MP47 The Hound was teased in 2015 as a possible MP-28. Then it went into limbo. Finally it was announced as official in 2018, then more silence till they started showing it in 2019. Now post release, it has been the worst every MP figure from Takara with all sorts of QC issues. What happened? Did TT know it was a doomed project from the start but succumbed to fan pressure and delivered an unsatisfactory product?

 

atleast MPM Ironhide isn't the worst Takara MP anymore, though it is sad to see Takara screw up this badly. I blame the cartoon super accuracy as it has lead to the MP's relying on thin panels and the matte paint increases costs substantially.

 

Idk I think Rodimus primes astonishing explosive knees are still the worst MP hiccup to date

 

There’s a lot of theories , I would recommend reading the hound thread in the news section.

 

Rumor is there was an issue with the shoulders and the first protype was not transformable. They had to redesign the shoulders.

 

Not at first there wasn’t
Wouldn’t be surprised if someone made parts for hound down the line at all

 

It will definitely happen...but it will be the entire thing. They call them KOs.

As far as replacement pieces...like ServO said, the problem isn't contained to provide a fix. They'd have to provide replacement parts for half the figure...at which point you're better off just making an entire replacement figure.

 

I hate that Hound ended up like this. I stopped collecting MPs but I had actually considered Hound for a while because he was another G1 character I liked growing up. But all the QC issues like this is one of the primary reasons I don't collect MPs anymore. For a showcase line like this, QC should increase with price not decrease.

 

I hope this leads to simpler more durable MP or MP lite line to avoid these disasters. And more affordable. MP Prime at $500 separates middleclass income fans from upperclass

 

I know its apples and oranges, but reading the most recent MP blunders makes me worry about Haslab Unicron's QC when he finally comes out. I can't even begin to imagine how pissed off I'd had been if I spent $300-400 for MP 44 for it to have broken knees or +$150 for Hound for it to be broken right out of the box.

I know its blasphemy to say such things, but the few scattered Takara figures I have, particularly the ones with retooling (Ginrai, Dai Atlas) feel really half baked and unrefined. It makes me think that TT has lost some of its mojo.

 

It is called the cheap hollow plastic syndrome, at this point the CHPS is a norm in the brand. So, what is the surprise?

Don't expect high quality in the Transformer brand nowadays. Keep low expectations, really low.

 

Not only the question "what happened to mp Hound" but what happened to the whole mp line ?
For excample: today I've transformed mp12 Sideswipe again like so many times now with no problems like breakage, damaging, cracks, stressmarks, loose or to tight joints, paintchipping and what more.
Yes, he isn't 100% cartoonaccurate, has limited articulation, has differend colors red but for me those things are less important if the figure is durable and fun to transform without being scared of breakage and all that kind of stuff.
How old is this figure now, bought him when he first came out, handeled him a lot and still holding just fine, like all my older masterpieces (even mp5 and mp9 v1 but these two I handle much less and with much more care )
And paid only 60,- Euro's for it. (no "long live design" on their boxes back than, Takara can erase that cause it's a lie )

Last week I bought Hound for 150,- Euro's: yes he looks awesome, has tonnes of articulation and lots of stuff and is very show accurate but reading all those flaws I don't know what to do with him.
I'm scared to transform him, did it just once to robot and back with a lot of stress  and has survived so far but I won't do that often knowing he will break or be damaged very soon doing so.
I thought mp39 Sunstreaker was allready on the edge (mine has the well known crack in the frontwindow) but at least it still holds fine after a few transformations.
Since than it seems things just get worse....
So I never buy a first wave Takara figure again and when this line continues on this way I won't buy anything from them again.
Too bad, I loved there products very much  

 

I don't think the over-complexity caused by being animation accurate is doing the line any favors. Lots of tiny, thin panels and pinned joints just makes it hard. The more connections you have, the more chances for one to fail.

 

I've been weary of purchasing MP figures in general.

We do have some: Grimlock, GOAT Soundwave, Bumblebee 1.0, Darker purple Shockwave. Those are the simpler ones and have been fairly durable so far without any sort of damage issues. Grimlock has all sorts of loose joints which I modded with electrical tape.

Don't want to spend a lot of money on a figure to only have it break with intended usage.

 

There was minimal pressure. Gundog and Willis satisfied a lot of demand.

What happened was overcomplex Sunbow slavishness, thin plastic, and painted hinges colliding into a car crash of a figure. I wouldn't be surprised if they used a new plastic too which ended up being sensitive to whatever solvent was in the paint.

 

How do you mod figures using electrical tape? I don't collect MP but I do have quite a few transformers with loose joints that aren't ball joints.

 

This is what I did with MP Grimlock Re-issue:
Heavy/Scratch: - Various mods (of mods), custom stuff

 

I used to transform my MPs all the time, especially Sideswipe and Datsuns, now I don’t even want to touch them for fear of chipped paint or broken panels.