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With Megatron (v2.0) just released this month & confirmed future releases of Artfire (in May), Dirge (May), Optimus Primal (June); there does not appear to be any more confirmed releases beyond June*. So, has the Masterpiece line taken a hiatus or done the unthinkable by coming to an end? Meaning no Jazz, no Hound, no Astrotrain, no Blitzwing to name a few.
* Beast Wars Dinobot is not confirmed???
Has the Masterpiece line come to an end? No.
This is a clickbait topic
:p
I just figured that Takara was putting most of their resources into the movie line at the moment again. It's always slow for the non-movie lines during a new movie year.
Believed by people with short memory spans.Quote:
Originally Posted by Paulbot
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...ps1psiampg.jpg
Oh yeah, the line totally looks like it's in dire straits now. :rolleyes:
And that only includes (I assume) the main numbered releases. The last 2 years have had 11 MP releases, and already 7 planned this year.
The only thing there might be is a gap/break for a few months because of the movie prioritisation, and the next release could be announced for release in like sept/oct.
Plus they have a new movie MP bee that will release sometime post movie I assume.
Yes for me.
In fact it ended long ago when the materials are poor form, paint apps not to standard. I know this is going to wind up with old topics but I think I am quite done with exception of either an official hound, jazz or mirage this is it.
i have avoided 3p in the past but they have done enough to over take where tt has lacked. It was fun but also very painful to collect masterpiece line.
I can see now beastwars are their focus so pretty much g1 has taken a halt.
There may be a combiner mp as they are out of wow mp. But these days tt are just picking and perfecting what 3p has attempted.
With speculation I think god ginrai will be a mp. That would wake me up and have a look.
Not sure if serious or trolling:confused:Quote:
Originally Posted by Megatran
If they keep coming out with crap like Megatron (awful design and look) and Beast Wars, the MP line will definately be coming to an end in my collection.
Lol of course masterpiece won't end, pretty sure this was more like a what's next? QuestionQuote:
Originally Posted by Trent
There are so many that no need license etc. insecticons are long way over due.
It really depends on how wide your love is for Transformers. There are those who recognise and love literally EVERYTHING about Transformers, including G1, the variants, diaclone history, Beast Wars, Japanese series etc. To them, Masterpiece must be a joygasmic time right now.
But for me personally as someone who grew up strictly on the G1 US cartoon and is only interested in G1, then yeah, Masterpiece certainly has taken a dip in what is being offered and therefore the line has less appeal than in previous times.
No. Just because we don't know of any releases naturally doesn't mean the line has ended. MP01 had a big break between him and MP02. and the lines been going for 13 years.Quote:
Originally Posted by Megatran
Hold up, hold up... lemme redo some stats here, cos looking back at my old stats even I'm not entirely sure about some of those numbers. And this would be because there are different ways to count MPs cos counting toys is incredibly subjective blah blah blah, don't wanna bring up a toy counting controversy again but basically I've forgotten how I counted for the old table that I made. :p
So I've done a recount and I'll explain how it was done too. First, here are all the MPs released by Takara(TOMY) according to all base-number releases★. This means that I'm counting MP1 all the way to MP38, but I am not including non-base numbered releases like MP1B, MP11S, MP12G etc. - just for the sake of simplicity I'm just not counting them for this survey. Sorry, Coneheads. :p Also, I've counted each cassette character separately, so MP13 counts as 2 (Soundwave & Laserbeak) etc. If you don't agree with me counting the Cassettes separately, then just adjust 2013's count from 9 down to 6.
So anyway, this is what I got...
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...psl7m0obra.jpg
Now for the benefit of fans like Ralph Wiggum, I then took these MPs and removed all toys that are not original G1 characters. BW MPs gone and all "Neo G1" characters like Exhaust, Road Rage etc. were removed. Again, if you don't want to count the Cassettes separately then 2013's count is 6 not 9. I also excluded variants of the same character & mould, hence why 2006 dropped down to 1 as I discounted MP4.
This is what I got...
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...psuthoaetj.jpg
Even with these parameters in place we can see that the number of MPs released by TakaraTOMY post-2012 still outnumber those released up to 2011. When we look at all numbered release, the lowest point from 2012-17 is still higher than the highest point in 2004-11, and even if we restrict it to just Original G1 characters, the lowest point in 2015 still matches the peak that pre-2012 MPs hit in 2007 & 2011. :eek:
Yeah, quite frankly it really feels like we're being quite spoiled with MPs right now. I don't see how this reflects the line being in any form of decline.
★ How I counted MPs. MPs discounted from in the second count denoted in blue.
2004 = MP1(1)
2005 = MP2(1)
2006 = MP3(1) MP4(1)
2007 = MP5(1) MP6(1)
2008 = MP7(1)
2009 = MP8(1)
2010 = (0)
2011 = MP9(1) MP10(1)
2012 = MP11(1) MP12(1) MP14(1)
2013 = MP13(2) MP15(2) MP16(2) MP17(1) MP18(1) MP19(1)
2014 = MP20(1) MP21(1) MP22(1)
2015 = MP23(1) MP24(1) MP25(1) MP26(1)
2016 = MP27(1) MP28(1) MP29(1) MP30(1) MP31(1) MP32(1) MP33(1)
2017 = MP34(1) MP35(1) MP36(1) MP37(1) MP38(1)
I don't see the harm in TakaraTOMY releasing non-original G1 MPs. G1 fans are still getting a good number of original G1 MPs. Let other TF fans have their fun too. :) The total number of numbered non-G1 MPs is just 5 out of a total of 38 numbered MP releases. This means that 36/41 or 88% numbered MPs released by TakaraTOMY are G1. Or if you don't want to count the Cassettes separately then it's 33/38 or 87%. The overwhelming majority of MPs are G1 and the number of G1-only MPs being released is still higher than it was when MPs was exclusively G1 [2004-2014]).
^ Fancy graphs 'n stuff are great but it doesn't address the topic in question. It's backward looking whereas my question was more of forward perspective. Though it's good info on past topics on this forum pertaining to frequency & quantity of Masterpiece releases.
That's true but also interesting Tets. The JP Encore series had it's latest release being #23 Fort Max back in 2013. There has been no official confirmation that I'm aware that this line has come to an end. My opinion is the Encore line has ceased. Would like to get your thoughts?Quote:
Originally Posted by Tetsuwan Convoy
Valid point there. On one hand we could say the Encore line has finished, but they did reissue Trypticon. So while the Encore line may have finished, they still consider reissuing older toys. I don't care about the name of the line as they change all the time, so the line finishing is a moot point.Quote:
Originally Posted by Megatran
long story short. I don't care about lines or the names they've given, just as long as the toys keep coming in some form or another ;)
I think the point Megatran is trying to make is that we get quite lengthy periods of time between the first reveals or announcements, to the release date of the Masterpiece toy... particularly for new moulds.Quote:
Originally Posted by Megatran
As such, we often have several new moulds known at any one time, during that lengthy period... and since we haven't had anything other than Dinobot currently known, it is unusual - but not enough to get worried about just yet.
It is also worth noting that in the last three years, there has been a 7-8 month gap between new moulds during the middle of the year.
In 2016 we didn't have a new mould from March (Shockwave) to October (Beast Convoy).
In 2015 we didn't have a new mould from March (Star Saber) to November (Tracks).
In 2014 we didn't have a new mould from March (Ratbat) to September (Wheeljack).
And so far for 2017, we had Megatron in April, but with only Dinobot being the only new mould known, and not likely to be out before the end of the year (due to no images yet), we aren't likely to have any new moulds before October, but if there is, it needs to be revealed very soon. (the shortest period between reveal and release for a new mould is 5 months, for Hot Rodimus)
Some stats for those loving all the graphs... :p
From 2014 to 2017 - there were 35 JP & HK Masterpiece toys that were not reissues, or released by other businesses (BAPE). It also doesn't include Dinobot, because the release date is not yet known.
2014 - 8 (3 new moulds, 2 modified moulds, 3 redecos)
2015 - 9 (2 new, 2 modified, 5 redecos)
2016 - 12 (5 new, 2, modified, 5 redecos)
2017 - 6 to June (2 new, 2 modified, 2 redecos)
(so far, 2017 is keeping up with the recent prolific rate, and only needs two more for the last 6 months to equal the previous movie year of 2014)
Period of time between first announcement/reveal to release...
New mould (12 toys) - 8.6 months
Modified mould (8 toys) - 6.5 months
Redeco (15 toys) - 4.4 months
Going by the averages, the odds that another new mould will come out in 2017, is getting very remote now (with just 8 months left in the year)... while a modified mould is also getting less and less likely too.
My guess is that for the rest of 2017, we will see 1 or 2 modified moulds and maybe 3 redecos... with Dinobot coming out in early 2018 (because we haven't even seen a grey-scale prototype yet).
The raw numbers for all of the number stats above can be posted up if requested. I just didn't want to pad out this post... and it would have taken me a lot longer to post this.
While they might not be numbered as such to appear in the regular Masterpiece line, i'd wager the Movie Masterpiece Bumblebee (together with the rumoured Barricade and Optimus Prime) are developed by the same team that's responsible for the G1/Beast Wars MPs. I'd almost bet they're planning on releasing Bumblebee in July after the Beast Convoy redeco, and probably the other 2 in quick succession to capitalize on The Last Knight's release. If you count those, then we're looking at 5 new moulds for the year.
But I also think it's very likely this month's hobby magazines will reveal Dinobot in full for a release by the end of the year, making it 6. Since Delta Magnus last August, the longest we've gone without a regular release has been 2 months, and that's not counting MP14+ Alert as well as Loudpedal and Thrust in that period. Now that I think about it, it's kind of surprising there hasn't been any hint at more "+" releases, which makes me wonder if Alert didn't sell to expectations? That said, I think the line is the healthiest it's ever been, with more varied sizes and characters pulled from several eras.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...psjjhdmu9s.jpgQuote:
Originally Posted by Tetsuwan Convoy
Has any TF line ever really ended with all the re-releasing they do? :pQuote:
Originally Posted by Tetsuwan Convoy
Was going to say Beast Machines but there was a Generations Tankor :D
For me it never ends. :p
Even Machine Wars got another outing via FunpubQuote:
Originally Posted by CHILENO20
I don't think the MP line is going anywhere, if anything they've expanded its reach. At the end of the day Takara Tomy is a business, so as long as there is demand (in Japan) for G1 MPs and they can make a profit then the line will continue. Some people feel that the focus has switched to Beast Wars but as Gok's statistics have shown, the scope has simply expanded to satisfy the demand.
Considering that Takara are doing US G1, JP G1, and BW they have plenty of characters still to work with not to mention the fact that with the MP24 poll they seemed open to everything up to Cybertron. Also as Griff pointed out this is a slow period of the year for Takara.
I'm far more concerned about Takara skipping CHUG characters than anything else in the TF collecting scene.
:confused: The only US G1 MPs that I can think that Takara's ever done are:
* the limited exclusive variant of MP Grimlock (with the Marvel US colours and crown).
* MP G2 Sideswipe - the face sculpt and accessories based on the G2 US comics.
But these are both variants of already existing MPs that they made. I cannot think of a single new-mould MP that Takara have ever made based on a US G1 character that was never released in Japan.
The closest that's ever been done would be MP Offshoot, but that was technically done by Hasbro as an accessory for their version of MP Rodimus Prime. Otherwise all MPs are based on what is essentially what has been released in Japan.
Yeah, I'm still hoping forEncore to make a comeback in another name for the line, though I do hope they produce some of the ones that only had a few re release like Blitzwing, Hound and maybe attempt even retromoulding some of the skipped figures due to mould destruction like Sunstreaker , Mirage , Reflector...Quote:
Originally Posted by kurdt_the_goat
As for MP line, I dont think it'll end or has reached its end. Theyve got a lot of material yet to work on , plenty of characters to do and release. It's not like g1 rereleases coz they do not have the mould hence only a finite number of characters can be made. Apparently retromoulding is expensive. But with MP line its all new moulds so they can choose making any of the whole gamut of characters yet to be done... the only drawback is the licensing and more complicated moulds and models they have to make which take time for the engineers to create and it has to be selected well for lucrative purposesas well... Im still wating for Trailbreaker 😊/Hoist to come out as I think with all the thrust that the 3rd parties have been giving attention to these two somehow makes me think theyre churning them out now coz once Takara releases theirs, sales price on their items will drop.
As far as G1 goes TakaraTOMY tends to focus on "Gee-Wun" over G1 as a whole. The only post-GeeWun G1 MP moulds that we've seen are:
* Rodimus Prime
* Hot Rod
* Ultra Magnus
* Star Sabre
That's it. It's not a lot. And even then, 3 of them are from 1686, just one year after "GeeWun", and only one G1 MP was bold enough to have been drawn from an era well after GeeWun (although it's still a G1 cartoon character from a Japanese POV - they've never created a new MP mould based on a G1 character who's never appeared in the cartoon*). And it's understandable, GeeWun is the most nostalgic period and thus the most bankable period of G1.
And to be fair, I think that Takara's done pretty well in hitting a lot of these GeeWun characters. As we can see in the MP catalogue that I made, all of the first year Decepticons and nearly half of the first Autobots have been done as MPs.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...pshqfyxq3i.jpg
Although granted that "first year" for Japan was 1985, and from their POV it looks like this (excluding toys that never appeared in the cartoon)...
---------------------------
Key
Original toy was not released in Japan
Has been or will be released as an MP
---------------------------
Astrotrain
Beachcomber
Blaster
Blitzwing
Bluestreak
Bombshell
Brawn
Bumblebee
Buzzsaw
Cliffjumper
Cosmos
Devastator
Dirge
Frenzy
Gears
Grapple
Grimlock
Hoist
Hound
Huffer
Inferno
Ironhide
Jazz
Jetfire
Kickback
Laserbeak
Megatron
Mirage
Omega Supreme
Optimus Prime
Perceptor
Powerglide
Prowl
Ratchet
Ramjet
Ravage
Rumble
Red Alert
Seaspray
Shockwave
Shrapnel
Sideswipe
Skids
Skywarp
Slag
Sludge
Smokescreen
Snarl
Soundwave
Starscream
Sunstreaker
Swoop
Thrust
Thundercracker
Tracks
Trailbreaker
Warpath
Wheeljack
Windcharger
↑26/58 (approx. 45%) of GeeWun characters have been done as MPs, so we're getting there. The MP line has always been more about quality over quantity. TakaraTOMY's team will work on developing each toy as an individual figure rather than in assortments like they do with mainline figures (which means that they are working on multiple toys in that line at the same time). Having said that, bear in mind that the people who design MPs are also working on other TFs like The Last Knight, Robots in Disguise etc. - it's not as if TakaraTOMY has a dedicated MP team. :o There's a chance that MP5 was developed in a rush because TakaraTOMY had a greater focus on developing the first live action movie figures (just a theory).
And it also makes sense for TakaraTOMY to prioritise characters with greater redeco potential for obvious reasons. So I think that the more likely candidate for an upcoming MP would be Trailbreaker/Hoist. Many of the other characters don't have popular redeco potential. Wheeljack was redecoed as Exhaust, but "Marlboor Wheeljack" already had a fan following long before MPs came along. You could argue that characters like Hound and Skids could be redecoed as Detritus and Crosscut respectively, but Road Rage reportedly shelfwarmed in Japan (and is still shelfwarming here). :( Yes, Inferno is being redecoed as the extremely obscure Artfire, but not before the mould was redecoed as Grapple. Stepper is an equally obscure character and Jazz doesn't have another more popular redeco potential. Ultra Magnus was redecoed as Delta Magnus who was still shelfwarming when I was in Japan late last year. What could Sunstreaker and Mirage be redecoed as? And before you answer this question, see it from the eyes of a CASUAL collector, not hardcore collectors like ourselves who would lap up characters like MP Clampdown or an MP redeco of Police-Car Sunstreaker or red Mirage etc.
I'm not saying that these characters cannot be done per se - Star Sabre has had no redeco yet it seems to have sold (I haven't seen it shelfwarming either in Japan nor at my local TRUs) - I'm just saying that from a business POV it makes more sense for them to prioritise characters with greater redeco potential. And hopefully if these redecos sell well, they can help to fund the release of these "less bankable" characters. That's why I think it's important for collectors, if we really want to support the MP line, to consider buying the redecos as well. I can understand skipping obscure characters that you have no sentimental attachment too, but for example there are people who are skipping Grapple because they already have Inferno. Or people who skipped Smokescreen because they have Prowl and/or Bluestreak etc. Again, these are more casual collectors - they are happy to just collect a small sample of figures and don't feel the need to get multiples of the same base mould. So I think it's up to us more hardcore collectors to consider investing in these redecos to help convince TakaraTOMY that it's worth their time and money to release more MPs.
It's all about us voting with our wallets. :)
---------------------------------------------
*Alas, poor MP Time Warrior!
The MP line has always been more about quality over quantity
I don't really agree with this as we seen so much quality issues on the recent masterpiece is not funny.
And/or perhaps redeco(s), remould(s) as well. Or perhaps not (:eek:). Anyone know which day of the month these JP hobby mags get released?Quote:
Originally Posted by kurdt_the_goat
You've reinforced what DELTAprime had stated ... That is, Takara MP releases included US characters. There was no mention of specifics relating to 'new-mould' or US characters derived from an existing mould... until you brought that up.Quote:
Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime
A bit before my time but we know what you meant. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime
That topic has been brought up numerous times & debated extensively elsewhere.Quote:
Originally Posted by drifand
Same goes with MP5 Megatron's dubious product development timeline (which many do not give a baboon's backside).
I'm spending way less on MP's this year than last year. Which is not bad because I went nuts last year (buying doubles and catching up). Still, it's getting kinda boring. And I don't count / didn't pre order MP-38 so shoot me. :p
What about the 'US' MP Starscream, which was Takara's release of the Hasbro MP Starscream with toy-accurate colours? Would that count?Quote:
Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime
I'm nitpicking, but you left out Smokescreen, and Thrust has an MP release, taking your total to 28/59, or just over 47% of those 1985 cartoon characters. Your point still stands, though - they're getting there.Quote:
Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime
Gok, EVERYTHING from "More Than Meets The Eye Part 1" till "Rebirth Part 3" are US G1. It was later released in Japan as Fight Super Robot Lifeform but that doesn't make it JP G1 which is Headmasters through to Victory.Quote:
Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime
To me hasbro has dropped their interest in making g1 masterpiece.
Tt has slowed down considerably but balance with bw masterpiece.
The masterpiece line is out of place because they combined beastwars numbers and g1 making it a same collection hence it doesn't look like the masterpiece line has ended. They are using the bw series to cover any issues with g1 toys masterpiece in licensing or design.
Yeah, while I appreciate Takara branching out into Beast Wars, and it's a welcome change; it's still weird that they haven't announced any more G1 stuff after Artfire. There's still a lot of juice left in G1 Masterpeice, and there's plenty of characters they can do without a special license, like the Insecticons (Shrapnel, Bombshell, and Kickback - who bascially began life as Diaclone toys) and the 1986 movie cast (Galvatron, Arcee, Blurr, etc - which had futuristic alt-modes designed for the movie). Since these toys aren't based on real-life vehicles, and there's no pressure to be "exact" replicas of a certain thing, it should be relatively easy to design these Masterpiece figures.Quote:
Originally Posted by drifand
The MP36 survey has a question which asks people what they think about the pacing of the MP line. Answers are:
Too quickly
Just right
Too slowly
I'll post a more comprehensive translation on the relevant thread at the end of the month. Although if any other Japanese speakers who can bypass the geoblock would like to go ahead and do it then please be my guest.
:eek: Wow. Transformers fact denial. :eek:Quote:
Originally Posted by DELTAprime
Megatron? Too slow, it was basically an attack on 3p companies getting their profits. But well overall better to have than not to. Likewise jazz and the rest of outstanding cars too slow.
The balance has to be right if they want people to collect.
I am not sure about most of you but I don't want to be 60 when Jazz arrive.
Currently the 3p are dominating what tt is lacking, I would not have bought a single 3p if they have launched hound, mirage and jazz. Basically 3p is making it easy for me to jump ship.
I was never a Transformers collector to begin with so with the current stage where the MPs are at, I am ok to wait for a good jazz and call it a day even though there are bound to be pieces that would interest me in the future.