Toy Review - MP-17 Masterpiece Prowl

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

Finally opened mine, and he's good. No paint issues or anything on mine. Definitely a major improvement on the Universe version. The shoulders on mine are a little loose, but other than that everything locks into place nicely. Transformation is pretty decent - not too simple, not too complex. I'm glad I got him, but couldn't help but feel a little bit like "Is that all?" after reading some of the gushing praise he's been getting on teh interwebz...which is entirely my fault for getting my expectations too high. I was expecting something that would blow me away like, say, RiD Scourge, but what I ended up with was exactly what was TakTom was going for - a really solid, decently-sized, nicely-detailed, well-designed representation of G1 Prowl, no more, no less. He's been overhyped quite a bit IMO, but regardless of that he is a nice piece that's well worth picking up. Just be aware that that's all you're getting - a really good G1-style Prowl, very much the definitive Prowl but nothing more - and you won't be disappointed.

I voted 'Only if', as in only if 1: you can find him for a decent price (I got mine for $45-$50, but much more than $60-odd, $70 tops I think would be pushing it in terms of value for money) and/or 2: you're a fan of the character (which I sort of am).

[bassbot]

Great reviews, honest reflections to from all sides of the equation. I'm still patiently waiting for mine to arrive. Can't wait to bust him out and flip some tables

[GoktimusPrime]

A really nice toy and a big improvement over MP Lambor (no shoulder problems, yaaay! ). I got the Amazon version which came w/ an extra launcher, but only one launcher which seems a bit odd. I hope that the launcher that Bluestreak comes with will be the same, as I'd like to put both launchers on Prowl (and keep Bluestreak w/ the default launchers, further differentiating the two MP Nissans ). The way that the weapons can clip onto the vehicle mode was well done and subtle, much like w/ MP Lambor. And having clear windows is a nice touch over Lambor's painted black windows. I have some silver paint smudges on one of the tyres, which should be easily removable w/ rubbing alcohol, but still disappointing QA for an MP toy.

I paid about the same as Odie and agree with his comments about the toy and price. It's a much better toy than Henkei/Universe Prowl, but IMO Binaltech Prowl still offered far superior value for money.

Vehicle mode pics




Robot mode. I was trying to emulate G1 Prowl's box art.


And of course, the table flip.

[kup]

Just opened and transformed mine. Wow, this MP Prowl is pretty damn good.

[Zand]

Mine came in the mail today, I really quite like the figure. I think the head sculpt is fantastic and that overall the figure is excellent.

[willocrew]

Masterpiece Prowl Review.

Quality Control:
Not too happy. There's a noticeable paint chip on Prowl's right brow. There are also some minor paint dings on the other parts which are acceptable for a mass produced item. But the chip on the brow is unacceptable. Fortunately I could probably repair it with some paint touch up but frankly for a masterpiece I shouldn't have to go through the trouble of hunting for the right colour at a hobby store finding a suitable brush. Not everyone is a customizer with tools readily availble.

On to the better stuff.


Car Mode:
It's a Datsun. It's as good as a Datsun will get. It's no Lamborghini that's for sure, but it looks like an accurate Datsun 280ZX which is what the cartoon car mode is based on albeit less accurately with a 1980s aesthetic. So top marks!


Transformation:
Not very good. In all my years of owning masterpieces, I never had this much trouble transforming an MP robot. Okay, I never did own the finnicky MP Megatron, but the transformation of all the other MPs felt more intuitive. This is coming from a guy who never owned a G1 Prowl as a kid so I guess I'm new to this as I believe this Prowl has a similar transformation to the G1 toy. Anyway, the upper torso gave me the most grief. My main complaint is the transformation often requires you to use your fingers to squeeze/knead at some plastic pieces to release another plastic piece out of its tab to move into a new position. It's not intuitive at all and a couple of times I could have broken stuff if I were a bit more hasty. The feet were easy. Overall I can't say I really enjoyed transforming Prowl.


Robot Mode:
This is where it's at! It looks like the cartoon Prowl. The proportions are great, just check out the photos I included. The head sculpt is better than sideswipe. And I just wished they painted MP10's eyes like that. That being said, it is faaaar from perfect. In particular, the hollow legs and backpack. Truth be told, the hollow legs don't bother me that much. It doesn't look too bad. But the backpack annoys me a little. Why? Well because I feel that Takara could have and should have gone the extra step to let us compress the backpack a little more the way it was possible with Generations Jazz (See picture below). Right now it is sticking out and looks not as nice as it could have from the side. It's not terrible. But it could have been soo much better and I wished Takara paid that extra bit of attention. That's my only complaint. Other than that it's a great robot!





Summary:
I demand from my transformers: a great kibble free robots mode, great vehicle mode and great transformation. In that order of priority. You give me a great robot mode, I'm a happy collector. A great robot and car mode, I start waxing lyrical about how the manufacturing process has improved our toy tech. Add in an intuitive transformation process and I'll be buying a second toy.

Prowl has a poor transformation process but an excellent car mode and robot mode except for that backpack issue. So is this the greatest MP? Nope. My favourite two are still Grimlock and Optimus. But if this is the standard we can expect if we have any hopes of getting more of the G1 cartoon characters, then we are in for some good times.

[Trent]

^Interesting to read others opinions. I thought that his transformation was rather intuitive. There were a few mildly scary moments but overall I was impressed.

[willocrew]

^Interesting to read others opinions. I thought that his transformation was rather intuitive. There were a few mildly scary moments but overall I was impressed.

Maybe I'm just not familiar with the transformation.

But there were several instances where the instructions said flip this and it wouldn't flip without using considerable force which is always a big no no with transformers. Fortunately I was patient and took the time to work out where the tabs are and how to squeeze the toy in the right places to release plastic pieces instead of pulling blindly.

For example, the door has a tab to lock it in place and you can't just pull it open. Need to squeeze the rear backwards so that the tab is released allowing the door to swing open. But there were plenty of moments where I had to guess where the tabs are.

Also the platform which forms the base of Prowl's head has tabs that meets somemore tabs in the chest and I wasn't sure if I had to force the platform to click over those tabs or if they are there for the platform to rest upon. This caused me some doubt as the chest wasn't flipping over nicely; something was catching it. But in the end i managed to flip it with some plastic massaging . Had to massage those flip out side view mirrors as they were catching an internal part of the chest.

The most nerve wrecking part was clicking Prowl's chest downwards. I had to use quite a bit of force to get it to click into place. If it was the wrong step then it would have been bye bye Prowl. Fortunately it was correct and admittedly the chest is locked down very nice and tight.

[GoktimusPrime]

I find Prowl's transformation to be fairly intuitive - much more so than say MP Rodimus and the MP Seekers IMHO. And of course, MP Megatron would have to be the single most frustratingly difficult toy to transform out of every Transformer made!

I know what you mean about the instructions though; I found the instructions weren't that well illustrated or written, which is quite surprising for TakaraTOMY who usually make pretty good instructions that are easy to follow. But even as someone who reads Japanese, I found MP Prowl's instructions to be... "Hasbroesque!"

The tabs can be tricky, but I didn't have any major problems with them. I find them to be fairly intuitive, but yeah, the instructions really don't adequately illustrate or explain what to do w/ them IMO.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

Just wondering...how does MP Prowl look wielding Alternators/Binaltech Prowl's traffic baton/red club-y thing?
I was thinking about it this morning and I realised I kinda want to find some sort of Japanese police-y handheld weapon for him.