Toy Review - Masterpiece Sunstreaker

[GoktimusPrime]

Series - Masterpiece
Sub-line - none
Size/class - N/A
New/remould/redeco - new
Wave - MP-39
Released here - No (released in Japan December 2017)
Approximate Retail Price - 12000yen (about AU$140)
Approximate Size - 16cm
Allegiance - Autobot
Alt-mode - Lamborghini Countach
Main Features/Gimmicks - car can transform between standard and modified "tuning" Lamborghini, hidden gun in rear of car, weapon stowage
Main Colours - cadmium yellow with black highlights
Main Accessories - rifle, laser pistol, alien mask, Chip Chase, wheelchair, wing mirrors, interchangeable robot faces

My MP Sunstreaker hasn't arrived yet, but The Scream Man's has (cos he's not a tightwad like me and paid EMS whereas mine's arriving via SAL ). Note: The Scream Man has modified his MP Sunstreaker with line-markings which are not present on the toy by default. See photos on the official site for images of the unmodified toy.

OVERALL IMPRESSION

As you may have already guessed from images, this is one very fiddly toy to transform. A good part of the rear half of the vehicle basically folds and compacts in to form a backpack for the robot mode, yet the end result is far more elegant and streamlined than MP28 Hot Rod. TakaraTOMY have once again gone for slavish cartoon accuracy, and this toy absolutely delivers on this front. The trade-off is one very complicated transformation, and of course double the price of MP Lambor. A lot of people will undoubtedly compare Sunstreaker with his twin (I know I did) and Sunstreaker does make Lambor look quite bulky and cumbersome in comparison, but Lambor is literally half the price of Sunstreaker. And IMO a toy doesn't have to be super complicated to be good. Ultimately I think that both Lambos are just as good as each other relative to what they're meant to accomplish and their relative prices. The elbow joints and wing mirror joints are among the more tricky parts of the transformation. One really complicated thing is how certain panels flip around, especially the rear top panel which is part of how Sunstreaker switches between being a stock standard and "super tuning" Lamborghini Countach. The roof/chest panel also flips around, and this can be a bit tricky at first. Sunstreaker features an incredible range of articulation.

Chip Chase is a single solid moulded figurine - zero articulation. He's designed to sit in his wheelchair or sit on Sunstreaker's shoulder... and that's more or less it. He just sits. I kinda wish he had knee and waist articulation so that he could stand up from his wheelchair (as he did in the cartoon ). The only minor gripe I would have is the pistol stowage. It clips into a panel that closes on the inside of the lower leg, but when the panel clips shut, the pistol always falls off. Not sure if this is a common issue or just isolated to The Scream Man's figure. But worst case scenario, you'll just have to set the pistol aside in vehicle mode. It's by no means a deal breaker.

Overall, I don't know if it's worth the full $140+ RRP, but probably worth it if you can get it for below RRP (e.g. discounted pre-order prices etc.).

Enough talk - photos!

[Jazz]

Hi Guys

If u a Huge Fans of MP transformers, You can't miss the MP-39, it will give u surprise!!!

[Shirokaze]

Sunstreaker is a figure that should not be missed! The transformation was a bit fiddly, though not what I'd call difficult. Quite a few never-seen-before feats of engineering made him a feel rewarding to figure out. Really appreciate the effort TakTom put into concealing everything in the legs/feet.
Buy it if you haven't already!

[Deano85]

Ordered him off ebay when they had the discount code for boxing day. Now just waiting for him to arrive.

[CoRDS]

has anyone worked out what the little rotating peg things are inside him?

as in , if you flip open the back , just above the rear wheel wells are a tab on each side that rotates, its not mentioned anywhere. i'll take a photo of it at one point when i get a chance.

[kurdt_the_goat]

Those tabs just keep his chest centered! Missed them myself on first transformation. Other things i missed first time; car hood piece, with a little extra push, it'll secure in place on his lower back. The head is also attached to a tab to help raise it, coming out on the underside of his chestpiece. Both of those are unnecessary but nice.

My favourite moment is transforming back to car mode, last step. I thought I'd misaligned it a little as the roof and windscreeen werent perfect, but oh well. Then i closed up the final piece underneath, and felt the entire thing tighten up into perfect alignment. Don't even know how it managed to do that!

[GoktimusPrime]

I must be one of the few people who refers to the instruction booklet.

[graza78]

Anyone have an issue unfolding the side windows back for car mode? I was struggling with one side. I think the window was clipping the door, and the mirror was blocking the rotation somehow. Either way, the mirror somehow popped out and was proppelled across the room.

[Magnus]

I must be one of the few people who refers to the instruction booklet.

It's not just you. For a figure of this complexity, I think everyone should be following the instructions. If you don't, you're liable to get frustrated and/or break something.

I'm not a big fan of the Sunstreaker character, but I wanted to see for myself the engineering that's gone into this toy.

The degree of thought and engineering that's gone into the toy to create such a screen-accurate robot is amazing. Not only that, it can transform from the customised Lamborghini Countach Sunstreaker is known for into a stock LP500S without additional parts. I think additional parts to create the different cars would have understandable and forgivable, but TakaraTOMY went and made sure it was all self-contained.

The robot mode is also very well articulated, more so than most Masterpieces, and not just the cars.

Yes, he's not cheap, but you're paying for the engineering R&D and for the sheer part count - there are a lot of parts, so Sunstreaker has a lot more plastic in him than Sideswipe.

My one gripe is that I still wish he had the body-coloured spoiler that the first coloured prototypes had. Even if it's toy-accurate, it stands out too much for my taste.

Some photos of the stock Lamborghini Countach LP500S:







Comparisons with MP Sideswipe:

[GoktimusPrime]

It is true that much of the complexity comes from having the vehicle mode be able to transform from customised to standard Countach mode, as well as not having a split bonnet. The rumour I've heard is that this was to appease Lamborghini in order to use the vehicle licence for this toy. Apparently Lamborghini doesn't want their cars to have a split right down the middle of the bonnet (even AOE Lockdown and TLK Hot Rod leave the centre piece of their bonnets in tact), and apparently they wanted Sunstreaker to transform into a standard Lamborghini. So much of what we're seeing here seem to be compromises that TakaraTOMY made in order to make a G1-accurate Sunstreaker while fulfilling the requirements from Lamborghini.