Transformer Starscream Masterpiece has arrived!

[JB0]

think we'll see a MP shockwave?

Words cannot express how much I want to see that.

[Fit For Natalie]

THIS is what a Transformer toy should be.

Well, except the cost

If they were all expensive collector items then TFs would be a rather infrequent and unpopular line

[Uxi]

Now where's the MP Megatron/Galvatron?

I'd like to reiterate that Megatron should hopefully an artillery piece like the M155 and a "primitive" aka "modern" Galvatron. The whole Transformer sized Megatron gun was almost as silly as the human-sized one considering he was Prime-sized in bot mode.

[KingNor]

Now where's the MP Megatron/Galvatron?

I'd like to reiterate that Megatron should hopefully an artillery piece like the M155 and a "primitive" aka "modern" Galvatron. The whole Transformer sized Megatron gun was almost as silly as the human-sized one considering he was Prime-sized in bot mode.

well seems like the whole point of the MP line up is to recreate the G1 toys and make them look like the show. changing an autobots "vehicle" mode from a pistol to a howitzer is kind of a big change.

You don't want MP megatron to transform into a gun you can use to cap your buddies?

[Ghadrack]

Stupid fear of toy guns is a reason I think they will either totally butcher, or just flat out skip Megatron. There is no good reason why they can't do a spectacular Masterpiece Megatron, lets hope that corporate beurocracy doesn't sabotage him.

[KingNor]

its true, megatron is an extremely convincing gun to a non-gun-proficient person. all the more reason people should be exposed to the real thing, not taught to irrationally fear them. (another thread entirely)

are they that afraid of toy guns in japan? seems like it is so hard to get a real gun in japan that the default is to assume the gun is fake.

[Batou]

You guys are making me impatient now ... I keep watching my porch for the box from HLJ to show up, and nada so far.

Damn SAL ...

[promethuem5]

Just look at it this way: When it DOES come, you won't want to leave your house again.

[wolfx]

its true, megatron is an extremely convincing gun to a non-gun-proficient person. all the more reason people should be exposed to the real thing, not taught to irrationally fear them. (another thread entirely)

are they that afraid of toy guns in japan? seems like it is so hard to get a real gun in japan that the default is to assume the gun is fake.

Not in Japan. They sell gun replicas in alot of toy shops and even the gas powered ones. Takara can release a gun megatron, but Hasbro probably can't without modifying it. Probably put an orange cap covering the barrel or change the color scheme or something.

[Chebosto]

Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

QC issues up the wazzooo

after waiting since like april pre-order from BBTS, i got starscream yesterday.

when i was about to transform it, i noticed they gave me TWO left pieces next to the intake!

anyone else have this problem?

see the attached file, its the little piece you're suppose to flip up and behind next to the "conformal fuel tank" area/white outlined gun..

i'm so pissed. what should i do? i emailed BBTS, but i havent' gotten a reply yet.

[do not disturb]

i'm so pissed. what should i do? i emailed BBTS, but i havent' gotten a reply yet.

sorry to hear about your defective SS, i know it sucks but i wouldn't worry too much about it. Joel has always been a pretty stand up guy. he's probably in the "shipping zone" as he calls it(packing boxes like a maniac) and hasn't gotten around to answering his emails yet, just give him some time and i'm sure you'll hear form him soon.

[Dobber]

At least you guys either have yours or it's on the way. Tam hasn't even shipped his yet. I don't mind doing business there because Tam is such a Stand-up guy, and I'm happy to give him my business, but this is the one drawback Twin-Moons usually seems to be the last to get stuff. Not knocking ya Tam, I just really want my Starscreem!!

[David Hingtgen]

Well I was wrong about one thing:

The extra machine gun is intentional from Kawamori, not the mold-maker "trying to make it symmetrical" or something.

[BinaryFalcon]

Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

QC issues up the wazzooo

after waiting since like april pre-order from BBTS, i got starscream yesterday....

i'm so pissed. what should i do? i emailed BBTS, but i havent' gotten a reply yet.

I too ended up with a slightly defective SS from BBTS. Mine is missing the left thumb. It looks like it was simply left off in manufacturing.

I emailed BBTS last night around 8pm after I got home to let them know there was a problem and to ask if they could simply ship me a spare thumb instead of going through the expense and trouble of a full exchange. When I returned from work today I had 3 replies. The first telling me they've had some hand issues with other MP-03s and that shipping just a thumb should be easy, and the next email said they checked and that it did look like the thumbs were interchangeable between hands, but that they may just ship a full left hand anyway.

The third email was to let me know they'd shipped a replacement thumb via priority mail.

Really, I couldn't be happier with how they handled it. Not only were they fast and helpful, they also came across as quite cheerful and very willing to volunteer additional information (and even parts) about the situation.

So... no more HLJ for these big ticket items for me. HLJ has always made me happy, but knowing I can have this level of service stateside if I ever have a problem puts BBTS well ahead of the game for me.

In short, I'd say don't worry. I'm sure BBTS will take care of you quickly.

[promethuem5]

Yup, BBTS is awesome. I'll always vouch for Joel...great guy to do buisness with.

[BinaryFalcon]

Some additional thoughts as I've been able to go back through the thread a bit:

1. Take the transformation instructions with a grain of salt. They're definitely not ideal. I followed them the first time and had a hell of a time getting some parts to move. They're not exactly clear in a lot of cases. Additionally, they're just flat out wrong or out of sequence in a few places. When I transformed it back from robot to plane mode I discovered that changing the order of a few steps greatly eased the difficulty of transforming SS, and also signifcantly reduced the level of stress on parts, which in turn probably reduces the risk of breaking something by a similar amount.

2. QC on Starscream sounds as if it's a bit hit or miss. It might just be due to a first run of a new and complex toy, but it sounds like at least minor issues are reasonably common.

3. QC on the MP line as a whole seems to be declining. I also picked up an MP-04 along with SS, and while I'm completely happy with the trailer, Prime himself is not up to the same level of quality of the supposedly identical MP-01.

Sprue marks are generally more visible, the paint color of the metal parts is darker/deeper than that of the plastic parts (on MP-01, they match perfectly), and the neatness of the paint application itself is not as good as MP-01. The plating/chrome on the exhaust stacks is also not as thick or fully covering as it is on 01.

None of these things are particularly bad, mind you, but I can see a definite, if slight slide in quality in my MP-04 vs the 01.

As a side note, it would appear that there are multiple possibilities for the arm display screens. 01 came with different characters displayed than 04. I'm not sure if that's a change made between versions, or if it's something that is simply varied from toy to toy on a rotating basis.

Still, I'm happy with 04, and the second set of "extras" that came with it means that I can have 01 standing with rifle and energy axe equipped, 04's trailer fully loaded with all extra accessories in the appropriate places, and the left over Megatron is free to be placed in Starscream's hand, right where he was most often seen in the series.

As for the colors of SS... They don't bother me at all. There's enough there that I can look at him and know who he is without question. I do think seeing him in a more realistic Eagle gray would look a bit better, but the greenish color doesn't bother me at all, which I'll admit is a bit of a surprise.

Maybe I'm a bit of an impressionist when it comes to the MP stuff, but I'm really happy with Starscream because the toy simply "feels" like Starscream. Even with the changed colors and extra hip bits, it looks far more like Starscream than any toy that came before it, and I feel like the changes give a good representation of a more realistic attempt to portray what he'd actually look like.

I'm happy anyway.

Edited October 12, 2006 by BinaryFalcon

[Fit For Natalie]

Stupid fear of toy guns is a reason I think they will either totally butcher, or just flat out skip Megatron. There is no good reason why they can't do a spectacular Masterpiece Megatron, lets hope that corporate beurocracy doesn't sabotage him.

Yes, let's go blame Hasbro for operating in a country where real guns are widespread and easily obtained in a time with jittery law enforcement officials worried about terrorists and school shootings.

Even though its not unified law, they can't do a realistic Megatron due to law and or fear of possible public backlash if there is some incident connected to their products. After all, G1 Megatron is banned on US flights, and Hasbro tried to get around G1 Megatron by painting him bright blue and orange as based on a scene in the old cartoon.. They decided that it would look like total crap so cancelled that release.

I doubt Takara will do another MP on their own soon given their own leeriness of Transformers lately. Plus Hasbro is supposed to be allowed access to whatever Takara makes under Transformers.

[Matt Random]

In my opinion the mistake was made long, long ago when Hasbro decided that the enemy leader for their new transforming robot line should be the gun mold. Think of how different things would be now if the jet or walkman mold would have been picked instead. The decision is ancient history and the politics surrounding guns aren't going to change anytime soon.

I personally prefer the tank Megatron. When I was a wee lad I never quite knew what to do with Megatron. He was either a giant robot that transformed into a gun the size of a semi or he was a normal sized gun that transformed into a tiny lil' robot. I never got Soundwave or more than a couple of the mini-Autobots for the same reason.

[JB0]

Yes, let's go blame Hasbro for operating in a country where real guns are widespread and easily obtained in a time with jittery law enforcement officials worried about terrorists and school shootings.

The issues with toy guns go farther back.

Most of it stems from a kid pulling a toy gun on a cop and getting killed over it.

Basically, it's another set of child safety laws that sucks all the fun out of things.

Even though its not unified law, they can't do a realistic Megatron due to law and or fear of possible public backlash if there is some incident connected to their products.

It's partially BECAUSE it's not unified law. Chintzy orange barrel caps work just fine in SOME states, but not ALL states.

I gather toy manufacturers REALLY want the federal government to step in and lay down a unified set of toy gun laws, because it'll make it POSSIBLE to make a mass-market toy gun again.

[do not disturb]

the megatron being a gun issue isn't even an issue, all they have to do is package it in robot mode.

but that would make too much sense so its not likely to happen.

[Chebosto]

I too ended up with a slightly defective SS from BBTS. Mine is missing the left thumb. It looks like it was simply left off in manufacturing.

i mean. its 1 thing for a part to be completely missing? but to have the installer put on two left pieces , and its physically noticable is another.

yea. igot a an email from BBTS last nite saying they're gonna be sending me the new piece.

whew.

yea star scream is a definate desk model from now on.. its just too fragile to play with it / transform multiple times, i've already gotten some slight white stress marks on where the wing hinges up..

sigh..

[promethuem5]

Are you kidding? I think that the toy is pretty damn durable for the most part... those wing hinges are a little delicate, but as long as you're careful, they'll be fine. I've been wooshing mine around the room and fighting my Alternators since I got it...

[R_Deckard]

[R_Deckard]

[UN Spacy]

Awesome pics R Deckard!

Did you shave off the hip ball joints on Screamer?

[HoveringCheesecake]

Damn he looks nice with those 4 pieces of kibble removed. Or at least I noticed that 4 pieces were missing in most of the shots. Makes me want to buy him... I will wait though. Hopefully these QC issues will be fixed, and we will get a better color. I'd buy it if it were grey like so.

http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?...st&id=37191

Edited October 12, 2006 by meh_cd

[Hikuro]

He truely does look fantastic in his own little way. I'd probably would like to see an F-22 version like in theh IDW comics...but I really can't wait to get mine from Tam in the next week or two.

[R_Deckard]

Yeah, I decided he was way to cool to not have hip articulation, so I took off the hip ball joint. Eventually I'll probably modify him significantly to the configuration of the first prototype with the tail wings mounted to the legs in a way that allows him to still stand on his heels.

[David Hingtgen]

If you do, let me know how. A hinge/rail/channel to allow it it slide upwards isn't hard, but getting it to lock to stay up is the trick. (And it'd probably look better if some of the upper hip kibble was moved to the wings, especially since being moved upwards would really make it project above the knees) Basically the area right around the ball joint--take it off the hip kibble and attach to the wings. (I believe that the opposite was done from the original mold to the new one---they took bits from the wing roots and attached it to the hip kibble, so that they'd have somewhere for the "ball" to attach to)

Or the easy way is to just reposition the pegs/holes, so you just take off the hip kibble and attach it whereever you want. Not "perfect transformation" but that'd be hard to achieve when modifying a toy.

PS--since you seem to be the only one I've seen actually mod the toy by cutting off the ball joints---are the conformal tank bits on the arms removable at all? They sure look like separately molded pieces. I'd really appreciate some info about if they could be taken off. (As well as more photos in jet mode showing exactly how much of the wingroot they incorporate)

Basically I really want close up pics of the underside in jet mode, where the wing meets the fuselage.

PPS--the skinny silver bits next to each foot (in between the nozzles in jet mode)---you can just slice them off if you want. It'd actually be more accurate for any USAF F-15.

[R_Deckard]

If you do, let me know how. A hinge/rail/channel to allow it it slide upwards isn't hard, but getting it to lock to stay up is the trick. (And it'd probably look better if some of the upper hip kibble was moved to the wings, especially since being moved upwards would really make it project above the knees) Basically the area right around the ball joint--take it off the hip kibble and attach to the wings. (I believe that the opposite was done from the original mold to the new one---they took bits from the wing roots and attached it to the hip kibble, so that they'd have somewhere for the "ball" to attach to)

Or the easy way is to just reposition the pegs/holes, so you just take off the hip kibble and attach it whereever you want. Not "perfect transformation" but that'd be hard to achieve when modifying a toy.

PS--since you seem to be the only one I've seen actually mod the toy by cutting off the ball joints---are the conformal tank bits on the arms removable at all? They sure look like separately molded pieces. I'd really appreciate some info about if they could be taken off. (As well as more photos in jet mode showing exactly how much of the wingroot they incorporate)

Basically I really want close up pics of the underside in jet mode, where the wing meets the fuselage.

PPS--the skinny silver bits next to each foot (in between the nozzles in jet mode)---you can just slice them off if you want. It'd actually be more accurate for any USAF F-15.

I was thinking of doing exactly what you said. Mount the tail sections to the leg in a raised position so he can stand on his heels. I'll probably just make another hole for the leg peg lower on the tail kibble. A silding mechanism could be done, just more work. Also I would cut that section off the tail kibble at the seem, the part you're talking about that has the ball socket and mount it permanently to the wings. So then the tail kibble would be flush with the top of his lower leg. That's all very doable from what I've concluded so far, now the shitty part.

The conformal tanks are molded one pieces with the arms, which totally sucks. The geniuses over there couldn't just make them seperate pieces. The wing root is still all on the wing, you would just have to reshape it. The forearm tank pieces might be 2 pieces, but I don't think so. The shoulder and bicep are definely one piece with the tank. I was thinking about cutting the tanks off the arm pieces and then shaving the inside down to make them very thin. Then glue them back on the arms, so the tanks would only raise off the arm a little and you would still have the nice outside surface detail of the tanks. Then finally cut down the should kibble/gun pod and remount it to the wing tips. Of course a lot of reshaping would have to happen to make all this look good. It's possible, but because the tanks are one piece with the arms, it would be very difficult.

The silver bits on the foot help support the heel/nozzle. Although they might be worth looking at removing, it would increase the articulation of the heel. As long as the heel ball joint is tight enough to hold without the support.

[cube]

yea, those pix are rad!

when the repaints come out, i will buy 2

how does it look in fighter mode with the shoulder kibble things taken off?

[JB0]

the megatron being a gun issue isn't even an issue, all they have to do is package it in robot mode.

but that would make too much sense so its not likely to happen.

I'm pretty sure that if it turns into a gun, it gets hit my toy gun laws, regardless of how it's shipped.

[David Hingtgen]

If you leave the "shoulder thingies" off in fighter mode, you've lost a chunk of the wings. If they were molded slightly different (separate the fairing and conformal tank), you could do it and be just fine. The "shoulder kibble" is the "bottom point" of the wing on the original version and G1 mold.

[David Hingtgen]

R_deckard--your plan sounds like what I plan to do at some point--basically remove the conformal tanks to make a normal F-15, and put all the kibble back where it is on the G1. (hip kibble on legs, and intake kibble back on the wings). But I plan to wait quite a while and see what future releases of this mold are like---either Takara repaints or hopefully Hasbro or possibly even some remolding. But the exact separation lines etc of how Takara molded it makes a big difference in feasibility---can't have the entire fuselage side be "open spaces and ribs" or putty over a foot-long area. Damn, I was REALLY hoping the conformal tanks wouldn't be molded with the arms, that screws up a lot. If they were separate, all you'd really need to do is slice the CFT off the intake area, and slice off the bottom of the hip kibble. (Though that'll almost certainly be the biggest reshaping/puttying area).

PS--if you need some reference for carving, frankly the best bet is the Revell-Monogram 1/48 F-15E kit. Usually 20 bucks, can often be found for 13. It's the most accurate F-15E out there, and has the most accurate conformal tank and fuselage shapes. And the tanks are separate from the fuselage--annoying for the 99% of buyers who'll build it with them attached, but very useful for holding a 3D conformal tank in your hand and seeing how it separates/intergrates with the fuselage itself. If you're serious about removing the conformal tanks, I think your time/effort would be best spent in acquiring a model kit than hunting down pics and drawings and books.

Man, if SS was 1/48 he'd not only be as big as most people expected/wanted, but there'd be a ton of F-15 model kit parts to use on him for customizing.

[UN Spacy]

http://cgi.ebay.com/SKYWARP-MASTERPIECE-st...1QQcmdZViewItem

Oh man. Customs looking REAAAAAAAAAAAAAL good.