a Macross fan discusses Masterpiece seeker molds

[The Scream Man]

That being me

So i am a huge macross fan as anyone who has seen my little thread on my toy collection would know. i love Kowamoris planes; from the VF-0 to the Vf-27, i think his designs are amazing. So when i heard that the new masterpeice Starscream was Kowamori designed, i was intruiged.

Now, i am at best a casual TF fan. i liked the original series as a kid, but not as much as an adult. i STILL havent seen all ofbeats Wars aor any of Beast Machines, havent seena ny of the Japanese only shows, missed RID completely and only saw bits of the Armada/Energon/Cyberton shows. Toy wise, i got back into TF's with beast wars for a short time, but didnt last into the Transmetal/Fuzor period. i started getting into the world againwith the Dreamwave stuff and Armada toys, and it snowballed from there. I have ALOT of transformers, but not nearly as m,any as many of the members here. And even then, my natural inclination towards heroic characters over evil ones means i often only get the Autobots (Or equivilant) of a line. Decepticons are rare for me.

So i waited, and reviews on Starscream seemed mixed. My Macross friends seemed to like it fo th most part, though many said it was fiddley. Transformers fans seemed VERY divided, but the overall opinion wasnt good, so I decided to pass.

Flash forward to just before Chrissy and whist checking out TFsource.com for Alternator Mirage (who is cool, BTW, but i dont like him as much as i thought i would.) i saw Skywarp going relatively cheap. he was black and cool looking so I thought what the hell and grabbed him. i figured worst case scenario, the Jet looked good id just display that and never transform him.

Well, he arrived today and lemme tell u that I was amazed. The jet mode is striking, the robot mode is surprisingly versitile, and the whole package comes togetehr very nicely. now ive transformed hima few times now, and i have to tell u; this 'fiddley' thing i kept hearing about is NOTHING compared to some of the macross stuff.

Anyone who has trouble with these, o NOT by the yamato toys YF-21, because this is a cakewalk compared to that alone! Even the 19 is a bit trickier than this! i found skywarp to be a very clever and intuitive transform both ways. he locks tight, nothing falls off, there are no scary moments....i guess Im just floored by wht the issue is here! Heck ,i had more trouble with masterpiece Prime the first time than i did with this!

i hope im not coming across as "Im so much smarter than you all!" because my spelling alone shoul prove Im not! Im Genuinely confused about what the gripes with the toy are! Hell, i like this one so much Im gonna get Thundercracker and Starscream too! these are great!

And coming from a fan of the good guy, this is high praise, let me tell u

[kup]

Please Keep in mind two things:

- The fans are mostly "divided" on the first release of the mold which had that flimsy model like plastic and then unusual colors on Starscream. None of the subsequent releases have had the thin plastic issue and have been more accurate to the animation/toy character colors.

- Kawamori didn't design MP Starscream, he 'improved' on the original mold that Takara had already developed in order to produce a more realistic vehicle mode but also made some modification to the robot mode to fit more into his design style (tail fins on hips).

Keep in mind that many fans (including myself) were not happy with the Kawamori modifications from the original mold particularly on the MP-03 release. However with the stronger plastic of following releases, it is possible to 'reverse' the Kawamori modifications on the robot mode by rearanging the tail fin parts.

[GoktimusPrime]

Anyone who has trouble with these, o NOT by the yamato toys YF-21, because this is a cakewalk compared to that alone! Even the 19 is a bit trickier than this! i found skywarp to be a very clever and intuitive transform both ways. he locks tight, nothing falls off, there are no scary moments....i guess Im just floored by wht the issue is here! Heck ,i had more trouble with masterpiece Prime the first time than i did with this!

I totally agree in terms of Macross Plus Valkyries being way trickier to transform compared to Masterpiece Seekers, and I find the YF-22 to be a lot harder than the YF-19. But kup is right in saying that a lot of the complaints about the flaws of the Seekers was based on the original Masterpiece Starscream. To HasTak's credit they did listen to these complaints and all subsequent versions of the mould have seen improvements.

Having said that, I still find the MP seekers to be poor TF action figures. Nice display pieces, but not terribly fun to play with - which in my book makes them fail as toys. The Classics jets are much better as TF toys... it's just a shame that HasTak never had the inclination to give us Thundercracker, Dirge and Thrust as standard store releases. (-_-)

- Kawamori didn't design MP Starscream, he 'improved' on the original mold that Takara had already developed in order to produce a more realistic vehicle mode but also made some modification to the robot mode to fit more into his design style (tail fins on hips).

While it's true that Kawamori did take the helm and redesigned the toy from its prototype, Kawamori did actually oversee the design of this toy from the very beginning.

Reference 1
Reference 2

[kup]

While it's true that Kawamori did take the helm and redesigned the toy from its prototype, Kawamori did actually oversee the design of this toy from the very beginning.

Reference 1
Reference 2

Sorry but your own source contradicts that:

"When I was looking at the Starscream prototype that Takara Tomy had made, they told me, "We don't mind if you make significant changes," so this was an opportunity to put forward various proposals."

Original Takara developed Prototype:





Note that the tail fin and fuselage overall section used to be much smaller (as in flat) and attached to his legs just like the G1 toy. Kawamori made that section thicker in order to improve the realism of the jet mode which he did remarkably well and succeeded. However for no reason other than his own preference, he decided to take them out of his legs and hang them of his hips for a 'Samurai swords' type look which conforms more to his own design style.

The decision of attaching the tail fins to the hips is the main issue that I have with his modifcations, not taking the original release execution into account, I am happy with his modifications except the tail fins in robot mode. They should have stayed on the legs.

[Hereticpoo]

Thanks for the translation Gok, I always wondered what the instructions actually say.

I wish I could buy replacement legs for my MP Seekers, therefore making them toys instead of display pieces as Gok said.

I've experimented with taking the skirt off the MP Seekers and find that its close to the prototype, but not exact. You have to angle the pieces too much because of the vertical stabilers length. It looks like the bot has broken a Fibula. (The lower leg bone, on the outside)

If only you could extend the engines a little, Like 3 or 4 mm, that way you'd have a proper heal. FansProject?

BTW has Kawamori ever aged? Hmm, Something Sus there, something Sus

[kup]

Thanks for the translation Gok, I always wondered what the instructions actually say.

I wish I could buy replacement legs for my MP Seekers, therefore making them toys instead of display pieces as Gok said.

I've experimented with taking the skirt off the MP Seekers and find that its close to the prototype, but not exact. You have to angle the pieces too much because of the vertical stabilers length. It looks like the bot has broken a Fibula. (The lower leg bone, on the outside)

If only you could extend the engines a little, Like 3 or 4 mm, that way you'd have a proper heal. FansProject?

BTW has Kawamori ever aged? Hmm, Something Sus there, something Sus

That's how I display and play with mine:




I also do the same when I display my MP seekers:



I also like to shift the parts like that for greater leg joint movement and stability for a greater variety of poses. The parts attached to the hips are way too restrictive. The tail fins also add much needed heels when attached to the legs. Also note that you don't have to 'pull out the back wings' to accommodate the hip kibble any more but keep them in place for a more G1 look.

[heroic_decepticon]

However for no reason other than his own preference, he decided to take them out of his legs and hang them of his hips for a 'Samurai swords' type look which conforms more to his own design style.

The decision of attaching the tail fins to the hips is the main issue that I have with his modifcations, not taking the original release execution into account, I am happy with his modifications except the tail fins in robot mode. They should have stayed on the legs.

(might be the wrong place to say this) but I really hate those modifications he made. The original prototype as a general release would have been much preferred.

[kup]

(might be the wrong place to say this) but I really hate those modifications he made. The original prototype as a general release would have been much preferred.

I am also not a fan of the mods but I have learned to live with them and appreciate them in the jet mode but I also would have preferred the original prototype.

I remember that before MP-03 I was really hyped up on MP Starscream after those prototype pics were leaked. But when the Kawamori modified version was announced with pics, I threw a massive tantrum even worse than the one I did for MP Grimlock not having a modernized IDW T-Rex alt mode

[Lord_Zed]

On the topic of MP Starscream and his progeny I am completely with you Scream_man, but then I to am also Macross and Kawamori fans, I have a whole bunch of his mecha design artbooks that I love to paw through. Also I love transforming jets, so I can say without doubt that at this time my favourte Decepticon toy is MP Skywarp.

Having said that, I still find the MP seekers to be poor TF action figures. Nice display pieces, but not terribly fun to play with - which in my book makes them fail as toys. The Classics jets are much better as TF toys... it's just a shame that HasTak never had the inclination to give us Thundercracker, Dirge and Thrust as standard store releases. (-_-)

While I can't argue that the classics are more of a toy, toy and the MP's more of a collectors toy, I have personaly found both the original Syarscream and Skywarp sufficently durable for all my play needs, as such I Transform and fly the MP seekers around the room more than I do the classics ones. For me the MP's comand me to fiddle with them so I get more entertainment value out of them, which is just as well to cause they cost a lot more to.

[GoktimusPrime]

I have personaly found both the original Syarscream and Skywarp sufficently durable for all my play needs, as such I Transform and fly the MP seekers around the room more than I do the classics ones.

My play needs require fast-action rough and tumbling (which is why I really liked the fast and blurry fight shots in the TF movie - that's how real fights look like!)! They're at war, damnit!