2014 Japan-exclusive toys: Masterpiece, Generations, etc

Post by **Warcry** » Thu Mar 20, 2014 6:07 pm

Clay wrote:Although your two nitpicks, taken in immediate juxtaposition of each other, sound like they come from a ridiculously contradictory curmudgeon.

I'm not sure how? I'm not writing a logical dissection of the thing's flaws, just saying I'm sad that he didn't turn out exactly the way I wanted him to.

(Though that would have involved the Action Master's guns as accessories, so that was never going to happen)

Don't get me wrong. I totally get why he turned out the way he did. Wheeljack was always going to be one of the hardest to get spot-on just due to how different his character model was from his actual alt-mode. Aside from the handful of things I bitched about, I think this is about as close as you can get to having an actual Lancia turn into cartoon Wheeljack. The only one I can see giving them as much trouble is Cliffjumper.

Even after reading that I'm not quite sure why the ears were a non-starter, though. Surely there must have been some way to make them transparent without hampering the articulation.

It's not like you'd have to make the whole back half of the head clear like they do with Generations toys to light up the eyes.

Post by **Clay** » Thu Mar 20, 2014 6:27 pm

Warcry wrote:I'm not sure how? I'm not writing a logical dissection of the thing's flaws, just saying I'm sad that he didn't turn out exactly the way I wanted him to.

After reading back over it, I think I misread it as you wanting it more toy and more cartoon like, but now it just reads like you want the cartoon look. Reading comprehension FAIL for me.

Now it is I that am the curmudgeon!

(Though that would have involved the Action Master's guns as accessories, so that was never going to happen)

What, like the skateboard that turns into a gun? Or was that Jazz?

Don't get me wrong. I totally get why he turned out the way he did. Wheeljack was always going to be one of the hardest to get spot-on just due to how different his character model was from his actual alt-mode. Aside from the handful of things I bitched about, I think this is about as close as you can get to having an actual Lancia turn into cartoon Wheeljack. The only one I can see giving them as much trouble is Cliffjumper.

This is, exceedingly, the problem with representations of G1 characters, whether by Masterpiece, Classics, third party, etc. The designers essentially have to meld together two distinct (and often contradictory) designs into one physical product simultaneously. The thing is it'll never be "perfect" because an individual may rate certain points more highly from one design more than the other which end up getting omitted.

They worked out a good compromise with giving Jetfire a hat on the Classics and upcoming Generations figure. Bumblebee, on the other hand, has an entirely different clip-on face. Obvious question for Wheeljack is, "one shoulder launcher or two?" They seem to have gone for one.

Even after reading that I'm not quite sure why the ears were a non-starter, though. Surely there must have been some way to make them transparent without hampering the articulation. It's not like you'd have to make the whole back half of the head clear like they do with Generations toys to light up the eyes.

I think his idea was that, if they were going to do the light up ears, they were going to do it right. Not light-piped, but electronic lighting. As he said, translucent silver that lights up blue is difficult enough from a production standpoint, plus the electronics wouldn't really have fit without taking out his neck or something.

Post by **Denyer** » Thu Mar 20, 2014 8:04 pm

Hoping it's mostly the curve of the page plus the angle... that's kind of underwhelming compared to the Classics and Prime ones...

Knightdramon · Post by **Knightdramon** » Fri Mar 21, 2014 8:26 am

Like it a lot. Love that they went for the actual car deco [with red wheels] instead of cartoon generic deco.

Picture isn't really flattering, mostly because it's a white figure with [mostly] white limbs on a white magazine scan. Although the outlines are there, they are hard to see. Unsure if his upper legs look that skinny or it's the contrast with the magazine page.

Happily can't figure out how he transforms. Seems like every inch of his body is used for the outer car shell. Maybe his backpack and arms hinge up [arms look like they turn into the spoiler of the car], his bottom and waist them swing up, swinging the things around, and the legs form them sides and front of the car?

There's even "alitalia" parts on his torso that I can't figure out where they go, but that's because we don't have a full view of the car yet.

Don't know why some people [in other forums] are so upset about the missile launcher not storing in the vehicle mode. Smokescreen and ALL lamborghinis seem to do just fine with their shoulder guns being removable.

Magnus silhouette looks promising, I think I can make out MP10 thighs.

Post by **Warcry** » Tue Mar 25, 2014 3:10 pm

There are some new Bumblebee pics out now, most importantly a comparison shot with Prowl that establishes how big he'll be. He'll probably wind up looking a little funny next to the other cars in VW mode, but I think they got the robot mode scale just about right.

Clay wrote:What, like the skateboard that turns into a gun? Or was that Jazz?

That was indeed Jazz. Wheeljack had a couple of gigantic missile-gun things that were nearly as big as he was.

Clay wrote:I think his idea was that, if they were going to do the light up ears, they were going to do it right. Not light-piped, but electronic lighting. As he said, translucent silver that lights up blue is difficult enough from a production standpoint, plus the electronics wouldn't really have fit without taking out his neck or something.

Ah, okay. I get it now. Yeah, putting in electronics would have been difficult, I can't disagree with that.

Post by **Denyer** » Thu Mar 27, 2014 9:49 pm

Better... it's got some of the simian look of the original...

http://i.imgur.com/xDCfwqk.jpg

Post by **Clay** » Thu Mar 27, 2014 9:52 pm

WHEELJACK NOW.

He's pretty. If they had lead with Wheeljack, I would've been on board from the beginning instead of picking up Prowl a month after release and going from there.

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Fri Mar 28, 2014 5:10 am

Nailed it.

Knightdramon · Post by **Knightdramon** » Fri Mar 28, 2014 7:45 am

Loving it...and the transformation, based on the pictures and the interview from a while ago, seems to be CRAZY.

August cannot come here fast enough.

Post by **Warcry** » Fri Mar 28, 2014 3:53 pm

Denyer wrote:Better... it's got some of the simian look of the original...

Really? I don't see it personally. In fact the thing that impresses me the most was how he didn't wind up looking like a barrel-chested monkey like G1 Wheeljack.

After seeing the thing in better detail I retract my "his ears should have been light-piped!" whining because the head sculpt is gorgeous as-is. Also happy to see that the wings have the toy's etching details on them, because the first pic made it look like they'd be blank like the cartoon.

The real-life car deco still looks funny to me in robot mode and I still don't think the launcher looks right, but all in all I'd say he turned out pretty nice.

numbat · Post by **numbat** » Fri Mar 28, 2014 5:17 pm

Man, I was on the fence with Wheeljack, with the wee one here and him being a fairly minor character. I ordered him in the end, as it didn't affect postage along with MP Bumblebee and the prototype photos looked like there would be an awesome transformation. Seeing the colour pictures I am so glad I did! Really looking forward to these guys!

Knightdramon · Post by **Knightdramon** » Fri Mar 28, 2014 7:10 pm

Only sad thing is that these won't be available at autoassembly this year

Unicron · Post by **Unicron** » Fri Mar 28, 2014 7:18 pm

That looks quite nice. I actually kind of like the car deco showing up, as I think he probably would have looked a bit boring in robot mode without it.
I wish the shoulder launcher had turned out better, but I assume it looks as it does because it actually fires so I can tolerate it. Besides, give it two weeks after release (if not faster) and some third party accessory maker will have churned out a better looking one.

Post by **Denyer** » Fri Mar 28, 2014 8:05 pm

Warcry wrote:Really? I don't see it personally. In fact the thing that impresses me the most was how he didn't wind up looking like a barrel-chested monkey like G1 Wheeljack.

Yeah, there's definitely a bit of Librarian with the arms.

Post by **Clay** » Tue Apr 22, 2014 2:12 pm

First look at ultra magnus http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-new ... ed-179766/

Post by **Warcry** » Tue Apr 22, 2014 3:26 pm

That turned out pretty well, considering they went the "white Prime in armour" route. I'm sure it'll generate some "partsforming" complaints, but I don't think it'd be possible to do otherwise.

I'm curious to see what it looks like in colour, and whether the inner robot legs turn out to be unsightly in the end.

praetorian · Post by **praetorian** » Tue Apr 22, 2014 3:55 pm

Can't tell from the legs inside the trailer, but they don't look like the new MP-Optimus mold to me. Nice that the matrix will fit in there, though!

Unicron · Post by **Unicron** » Tue Apr 22, 2014 4:48 pm

I need to see more and better pictures, but I'm liking it so far. I can live with the inner legs looking bad if the rest of it turns out well

numbat · Post by **numbat** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 8:43 pm

Looks pretty cool, but a bit bland - the paint is gonna make or break this one I think.

Post by **Warcry** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 8:59 pm

Clearer pics: http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transform ... st10926178

praetorian wrote:Can't tell from the legs inside the trailer, but they don't look like the new MP-Optimus mold to me. Nice that the matrix will fit in there, though!

According to some Japanese-speakers who've had a look at the text, it's not the MP Optimus mold after all. Colour me surprised! When news of an MP Magnus broke it was all about how MP-10 had been designed with Magnus in mind and that this was going to be basically a Prime redeco with a new trailer, up to and including pics from the designer of G1 Magnus cut up and glued onto MP-10 to show how it'd work. But somewhere along the lines it looks like they binned that idea entirely and just went with a single robot mode with no intermediate form and redesigned the truck cab from scratch.

That's probably the right call for getting the best super mode out of the thing, though I'm a tad disappointed because I've always liked the idea of Magnus being two cool toys in one.