I dont see the point of making mainline scale MP combiners, it becomes a why thing so hopefully that's not it. . If we get around UW Devastator I'm fine as long as limb bots are in the ballpark. My guess it something closer to Skids for combiners. Going back to earlier MPs maybe some hollow joints, no face swaps, and limited accessories to keep prices down. The other hope being it's own subline it wont impact the regular line and will be it's own thing. That would definitely allow for a BW release and maybe something else.

Hope they keep the paint,( as that's another way of cutting cost) there's always the risk of chips and damage but a plain plastic finish just doesnt compare to paint.

 

I had the thought that maybe "MPG" figures will be a different aesthetic, you know, not cartoon accurate. But really, 3rd parties have already blazed this trail to great success. Like you said in the news thread, there won't be much interest from MP collectors if Takara messes with the formula too much.

 

That is a thought. If it didnt imply combiners( giant) I would have thought a possible sideline to get around licenses.

 

Well, particularly the non-accuracy supporters will point to the excessively simplistic appearance of the Constructicons when in combined mode and say "Do you really want something that looks like that?" And it does indeed seem impossible to give us detailed, licensable vehicle modes and also under-detailed limb modes from the same toys.

We still don't have a real firm grasp of Raiden's scale, do we? Never a photo released of Shouki standing next to Ironhide, or something. It does seem probable right now that this new subline is where the Trainbots will land, with other combiners to follow.

The issue is, why a new subline at all unless there's a fundamental size or aesthetic difference? These are in-show, G1 characters. Even Beast Wars characters didn't get shunted into a new subline.

 

Still Between this and TFTM and Scourge getting mentioned in TC's bio I'm pretty excited. Wonder when this is supposed to go live? I was actually expecting something next week to show that an announcement was coming to get that mid month reveal. Hopefully they dont pull a Charlie Brown on us.

 

Interesting that they deleted the tweet...

 

Didn’t the TTMall listing for Ramjet go up to soon and they had to pull it down for a few hours, I think. Stuff happens I guess

 

Probably. Just wondering how "too soon" this was. Hours? Days?

 

I have always had some doubts about how big is the market in Japan for 50+cm figures, so I wouldn't be surprised if the subline is a move to introduce a different scale for combiners, like they did with Beast Wars. The big question then is, if they are making the combiners smaller, what size they will be? 45cm like the titan class combiners, 30-35cm similar to Bandai's DX line? In the first case they could still have the individual bots in the current MP scale, in the second it will be easier to sell the combiners as giftsets.
Personally I'm conflicted. I have a 3p Superion and I love how big he is and how he towers over regular bots. On the other hands, I don't have enough room for a full collection of combiners that big...

Edit: another thing I thought of...we know that the MP line place a great focus on licensing, and at least one combiner (Menasor) should be a licensing nightmare. Maybe the subline is also a way to make it easier for Takara to make unlicensed alt mode without directly impacting the image of the MP line.

 

Yep, there's the problem. For everybody who doesn't care about scale and would welcome smaller combiners, there's (my feeling) a larger group of people who consider a unified scale to be central to Masterpiece and won't go near out-of-scale combiners. Compounded by the fact 3rd parties have already done it, so it isn't even a question of "Could it be done?" We know it can be done. A lot of us own some of them.

If Takara can't do something 3rd parties have already done, that's a major black eye for the official scene.

Of course, "giant" is also a part of this (twice, even), so maybe we don't need to fear them going small. How tone-deaf would it be for them to describe small combiners as "giant" in the midst of 3rd parties releasing large, in-scale combiners for years now? They would literally be making a laughingstock of themselves.

 

I notice (via Google) that 'Gatai' means something like 'difficult' or 'hard to do'?

So 'complicated'? Intricate? Not sure how that translates into toy terms

 

There is also the fact that the current 3p combiners make extensive use of partsforming to achieve their size, something that Takara tend to avoid, so they could still see theirs as the superior version even if smaller.
And if course, they might simply don't care about 3p.

It's "gattai", it means combination. Fans of Japanese super robots cannot think of anything else when they hear that word.

 

Beast Wars was a different show connected to G1, characters were not meant to be displayed with G1 crew.

MP is totally a different affair, and for dimension purpouse, you can not have the combiner as a character size. Keep in mind that Starscream is big as a Bruticus head!



Best bet is component scaled.

 

In this case, they absolutely should care about 3rd party. It would be like the United States in May 1961 not caring that the Soviet Union had already launched a man into orbit in April.

So here's my next rambling thought: as under-detailed and hyper-massive as combiners get, going out of scale with their own component parts, maybe this will be a combiner-robot-only subline. A Devastator that isn't made up of six Constructicons. The limbs detach, but they don't transform. It would allow for articulation, nice thick weight-supporting knee and elbow joints, a nice ab crunch, all the stuff Masterpiece is known for, without the necessity of individual robots. The main Masterpiece line is where these would show up, and they'd combine too, but into combiners at a height you'd expect.

Supermassive combiners without transformation capability could also potentially be sold for an attractive price. A four-foot Devastator for $100-$200.

 

Madness, but the type I like

 

Sort of answered, Raiden has found a home

 

Well, now the big questions are the size and the price for Shouki. I hope we'll get more details soon.
I also wonder if "gattai, great, giant" could also mean we'll get citybots in this line.

 

I imagine in comparison to the "main line" you could fit a couple of characters not technically combiners. The larger( Armada maybe Ginrai) convoys, Skyfire, Overlord, a new Star Saber, Dai Atlas, maybe even Dinobots. Shouki definitely looks more Skids than Starscream and to get those characters I have no problem with that.

 

Yeah, if it turns out that the subline is really meant to be more flexible regarding scale, a lot of Japanese big guys could easily qualify, not to mention g1 characters like Omega Supreme or Sky Lynx.
Going back to combiners, mine spend like 90% of the time in combined mode, so I'm totally OK with making the individual bots simpler in order to keep costs down. In exchange, combined mode should be solid, stable and have great posability.

 

omega supreme could be sold as "combiner", in 2 parts. With the "Gattai" sub-brand they can split the character in more releases.