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Double dipping- they're still milking the MP-10 mold for all it's worth while trying to make the most of the licensing fees they paid for Ghostbusters. So now there's Ectotron, a way overpriced shellforming Combiner Wars figure and Ghostbuster Prime. I wonder if he's going to come with a properly sized proton pack instead of his usual weapon. At least it'd be unique, as well as apropos. :) Wonder if there'll be exclusive Ghostbuster Star Wars, Marvel, GI Joe, or Ponies down the line? We need a milking cow emoji.

I'm thinking they're getting all they can from MP-10 b/c they know they'll never sell MP-44 repaints like this guy, not at the pricepoint they're asking. 

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TonTon has a vid up for the upcoming Seige Jetfire.  Cool fig and entertaining for some of the translation. 

"Smoothy paint" :lol:

Edited by M'Kyuun
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Well, with Phoenix and Seige Jetfire, you're comparing toys designed to different scales, standards, audiences, and price points. Phoenix was a dream toy when FT announced it, and I've no regrets whatsoever- he's a fine figure who compliments his MP counterparts. I give Has/Tak credit for finally producing a toon accurate Skyfire, and I really couldn't have asked for more in a retail figure. He looks great, comes with a plethora of accessories, features some neat engineering, and scales well with the Generations stuff. It's interesting that a new scale had to be created for him, and I wonder what else they'll make in that scale, as I can't really think of any other characters , besides combiner gestalts, that fit. Then again, my G1 knowledge is limited to the first and some of the second seasons, as well as the '86 Movie, so there may be some comics related characters I'm not familiar with. I was pretty excited back when they made Generations CW Jetfire and made the bot mode an homage to Skyfire. I figured that'd be as close as we'd ever get to having that character officially, so I was quite pleasantly surprised when this figure was announced. Already got him PO'd- not even messing around.  Gotta figure out where I'm going to put him when I get him, as I don't think my CHUG shelves have enough vertical space for him. Guess we'll see.

I don't know how TonTon gets his figs so early, and I'm pretty sure I don't want to know, but I'm hoping he'll do a vid of the upcoming Springer. Looking at the official pics, I think Has/Tak nailed the G1 aesthetic for the character, and, as much as I love the Generations Springer from a few years back( the best triple changing toy they've ever produced, IMHO), I've been wanting a faithful update to the original for a long time. 

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Yeah Siege Jetfire looks like a cool figure, but it damn sho aint no FT Phoenix. Two different scales for different audiences. Siege is no MP, Phoenix absolutely is, and I maintain he's one of the finest MP figures ever made, even surpassing many, many official MP figures.

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i'm aware siege and phoenix are different scales and lines but IMO, phoenix was too tall.  he also lacks a waist swivel (i hate when large TF figures dont' have this and its one of my biggest gripes about any large TF).  siege solves my two biggest complaints with phoenix.   it looks like siege jetfire's height at jsut over 11 inches will work well enough (basically mp magnus height and yes mp magnus is way too tall) with MP figures(yes i know he is technically too short but i'd rather him be too short by a little bit than too tall ) although he has "too many details/greebles" to fit with most MP figures...but i think it'll work for me.  realistically he might get his own shelft space so i'm not super concerned about the height.

Edited by Mechapilot77
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17 minutes ago, Sildani said:

Is it an SDCC exclusive?

Short some elaborate hoax, yes.  Leaks show a partially-cropped Comicon logo and a street date that coincides with the first day of SDCC (July 18th).  Previous exclusives have turned up on HasbroToyShop; I myself got the Nemesis Prime repaint of Classics Optimus and the G1 remold Pepsi Optimus (they were both some kind of exclusives, don't remember if they were SDCC or not).  I'd say there's a fair chance that some will turn up on Hasbro Pulse.

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Blackarachnia didn't translate nearly as well to her beast mode as the others have, although I guess it's to be expected with such a lithe bot mode. Still, with what Unique Toys did with Challenger, I would have thought a little more inside-out engineering , or legs splitting in half kinds of engineering would have been employed to better realize her spider abdomen so it doesn't look like a robot folded up. Weakest of the bunch, IMHO, but I'll still get her. Bot mode is spot on. Can't help but be a little disappointed, though.:(

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  • 3 weeks later...

I mean... where do I even start...

37 minutes ago, JB0 said:

There's nothing LITTLE about that hunchback.

Yeah, this is probably going to be the complaint that you hear the most about MP-44.  I don't know if they're cramming electronics in or something, but even though it's kind of Takara's MO these days it seems pretty lazy, considering TE managed to have basically no backpack at all.

mp44_03.jpg.aaf97a9e672389ef0e6ec62d601ea6df.jpg.444b1d935485e3965dc321000168faed.jpg

Maybe he's going hiking?

mp44_04.jpg.c8d176b2d396f34d61d60d15d584ea10.jpg.0bb9f5da4b80f45d46dd8a57d34ffe51.jpg

The backpack itself is big enough to be noticeable from any angle but dead on, and that'd be bad enough.  But it looks like, again unless you're looking at him dead on, this hinge is going to be super visible.  And, maybe this is a cartoon thing, but his midsection and grill look to short.  The grill especially looks square-shaped.

It's a test sample, I assume, and may not be set up properly.  But the lack of ankle pivot I'm seeing here is worrisome.

mp44_05.jpg.ccb51445bffeab1a84b2bd7cf2ae6eab.jpg.f88bb3934effad694b14e3da6d73162a.jpg

As is the major paint chipping on the yellow spots on his pelvis.  

mp44_07.jpg.74caa80d89f877f5ec15e74d0a5da5dd.jpg.6b53ecff8332e9381a8dc1ff26d528a5.jpg

I personally hate the lack of a stripe around the cab and the lack of blue stripes on the trailer, but I suppose I'll let it slide because "it's cartoon accurate!"  You know what's not?  A flat chrome panel along the bottom.  Even the cartoon drew that fuel tank as three-dimensional.  I'm not digging the molded-in but unpainted windshield wipers.  If they're so intent on cartoon accuracy that they won't paint them, then they might as well loose other realistic truck details like the steps, handrails, and door and make the headlights totally square.

I also see more of that worrying paint chipping... and two red blocks in the bumper that just look like they're going to be unpainted.

Maybe I'm nitpicking.  But for $350-$440 I think one should be...

IMG_20190528_003717.jpg.bddd89af0b9f0e2b4d8b83d9e50149f7.jpg

Especially when this is your competition, and either of these can be had for under $150.  And sure, MP-44 looks to have more paint and a ton more accessories... that I don't really want or need, and would rather they just put more effort into making a robot that looks as good as Magic Square or Transform Element's.

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You really has to wonder if Takara bought an MS-10 and TE-01 at any point when they came out and looked at them AT ALL and thought.."ohh dear..., ummm..ours doesn't reeeallly look any better, in fact it looks worse, let's just more than triple the price, give it useless accessories and because it's official, people will buy it!" 

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There were some oddities with my copy of MS-01 that I couldn't get over, like having uncured paint right out of the box and a missing trailer gimmick. For my collection, MS-01 was in direct competition more with MP-10 than Prime v3, and the fact that it came so close as a perfect replacement but just missed the mark on those two key points bummed me out.

Anyway, I'm still in for MP-44.

Paint defects on a prototype aren't a new thing for Takara, or any toy company really. I'm not going to throw the book at them for that. I guess time will tell if we have solid paint apps like we did with MP BW Megs or delicate paint apss like with MP G1 Megs.

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https://news.tfw2005.com/2019/05/31/siege-refraktor-teletraan-file-revealing-a-possible-camera-mode-with-extra-parts-389058

Potentially, a more complete Siege Refractor figure is coming in a boxset, providing additional camera accessories. The downside is that it's probably going to be a limited Exclusive. If the latter is true, it's disheartening and disappointing. In my mind, like the original toy, which incidentally was a mail-in exclusive, Refractor should have been a boxset of all three bots from the beginning, as his three-in-one transformation is his unique claim to fame, and his camera mode is far more desirable than the ad-hoc 'ship' transformation of the individual bots. It's just rumor for now, but it reminds me how much I've come to despise exclusives in any toy line.

 

Edited by M'Kyuun
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