Quote Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime View Post
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.