He had more votes than Primal or Lio in that SS survey. I always thought the RID firetruck Prime was a cool design, I would expect it would have its own crossover appeal. Still maybe better to say 50 will be a wildcard neither distinctly G1 or BW. After Lio, I'm expecting them to slip in a non Sunbow transformer of the vehicle type in there somewhere. I think some of the bigger JP G1 releases translate better now with the move to appeal to the high end crowd. Can't totally say they wouldn't revisit Star Saber at some point. MP24 was for the most part done on the cheap, I'd imagine a Star Saber made now would be pretty impressive ( articulation, accessories,paint,and electronics).

I also don't see Lio leading to a run of BW II characters, but more to the fact ,I never expected Takara to spit out season 1 as quick as some people believed. There will most likely be other releases from the BW tree sprinkled in while they complete the season 1 cast.

 

Nah, at the time that poll was conducted the popular write-in would have been Erector.  


As for MP-50, my speculated candidates are (in no particular order):

• Brawn
• Rattrap
• Reflector
• Black Ironhide
• Red Sunstreaker
• Jazz
• Cliffjumper
• Huffer
• Skids

 

MP-50 will be Rhinox (because I want it to be so)

 

It’s true, but Fire Convoy also was voted on by only Japanese fans. Add in westerners and other Asian markets, and that will likely change a lot, which seems to be the message that Takara has taken recently.

Actually, I’m going to go ahead and say while the selection in that old poll are relevant characters, the poll itself is not. It gets trotted out pretty often to guess at upcoming sets that could be included in the MP line, but it’s pretty clearly out of date, or we’d be seeing a pretty different release lineup as dictated by it.

I’m going to namecheck @Sam since he was part of that element of the convo, and ultimately I think as a fandom, we need to re-evaluate the relevancy and value of a poll that led to an arguably failed release since it’s still a one-off. Also, considering that they only surveyed a single market, Takara didn’t take their full reach into account, basically providing themselves skewed data.

 

Totally. I think I've made it clear enough that the poll is not relevant since MP-32. And even less so with the addition of MP-48. Seems like TT are taking their wider Asian market into account a lot more. I only brought it up since HC mentioned that it was the initial reason that we got Star Saber at all.

I also wouldn't call Star Saber a failure, either. Just they have since decided to widen the MP line in different ways (attracting entirely new demographics with Beast Wars and MPMs, rather than the same G1 age group). I still think Super Ginrai is just as likely to happen as lots of other G1 characters, though. For the same reason that Lio Convoy is happening - he looks like Optimus Prime.

 

I think with the price point now they worry even less about the outside markets.Wasn't the encore almost $300, which sold well before it became apparent it was a QC nightmare. I do agree somethings have changed since that survey, but them going high -end makes a difference too, especially if we have reached the points where runs are being based on preorder information like the diaclones. I think we'll still get "normal" releases like we have been getting but I think its inevitable we'll see some of the Japanese G1 and later characters getting the SOC treatment,not meant to pair with other releases but are instead stand-alone pieces.

 

I think that relative failure of Star Convoy is pretty real and relevant. He’s obviously sold well, but something happened that made Takara say “oh, that’s interesting. Maybe we should hold back on Victory Leo...” he failed to spark a line based on his era, and that is likely an ultimate failure, small or large you could debate all day though.

Oh fully agreed. The high end push us changed the line hugely too.

 

Star Saber doesn't really stand out as an odd duck to me. He's a Cybertron leader in a line that gives special focus to Cybertron leaders. If we get Big Convoy and God Ginrai in the near future but no one else from their series, Star Saber will look even more like an early line direction indicator and not a failed line expansion experiment.

 

For the Big 5, 0, they should do something big.

 

Yeah exactly, and my point still stands that he’s a leader from the same G1 demographic, so if they wanna expand to other age groups they’ll naturally do Armada Prime et al eventually.

I suppose the only failure is he didn’t sell well enough to immediately warrant Victory Leo.

I like your thinking.

 

It’s clear TT is making a convoy for ... Convoy   they’re gna make sure you’re primed for Prime in all his incarnations ... and I for one couldn’t be merrier, bring it on baby!

 

MP V3 Prime will be the last new G1 Prime I buy.
He's my defining Prime, and will be the center of my collection.

 

Agreed. I’m selling MP-10, I have my G1 New Year Convoy, and MP-44 will soon be on the way. The only other G1 Prime I might buy is, well, a straight up vintage G1 Prime.

 

I have my MP10, MP YOTH, MP Shattered Glass, MP10 Nemesis, MP V3 incoming.
Throw in MPM Prime, MP Primal and preordered MP Lio Convoy.

Yea, I'm all set as far as Primes go.  

I also don't need anymore Bumblebees, after MP45........unless TT or Hasbro decide to surprise me with an MP SG Bee.

Of course then I'd need MPs of SG Swipe, CJ, Jazz, Megs, Soundwave........ 

 

Me too. I expect to no longer be actively collecting by the time v4 gets made. Pieces of the existing collection might still remain, but I won't be adding to it anymore.

So you're on notice, Takara! Make MP44 as perfect as you can, 'cause this is it for me, and SunSwipe5, and who knows who else!

 

MP-50 will be Sideswipe v2.






 

 

Considering that MP-43 to MP-48 are all new molds (heck, only two numbered repaints since MP-39), I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a black Ironhide.

 

I've been lurking this thread/forum for some time, ever since I bought MP 36 in June. Finally decided to join!

But anyways, I've planned out my MP purchases until December of next year. I left out a couple because of speculation for v2/3 versions in the future.

V3 Starscream
V2 Soundwave
V2 Rodimus Prime

What I don't understand was a lot of people wanting a v2 of Ultra Magnus. Do people hate the butt flap that much? It seems pretty solid beyond that issue. Is there something I am missing?

 

Welcome! It’s mostly articulation. The aesthetic matches but could be closer, and and the articulation, especially in the hips and shoulders, leaves a lot to ask for. I still love transforming him back and forth, but I wish he could be posed as dynamically as, say, Sunstreaker.

 

I hope they do treat MP-50 as something special. I'm not sure what it could be. Would they go big and give us Devastator? Or would that just be MP 50-55? We don't have a Galvatron yet, so maybe him? Blaster would be pretty big too with the Autobot cassettes.