The Transformers Thread (licensed) Next

[technoblue]

 Ok. I’m officially hyped. The backpack looks good. Takara did right by Optimus.

[captain america]

2 hours ago, technoblue said:

 Ok. I’m officially hyped. The backpack looks good. Takara did right by Optimus.

It's definitely better than we were expecting, I'll give them that. Looks like the voice module is located in the lower backpack region, too. I still think TransformElement did it way better. Just look at how junky Takara Prime's lower legs are in comparison.

[Scyla]

At a second look it seems like the elbow joints in the V3 Optimus are not as insubstantial as I first thought. My fear was that it will have the same joints as MP Optimus Primal, where they are only connected at a hinge in the front of the elbow. It still looks bad but not as bad as initially thought. 

Are there any pictures of only the truck cap? I hope his robot feet just don't hang there. That was my only negative on MP-10 (that and no double jointed limbs). 

I will be up for one if they release it in black and teal. 

Edited July 29, 2018 by Scyla

[obakesan]

I love prime, so would get the v3, also glad to see Hound, definately on the list, all we need now is a MP Jazz, MP Mirage & MP Trailbreaker to complete the original G1 cars cast (well minus the minibots).

 

[Ignacio Ocamica]

A couple more:

[obakesan]

some more Mp3 shots

[obakesan]

found this back shot of Hound. Wondering if he has a visor for swimming gimmick?

[Tking22]

Hound looks good, except that nasty, massive armature on the back of his neck, that looks terrible. Probably a pass though, I had to do a triple take to make sure that wasn't a Willis repainted in "toon" colors. I'm not seeing enough to buy this guy as a replacement to Willis, and as always, I'm really not liking the plain "toon" deco, the white and not silver winch is quite ugly, I do like the white legs though, the face seems a bit off.
 

A pass on Optimus V3. Looks like I'm sure many wanted it to, just not for me. All of the third party options are looking just as impressive IMO, not seeing any stand out reasons to be head over heels for Takara Prime V3. I expect a serious lack in silver paint and detail too, which isn't something I like. Great for those that waited, but once again, I doubt I'll waste the money and just stick with MP-10.

[sh9000]

Looks decent.  I’ll be adding another version of MP Optimus to my collection.

[sh9000]

Launch effects and battle damage parts would be cool if they were included.

[Black Valkyrie]

 

Does anyone know anything about this. 

 

 

 

 

[Valkyrie2008]

The official product from TT announcement doesn't get me excited anymore, I was very disappointed with MP-28 Hot Rod and they mix the beast war into the same masterpiece line. Beast War should've get it's own MP line. MP Sunstreaker is a great piece, but this V3 Prime and Hound looks to be a pass. Already got a better looking Hound from 3P which also have rubber tires and die-cast.

[Mechapilot77]

from the looks of it FT > takara for hound.... although takara probably more poseable.

also V3 prime is a mess is the shoulder connection area as well as the chest hinges.  also the backpack wiht the electonics is quite large and makes prime lack is traditional back profile...plus its just too thick.  i think BOTH MS and TE did it better aesthetically.  we'll have to see what the articulation is like with those efforts though.  still its a takara MP prime so it'll probably get bought...and i'll pikc up whichever 3P effort is better too.

excited still....in that G1 still getting MP releases but don't like the direction of the line.  V3 prime torso looks as messy as mp-36's....actuall worse if you can believe it.  :-( 

i'm sure once full color pics are out it'll look better as teh business is most apparent in grey prototypes but....still.  seems 3P is doing it "better" at this point.

[davidwhangchoi]

i want new prime 

everything looks good except the head

Edited July 30, 2018 by davidwhangchoi

[Mechapilot77]

24 minutes ago, davidwhangchoi said:

i want new prime 

everything looks good except the head

they gave the face mask the double crease which he only ever had once in one scene ever...from the movie....its a closeup too and its a huge scene but...i always figured it was an animation error because its never shown that way otherwise.  reminds me of the horrible "older look" daca toys head that came out that some people love. 

[mikeszekely]

1 hour ago, Black Valkyrie said:

 

Does anyone know anything about this. 

 

 

 

 

I'm not clear on whether or not it's just artwork or if at some point there will be toys, but it's something Takara is doing to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Meiji Restoration. Prime is supposed to be Sakamoto Ryōma. Not sure about Megatron.

Anyway regarding all the Prime v3 vs MP-10 vs various 3Ps and Hound vs Willis (and Gundog, who hasn't been mentioned here yet but gets my vote for the best Hound), I'll just say it's nice to have options. It'd be boring if we all had identical collections, yeah?

[captain america]

1 hour ago, Mechapilot77 said:

from the looks of it FT > takara for hound.... although takara probably more poseable.

i'm sure once full color pics are out it'll look better as teh business is most apparent in grey prototypes but....still.  seems 3P is doing it "better" at this point.

The saving grace that Takara's Hound would have over the Fans Toys version is that the prices may actually end up being comparable, seeing as how the latter is going for a pretty penny these days. Also, Takara's hound has a slightly better face. Other than that, they're very close.

[Scyla]

I'm content with my Willis. I might bite on a Takara Detritus. Brown is such an underrepresented color on my Transformers shelf.

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

Me thinks my Gundog will still be MY MP Hound.

[jenius]

I just pre-ordered gold Optimus... I'm weak when it comes to mp10 and I'm sure I'll be weak for the next version also.

[captain america]

22 minutes ago, jenius said:

I just pre-ordered gold Optimus... I'm weak when it comes to mp10 and I'm sure I'll be weak for the next version also.

I will make you weaker still. Colorized version, courtesy of Cheebs on TFW2005

[davidwhangchoi]

4 hours ago, Mechapilot77 said:

they gave the face mask the double crease which he only ever had once in one scene ever...from the movie....its a closeup too and its a huge scene but...i always figured it was an animation error because its never shown that way otherwise.  reminds me of the horrible "older look" daca toys head that came out that some people love. 

it looks so weird. 

[Negotiator]

Prime v3 has no elbows....might be a deal breaker for me.

[Tking22]

10 minutes ago, Negotiator said:

Prime v3 has no elbows....might be a deal breaker for me.

Wow I didn't even notice that until looking at the colored digi above. He has those weird, "Little pins are the joints elbows." They look fine when his arms are down, but any bend and it starts to look like Pac-Man :(.

[M'Kyuun]

He doesn't have his silver louvres on his legs, either- kinda iconic to Prime. I realize that's a digi, but those louvre panels are blue on Prime in the Movie, so I'm guessing they'll follow suit. Really can't wait til this whole toon obsession is over at Takara. I still think the Hasui era had it right in terms of mixing aesthetics, both toon and toy. 'Masterpiece' and 'plain' don't belong in the same sentence when I think of a masterpiece class of figures. Using shellforming to accommodate the dichotomy between alt and bot aesthetics, in my mind, should never be a part of these figures. Ever. I realize some panels are necessary, but not to the degree where half the alt is a shell. His tanks, or lack thereof in truck mode, plus the kibble behind his cab, are detractors as well. Think this'll be the first official pass I make on a MP figure. Just not digging it.

Concerning V3's elbows, yep, Pac-Man.  Looks like he's about to summit Mt Everest with that pack.

On the fence for MP Hound, as well. I don't like the face at all, the armature to which his head attaches doesn't look good, I don't like the faux tires on his ankles (why?), the round parts of his shoulders look a bit too small and, given there are two joint attachments, worry me a little for long term endurance. I was really looking forward to an official Hound; I'm bummed that I'm not caring for it, and a little regretful that I didn't pick up Gundog when it was available at regular prices. Secondary market prices are too much. Hopefully as we near the release of the official MP, if I haven't changed my mind about him by then, Gundogs will be flooding ebay and Amazon at more reasonable prices.

[mikeszekely]

@M'Kyuun were you looking for a toy color or cartoon color? I'll tag @Kuma Style, too, because I seem to recall him expressing a desire for the toy color one, and it's showing in stock at Maketoys' online store. $99.99 + shipping, and they're having a sale until Thursday that should get you 20% off.

Edited July 31, 2018 by mikeszekely

[M'Kyuun]

Mike, you're awesome.  My druthers tend towards the toy color (that dark green with red details at the knees is lovely) , but I'd take either. I'll go check 'em out. Thanks again, Mike.

Edit: Found the toy version MISB on ebay for $99 with free shipping, so I did that. It's coming economy, so I won't see it for another month or so- ships are slow. Not a big deal, as I've lived without it this long. Shrug.  I didn't see any mention of sales on the Maketoys store site- just the regular price plus additional shipping.

Oh well, at least this way I'm covered by the Ebay money back guarantee if there are any issues. Fingers crossed there aren't; I just wanna enjoy my new toy.

Edited July 31, 2018 by M'Kyuun

[mikeszekely]

1 hour ago, M'Kyuun said:

I didn't see any mention of sales on the Maketoys store site- just the regular price plus additional shipping.

That's weird, when I visit the site it's in the banner on the main page.  But if anyone else isn't seeing it, it's one of those sales where the discount isn't applied automatically.  Just use the code MT20off at checkout.

[derex3592]

I didn't realize V3 OP was gonna come with stupid electronics...WHY????...what's it going to do?  Is that why the "I'm gonna go summit Everest today" backpack is SO big?  

[JB0]

48 minutes ago, derex3592 said:

I didn't realize V3 OP was gonna come with stupid electronics...WHY????...what's it going to do?  Is that why the "I'm gonna go summit Everest today" backpack is SO big?  

Well, they forgot to put the sound box in Shockwave, so they had to use it SOMEWHERE.

 

 

 

My opinion of MP Hound is thus: If the head is on a scorpion tail, it is still partswapping. Just a more annoying style of partswapping. That neck armature is all I had to see.

Hound isn't supposed to be a headmaster.  You aren't fooling anyone, TakaraTomy. Go back to the drawing board.

...

And give me a perfect transformation Shockwave with soundbox while you're at it. The scorpion-tail on the barrel isn't perfect transformation in any universe. Shockwave's barrel flies offscreen in the cartoon, just like Prime's trailer, so you aren't even "anime-accurate".  You're selling an ugly and unimaginative hack at a premium price.

[Tking22]

1 hour ago, derex3592 said:

I didn't realize V3 OP was gonna come with stupid electronics...WHY????...what's it going to do?  Is that why the "I'm gonna go summit Everest today" backpack is SO big?  

It's how Takara is going to charge, in my guess with trailer, $280 on pre-order day for this sucker.

[captain america]

10 minutes ago, JB0 said:

Well, they forgot to put the sound box in Shockwave, so they had to use it SOMEWHERE.

 

 

 

My opinion of MP Hound is thus: If the head is on a scorpion tail, it is still partswapping. Just a more annoying style of partswapping. That neck armature is all I had to see.

Hound isn't supposed to be a headmaster.  You aren't fooling anyone, TakaraTomy. Go back to the drawing board.

...

And give me a perfect transformation Shockwave with soundbox while you're at it. The scorpion-tail on the barrel isn't perfect transformation in any universe. Shockwave's barrel flies offscreen in the cartoon, just like Prime's trailer, so you aren't even "anime-accurate".  You're selling an ugly and unimaginative hack at a premium price.

Problem is, they're already fairly advanced in the development for Prime and Hound that I'd be shocked if they attempted to alter/improve the figures from this point forward. This is not to say that the figures are horrible, but Taka/Tomy are really going to have to raise their game, given the fierce competition out there.

[technoblue]

4 hours ago, Negotiator said:

Prime v3 has no elbows....might be a deal breaker for me.

Man, now I can't unsee it. That's the first criticism that actually has some weight (for me). I was hoping that the elbow mechanism was a slide of some sort and got pushed in a little too far on the grey prototype. I don't know. I'm not completely convinced it's bad news just yet. At least there's still time to think this one over. 

[Tking22]

13 minutes ago, captain america said:

Problem is, they're already fairly advanced in the development for Prime and Hound that I'd be shocked if they attempted to alter/improve the figures from this point forward. This is not to say that the figures are horrible, but Taka/Tomy are really going to have to raise their game, given the fierce competition out there.

Hound has a color prototype so I have to wonder how far along he is, Prime isn't even there yet. Prime V3 has been rumored since MP-36, but Hound has been rumored on and off for literally years now. I honestly remember recent Hound and Prime V3 rumors on TFW2005, as in last few months, so it's really hard to say.

We also have no idea how Takara develops these. Hound could be near complete, meanwhile they've only recently started Prime. Then again they could have a Jazz done waiting for licensing, along with Trailbreaker/Hoist.

[mikeszekely]

Sorry to interrupt the discussion of whether or not the new Takara MPs are actually worth it or not, but Prime Wars Trilogy Blast Off is available at Amazon.

Bruticus is my favorite combiner, so I was extremely disappointed when it turned out that Hasbro was going to repaint Combiner Wars Quickslinger (Slingshot) brown, package it as Blast Off, and call it a day.  I hated it so much I even bought a second Vortex and repainted the head so at least he'd have a mouth plate; you'd think that if they were going to reuse the Firefly mold they'd have at least stuck with the mouth-plated head, but no.  Meanwhile, in Japan, when Hasbro tried to replace Slingshot with Alpha Bravo Takara repainted Fireflight and gave him a new head so they could stick with Slingshot.  When Hasbro tried to replace Wildrider with Off Road, Takara repainted Dead End, gave him a new head, and stuck with Wildrider.  And Hasbro eventually brought them over as online exlcusives.  Later, Hasbro tried to make Groove a Legends-class figure and tried to give his role as a Defensor limb to Rook, and Takara came up with a whole new Deluxe-class mold for Groove.  That Hasbro eventually brought over as an online exlcusive.  And when Hasbro lazily repainted Quickslinger poop-brown, Takara cooked up another new mold for Blast Off.  Then Combiner Wars gave way to Titans Return, and Titans Return gave way to Power of the Primes, and now that Power of the Primes and the entire Generations line is winding down, and I was starting to think I'd be stuck with Poopslinger.  But finally, Hasbro came through and brought the Takara Blast Off to the West...

...kinda.

This is actually the same mold.  It might not look like it at first glance.  Not only is it painted in the G1 toy colors instead of the cartoon-deco used by Takara, but you might notice that the nose of the shuttle isn't on his chest.  It's on his back.  But, if you want that shuttle-chested Takara look, all you really have to do is rotate the head 180 degrees, rotate the waist 180 degrees, they pop the arms off their ball joints and swap the left and right.  Eagle-eyed readers might notice that's what Takara did in the first place when they repainted this mold into Shuttler (Movor) for their Baldigus (Ruination) box set.

Anyway, due to Takara's propensity to go for cartoon-accuracy, Blast Off has the cartoon booster feet, and no shuttle nose bits on his arms, but he's got some slick tampoed details on his chest and waist to mimic the G1 toy's stickers.  And his head a proper Blast Off head.  He looks 100% more like Blast Off than Combiner Wars Blast Off does, so I've got no real complaints.

Since he's basically a Combiner Wars/Unite Warriors figure, he naturally comes with a gun and a hand/foot/gun.  Both of the molds are the same as the Takara versions, and refreshingly not a repaint of other guns or other hand/foot/guns.  Curiously, the hand foot gun has a peg hole on the under side, something I don't recall on any of the other Combiner Wars hand/foot/guns.

He also comes with the Prime Master Megatronus.  I'm going to level with you guys here, I was fine with Titan Masters when they were really Headmasters, even on characters that weren't traditionally Headmasters, but Hasbro lost me when they used the same engineering, but replaced the faces with odd symbols, packaged them with Pretender shells, named them after the 13 Primes, and called them Prime Masters.  I just didn't have a use for Headmasters that don't turn into heads.  So I don't know if Megatronus is exclusive to Blast Off, or if there was some other way to get him.  I'm probably just going to use him, along with the "enigma" that came with Hun-Grrr, to fill in Power of the Primes Abominus' feet.

Articulation's not too bad, for a Hasbro Deluxe.  His head is on a ball joint that can look down a little, tilt sideways a little, and swivel.  Shoulders are, as previously mentioned, ball joints.  They can rotate, and they can extend laterally 90 degrees.  His biceps can swivel.  His elbow is a single hinge, but it can bend 180 degrees.  No wrist or hand articulation.  His waist can swivel.  His hips are ball joints that can go 90 degrees forward or backward, and about 75 degrees laterally.  His thighs can swivel.  His knees bend 90 degrees.  His booster toes, due to transformation, have two hinges.  You can use them to get a little up/down toe tilt, but too much brings his toes too far out of alignment with the rest of his foot.  Speaking of the rest of his foot, there are hinges that give him a little ankle pivot, about 30 degrees.  You don't often see that on Deluxes.

He can hold his gun or his hand/foot/gun in either hand just fine.  But...

Blast Off is actally covered in peg holes.  There are some under his arms.  The front of his fists are molded to look like boosters, which happen to be 5mm, so you can give him Hulk-hands like Rook.  He's got a pair of peg holes on his chest, one on either side of the combiner peg.  There's one on each wing, folded against his lower legs.  And even his booster feet have 5mm peg holes inside.  Thus you can make Blast Off the single most heavily-armed Combaticon of the bunch.

Blast Off's shuttle mode is... ok.  Like a lot of the Combiner Wars figures that didn't turn into cars he's got super visible arms only half-heartedly disguised, in this case as more boosters.  Speaking of boosters, the soles of his feet hang out far past the wings and tail and kind of cover up the fact that his feet are boosters.  It kind of looks like the shuttle should have stopped at the tail but kept going.

On the flip side, at least he is a shuttle.  I mean, jets don't blast off, they take off.  I'm going to start calling the other guy Take Off, a Decepticon stalker so obsessed with Blast Off he kidnapped him, started dressing like him, changed his name, and tried to take his place with the Combaticons.  But Blast Off got loose.

But I digress.  The underside of Blast Off's nose is a bit hollow, but you can fill it by storing his gun there.  The end of it is even kind of molded like a wheel, like it's his landing gear.  I dig that, but unfortunately you have to take it out for arm or leg mode.  As wtih robot mode, there are plenty of other places to store weapons.  You've got a peg hole behind the Decepticon emblem on top of the shuttle.  You've got the peg holes on the backs of his arms showing.  You've got the peg holes on his chest, now the underside of the shuttle, and the peg holes on the undersides of the wings.  Plus, technically, the four boosters (two on the hands, two on the feet).

Blast Off's leg mode is, like most legs, fine.  Nothing special.  You'll note that Blast Off's hand/foot/gun has silver paint, so of course it doesn't match the other Hasbro Combaticons.  Time for me to break out the spray paint, I guess.  Oh well.  I've been meaning to paint the black Bruticus head anyway.

I'm not sold on the official transformation for Blast Off's arm mode.  They want you to leave the tail in shuttle mode, they want you to hinge the shoulders down like in shuttle mode, they want you curl the bicep up (which does lock together), but they want you to rotate the bicep 180 degrees where bumps on his shoulders will start to push his forearms back out and unlock them if you rotate the biceps much beyond 90 degrees.  I like to put the tail in the robot mode position which leaves space for a gun (like Legends-class Shockwave).  I also think you have more clearance around his waist/hips/combiner elbow if you leave the arms up, and not rotating the biceps helps keep them closer to the body.  Maybe just rotate them at the shoulders so you have enough clearance at the combienr shoulder.

At one point, I was seriously considering shelling out money for the Unite Warriors set just to get this mold (well, that and to have a cartoon-colored Vortex).  Ultimately I passed, because I figured I could get an all-around better Bruticus by going 3P (which I did... three times).  When Blast Off turned up as a solo figure in Hasbro packaging at Robot Kingdom I almost bought him then, but the shipping costs to the States would have pushed him into the $50 range which I just couldn't justify on a Deluxe to replace an arm on the worst of my four Bruticuses (Brutici?).  Amazon's price is $25.  $25 is still kind of high for a Deluxe, but honestly only $5 more than the Studio Series, the Age of Extinction Deluxes, the upcoming Siege Deluxes, and I believe the Bumblebee movie Deluxes (unless all the Bumblebee movie Deluxes and Voyagers are going in the Studio Series, then just refer back to Studio Series pricing).  It helps a lot that Blast Off is pretty good for a Deluxe-class figure.  If you only have the Hasbro Combiner Wars Bruticus and you're as unhappy with their previous treatment of Blast Off as I was then yes, I'd recommend picking up the new one.