I don't think that'd be divisive at all. There are some people that do 3P and TT, and some will buy both, but others will just buy one. Overall, the reality is that the visible divisiveness is just like other things on the internet, mostly noise from a very loud few.

What'd actually be divisive is if Takara started passively supporting companies that steal their IP to get out some of those last few unobtainable characters. THAT would be some crazy shit.

 

The talk in the Thundercracker thread got me thinking on who we could feasibly see this year. Obviously there's Starscream, Thundercracker and Skids, with Skywarp probably on the way too. I imagine Crosscut could follow Skids pretty quick if he really is more in line with the Hasui stuff. Rattrap seems a perfect fit for a smaller release to go along with all of that, plus various reissues. On the other hand I'm personally skeptical they would do Detritus, Lifeline or another Prime recolour. Anything else, I wonder about.

EDIT: Oh yeah, there's that Raiden thing too. That probably covers the rest of it.

 

Mmmmmmmmmmm I was already eyeing acoustic wave...don’t do this takara, don’t bring me back in, I’m not ready...

 

Based on all the past releases, is there anyone who could pop up as a repaint between now and Starscream in June?
I thought there was some pretty fast turnaround for Tigertacks and a couple other old repaints.

 

That was way back in the day with the TTS exclusives. Nothing is happening till June, they work on a 6 month window at the minimum, we'll most likely see a release of some sort every month for the rest of the year. We probably won't see Skywarp til 2022 with probably a coronation Starscream for the movie anniversary.

 

I’m curious how they’ll number the inevitable Skywarp release. Are we going to start seeing MP-XX++ numbers? It’s always felt kind of loose on their numbering, but there’s just no way Skywarp isn’t going to get redone sometime next year, and the r plus numbering has always been a simple repaint system while other characters with different paint jobs got their own lettered designation.

 

I'm leaning his own number,but then what would coronation Starscream be. Unless they flip it and coronation starscream is the numbered release and SW the mall exclusive. Which sounds weird, but then you consider Starscream is considerably more popular it works, this isn't exactly a Datsun situation where they are all relatively equal.

 

Look at it from the perspective of, "Is this a release Takara would want to sell at retail?" and apply past behavior. If it isn't something Takara thinks could succeed at retail, it won't get its own number. It's about the only constant we still have, I believe: numbered releases are retail releases. Letters and pluses can be retail releases, but more often aren't, going by the law of averages. So far nothing has broken this rule, right?

 

I'd really like to see an MP Blaster before V2 Soundwave.

 

I think Soundwave v2 gives us Blaster as a retool (yeah, they don't retool usually, I know, but the similarities are little more than Wheeljack to Exhaust, or Sunstreaker to Cordon).

I don't think it is as doable the other way round, as they'd have to justify the development costs for a lesser character.

 

Exactly,I'm pretty sure a general run is pretty big, sure @Phamduc mentioned it before. No way you devote all those resources for something you're not sure will sell. The purpose of the exclusives is to allow them to put out an X amount that they have decided on, not the amount of a standard run,hence the higher price with no discount. I think Wheeljack and Sideswipe saw general releases was due to the popularity of the alt-modes, while the Datsun's brothers were the less sexy Nissans.

 

Hang on - do you mean Soundblaster and Soundwave?

That would be brave of TT, if only because G1 Blaster and G1 Soundwave were nothing alike, in size or materials.

 

Toon Soundwave and toon Blaster were identical in size. We've already seen KFC's take on Blaster and he's very close to the Soundwave shape.

The stuff that caused the original toy to be huge, can easily be hidden in the legs these days, so if you think about the basic transformation, do the splits/legs around the body/arms round the back, it's identical.

You need new moulds of course, but the base is essentially the same. And I reckon MP13 does it great anyway. The money to spend will be in getting the articulation and having the hips look better etc. and I just think they can justify that work if it's ostensibly for Soundwave.

The fact they can then retool him to Blaster is just a bonus, although they might over complicate him to allow Blaster to work.

The repaint potential of Soundblaster and Twincast is just gravy!

 

There's no similarities apart from the fact that they're both tape machines with the tape door on their chest. Blaster has entirely an different hip design, and somehow has to include a mechanism that gives him four buttons in alt mode and three in robot more — the above picture is wrong for robot mode, he should only have three:

 

Fair play. I didn't picture the hips... and forgot about the button placement too.

I'll get my coat  

 

Hehe, the word 'retool' in an MP thread triggered me and I had to take you down, sorry  

 

No worries, like a 'right tool' for not thinking about it more! 

 

Well it's the speculation thread not the premonition thread, all is forgiven  

 

MP Springer confirmed, this obviously has to be the divisive release Phamduc was talking about.

 

This is a play on the current 3P shenanigans, right? I know you used blue text, but I concerned now, lol