Toy Review - Hasbro MP Thundercracker

[GoktimusPrime]

So the Hasbro Thunderracker comes with a stand? The Tomy MP Sunstorm did not!

Yeah but Sunstorm did come with the crown, cape and shoulder pads. Although being more expensive than Thundercracker it probably should've come with the stand too. The new MP Starscream didn't come with a stand either, did he?

More and more TakTOM's MPs are offering less value than Hasbro's. I skipped Alert and I'm hoping that Hasbro does Red Alert. I'm considering skipping Bluestreak, Smokescreen and Prowl and waiting for Hasbro versions of those too. Whaddaya reckon?

[kup]

Yeah but Sunstorm did come with the crown, cape and shoulder pads. Although being more expensive than Thundercracker it probably should've come with the stand too. The new MP Starscream didn't come with a stand either, did he?

More and more TakTOM's MPs are offering less value than Hasbro's. I skipped Alert and I'm hoping that Hasbro does Red Alert. I'm considering skipping Bluestreak, Smokescreen and Prowl and waiting for Hasbro versions of those too. Whaddaya reckon?

It's hard to say really. It was certainly a good idea to skip MP-10 for the Hasbro one as we got a considerable price reduction without much loss. We still got the same accessories and toy, just with a lesser paint job (which was still decent enough).

Thundercracker also appears to be good value for money despite the lack of crown and cape which doesn't really suit the character anyways.

In reality, you are right. The last few MPs have shown that buying Tomy may not necessarily be the best thing to do when it comes to value for money. The Tomy MPs may have better paint jobs but the QC is atrocious and the accessory count not great to justify the risk/price. With a Hasbro release, the paint job may be a level or two below but considerably cheaper and with a comparable accessory count to the Tomy release. There is also the option of being able to return the toy to the store in the event of bad QC.

However there is also the possibility that due to the 3rd party car licensing (Nissan, Lamborghini, etc) that Tomy is paying for, they may not reach the Hasbro market. The MP line is aimed at collectors but Hasbro only aims at kids (even their MP toys are marketed that way) so would they want to pay the extra license fees for kids? Remember that Alternities work in a similar way with car licensing and we haven't seen any interest from Hasbro in releasing them.

Unless we see an announcement, there is the potential risk that Hasbro may never release those car Masterpieces.

[gamblor916]

Have we all forgotten about the Alternators? I'm sure the Autobot cars will see a Hasbro release. Come to think of it, apart from MP Megs, all the Masterpiece moulds to date have had a western release.

[Trent]

The last few MPs have shown that buying Tomy may not necessarily be the best thing to do when it comes to value for money. The Tomy MPs may have better paint jobs but the QC is atrocious and the accessory count not great to justify the risk/price. With a Hasbro release, the paint job may be a level or two below but considerably cheaper and with a comparable accessory count to the Tomy release. There is also the option of being able to return the toy to the store in the event of bad QC.

It's funny, I was about to say that you had only started pushing the Takara QC arguement since your Laserbeak debacle. Then I thought about it and you have the Greenscream plastic issues, Megatron cosmic rust, Rodimus' many, many issues (with both V1 and V2), Sideswipe paint issues and now Soundwave/Laserbeak issues. So yeah, there have been a few. And the ones that have had a Hasbro release seem to have had these issues addressed in some way.

So yeah, your right

However there is also the possibility that due to the 3rd party car licensing (Nissan, Lamborghini, etc) that Tomy is paying for, they may not reach the Hasbro market. The MP line is aimed at collectors but Hasbro only aims at kids (even their MP toys are marketed that way) so would they want to pay the extra license fees for kids? Remember that Alternities work in a similar way with car licensing and we haven't seen any interest from Hasbro in releasing them.

Unless we see an announcement, there is the potential risk that Hasbro may never release those car Masterpieces.

While Hasbro did license the Alternators line, that was quite a few years ago now and they did skip the alternity line. And while they did release cars under the classics line, Prowl was obviously a 350Z, Swipe/Streaker were Lambos, etc, they were generic enough (much in the same way 3rd party TF producers are doing now that licencing was not required, thus saving Hasbro a fair bit of cash.

This is why I don't hold out much hope for MP-12 and MP-14 seeing a Hasbro release. That alt mode design had direct design input from the yellow raging bull, so there is nothing generic about it and the only way it is getting sold is with a Lambo US' ok. Which Hasbro don't seem to be too keen on getting. SS and RA were both released a little while ago now, but we have heard _nothing_ about them from Hasbro. Yet Soundwave, who has just been released by Takara and will be coming with his as yet unreleased Takara minions, and Acid Storm, have both already been confirmed by Hasbro for this year.

So in conclusion, if you don't see a SS/RA from Hasbro, don't expect a Prowl/Smokescreen/Bluestreak from them either. (IMO anyway. In cases like this it's good to be wrong)

[kup]

Have we all forgotten about the Alternators? I'm sure the Autobot cars will see a Hasbro release. Come to think of it, apart from MP Megs, all the Masterpiece moulds to date have had a western release.

That was a long time ago and Hasbro did try to focus them to collectors (more or less). They now seem to have a more 'What Walmart wants' business plan which is not allowing as much versatility as it once did. Walmart is likely to see more value to marketing to children than collectors and it shows by the trends we have seen in the last few years.