Has the Masterpiece line come to an end?

[GoktimusPrime]

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.


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
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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. 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.

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*Alas, poor MP Time Warrior!