I don't disagree, but an argument could be made what made the line the success it is was going to a (mostly) consistent bot mode scale, faithful G1 bot and alt modes, and releasing more than just the A-list characters...regardless of whether it was more geared toward Kobe's or Hasui's aesthetic. I'd be curious how the Japanese market feels about the line today...are they more excited or less? Me, I think had they started MP-10 with Kobayashi's direction and gotten a dozen releases in and all the 3rd party releases were trying to cater to that look...and then all of a sudden Hasui took over and the aesthetic takes a fairly sharp turn as my collection is 3/4 of the way complete or better...I'd be equally turned off.

 

Apologies, I thought we were talking about Hasui.. it's been a long few days...

 

I'm also very curious how the Japanese market feels about the new design direction. It just feels very rude to completely ignore Hasui's involvement in the success of the MP line. Hopefully we will see more of his work in this line. I don't really understand how people prefer paying $140 for this:

over something like this:

 

That would be cool!! Dunno if the image would be clear enough to protect properly, though. Would it??

 

Personal preference, to each their own and all that. You don't have to understand it, just like others don't have to understand your preference.

However, if you're seriously asking why this line, of all lines, would generate interest in figures that lean on the animation models more than they have before, then you don't understand the nostalgic pull that cartoon has on this fan base (especially with a line that specifically caters to nostalgia for the origins of this franchise in the first place). It's not universal amongst us (we're a varied bunch), but it's there, and denying that by asking that question with any level of seriousness seems quite naive to me.

 

I apologize for not liking what you like.

 

I assume pretty well since only third party dealers have Infernos for sale on Amazon Jp. Which much say something because I paid less for mines then someone who lives in Japan.

 

While on the subject of animation accuracy over the mix of toy/cartoon in the last several posts in this thread, as I'm currently "rebooting" my MP carbot figures, I'm wondering with the release of Anime accurate Red Alert (and its "+" designation) (which I have coming shortly with Inferno right behind him, both of which are very animation accurate)....curious as to what other of the existing carbots will get animation accurate redecos? Wheeljack seems to the most obvious....but Prowl, I don't really see that needing an update, Smokescreen, Sideswipe and Tracks don't need it (to my eyes anyway), so that would leave maybe Bluestreak?

Thoughts, opinions...........

 

It's come up before in discussion after +Alert's announcement what could be other + options, and yes Wheeljack & Streak were agreed to as the most likely & fitting for this idea amongst the cars. Beyond that, Soundwave & Optimus (white instead of silver) are the next likely and beyond that it's hard to envision more unless the + idea pivots to, or is replaced by, toy-based redecos.

 

I'm pretty sure the Japanese market is enjoying the current direction of the Masterpiece line, else they wouldn't be 10+ figures into that direction at this point, and going back to older figures to update their look to match.

Also, I've got to say, MP Inferno is a blasted gorgeous figure. I can understand how some folks would like to have fewer exchangeable grills and more detailing on the piece itself (I'm sticking with the chrome one), but I have to say, Takara is producing fun figures that you can do a ton of cool stuff with.

As @Lbsammills51 said, the reality of any G1 collection or line is that it's heavily driven by nostalgia for the classics, and I expect a lot of us on this board are 34-40 yr old men that grew up loving that cartoon (hopefully its broader than that of course), and I can honestly say, I'm here because Transformers blew my mind when I was 4, just like now at 36. I'm very happy with the current direction, it's full of fascinating design features.

A designer changing isnt' some huge drama - there may have been some, of course - but it's not like Takara is behaving the way Konami did with Kojima.

 

Yeah, it seems I can't relate to such strong nostalgia for the current direction. In my mind it's Hasui's "ideal" vision vs. Kobayashi's bankin' on the nostalgia (and cheap gimmicks).

 

I dunno that it's even a vision thing. Hasui's main thing was a unifying scale and that vision has endured. Kobayashi's work on MP1, MP8, and MP11 weren't as show accurate either. Ot night just be a marketing decision. Kobayashi doesn't call all the shots and neither did Hasui.

 

I'd say that these modern pieces are often more idealized all-told than many of the older pieces. There are plenty of odd design complaints you can make either way, and certainly lots of amazing features that could weight your enjoyment, but if you're more specifically concerned with 1 designer over another, you're just not ever going to be happy with a line like this for long. It's just the reality of these sorts of things that as it expands, more people will be brought in to manage production against demand.

Cost to produce his designs is more likely to be a reason that Hasui isn't on the line right now, or even something external entirely that he was needed for, like another line that Takara produces that he may have wanted to go to.

 

It's really quite simple. Not everyone thinks like you or has the same preferences. LOTS of ppl love the slavish toon style.

Also with regards more + cars, Wheeljack and Bluestreak aside Smokescreen could very much benefit from subtle toon paint influences:



Prime and Soundwave too although I think Prime needs new chest windows to be more square and less detailed as well as white hips/thighs, plain forearms/shins:

 

And a voice recording that says "Hello little one" or whatever the hologram said in Heavy Metal War.

 

One is the Inferno I loved as a kid. One is... some artwork I don't think I've seen before.

 

It's pretty simple. Not everyone had all the toys growing up, but everyone had access to the show. Therefore, those people will tend to have more of an attachment to the show.

 

This is a peripheral side note, but your "everyone had access to the show" reminded me of something I realized recently. Growing up, we didn't get a color TV till 1986. Before that, our TV was a little 13-inch black-and-white. Which made me realize, I watched at least the first two seasons of Transformers in black-and-white.

I did have a decent number of the toys, however. And I think perhaps that's why I've always leaned toward preferring toy-inspired color schemes... because for me the characters were all just shades of grey, and I mentally imposed color schemes on to them based on the toys. So I prefer Red Rumble, Soundwave and Prime with yellow eyes, Red Swoop, etc. Or, if I don't actually PREFER them, I at least tend to think of them as the "default" scheme for those characters.

Neither here nor there, just a realization I had recently.

 

Yes, I can see MP 40 Jazz, MP 41 Hound and MP 42 Cliffjumper

Well, these things work better with distance. I mean, the image will be clearer if you are away from the wall

Oh, great idea !

 

Optimus's windows in the show, like the majority of the show itself, weren't particularly consistent. They seem to range between MP1 and MP10 proportions at least; I'm sure Kobayashi and Hasui must've been staring at two different frames for that (Hasui did say he watched the whole show though so who knows.)