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[Enkidu]

MP Megatron is quite expensive, but he looks damn good in some of the stock pictures (and less so in some others).

The Oversized version does look awesome and seems more in scale than the official release. Did they ever fix the hand sculpt with him not being able to hold the gun?

Compared to the oversized MP10 I agree, that scale is more in line with what I would prefer, but compared to the regular MP10 that oversized Sideswipe is way too large.

 

[Mindwipe]

Stores around me are doing sales on Transformers stuff (Walmarts and Targets marking deluxes down to $10, Meijer doing 25% off everything), so I finally decided to pick up Sentinel Prime. I have no real attachment to Astrotrain as a character, and liked Sentinel's colors and design a bit better; he's a way better figure than I expected- integrates the Titan Master concept a lot better than Galvatron too. Wolfwire is a fantastic Deluxe too, and so is Chromdome, if you can excuse just how much he feels like Dead End/Prowl/Streetwise/ect. from last year.

I find that Sentinel's wheel flaps are just way too thin, and seem deformed out of the packet, which causes issues with them curling up a bit and them being too tight for the joint.

Had similar issues on Blaster's chest compartment.

 

[NEO0MJ]

Got my Magnus today! Man, its been ages since I last bought a TF from a regular line. Felt I had to add a little paint to the shoulder cannons. Hated the plain plastic look, especially at the top. Don't think I can paint the legs red like the Takara version, though I wish I could so he can look closer to his IDW appearance.

Gonna figure out what other improvements I can add later.

 

[Valdfellgar]

All Megatrons sold in the US or shipped to the US will have an orange cap applied, unless you pick one up from Japan yourself and fly home with it. I wouldn't expect HLJ to be any different than the other import retailers. For the most part the caps are very loosely applied. Despotron's cap wasn't even held in by anything. A quick pull of the pliers will remove just about any orange cap I've encountered. It's a non-issue unless you're obsessed with having an unopened box, in which case you better buy that plane ticket.

Good to know, thanks. I remember the same happening when I got my original Masterpiece Megatron years ago (I actually have two by accident, one still in the box) and caved for this new one when I finally saw how good it looked.

 

[Weltall Zero]

Got my Magnus today! Man, its been ages since I last bought a TF from a regular line. Felt I had to add a little paint to the shoulder cannons. Hated the plain plastic look, especially at the top. Don't think I can paint the legs red like the Takara version, though I wish I could so he can look closer to his IDW appearance.

Gonna figure out what other improvements I can add later.

Well, they're more smokestacks than cannons. At least I don't think I've ever seen Magnus use those things to shoot anything, either in G1 or IDW. That said, they look great on your pic, I might do something like that. And perhaps the red leg thing too, I'm running out of stuff to paint.

Did you use Gundam Markers or similar? It's quite hard to paint concave surfaces with a brush without touching the walls; if you did indeed use a brush, hats off to you.

 

[yami4ct]

All Megatrons sold in the US or shipped to the US will have an orange cap applied, unless you pick one up from Japan yourself and fly home with it. I wouldn't expect HLJ to be any different than the other import retailers. For the most part the caps are very loosely applied. Despotron's cap wasn't even held in by anything. A quick pull of the pliers will remove just about any orange cap I've encountered. It's a non-issue unless you're obsessed with having an unopened box, in which case you better buy that plane ticket.

HLJ is the only asian-based import shop that I know that applied caps to the previous MP Megatrons and the Encore Megatron. AmiAmi, Robot Kingdom, etc. all shipped them directly to consumers with no caps. HLJ's listings for those releases specifically mentioned a cap. This one does not. If they're gonna apply a cap to MP-36 for US customers now that the listing is up, they're gonna be in for heaps of bitching even if the cap can be easily removed.

US based shops will all be applying caps for 100% sure. Anyone with large shipments that can be seized and operate businesses in the US aren't gonna take the risk. Outside of the US, those shops have already proved they don't care. I doubt we'll be seeing shops that didn't apply caps in the past apply one now. HLJ is the only question.

 

[MattKeil]

HLJ is the only asian-based import shop that I know that applied caps to the previous MP Megatrons and the Encore Megatron. AmiAmi, Robot Kingdom, etc. all shipped them directly to consumers with no caps. HLJ's listings for those releases specifically mentioned a cap. This one does not. If they're gonna apply a cap to MP-36 for US customers now that the listing is up, they're gonna be in for heaps of bitching even if the cap can be easily removed.

You're right that there will be bitching but it's ridiculous that there will be. Any rational collector should know that if you're importing MP Megatron, expect an orange cap and be pleasantly surprised if you don't end up getting one.

 

[NEO0MJ]

Well, they're more smokestacks than cannons. At least I don't think I've ever seen Magnus use those things to shoot anything, either in G1 or IDW. That said, they look great on your pic, I might do something like that. And perhaps the red leg thing too, I'm running out of stuff to paint.

Did you use Gundam Markers or similar? It's quite hard to paint concave surfaces with a brush without touching the walls; if you did indeed use a brush, hats off to you.

I know for certain that there were some panels were they were used as canons and there was even a cover where they were deployed in the same pose I had him in the picture above. Of course, their design is more canon-like in MTMTE and they even swivel up and down without having to move the shoulder!

I used Gundam Markers, though I do have a small brush that I keep for such situations. I feel painting the legs is risky, considering they're prone to friction and contact. Maybe it would be more manageable to paint some of the details inside, though.
Also, I noticed that in later issue that his color scheme changed a bit and he actually has white legs now, though the crotch is still blue.

Can't find the art I'm looking for, so have this instead.

Edit: Found it!

 

[Aske]

WHO DISRUPTS THE TF OT?

Here's a hint!

Damn this guy looks perfect. Sovereign will be my first FansToys figure as I didn't end up getting Soar, and he looks phenomenal.

In case anyone missed the memo, Galvatron is by far my favourite TF character. About this time last year I picked up Tyrant, and while there's a lot to love about him, he has some pretty glaring flaws. I'll post comparisons when I have Sovereign in hand, but a couple of immediate observations:

- Tyrant's purple is too warm. Sovereign's could be a little more blue for movie accuracy, but for season 3 it looks spot-on. It's especially obvious in photos which compare the two.

- Tyrant's robot form has floppy pylons on either side of his head which should be stiff and solid, imperfect fingers, thigh armour attached to the thighs rather than standing proud of the kneejoints, and bizarre feet. Sovereign nails the robot mode just about perfectly.

- Tyrant's transformation gets a lot of praise, but is fragile in places, and his legs are a bitch due to clearance issues. Can't tell til I've tried it myself, but Sovereign's transformation looks easier, more fun, and much more solid.

- Sovereign's head sculpt is superb, but Tyrant's is still superior, and the latter has a significantly better neck hinge for looking down, which is crucial for the character.

- Sovereign's cannon mode looks less impressive and suffers from very obvious robot arms, but it trades Tyrant's rubber treads for wheels, and can be both aimed and rolled. I prefer Sovereign's implementation, but those visible shoulders are easily the figure's greatest flaw.

- Sovereign's robot mode cleans up less nicely than Tyrant. Tyrant is essentially kibble free, and while Sovereign's backpack isn't bad, it's s good deal less clean by comparison.

Tyrant has a certain something that I love about him. He's superb for posing, and his headsculpt really elevates him above the status he perhaps deserves. I have no desire to part with him or even replace him; although I suspect Sovereign will be my go-to Galvatron. I'll be very interested to see how X-Transbots' Abaddon turns out, but aside from their notoriously terrible QC, I find their designs a little too slavishly accurate to the cartoon. Eligos looks fantastic, but he and Scourge both strike me as a little too plain when compared to FansToys' or Takara's designs. I may well end up getting him anyway, and I'll almost certainly buy Takara's when it emerges, but I'm not frothing with anticipation for another take on the character like I was when Sovereign was on the horizon.

So great to finally see an English video review of this guy. I can't imagine Sovereign will be better than FT's take on Sludge, but he certainly seems on a par with the best of their figures. Cannot wait. Hopefully I'll have him in hand sometime next month.

 

[BattleMonkey]

The legs look much better on Soverign than Tyrant's.

 

[Aske]

Agreed. Really, everything about the robot mode but the head is easily in Sovereign's favour. Here's a side by side comparison:

 

[MattKeil]

Fanstoys is always the correct choice in any situation, even if their faces can sometimes be a tad odd. I'll be replacing my X-Transbots Scourge and Cyclonus with Fanstoys versions whenever they make those, too.

 

[NEO0MJ]

The legs look much better on Soverign than Tyrant's.

It's the feet that really make a difference.

 

[MattKeil]

It's the feet that really make a difference.

 

[Aske]

Yeah, not sure why they didn't paint Sovereign's feet grey like they are in the cartoon. The white makes him look like he's wearing white socks and kung fu shoes.

Fanstoys is always the correct choice in any situation, even if their faces can sometimes be a tad odd. I'll be replacing my X-Transbots Scourge and Cyclonus with Fanstoys versions whenever they make those, too.

Seems like they fixed their face sculpts. All the new ones have looked great, and they even made replacements for their old ones. I don't even own the toy, but I'm so glad they fixed that awful orangutan face they shipped with their Snarl.

 

[BattleMonkey]

Toyworld cone heads.... look good. Any comments on Toyworld quality? The official MP coneheads are stupid expensive, so thinking of preordering these

 

[MattKeil]

Toyworld cone heads.... look good. Any comments on Toyworld quality? The official MP coneheads are stupid expensive, so thinking of preordering these

Toyworld is midrange quality. I don't think they look better than the Takara ones but I wouldn't say not to buy the Toyworld ones if price is a factor.

Seems like they fixed their face sculpts. All the new ones have looked great, and they even made replacements for their old ones. I don't even own the toy, but I'm so glad they fixed that awful orangutan face they shipped with their Snarl.

They're definitely better now. They nailed Sludge and have not had a slip since.

 

[Aske]

They're definitely better now. They nailed Sludge and have not had a slip since.

Truth. While I prefer Tyrant's head overall, it's highly stylised. Sovereign's looks much more cartoon accurate. It's hard to see just how impressive it is in photos because the figure's face is white, and it's usually photographed in bright light, but this Sixo pic from TFW2005 really shows it off.

 

[NEO0MJ]

Heh,same thing that came to mind. Still better than the flat panels

 

[MattKeil]

Heh,same thing that came to mind. Still better than the flat panels

Oh yeah, it wasn't meant as a knock. Tyrant's feet are awful.

 

[Aske]

Oh yeah, it wasn't meant as a knock. Tyrant's feet are awful.

They're not just awful, they're unnecessary. There's a modded version with fixed feet that looks superb, and apparently the alt mode still looks great.

Thread here. New feet, new hands, thigh guards attached to knees. The thigh guards have to be removed for transformation, but everything else could have been done by DX9 with little change to their design for a massive improvement. I personally don't prefer the only other mod this figure has - thighs/belt/elbows/cannon repainted to match the face - but overall a significant upgrade that pretty much fixed the toy.

 

[MattKeil]

I'm just going to get Sovereign, which, IMO, doesn't need any fixing. I'm super happy with Andras and Eligos, but Tyrant just isn't what it needs to be.

 

[BattleMonkey]

Toyworld is midrange quality. I don't think they look better than the Takara ones but I wouldn't say not to buy the Toyworld ones if price is a factor..

Well with shipping, the Takara coneheads are almost twice the price for the three... hard to say. Kinda hate spending so much on kinda secondary characters. Keep trying to resist buying the takara ones... so many times in my shopping cart

 

[MattKeil]

Well with shipping, the Takara coneheads are almost twice the price for the three... hard to say. Kinda hate spending so much on kinda secondary characters. Keep trying to resist buying the takara ones... so many times in my shopping cart

I'm a Seeker fan, so I have all of the various MP-11 permutations, with more on the way. However, considering all the weird production errors and problems the current stuff has, I can't in good conscience recommend paying the Takara prices for figures with loose waists and backward shoulders. Don't be dumb like me.

 

[Firemind]

They're not just awful, they're unnecessary. There's a modded version with fixed feet that looks superb, and apparently the alt mode still looks great.



Thread here. New feet, new hands, thigh guards attached to knees. The thigh guards have to be removed for transformation, but everything else could have been done by DX9 with little change to their design for a massive improvement. I personally don't prefer the only other mod this figure has - thighs/belt/elbows/cannon repainted to match the face - but overall a significant upgrade that pretty much fixed the toy.

What's up with the muted colors? He looks like a fucking albino.

 

[Aske]

I'm just going to get Sovereign, which, IMO, doesn't need any fixing. I'm super happy with Andras and Eligos, but Tyrant just isn't what it needs to be.

The more I see of Sovereign, the more perfect he looks. Shoulder joints may be a touch weak in cannon mode, but literally everything else seems spot on. And now we know he comes with a flight stand and cannon blast effect! Love it. Much prefer the plug-in plastic explosion to a light up feature.

What's up with the muted colors? He looks like a fucking albino.

His face is white in season 3, but I like Tyrant's stock llight grey face, which I think this retains; although it doesn't look like it does in the photo. I'm assuming the white parts on the modded figure are actually colour matched to that nice shade of grey, based on the write up in the thread. But yeah, lighting is absolutely crucial for accurately photographing colours, especially purple. Looking at various shots of Tyrant and Sovereign to compare their colouring is utterly meaningless unless the two are standing side by side in the same photo.

Speaking of which, I think FansToys nailed the perfect shade of purple. Nice and cool. Tyrant's looked decent in many of his pictures, but in hand his colouring is far too warm. By contrast, the movie coloured Mania King and DX9's War in Pocket Tyrant are a washed out lavender that echo certain shots in the movie, but otherwise look totally wrong. Galvatron is a rich, cool purple. Warmer in season 3, cooler in the movie, but always nice and rich.

 

[Firemind]

I wonder if Takara is going to be faithful to the movie or the show. For some reason I always found the movie version more threatening than the tv version which is just... bulky.

 

[NEO0MJ]

While he looks pretty good overall, I'm hoping a company makes a rendition that takes a few more liberties with the design, especially the alt mode.

 

[Weltall Zero]

I completely missed this post, sorry.

I used Gundam Markers, though I do have a small brush that I keep for such situations. I feel painting the legs is risky, considering they're prone to friction and contact. Maybe it would be more manageable to paint some of the details inside, though.

The issue with using a brush for the "bottom of a well" type things where you don't want to paint the walls, is that in my experience it's very easy for the paint to "cling" to the walls, due to surface tension or whatever. It's doable but it's almost impossible to avoid having some tiny amount of it crawl up, which your pic didn't show.

Edit: Found it!

It seems like he also has Gundam-like vulcans on his head! Which seems like a dangerous thing to have next to your brain...

 

[MattKeil]

I wonder if Takara is going to be faithful to the movie or the show. For some reason I always found the movie version more threatening than the tv version which is just... bulky.

Takara Grimlock is more movie than TV show, so I'd guess they'd keep that aesthetic going for future movie characters. TV Grimlock was a lot chunkier in dino mode, while the movie version was slimmer and more expressive for comic relief. He retained a lot of the changes in Season 3, but I'd say Takara is likely to use the movie as a baseline going forward since they're the most remembered versions of the characters.

 

[NEO0MJ]

The issue with using a brush for the "bottom of a well" type things where you don't want to paint the walls, is that in my experience it's very easy for the paint to "cling" to the walls, due to surface tension or whatever. It's doable but it's almost impossible to avoid having some tiny amount of it crawl up, which your pic didn't show.

That's actually when happened when I trued to paint the groves in his knees yellow, though I guess they kinda work there.

It seems like he also has Gundam-like vulcans on his head! Which seems like a dangerous thing to have next to your brain...

Good thing that's not where his brain is!

 

[Savitar]

Every time I think of buying TF's I see they are over priced which is a huge strike and does the gaps and hollow arms etc bother anyone else as much. It feels cheap, hell even cheap toys usually are full body parts.

 

[Vyer]

Thoughts on Titans Return powermaster Prime?

 

[NEO0MJ]

Every time I think of buying TF's I see they are over priced which is a huge strike and does the gaps and hollow arms etc bother anyone else as much. It feels cheap, hell even cheap toys usually are full body parts.

It's actually becoming a common negative about a lot of toy lines from major companies no matter where they're from. Not a big fan of it, either. It only disappears when you go to the high-end toy market.
Though you are right in that it seems this isn't as common with knock-offs or cheap, random supermarket toys for some reason.

 

[MattKeil]

Every time I think of buying TF's I see they are over priced which is a huge strike and does the gaps and hollow arms etc bother anyone else as much. It feels cheap, hell even cheap toys usually are full body parts.

Doesn't really bother me unless it's really, really egregious and leaves gaps in one mode or the other, like FoC Grimlock's missing dino chest area. It's nice when a toy goes the extra mile to fill everything in and cover all the gaps, but every moving part adds a little bit to the cost of the toy. Those third party figures don't cost $100 just for funsies.

 

[Weltall Zero]

Good thing that's not where his brain is!

MTMTE spoiler time!

Spoiler

I don't remember right now how the Magnus armor works, does the "head" not work like a helmet he wears on his head? Admittedly I was thinking of the Titans Return toy where Ambus sits pretty high and indeed wears Magnus' head as a helmet.

 

[MattKeil]

Someone asked a while back about Generations Arcee, and the Autobot Movie Heroes set with her in it is now available. It's pricey at $150, but if you use the code PLAY at checkout you'll get 30% off, which brings it down to $105 plus tax. Not too bad for three deluxes, a voyager, and a leader. Bonus points for them all being good toys, so if you don't have these already, I recommend the set.

 

[SiegfriedFM]

Someone asked a while back about Generations Arcee, and the Autobot Movie Heroes set with her in it is now available. It's pricey at $150, but if you use the code PLAY at checkout you'll get 30% off, which brings it down to $105 plus tax. Not too bad for three deluxes, a voyager, and a leader. Bonus points for them all being good toys, so if you don't have these already, I recommend the set.

Thanks, but I already sold my old Kup and want to sell my Blurr, so I'm not really interested in getting them again.

 

[HammerOfThor]

Someone asked a while back about Generations Arcee, and the Autobot Movie Heroes set with her in it is now available. It's pricey at $150, but if you use the code PLAY at checkout you'll get 30% off, which brings it down to $105 plus tax. Not too bad for three deluxes, a voyager, and a leader. Bonus points for them all being good toys, so if you don't have these already, I recommend the set.

That code doesn't seem to work

 

[Vyer]

That code doesn't seem to work

it was a one day only.

Today was 20%. Code was TOYS.

 

[Deleted member 18827]

Thoughts on Titans Return powermaster Prime?

He's great. Power master prime was my fav as a kid and the new one is like a member berry. Build quality is good as well.

I will probably end up getting the legends version as well. Much more faithful to the original.

 

[Drayco21]

Someone asked a while back about Generations Arcee, and the Autobot Movie Heroes set with her in it is now available. It's pricey at $150, but if you use the code PLAY at checkout you'll get 30% off, which brings it down to $105 plus tax. Not too bad for three deluxes, a voyager, and a leader. Bonus points for them all being good toys, so if you don't have these already, I recommend the set.

Target sets usually go on sale, so I'm going to keep waiting on it and hope I can get it for cheaper- I do want to add each figure in the set to my collection, since I haven't picked any of them up yet.

 

[Weltall Zero]

He's great. Power master prime was my fav as a kid and the new one is like a member berry. Build quality is good as well.

I will probably end up getting the legends version as well. Much more faithful to the original.

Mother of god, that's some heavy retooling.

Gotta love how each one has the same fist colors as its respective G1 incarnation.

 

[Hero]

He's great. Power master prime was my fav as a kid and the new one is like a member berry. Build quality is good as well.

I will probably end up getting the legends version as well. Much more faithful to the original.

The Takara version looks so much better its not even funny.

 

[NEO0MJ]

MTMTE spoiler time!

Spoiler

I don't remember right now how the Magnus armor works, does the "head" not work like a helmet he wears on his head? Admittedly I was thinking of the Titans Return toy where Ambus sits pretty high and indeed wears Magnus' head as a helmet.

Late response, sorry.

Spoiler

It's not very clear. When Tyrest first forcible removed the Magnus armor it seemed his body extended itself and wore the armor like a suit but when his Ambus armor he was crushed his true head was fine and said he had to punch his way out like he was siting inside a cockpit so who knows.

The Takara version looks so much better its not even funny.

Yeah, they went all out with the retool. Barely any fragments of Magnus remain now. Unfortunately they went too far with recreating the original design that that they carried over the stump feet.

 

[gre]

Has anyone picked up the MP Optimus Primal in here? I'm curious to here people's thoughts. Thinking about picking him up for Christmas.

 

[Haloid1177]

Has anyone picked up the MP Optimus Primal in here? I'm curious to here people's thoughts. Thinking about picking him up for Christmas.

I'm one of those weird people that does not really like Beast Wars as a series, but even I have to admit that it's a great figure. You won't be disappointed.

 

[yami4ct]

Has anyone picked up the MP Optimus Primal in here? I'm curious to here people's thoughts. Thinking about picking him up for Christmas.

I got mine at launch. He's a fantastic figure. Really amazingly detailed, loaded with accessories, transformation that is both simple enough to not be frustrating but also really effective. If you like BW at all, you should own him.

I have some minor quibbles. The shoulder guards not going down all the way in gorilla mode is an unfortunate design problem. Gorilla mode in general feels like it sacrifices for robot mode, but I don't really see a potential fix for that. Figure also feels a tad expensive for the size, but once you see all the paint detail in addition to all the gimmicks it makes sense.

 

[Weiss]

So I watched all of Transformers Prime in my attempt to get into the franchise.

It was good. Knock Out was my favourite character so I'm glad he pulled a heel turn and joined the Autobots. Optimus was a little stale but otherwise I greatly enjoyed pretty much every main character, including the Decepticons; the episode where CYLAS gets free on the warship and Starscream and Knock Out have to basically engage in a robot zombie movie. The humans except for Fowler were boring and terrible so I'm glad they eventually got phased out.

Eventually I'll watch Robots in Disguise; I sampled two episodes and they were alright and I already like Grimlock, but it feels like the last series never even happened. Shouldn't humanity already know about Cybertronians?

Any place I can buy a toy of Bulkhead or has that ship sailed?

PS: I want to get into the IDW comics. Any tips?

 

[Mike M]

Knock Out was probably my favorite character on TFPrime, though Starscream was damn good too (Still slightly prefer TFAnimated Starscream overall). The Knock Out/Starscream buddy comedy/zombie horror episode you mentioned was probably the highlight of the show.

Bulkhead's available on secondary markets, I think he runs something like $35-$40 for the Voyager version.