NEW Official MPC Thread!!!

[fearyaks]

Hey, fearyaks: How's the stickers quality? In the photos they look very "Yamatoish"

They aren't the hottest stickers out there but they do the trick Kinda Yamatoish like you said. Custom ones would be ideal. I'll try to get some good pics up sometime later on today.

[Ali Sama]

pics of alpha for mechamaniac and you guys

[rnurmin]

Wow, comparing the Sketches on Page 63 with the actual toy, you can really tell that MPC Alpha's toes are way huge (like they are on Steroid or something)

[BoBe-Patt]

wow the sticker sheet looks like a yamato sticker sheet! How are the stickers? Are they shiny or do they blend in with the alpha?

[JsARCLIGHT]

My main issue with the toy (getting mine on monday from Kev so my opinion may change when it is in my hands) is the same as my opinion of the Gakken... in fighter mode the legs just don't "tuck up" underneath the fighter like they do in the line art. If you watch the anime and look at the line art a lot the legs sit almost directly under the arms and the "feet" end right about even with the boosters on the arms. All the Legioss toys have the legs sticking way too far out the back. I know this unit has a ton of "anime magic" in it's transformation but this Toynami piece looks to be the closest to the anime (sans the leg thing).

Has anyone taken a shot of one next to one of the Legioss Super Posables yet? I can take one tomorrow night when I get my MPC but I was wondering if someone had beaten me to it?

[GobotFool]

Wow, comparing the Sketches on Page 63 with the actual toy, you can really tell that MPC Alpha's toes are way huge (like they are on Steroid or something)

part of me thinks that the over sized toes may have something to do with the alpha beta link up mechanism.

[Kin]

OMG those toes in fightermode look so wrong.. andthe kneecap should cover the whole upperleg part. wasn't there enough room to fit deeper in it?

1 - 0 for Gakken

Edited August 16, 2004 by Kin

[Opus]

Wow, comparing the Sketches on Page 63 with the actual toy, you can really tell that MPC Alpha's toes are way huge  (like they are on Steroid or something) 

part of me thinks that the over sized toes may have something to do with the alpha beta link up mechanism.

I think it may have something to do with balance in armo-diver mode.

[zeo-mare]

so how long do you think before we start seeing customized alphas, i am looking forward to see if anyone would paint theirs.

chris

[Ali Sama]

so how long do you think before we start seeing customized alphas, i am looking forward to see if anyone would paint theirs.

chris

why bother. they will make them all

[Ali Sama]

OMG those toes in fightermode look so wrong.. andthe kneecap should cover the whole upperleg part. wasn't there enough room to fit deeper in it?

1 - 0 for Gakken

lol. what are you smoking.

honeslty. have you seen a gakken.

[Kin]

At least it doesnt have crablike exhausts..

[Kin]

so wrong...

[Californium]

so how long do you think before we start seeing customized alphas, i am looking forward to see if anyone would paint theirs.

chris

I plan on painting mine. I like the blue Legioss head design and its layout of the main color, but not so much the main color itself. I plan on replacing the blue with a dark RAF green sort of color. Some other minor changes. Remains to be seen if I'll actually get around to doing it though. I've got several other models to work on and I tend to paint at a glacial pace.

[Graham]

Just got my MPC Alpha from Kevin (thanks for the fast service).

Here's my first impressions, negatives first, then positives: -

Negatives

• Dried dirty glue on left forearm.
  
• Forearm missiles only half visible when hatches open,
  
• Disappointed that shoulder sensor has to be removed for fighter mode = not perfect transformation!
  
• Disappointed that gunpod magazine has to be removed for fighter mode = not perfect transformation!
  
• Rear landing gear doors difficult to open.
  
• Front landing gear difficult to take out,
  
• Some overspray and paint scratches new out of the box.
  
• Left wing damn diffiicult to fold during fighter to gerwalk transformation. I thought the wing hinges were going to snap = very scary!
  
• Huge feet = unnecessary?
  
• Belly drags in fighter mode, rear landing gear pretty useless!
  
• In battroid mode, the wing tip pegs will not stay plugged into the holes on the underside of the nose.
  

Positives

• Nice box.
  
• Well illustrated color instruction manual. Yamato could learn a thing or two from Toynami's manuals.
  
• Great striker placement guide.
  
• Toy looks good in all three modes.
  
• Nice pilot figure.
  
• Overall good articulation.
  
• Gunpod grip well designed with palm attachment peg, so gunpod hand holds gunpod securely.
  

Overall, I like the toy, and may consider buying a second blue Alpha. I'll definitely buy at least one each of the other color variations.

Most of my complaints are minor in nature and I can live with them. I do think Toynami's QC inspector(s) need to get the factory to improve their paint application tho.

Graham

[wolfx]

Nice review, Graham. What?! Sensor pod needs to be removed? That suxx....i thought from the pics I saw it could fold into the empty space behind the canopy. BAH!!!

[CoryHolmes]

Nice review, Graham. What?! Sensor pod needs to be removed? That suxx....i thought from the pics I saw it could fold into the empty space behind the canopy. BAH!!!

Hey, that's better than removable legs, isn't it?

Can anyone show me where on this toy the folded-up Cyclone goes?

[Pat S]

Nice review, Graham. What?! Sensor pod needs to be removed? That suxx....i thought from the pics I saw it could fold into the empty space behind the canopy. BAH!!! 

Hey, that's better than removable legs, isn't it?

Can anyone show me where on this toy the folded-up Cyclone goes?

I would assume in the chest between the intakes. That's where it goes in the show.

[Drad]

The feet are a little too big. The chest drags in fighter mode. Those are the two things I don't like about the Alpha. However, I feel that these two shortcomings are quite forgivable. Overall the Toynami Alpha looks excellent in all modes, and compared to the first line of Masterpiece Collection toys, this thing is a definite hit.. outta the park. I like the old Gakken Legioss toys because I grew up with them, but these Toynami Alphas are better. I can deal with smaller, because they're better in almost every other way.

It isn't perfect, but this goes a long way toward erasing the memory of the unfulfilled promises made by the first series of the Toynami Masterpiece Collection.

Right on.

Edited August 16, 2004 by Drad

[Opus]

Looking at the lineart a few pages back the feet appear to be about the right size but the heels look like they're supposed to retract.

[Cyclone]

At least it doesnt have crablike exhausts..

Given the choice between the Gakken's far, far too short toes and the Toynami approach, I'll take Toynami thank you very much.

The lack of compression of lower legs, impossible to the degress of series I admit but still viable IMO at least a little, is the main problem with the overhang.

Edited August 16, 2004 by Cyclone

[EXO]

The size of the feet, while disappointing, is minimal to the leaps and bounds this toy made from the classic Gakken, that I still love.

I've been playing with this toy the whole day (thanks Kev) just to make my mind up about it because it's many flaws does make it hard for you to instantly love it.

The feature I'm amazed by is the many tabs that actually make it solid. I remember Toynami wanted to stay away from tabs in the MPC Veritech and decided to go with magnets. Either there was no room for magnets or they decided it wasn't a good idea after all. In any case I'm happy about the decision. Here's some pics that I haven't seen posted.

This is a pic of the belly dragging. I don't know how they pulled it off at the con, but there's no way to get that chest off the ground.

Here's the front landing gear. I didn't connect the tab so you can see where it goes.

Rear landing gears. Useless, and theres a point on the rubber that tells me that it will rip easily.

Here's the arms in fighter. Notice the 2 tabs that's suppose to hold it together. Well it doesn't, it easily slips out.

Here's the tabs that hold the arm down to the leg. This works great. You have to make sure it's transformed correctly though or they won't line up...

Okay, this is kinda important... at first I thought this is the connection to the Beta, but it turns out it goes into the leg to keepit steady. So far I haven't seen anything that fortells a Beta, like certain tell tale signs that the 1/48 gave us that there was FPs on the way.

Here's a cool feature. The body collapses and extends to release the the center part where the antenna sensor pod goes.

Tabs for the front vanes

[EXO]

This is also cool, the front vanes fold up underneath the canopy and connects just like the lineart. I haven't seen that on any Legioss toy or model. There's a huge gap on the top but it's a lot more pleasing than a gap all the way down the center.

arms unfolding:

Yeah it's incomplete and not posed well, but you get it...

My final verdict on the toy is that I love it. It's very flawed, no doubt. Paint is messy. Mold is dirty. But it's also built well and there's a lot that makes it look good and fun to play with. I don't mind the imperfect transformation. I don't care for the missiles tabs either. And I certainly hate the landing gears. But all in all, this is a great Legioss toy. Something I've wanted since the nostalgia craze surfaced. I'm still hoping for a deluxe and more perfect edition though. And I'm not buying the Beta thing. I'll believe it when I see it.

Edited August 16, 2004 by >EXO<

[Shaggydog]

Thanks for the comprehensive review exo, although I'm not sure I saw any flaws there that looked serious other than maybe the landing gear issue. (of course, 'serious' is in the eye of the beholder.) Tam at tmpforums said that the landing gear could be pulled out further to (barely) lift the underside off the ground, and ali sama's pix in this thread seem to confirm this. Is your alpha unable to do this? Maybe there's a quality control problem..

[mechaninac]

I'm expecting to receive mine in a few days...can't wait to evaluate this thing for myself. However, I can already tell, from all the observations brought up thus far, that, although a decent toy, it's not worth the MSRP, or anything near it; perhaps $45-ish would be a more reasonable price. I guess I'll have to wait and see what happens with this release, value retention wise, to gage whether or not I should get the other Alphas at full retail.

Like many have stated, I too would welcome a larger (could you imagine an ultra perfect Alpha in 1/24 or 1/18 scale? ) version with better fighter proportions, specially the feet, even though this MPC is, by far, the best sculpted Mospeada Legioss ever created in toy form.

I believe that some of the issues are mostly caused by a packaging problems created by the small size of the toy at the chosen scale. I larger toy would give the designers much more freedom to engineer everything without having to compromise as much as is apparent with this one.

As for a Beta/Tread, I'll believe it when I see it.

Looking at the line art a few pages back the feet appear to be about the right size but the heels look like they're supposed to retract.

Glad you like it . It's far from perfect, best I could do given the available line art, but it does show that Toynami's design team sacrificed the "accuracy/aesthetics" of the Armo-fighter mode in favor to Armo-soldier.

Sergio

Edited August 16, 2004 by mechaninac

[EXO]

Thanks for the comprehensive review exo, although I'm not sure I saw any flaws there that looked serious other than maybe the landing gear issue.  (of course, 'serious' is in the eye of the beholder.)  Tam at tmpforums said that the landing gear could be pulled out further to (barely) lift the underside off the ground, and ali sama's pix in this thread seem to confirm this.  Is your alpha unable to do this?  Maybe there's a quality control problem..

Thanks. I posted the pics not only to inform but for any info that I maybe doing some things wrong. I'll give the landing gear thing a try tonight. Though I'm sure it already snapped into place when I lowered them. I didn't even know the magazine came off the gun.

Edited August 16, 2004 by >EXO<

[MEMO1DOMINION]

SAW RTSURFERS REVIEW IN ROBOTECH.COM...AND THOUGHT I PAIST IT HERE TO SHARE. HE GOT SOME GOOD POINTS...DON'T KNOW IF IT WILL ADD TO WHAT YOU GUYS ALREADY KNOW...BUT EH...

HEHEHE

rtsurfer

My review of the Alpha MPC (first hand experience)...

It very sharp looking, in all modes although I think the battloid may be a tad bit more spread out then it appears in the series.

Fighter length: 9 1/2 in. (24.13 cm), width: 6 3/8 in. (16.1925 cm)

Guardian length: 7 in. (~17.78 cm)

Battloid height: 6 1/4 in. (15.875 cm)

*I believe it's approximately to scale with the VF-1 MPC's.

It feels heavy and was larger than I expected. It looks delicate but once you get comfortable with pulling and pushing on the parts transform pretty easily. While transforming it gets really loose and floppy, but seems to firm up nicely once you get it completely locked into each mode.

The first time I transformed it I didn't extend both legs and arms all the way and saw a snap someone had online last night the same way. It has little pins and notches that make sure you have it correctly oriented in each mode. These are on the tips of the wings, arms, legs, and back of the cockpit/fore wing segments. Getting these in place makes all the difference when firming it up. Also a set the nose wing segments rest on when in place for Fighter/Guardian modes.

Problems--

First those that seem to be intentional and/or not well thought out during the design process...

The sensor pod is too big and/or the shoulder compartment is too small. Either way you have to add and remove it each time you go to and from Fighter mode. Just pushes on the shoulder hatch with a little pin. I say they knew about this because the packing is designed so it's really difficult to get the sensor pod out which is good for keeping it safe if you decide not to keep putting it on and off. The main reason it won't fit in the compartment is it's too long and the little antennae deal makes it too wide. It appears the reason it doesn't fit may be to allow for the swivel/extension mechanism for the torso in Battloid mode. Something interesting I didn't notice at first, it has the little lifting arm Scott uses to get the cyclone out though it not accurate -- widened to the fill the whole shoulder compartment and the actual arms are just etchings in the compartments sides. I suspect this was to hide the torso mechanism mentioned above.

The aft landing gear are too small. Very little clearance, in fact it sits on the 3 landing gear and the chest thruster. It is difficult to get the aft gear to stay down when you put the fighters weight on it but they will if you keep trying. The little hatches appear delicate and diffecult to open at first but like all the hatches and cockpit seem to be fine once you get them open for the first time. The front gear's hatch was more difficult to open, I was afraid I'd break it (seems to be slightly crooked) but opens and closes once you get it started moving.

I'm told all Legioss/Alphas on the market have undersized aft landing gear. I've been told they really should be the larger and slightly distorted carrier gear.

Another problem which isn't a big deal is the gunpod in fighter mode. In order to mount it on the wings you have to remove the clip. Isn't too difficult and clip clicks when you reinsert it properly. The handle and stock are adjustable for mounting and probably posing as well. They are tiny but seem tough enough for handling without any problem.

And finally the stored Cyclone is about 1/2 to 1/3 the size it really should be and the storage compartment(s) (designed for storage in the chest thruster -- has a small sliding hatch; or the shoulder compartment when closed in fighter mode if you chose to be more accurate to the series) could probably have held it at scale. Be careful not to loose it, tiny thing and easily falls out if not careful.

Other problems... (these will probably only be problems if you're not careful while transforming and playing with it.)

The one I'm reviewing (#212) had it's right hand off, though not neccessarily broke. Apparently the wrist pegs aren't tight as they should be and if you pull or use them too much or with too much force might come off. It could be glued back on but would restrict movement of the wrist. As an alternative it might could have the peg built up then forced back on?

Also, the hands are very articulated, folding thumb, forfinger and rest of fingers as a group. Make sure you ball the hand into a fist before flipping it back into the arm/thruster and with the palm side up/out or the arms won't go all the way back in.

The knees have little pegs on either side that guide them when they slide in all three mode to complete the look. Be careful as they will pop out of the knee/grove. They are easily poped back in if you very carefully press in on each side while pressing in/down.

The tail fins have basically the same problem, once all the way up in Fighter mode when you spread them they sometimes pop off the hinge if you use too much force (someone said this may have been intentional to keep them from snapping off). Fortunately if you line up one end of the hinge then carefully the other they will pop right back on.

Some tips (if you want them )...

I had a problem at first getting the arms, legs, and wings to all begin transforming from or into fighter mode as they tend to overlap at one point. But with practice becomes no problem at all.

When you transform make sure you pull everything out or push it in all the way to firm up each mode. Make sure the little pins and notches are inplace as well can make a difference in how firm it seems.

When you fold the nose back and the nose wing segments together, make sure you line the wings up so the little pins fit the notches on either side of the front landing gears hatch. It doesn't exactly lock in place and can tend to become loosened up if you play with it in battloid mode but for posing getting the notches in place will keep it in place well enough.

When sliding the nose and nose wing segments up against/onto the front of the body, I found it would snap in easier if the head wasn't completely stored yet. Then the head seems to snap in place up under it easily enough and making it tight.

One of the arms didn't seem to want to retract all the way in fighter mode, though it would stay once you get the arm pin into the top of the fully retracted and pinned together legs. That same arms shoulder missile hatch kept wanting to pop open but would stay closed once the arm was secured.

To sum it up--

Overall it is a beautiful toy that is suited for play, though I suspect some of the joints would loosen up considerably over time if played with alot. It appears to go into all the modes pretty accurately. It looks delicate but seems to be pretty sturdy as long as you don't get too carried away with it. The cockpit isn't overly detailed but looks really good with the detailed pilot in place. Has nice little touches like translucent colored inserts for lights. It seemed to be molded pretty well and didn't notice any paint errors. Overall I'd say it is a pretty good facimale of what's seen in the tv series.

Now I wouldn't pay $80 for it but that's just me, if you have or would pay that price for a similar toy than I'd highly recommend picking one up.

Oh one last thing, it has a little hatch with a metal pin hinge that barely opens. It's just behind the shoulder hatch and has a very limited space under it. At first glance it seems to serve no purpose. It can be used to allow the shoulder hatch to open and close without extending the torso though I suspect it has a greater purpose down the road -- the connection point for the Beta MPC.

I think I pretty much covered everything.

[EXO]

Oh one last thing, it has a little hatch with a metal pin hinge that barely opens. It's just behind the shoulder hatch and has a very limited space under it. At first glance it seems to serve no purpose. It can be used to allow the shoulder hatch to open and close without extending the torso though I suspect it has a greater purpose down the road -- the connection point for the Beta MPC.

cool! Gonna check it out tonight!!! Thanks MEMO and rtsurfer...

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

that toy looks great but no matter what everyone says, I really think at least ON of the 4 alphas to be released will get discounted!~!

SOmehow that is. Anyhoo it looks great but as always flawed. EXO, pare your review and pics RULE! FIrst time I saw it with measurements!! SO its about 7 inches tall. Not bad. EXO your review ruled man thanks for pointing out a lot of the things on the MPC alpha! Hey guys are the arms floppy on the MPC alpha or is it just a few cases oif bad arm QC? Also how does this compare to teh VF-1MPC? Similar in quality or did the MPC alpha make it hard for you to believe its from the same company who made the VF-1 MPC?

[aaajin]

argh....this thread is making me feel guilty for not buying one....arrgh....now i really have to pass the 11b fp...KeV~! check your PM!

aaajin

[EXO]

Shin, the arms are floppy. And it's not very poseable. I'd say they caught up the the craftmanship of the older Yamato toys. Nowhere near the 1/48 and certainly nowhere MCPrime.

If I was to list the order of transformable toy manufacturers in order of quality it'd be like this:

Before the Alpha:

Takara

Bandai

Yamato

Banpresto/Toynami

After the Alpha release:

Takara

Bandai

Yamato (because of the 1/48) otherwise it would be a tie with...

Toynami

Banpresto

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

EXo , how floppy are the arms?

AS in floppy as MPC VF-1 legs floppy? Or floppy as in has ratchets-but are-loose-as-hell-and can;t-hold-pose floppy?

Will it hold position or fall due to weight of gun? ANd also is this due to loose ratchets? Also are the elbows floppy too?

[Qrusader]

I got mine yesterday and I think it's a great toy..not exactly a "collector's piece"..but still a great toy. For those expecting the pure, unadulterated bliss of the 1/48....you will be dissapointed. That being said, I think this is the far superior representation of the Alpha. It has decent articulation, good detailing and some cool features. However it has seam lines everywhere...even on the front of the head...it has some QC issues with regards to painting and looseness/tightness...but it's still a great, play and display quality toy.

I'm a firm believer that Toynami can be crappy...particulalry with the Valks from the MPC Collection...but this Alpha isn't bad at all. Hopefully we'll see a Beta released for it. Anyway, I'd recommend it for those looking for a little Alpha love in their collection, or those that dig toys they can actually play with.

[EXO]

EXo , how floppy are the arms?

AS in floppy as MPC VF-1 legs floppy? Or floppy as in has ratchets-but are-loose-as-hell-and can;t-hold-pose floppy?

Will it hold position or fall due to weight of gun? ANd also is this due to loose ratchets? Also are the elbows floppy too?

I'm talking about hit it and watch it spin - floppy. The one thing that bugged me is that it's not made for customizers. I wanted to take the arm apart and put in some thin washers to tighten up the arms, but there are no screws. It was glued shut.

[Syngyne]

I want mine naaaaaaaaooooww

Damn you, DHL, hurry up.