. The proper angle of that piece, making sure it sits in the little divot, etc etc.
    It just refuses to snap in. It wouldn't fall or anything, it just didn't secure.

    (well, now it does, because of the Fututre)
     
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  16. Dean ML

    Dean ML Well-Known Member

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    Maybe you're already doing it correctly, but just in case I'm reposting from another thread...

    The key is this rod piece and the hinge joint. To get a nice tight collapsed backpack the rod must be pulled out and extended all the way and it must be at the right angle on the hinge. Mine felt like it wasn't supposed to bend past a certain point, but it definitely is.

    Here's the wrong way...
    [​IMG]

    Here's the right way...
    [​IMG]

    Locks together firmly now...
    [​IMG]
     
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  17. gbm

    gbm Well-Known Member

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    For sure! I get ALL the way up to that point ...but when I give it the final "press" to set into place, it merely sits there .....no connection whatsoever. It just sits there and I can pull it back apart with ease. That's why I used the Future in that joint...so when I push it up into position, it is a "tighter" movement, and it stays put.
     
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  18. Temp1

    Temp1 Well-Known Member

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    Okay, so I know I'm a little late to the party but I finally picked up MP-45 and I wanted to share some thoughts if you'd indulge me...


    I'll start with a positive. This figure in robot mode looks great. Mostly. The proportions are great and I love the head sculpts (even if two are very similar). The paint looks fantastic and I love how this sits with MP-44 Prime. Very cool. Although, for this price ($110-$120) I'm not so happy with the lack of ratchets and the pretty lightweight plastic used. I'll come on to the backpack and feet kibble in a sec.


    The car mode is ok ...I hate the way that you have to clip in everything at the same time at the end, its too fiddly and never quite cleans up like you hope it would. The car doesn't roll on the wheels like it should. I also think the back of car mode looks pretty bad.


    The robot mode can get some pretty great poses and in doing so it exudes loads of personality and character. Big fan of this. The problem with this figure is, it kind feels like the designers, at some point, just ...gave up.


    I know its beating a dead horse at this point, but the point is still valid – The backpack and feet look unfinished. With some of the amazing engineering TT (and 3rd party) do with MP figures ...it just doesn't really make sense to have such a mess at the back of the figure. Maybe the designers were up against a tight deadline ...but these look bad and they feel like issues that definitely could have been resolved.


    There must have been a better way to engineer these feet. Even just looking at it I have some ideas. If the window folded over onto the door using a double hinge and then tucked under the foot, at least you wouldn't have the windows bulging out of the back of the feet.


    1.jpg


    The lack of waist swivel seems unnecessary – surely the back of the vehicle mode could have been designed so that it folds up into the butt? Therefore not hindering the waist articulation.


    2.jpg


    Without the kibble thats attached to the waist, the back could probably compact more. Might not be an easy solution but it doesn't seem impossible to have potentially collapsed the circled piece using a hinge mid-way so that it more neatly folds into the backpack. I don't mind a backpack if it's neater – MP-44 looks great to me as it folds up and tabs in place.



    3.jpg



    This back, to me just feels unfinished. I know you can movie it around a bit more but it basically still looks like that.


    4.jpg


    In conclusion, this figure has some major problems that I just feel could have been avoided. Mainly the feet, the backpack and the unsatisfying fiddly nature of tabbing (and not being able to tab) everything together in vehicle mode. I still really like the piece but it's unfortunately fell short of being a really great MP for me.



    Probably doesn't need to be said, but this is just my opinion, if you love this figure 100% I'm happy for you. Just my 2 cents.
     
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  19. Sam

    Sam Arrival

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    I’ll agree the backpack and heels are ugly, but somehow in hand it’s all so forgivable. So much personality, so fun, so cute

    New country, new desk, same deskbot:

    55B913B9-DA00-4410-8A94-877F2C604B64.jpeg
     
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  20. gbm

    gbm Well-Known Member

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    100%

    The overall joy of the figure, its presence, and charm all outweigh any of the individual gripes people often mention.

    For me, at least.
     
    Last edited: Oct 22, 2020
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