Toy Review - Masterpiece MP-10 Convoy ver. 2.0

[yoshi594]

I did a pic earlier comparing some Primes, click to enlarge:



I did some research during a price discussion earlier - retail vs actual cost swings the results in MP-10's favour a bit:

MP-04 - 18,900Y retail down to 12,852Y (-6,048Y) @ Bigbe Rakuten
MP-09 - 17,640Y retail down to 11,500Y (-6,140Y) @ Amazon Japan
MP-10 - 23,100Y retail down to 15,992Y (-7,108Y) @ Amazon Japan
That's 3,140Y more expensive than MP-04, 5 years later.

It's also fairly close to what other high end transformable toys go for:
God Sigma - 24,150Y retail down to 19,800Y (-4,350Y) @ Amazon Japan
Daltanious - 23,100Y retail, down to 16,632Y (-6,468Y) @ Bigbe

Or Macross. The recently announced VF-17s retails for 24,800 and only comes down to 21,800 with discount. It comes with a 2cm tall pilot, and a gun!

Yamato is a smaller company though so we're probably paying a lot because of that. There's too much info that we aren't privy to, that determines how much these things cost, so if i have the money and want the toy (now) i don't dwell on it too much.

But yeah, money aside this figure looks fan-diddly-tastic. Can't wait to open him up and grope him

[Lord_Zed]

But yeah, money aside this figure looks fan-diddly-tastic. Can't wait to open him up and grope him

Everything is worth what its purchaser will pay for it.
Publilius Syrus
(~100 BC)

Although I'm not quite sold on this one yet.

[canofwhoopass_87]

I did a pic earlier comparing some Primes, click to enlarge:

Ok my gf just ordered one from amiami for my bday. Gosh MP10 is so much smaller than MP04

MP Megatron must tower over this new Prime too then. Hope they redo Megsy as well, or my Prime will strike a lonely figure on ze bookshelf.

[primetime]

I did a pic earlier comparing some Primes, click to enlarge:



I did some research during a price discussion earlier - retail vs actual cost swings the results in MP-10's favour a bit:

MP-04 - 18,900Y retail down to 12,852Y (-6,048Y) @ Bigbe Rakuten
MP-09 - 17,640Y retail down to 11,500Y (-6,140Y) @ Amazon Japan
MP-10 - 23,100Y retail down to 15,992Y (-7,108Y) @ Amazon Japan
That's 3,140Y more expensive than MP-04, 5 years later.

It's also fairly close to what other high end transformable toys go for:
God Sigma - 24,150Y retail down to 19,800Y (-4,350Y) @ Amazon Japan
Daltanious - 23,100Y retail, down to 16,632Y (-6,468Y) @ Bigbe

Or Macross. The recently announced VF-17s retails for 24,800 and only comes down to 21,800 with discount. It comes with a 2cm tall pilot, and a gun!

Yamato is a smaller company though so we're probably paying a lot because of that. There's too much info that we aren't privy to, that determines how much these things cost, so if i have the money and want the toy (now) i don't dwell on it too much.

On that note then, what you get in terms of a toy for GodSigma and Daltanious is FAR SUPERIOR than what you get with MP-10.

Both have more diecast - far superior paint finish, and you get tons of accessories and play value. Google the reviews if you are interested, you won't regret it.

On the VF-17S, I fell off my chair when I heard the price, never had Yamato released something so damn expensive for something so simple - not even the mythical Low Vis VF that was released years ago!

It's crazy but like Kurdt says, if you want it now pay up, I guess it's better for these toys to be produced and expensive rather than nothing at all right??!!

[1orion2many]

I don't think it's better these are produced overly expensive as that actually stops me buying them. So really as far as I'm concerned being released at an expensive price point or not being released at all is the same thing for me

[willocrew]

I haven't purchased a transformer for more than a year (last one was MP Grimlock)...glad to announce that MP10 is on the way

[kup]

I don't think it's better these are produced overly expensive as that actually stops me buying them. So really as far as I'm concerned being released at an expensive price point or not being released at all is the same thing for me

I am falling into that category. After the debacle that was the first MP Rodimus release, I am not trusting that these figures reflect the premium prices they are asking for them.

[willocrew]

Review: Robot Mode

I finally got hold of the MP10 figure and only had the chance to check out the robot mode & the accessories. Didn't really get a chance to transform it yet or to even play around with the trailer.

My initial impression of MP10 is very good. The robot mode is the most aesthetically pleasing G1-inspired Optimus Prime to date. It looks great from every angle (much better than my MP01 which looks good only from the front). In fact, the Matrix chamber has been given a very nice facelift as well with very detailed molded internal circuitry.

Incidentally, the stability of this figure is the best I have seen from a transformer (well take it with a grain of salt since I don't own too many transformers). I'll try to take pics but MP10 can actually do the Michael Jackson 45 degrees foward lean and you can leave it like that without having the figure topple over.

In terms of the gimmicks, I can't say I really miss the moving mouth, vents and LED lights. Those were cool but really not as big of a deal as the absence of the flip-up screens which I thought takara should have included (it's not that hard!). That being said, I think the gun storage really makes up for that. Some people might think its pointless, but I think it is neat to have a figure that is able to store its accessories in it and yet look good.

The other apprehension I have about the figure is the finger articulation. I would have preferred full finger articulation like Rodimus Prime. But then again we have seen how well those hands are able to hold the guns so maybe its not a bad thing.

Overall, my opinion is that if Takara had really gone all out and added some extra cool features, this mold could have been the definitive Optimus Prime of all time. But as it stands, the MP10 doesn't quite make the MP01 obsolete. Instead it offers you something different. The MP10 does so many things well but I think it could have done a little bit more.

So in conclusion, my suggestion is that if you do not have a Masterpiece Optimus with a trailer, you need to seriously consider getting the MP10. If you already have a trailer and if you aren't that big of an Optimus Prime fan, then I think you probably might want to wait for the Hasbro release.

Eitherway, both the MP10 and MP01 warrants a place in your collection because they are both great figures for different reasons.

I am falling into that category. After the debacle that was the first MP Rodimus release, I am not trusting that these figures reflect the premium prices they are asking for them.

It depends on what you mean by value.

In terms of quality control issues, the MP10s in general appear to be free of any major QC issues based on customer feedback. But it remains to be seen whether this is the result of Takara raising their game in response to the MP09 debacle or whether it is down to a possibility that not many collectors are buying the MP10s and so there simply isn't enough MP10s in collector's hands for any major defects in the MP10 mold to be uncovered.

In terms of value that the purchaser gets, this is really up to the person. I think it largely depends on how big of an Optimus Prime fan you are.

IMO, all the Hasbro masterpiece releases thus far have been inferior to the Takara releases (The only exception to this is the Hasbro Starscream release). So one has to ask whether they think it is worth it forking out a significantly larger amount of money for the slightly better features.

[GoktimusPrime]

IMO, all the Hasbro masterpiece releases thus far have been inferior to the Takara releases (The only exception to this is the Hasbro Starscream release). So one has to ask whether they think it is worth it forking out a significantly larger amount of money for the slightly better features.

One could also argue that Hasbro's MP Grimlock and Rodimus are better than TakaraTOMY's too.

Okay, with Grimlock it's pretty subjective. For people who prefer the G1 comics but aren't fans of Nel Yomtov's crappy colouring, Hasbro's MP Grimlock is fantastic. TakaraTOMY's MP Grimmies hold more appeal for fans of G1 cartoon Grimlock and/or fans of G1 comic Grimlock but who _like_ Yomtov's colouring.

Rodimus on the other hand had some improvements to the mould. The clip on the back works better than on TOMY's Rodimus (still not fantastic, but it's improved) and a big improvement is with the gun tabs, allowing Rodimus to actually hold his guns (whereas TOMY MP Roddie seems nigh incapable of holding his own weapons). In terms of colour schemes, they're both good -- again it's a matter of subjective taste. Fans of cartoon colours would prefer TOMY Rodimus whereas fans of toy-accurate colours may prefer Hasbro Rodimus. Having said that, objectively speaking TOMY Rodimus does have a nicer paint job simply because there's a lot more detail put into it whereas Hasbro's is pretty lazy in some parts (e.g. car interior is "uncoloured," ditto the "thrusters" on the back of the car etc.). But then again, Hasbro Rodimus is a helluva lot cheaper than TOMY Rodimus... sure, TOMY Rodimus comes with the trailer, but the trailer isn't all that awesome... it's essentially just an upsized and slightly fancier version of the G1 trailer, and worst of all it scrapes the robot's spoiler when you attach it!

Hasbro MP Skywarp is the only MP toy I've never seen IRL, but judging from pictures - again much like MP Rodimus I think there's an appeal factor there for fans of toy-accuracy, but it does appear lazy in some areas where stuff looks unpainted. But I don't think Hasbro Skywarp looks bad or anything.

In fact, the only Hasbro MP that I personally find horrible is Optimus Prime. The shortened smokestacks just look stupid and the try-hard "battle damage" just looks like it's been pre-smudged by some kid with grotty fingers. The subsequent release just looked too cartoony for my liking, and still suffered from the shortened smokestacks. Other than that I find the other Hasbro MPs to be fairly decent.

[willocrew]

One could also argue that Hasbro's MP Grimlock and Rodimus are better than TakaraTOMY's too.

Okay, with Grimlock it's pretty subjective. For people who prefer the G1 comics but aren't fans of Nel Yomtov's crappy colouring, Hasbro's MP Grimlock is fantastic. TakaraTOMY's MP Grimmies hold more appeal for fans of G1 cartoon Grimlock and/or fans of G1 comic Grimlock but who _like_ Yomtov's colouring.

Rodimus on the other hand had some improvements to the mould. The clip on the back works better than on TOMY's Rodimus (still not fantastic, but it's improved) and a big improvement is with the gun tabs, allowing Rodimus to actually hold his guns (whereas TOMY MP Roddie seems nigh incapable of holding his own weapons). In terms of colour schemes, they're both good -- again it's a matter of subjective taste. Fans of cartoon colours would prefer TOMY Rodimus whereas fans of toy-accurate colours may prefer Hasbro Rodimus. Having said that, objectively speaking TOMY Rodimus does have a nicer paint job simply because there's a lot more detail put into it whereas Hasbro's is pretty lazy in some parts (e.g. car interior is "uncoloured," ditto the "thrusters" on the back of the car etc.). But then again, Hasbro Rodimus is a helluva lot cheaper than TOMY Rodimus... sure, TOMY Rodimus comes with the trailer, but the trailer isn't all that awesome... it's essentially just an upsized and slightly fancier version of the G1 trailer, and worst of all it scrapes the robot's spoiler when you attach it!

Hasbro MP Skywarp is the only MP toy I've never seen IRL, but judging from pictures - again much like MP Rodimus I think there's an appeal factor there for fans of toy-accuracy, but it does appear lazy in some areas where stuff looks unpainted. But I don't think Hasbro Skywarp looks bad or anything.

In fact, the only Hasbro MP that I personally find horrible is Optimus Prime. The shortened smokestacks just look stupid and the try-hard "battle damage" just looks like it's been pre-smudged by some kid with grotty fingers. The subsequent release just looked too cartoony for my liking, and still suffered from the shortened smokestacks. Other than that I find the other Hasbro MPs to be fairly decent.

I think lots of folks will agree the rodimus prime figure that was first released by taktom was a real cop out. I don't own a rodimus prime Mp figure but word on the street is that the version 2 release by taktomy is even better than Hasbro.

But QC aside, the grey faced hasbro Rodimus just doesn't look good at all IMO.