Takara Transformers

[Bravestarr]

Gentlemen,

This is a thread dedicated to the Transformers line from Takara, as well as other Japan based Transformer themed robots.

Have been reading a lot of reviews on the latest release of Masterpiece Rodimus Prime, and was disappointed to see that his hand cannot properly grip the rifle.

Also, I read that transforming him from car to robot and back can be really difficult (and in some cases destructive, as small parts may break off of him while he is transformed).

Please share your intel and advice on the the latest from this amazing line.

 

[K-Tiger]

World's Smallest Transformers Megatron is the best Transformer ever, that's all you need to know.

 

[Bravestarr]

Over Masterpiece Prime????

Wow, he must be a hell of a figure to say that, dude!!!

 

[SR_501]

If I recall WST Megs can be held by a 1:6th scale figure.... I don't own him tough just Soundwave.

 

[pcsguy88]

 

[xhairs]

lmao!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Mandingo Rex]

I just got my ship notification for the first KO "Conehead" Seeker MP jet, so once I get home, it should be there and I'll post a review.

Also, from iGear...
http://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/prototype-images-of-igear-pp05-not-ironhide/21819/

This looks pretty badass. If he's indeed slightly shorter than the mini-MP Prime that iGear made, then that means they're probably close to Alternator size, which means they are the perfect size for my collection... I could be wrong on the scale, but that's what I'm hoping, anyway.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

is that the MP-01 version of Prime next to him?...the like 12" version?...looks good if so

 

[Mandingo Rex]

No, it's their mini-prime. It's a KO of the MP-01 mold, but sized down to be the size of Starscream. Which is roughly the size of the new MP-10 Prime. They're supposedly doing a mini-MP suit of armor to go with their white Prime (i.e. Ultra Magnus bot) which I'll probably get when they reveal it. I'm wondering if Hasbro/Takara has an UM armor repaint in the future, since MP-10 is smaller and would work better, but I'm tempted to go with iGear's offering if it's impressive.

From the looks of the engineering in these guys, which is DAMN impressive, I have high hopes for the UM armor now.

 

[Mandingo Rex]

So my MP Conehead KO (Ramjet) came in on June 3, but I didn't get it until Monday and finally opened it last night, and transformed it tonight. No idea why it took so long, but it did. Anyways, he's awesome. Only flaw: 2 missing paint apps on 2 of the tiny squares, but I can touch that up, so it's a non-issue.

Weight-wise, it's as sturdy as the Hasbro MP seekers, and the paint apps (besides the 2 small missing dots) are pretty flawless. WAY better than the Wal-Mart 'Screamer.

I'll try and post some pics soon, but I want to dig out my reprolabels decepticon symbol sheet if I can find it, and fix those missing emblems on him. Otherwise, he doesn't need any work and is damned impressive. I just can't wait for the other 2 to ship in July.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

wheres the "useless w/o pics" emocon?

 

[pcsguy88]

No pics? Really?

 

[Mandingo Rex]

I either need a better phone camera or a digital camera that's less of a pain in the ass to remove pics from. I snapped a really bad one with my iPhone but the camera on it is awful since the phone is 2.5 years old.

 

[Mandingo Rex]

Check this review:
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-feedback/410960-igear-pp03j-jet-aka-mp-ramjet-review.html

 

[pcsguy88]

Wish I had the money.

 

[Mandingo Rex]

Although mine arrived on June 3rd, most other folks who ordered direct from iGear got theirs at least a week later (I'm assuming proximity to China and SF, which is a direct port from China along with LA/San Diego played a HUGE hand in this), I didn't actually get to open it because I was out of town. But it was delivered much earlier than most were.

Where all this talk about delivery comes into play, is that they were originally something like $120 each or something DIRECT FROM iGEAR, but shipping for all 3 came to a total of nearly $100. So you got four for around $400 after shipping. Which is what I opted for, and I preordered them way back in December. Coming from China, I just let it slide, because I figured direct from the seller would be the cheapest, right?

Nope. TFSource got their product in from iGear, folks were able to order them once they were in-stock, they paid less for shipping, and got them faster than people who preordered way back in December or earlier when the preorders went up, direct from the manufacturer.

So I probably spent an extra $50 for no goddamn reason. I don't want to do the exact math or else I'll probably get madder, but I can understand how folks are pissed about that, regardless of the product being a collector toy. It's simply bad management. They're now offering "free shipping" but they've raised the prices to match the combined cost of the previous product + shipping charge, so it's still the same price.

Aside from that and the 2 small paint apps missing on mine, I have not a single problem with the iGear conehead. I just want my other 2 delivered soon, since I had to PayPal them 6 months ago, so if something happens to them and production is halted or whatever, I'm completely out of luck.

I think nacho's the only other sap I know who did the same thing. His arrived about the same time as mine.

 

[nacho]

On a high-end specialty item like this, I regret nothing. Honestly, if I'd waited for BBTS or TFSource to get theirs and missed out due to them not ordering enough or some crazy import foul-up, I'd be royally pissed. If that was what I had to do to ensure that I got this set, so be it.

 

[Mandingo Rex]

Yeah, it's definitely a hind-sight type "pissed". It was something I was willing to take a gamble on, and it had a little risk. Price-wise, I could have gotten it cheaper, and could have gotten burned without PayPal protection had production been halted or something came up legal-wise with it and they kept our money and we got nothing (considering pre-orders were six months out and fall way outside of the 45 day protection window) but I'd rather have all 6 seekers so I bit the bullet and did the PO. The figure is great, and once the other 2 are in, I probably couldn't be happier.

Nacho, did you notice that the shipping box had NINE PP03 designations? Like "PP03X" (the first three were the coneheads: J, A and E or something based off the names... Jet, Attack and Elegy, plus "S" for "Storm"... But there were a bunch of others that I don't recall)... Besides the generic Seeker from the cartoon, have they let on what the other 4-5 will be?

I wonder if they're planning on "fixed" reissues of the Takara/Hasbro jets with the wings corrected?

 

[nacho]

I did notice it, but I didn't give it much thought. I suspect that PP-03C is "clear" as both Takara and the 3rd party makers all love to make translucent versions (I have no interest if that's the case). T, D, L, & R... I have no clue. If I had to guess, I'd think it was the rainmakers, and maybe a purple seeker clone. That's what KOToys is selling these days, knock-off Classics seekers of Sunstorm, the three rainmakers, and the purple clone... and clear/gold/silver versions, so I suspect that igear may be going down that road too, assuming demand holds. Rainmakers I'll consider... clear or metallic finishes, they can keep those.

 

[Mandingo Rex]

I'm not a fan of anything besides "official" guys from G1. Clear, rainmakers, Sunstorm... Not my cup o'tea.

What did the "Rainmakers" even come from? Mis-colored Sunbow animation "background" goons?

 

[Bravestarr]

I did notice it, but I didn't give it much thought. I suspect that PP-03C is "clear" as both Takara and the 3rd party makers all love to make translucent versions (I have no interest if that's the case). T, D, L, & R... I have no clue. If I had to guess, I'd think it was the rainmakers, and maybe a purple seeker clone. That's what KOToys is selling these days, knock-off Classics seekers of Sunstorm, the three rainmakers, and the purple clone... and clear/gold/silver versions, so I suspect that igear may be going down that road too, assuming demand holds. Rainmakers I'll consider... clear or metallic finishes, they can keep those.

Like you, I also ordered direct from I-Gear. Did I lose 50 bucks or so? Yes, but who gives a shit. Fact is, TF Source and the others didn't even get on board with the program until months after the robots were ordered. We had no way of knowing what was going to happen until the others came on board late to the party.

I'm not a fan of anything besides "official" guys from G1. Clear, rainmakers, Sunstorm... Not my cup o'tea.

What did the "Rainmakers" even come from? Mis-colored Sunbow animation "background" goons?

Sunstorm is really more of a Dreamwave style robot. He was so evil, that he tried to kill Starscream, Megatron and several other Decepticons so he could take over if I recall correctly. I will most likely get him, but remain on the fence on the Acid Rain Seekers. They were featured in the Sunbow/Marvel Episode wherein Optimus Prime was heavily damaged in combat with the Decepticons, and required a new Cosmotron. The Autobots had to travel to Cybertron to get the replacement Cosmotron out of Wheeljack's lab, and ran into the other Seekers while fleeing the lab.

I thought that the writers were really trying to get kids into science through that particular episode.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmotron

 

[nacho]

Agreed. I consider any extra money I paid as insurance that I wasn't left out. Like you said, we had no way of knowing that any of the retailers would even get on board with this. If I was waiting for TFSource or BBTS to carry the Faith/Ultra Leader figures, I'd still be waiting, and FL would be gone!

Sunstorm, even before Dreamwave, was a japanese exclusive figure circa '03 based on some of the cybertronian jets that hadn't ever been named but appeared here and there. However, there is much debate about whether Sunstorm is one of the Rainmakers. While likely inspired by them, the jet in the animation was yellow, not orange, and so most hardcore TF fans (and I think hasbro has later confirmed this) that Sunstorm is not one of the three rainmaker jets. Even the KOToys people have produced a classics/generations knock-off Sunstorm figure and a yellow rainmaker separately.

But in the big picture, it's just a way to sell more repaints, official or not. Yet I will likely be on board, as if I have room to display 10 of the same jet mold in my mancave.

 

[SR_501]

Yet I will likely be on board, as if I have room to display 10 of the same jet mold in my mancave.

You have to admit though that would look cool has hell. IF you could find a way to hang them and have some transforming and have a couple already in bot mod that would like Bad ass. At 300 a pop I would be afraid of them falling.

 

[Mandingo Rex]

They're not $300 a pop new, unless you're counting replacement costs down the road. They're still pricy, though.

 

[SR_501]

How much are they going for, the cone heads and rainmakers?

 

[Mandingo Rex]

Mine were something north of $130? I think. Check TFSource for the coneheads, but I think all you can order from there are the ones that have been released. iGear has them for preorder, still, I think.

The rainmakers haven't been 100% announced yet, I don't think... Although I could be wrong. The first 3 coneheads and Sunstorm are all I know for certain, but there was a purple-ish one I think I've seen.

 

[nacho]

Yeah, the rainmaker conversation is 100% speculation based on the sheer number of PP-03 items listed on the shipping box and igear's tendencies to repaint like Hasbro was running the joint. Still, I'd probably go for it.

 

[Bravestarr]

Question for the group:

Those of us who ordered the 3 Coneheads from I-Gear directly, have you received all three?

I have only received Ramjet, and am waiting on Dirge and Thrust.

Will contact I-Gear directly.

 

[Mandingo Rex]

Only the first. There was a delay on the whole set. 1 was supposed to get here in like March or April I think, and it didn't until June. Don't quote me on that, but the entire thing got pushed back.

 

[Bravestarr]

Okay, thanks, Rex.

Was about to start punching down the walls, but it's all good brother!

Thanks again!

 

[nacho]

Yeah, the whole project was delayed a couple of months. If there has been no peep from them by Labor Day, then I'd start to wonder, but until then, don't sweat it. I've never heard of anyone getting screwed by igear, so I have no reason to think anything is wrong.

 

[Mandingo Rex]

Well, besides Hasbro and Takara getting screwed. But not customers.

 

[nacho]

If I thought Takara was ever going to make these coneheads, I'd have waited. But it's hard for HasTak to get screwed if they were never going to make them in the first place. If anything, igear Faith Leader proved that HasTak needed to produce a MP Prime that was more in scale with all the other MPs. Poof, here it comes.

 

[Mandingo Rex]

Actually, I have no problem with it. I do feel like it's a little shady, but like you I feel that HasTak would never produce these guys (or if they do, they're taking WAY too long to get them out)... plus, with the quality of the first Conehead, wow... they're HasTak quality, if not BETTER... so I'm glad I'm getting them.

 

[nacho]

I don't feel bad in the slightest. HasTak cannot be bothered to produce new characters in this line. That might require that they make a new head or wing. Crazy talk! They are far too busy making black and grey repaints of everything.

Who the f#$% is going to pay $250 for a black and purple Rodimus? It's not even a bad knockoff character like Nemesis Prime. I don't hear the world screaming for Masterpiece Shattered Glass figures... I understand the financial logic behind repaints, but HasTak seriously needs to examine their priorities when 3rd party companies are doing better at making figs on which people really want to plop down their limited disposable income.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

oh gawd, i'd NEVER feel bad...

"if you build it, they will come"

if one company is to scared to come to terms with that and take a risk, and another isn't, they win my money...

 

[nacho]

Well, there is certainly an intellectual property gray area.... a very dark gray area. But to me, if HasTak wasn't going to make them anyway, I don't feel like they are losing anything by my giving money to igear.

Fans are known for having feelings of entitlement toward their favorite toy/comic/movie properties, and that feeling makes buying bootleg stuff much easier to justify. I will do my best to support legitimate releases, but if HasTak wants to repaint everything black rather than make interesting products, I'll take 3rd-party customs all day long.

But mostly I want to get these in hand before igear finds a team of international corporate lawyers on their doorstep.

 

[Mandingo Rex]

But mostly I want to get these in hand before igear finds a team of international corporate lawyers on their doorstep.

Yep, this. I won't be 100% at ease till they're in-hand. And know for certain that I haven't wasted $300 for no reason... Apparently the last two will ship together, so I'm hoping they're here by end of August at the latest.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

this is why NO ONE should feel guilty about buying 3rd party TFs

http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=TAK11319&mode=retail&picture=out

 

[K-Tiger]

*whistles* Thatsa 'spensive Transformerball!