Hayaku  

Yeah, I can see how in the future the discounts might get a bit less. MP44 is the last one I had 33% off on. Both BA and Hound seem to have maxed out at 30%, like you said.
If this gives us better QC and more durable paint, then I'm all for it.

 

Gomenasai 
Yeah, the gray border on 44 is much to thin,like I said a lot of the errors seem like they happened because the factory wasn't keeping pace and shorted some work.

 

I guess it's been a while since that Generations Waspinator, so I guess he'd be more likely to come first. I would personally LOVE to see Inferno first, though (and be happy to use the Takara Generations Waspy as a stand-in until he inevitably is made in MP form).

Despite not being a member of the original crews, though, I think Inferno is pretty likely to get made regardless. He's just way too awesome, and was pretty prominent throughout most of the series. Seems to be a bit of a fan favorite, too. Ditto Silverbolt on the Maximal side.

PS: And as for Burning Convoy, I don't think I've ever been LESS excited for an MP...

 

After thinking about it, I really have no desire for an MP red monkey Prime. I need to conserve money for the next G1 MP (please be one of the trio).

It's amazing how easy it is to spend money on MPs, and how freaking difficult it is to sell off part of your collection......to have extra money for new MPs.
  

 

Hey, I'm new to the thread, and I just wanted to know if anyone actually knows what the next masterpiece will be after Lio? After skipping through some pages, I got that there will be a 2.0 Soundwave, but is that confirmed? Im really sorry, I just want to get caught up.

 

Well there’s a new Burning Convoy Optimus Primal releasing in March, but beyond that we don’t know anything.

 

Nothing confirmed yet, we may get news of something at the end of the month if Flaming hot Primal isn't the only announcement

 

Flaming Hot Convoy is like Flaming Hot Cheetos........both tend to stale when left open.
  

 

I'm not aware of a 2.0 soundwave. They are re-releasing the original soundwave this year, (Which I'm assuming is what you are thinking of) which is MP-13, so I doubt we'll see Soundwave 2.0 real soon.

 

Everything here is speculation, nothing more. We all ASSUME that a Soundwave 2.0 is going to happen, going based on a lot of things with current trends, but aside from a select few that actually have any legitimate information are most likely sworn to secrecy. Even if they were to say anything about it, though, there's still nothing concrete to happen until Takara actually says "MP76 IS... SIDESWIPE VERSION 9, NOW WITH SELF AUTO TRANSFORMATION!!"

 

I think the only assumption we can make is a new MP Starscream (and Seeker repaints).

I don't think a new Soundwave is out of the question by any means but I don't think that's it's a given, either.

 

I disagree. Soundwave will 100% happen. He’s one of the most popular characters, I don’t believe they have any licensing challenges with him? And MP-13 was a Long time ago and worse, he looks it.

 

Takara is allergic to new decepticon molds. Aside from Galvatron, everything remaining is relatively B list compared to unreleased season 1 and 2 autobots. Triple changers and combiners remain merely whimsical wishes.

That just leaves seekers and Soundwave, so seems like a good bet.

 

I think that was my idea of "spamming" a character on the survey. Pretty sure 20-30 of us spamming the same character probably has to be noticeable to whoever sees it. Keeping it simple like thst helps,since most of us dont speak Japanese and google translate isnt your friend. Probably avoiding guys like Jazz and Galvatron because yeah they're getting made, TT plans to do those characters, guys on the lip now though like Blitzwing or Reflector or Cyclonus a Dinobot not named Grimlock  would kind of need the push more than those. Maybe next month with Bee or Hound in December we can all decide on a character to push.

 

I disagree and I’ll tell you why: the Soundwave mould is already good enough.

Is it perfect? No. But is it so flawed that all those people who bought Soundwave originally will feel a need to buy him again? I don’t think so.

For all this talk of v2s (which I’ll be honest, I don’t get anyway - I’d much rather get more G1 releases than yearn for a brand new Sideswipe mould because he chest is half a centimetre too wide or whatever, and I’ve already spent like £1,000 on seven seekers, I don’t want to do that again either if I can help it), remember that the four v2s that have been released so far are *wildly* different to the initial release:

- A proper Ultra Magnus with a trailer
- A downsized scales-with-Rodimus Optimus Prime, and then this latest perfect anime one (and the rules are slightly different around Optimus anyway)
- A downsized Megatron replacing the MP-5 rush job
- A chibi Bumblebee to replace the real life accurate one.

The point is that Takara Tomy invested in making moulds for these characters because they knew people who had already got one version of that figure could be persuaded to go out and buy it again.

Remember that to recoup the cost of developing a new mould, Takara Tomy have to be pretty sure they’re going to get a decent spread of sales from that mould. The market for Masterpiece is hardcore, older fans with disposable income. They’re not marketing this stuff to casual parents vaguely buying something off a shelf - they’re selling this collectors with knowledge. Collectors who most likely already own a Soundwave that’s pretty damn accurate. He’s already the right size; he’s the right colour; he transforms right. I just can’t see it being worth Takara’s investment in a new mould. Unlike with the howling demand for a chibi Bumblebee, there’s nothing a new version of Soundwave could be other than a fractional improvement in engineering. And that alone is not exciting enough to encourage people who’ve also spent a lot on Soundwave (and Soundblaster!) to buy it, and so justify TT making the mould for it.

(This principle doesn’t just apply to Masterpiece toys, by the way. There’s been a slowdown in smartphone sales in the developed world in recent times because the amount of improvement between each version of eg an iPhone or a Galaxy is diminishing, and people are sticking with what they have for longer).

I think sometimes people get it into their head that Takara Tomy sit there with a mission just to work endlessly remaking existing Masterpieces towards an ever more perfectly crafted take on them, whereas actually they’re just a business like anyone else. I’m sure there’s a few people who would of course lap up a v2 Soundwave, but enough to make it worth the massive cost of making a mould? A just don’t think so.

But I wouldn’t bet against an MP13+. Probably with Overkill included, just as that extra incentive...

 

I think Cyclonus is above B tier. I'd love to get a good Cyclonus MP.

 

He’s firmly B-list until recently when he became an actual character in the comics. Up to that point, he was just the space jet that committed his crazy boss.

 

I'll be interested to see what happens with the direction they go in remaking characters. I think a new Starscream is a given because he's one of those popular characters like Optimus or Bubmblebee, so, as you suggest when talking about OP, the rules are a little different for him. I feel like Soundwave is one of those characters as well, though, so I wouldn't be surprised if they did a v2 for him. That's not really based on anything other than my impression of the character's popularity, however.

I love MP-13, but I also love MP-10. The differences between MP-10 and MP-44 are pretty substantial, in my opinion, so I have to respectfully disagree with your assessment that a v2 Soundwave would have nothing to offer over the v1. TT's current direction with sculpt, articulation, paint, and engineering suggests to me that a new Soundwave would end up being as different from MP-13 as MP-44 is from MP-10. Whether or not that would sell depends on if Soundwave is as popular as I've pegged him. Again, that's based on nothing really other than my own observation and perception, so I could be wrong.

I do agree that I want TT to make some new characters before they start dipping into new versions of the older carbots, even though I'd love it if they took another swing at the vans. I think the + versions are confirmation that all those characters won't get remade for quite some time, if ever. Again, I could be wrong, but Bluestreak+ and Smokescreen+ seems to be a pretty good indicator that that's the most of a do-over that the Datsuns are going to get, at least for some time.

 

I have to think Takara's at least conscious of the vibe that they're just going to constantly redo certain characters. MP-44&45 feel like a cousin to MP-10&11; that was a confusing "What the fuck?!?" time too, but after that we got the MP Lambos and Soundwave, followed by MP Datsuns and redecos like Black Convoy, Tigertrack, G2 Sideswipe and Soundblaster. Now the latest two polarizing redos are getting followed up by three new molds and two redecos we've more or less been expecting to show up eventually.

I fully expect a Starscream V3 and Sideswipe V2 at some point, and V2s of Soundwave, Magnus (not even "white cab with armor" this time, just MP-22 but more posable), and Rodimus Prime are at least plausible. That said, I would hope Takara's not keen on antagonizing their fanbase and won't just go on a string of redos before getting to the next new character. I get cynicism regarding character selection, but for now, I tend to think any redos coming within the next few years will be sprinkled in here and there until another 5-8 years pass and Takara opts to redo another two major characters to signify another subtle shift in the line.

 

This.