Takara Transformers
- Thread starter Bravestarr
- Start date
Magic Square’s colored proto looks sleek, but the top of the legs being hollow looks bad. Wonder how long before we see Takara’s?
I was thinking this might be my Prime... until I saw the picks of him kneeling. Those knees are the absolute worst. I'm just not sure that can be forgiven. It definitely pushed me toward Transform Element instead.
Just give me from the knees down and make it fit/match my MP-10 and I'll be perfectly content for life. Maybe toss in the head if you are feeling generous.
The big white chunk sticking out is kind of unappealing, but I dig the metal hydraulic looking thing.
Magic Square Prime just got a lot more interesting at the $110 price point. That’s cheap enough to buy it for the hell of it.
Man, it's sad that I could buy Magic Square AND Transform Element and still have a couple hundred leftover compared to this hot mess. It's U-G-L-Y. I wouldn't pay $44 for the (higher quality/fixed) KO, much less $440 for the real thing. Takara is out of their damn mind.
If anything deserves a WTF Mattel, it's this.
Yeah, they'll snag some crazy diehards, but I can't see this doing too well. You can get a MP combiner for that.
Yeah, they'll snag some crazy diehards, but I can't see this doing too well. You can get a MP combiner for that.
If I'm not paying $500 for the 5-foot-long SW Vintage Collection Sail Barge, I wouldn't pay that much for a high-pockets prime that will be improved, KO'd ad infinitum, and replaced by a substantially better MP-50 in two years. I've never been a big fan of MP-10, but he's not so bad that I need a $440 replacement.
WTF Mattel indeed.
WTF Mattel indeed.
It’s as if Takara is trying their hardest to get out of Transformers. If the price really is $400 or more, I’ll be logging into tfw2005 to laugh at every fucker who bought one. KO companies are going to make a killing on this mold.
In other news, my Tracks arrived from Toydojo’s Black Friday sale and I’m confused by all the hate. I never liked Tracks as a kid which is why I only bought this mold on deep discount, but I am totally digging him. He tabs together rock solid in all 3 modes, has the best paint I’ve seen from Takara and the transformation is the perfect balance of complexity, fun and time required. The only thing I do not like is his lifeless face and the gaps left in the forearms due to his funky hand transformation.
I think the biggest gripes were the "cheap" feel b/c he has no diecast, and the plastic tires - both legit gripes, but neither a big deal. Even the KO has rubber/silicone tires. I have the official I bought on black friday two years ago, and I agree he's fine, but nothing about him is exciting. He was an odd choice at the time when they hadn't done any S2 bots before yet we still had plenty of S1 left (and still do).
And so it's confirmed as is the end of my days buying Takara. I just can't justify more than $200 for any figure except my 2ft tall Omega Supreme which cost $210 and has a goddamn motorized tank with functioning rubber treads. Remember when $200 for FT Phoenix made you question if it was justifiable? Sheesh...
"Buh-but he comes with all this stuff, guys!"
That Crowder meme is BS. It's suggesting that his normal arguments are just as ridiculous. They are far from it. Unless of course the meme is supposed to represent Hasbro.
That Crowder meme is BS. It's suggesting that his normal arguments are just as ridiculous. They are far from it. Unless of course the meme is supposed to represent Hasbro.
Bumblebee movie image. The lower legs are kind of spindle-y, but it's VASTLY superior to anything Bay gave us.
Still not as awesome as this chunky monkey.
Still not as awesome as this chunky monkey.
How funny. I just noticed 80's Prime has exposed wheels on his legs after all this fuss and effort going into 3 new plastic versions of him to cover up MP-10's wheels.
Of course he does...BUT THE CARTOON..... because they were too lazy to draw wheels. Thus 35 years later, much effort has to be expended to hide them. More and more, I am learning to despise the "toon" people.
Takara has gone and made the perfect Sunbow Prime. I hate the bright white and the price, but I have to give them credit where due.
PROS
- I really like the head, so props for that
- The Starscream parts are comical and unnecessary, but it's cool that they bothered
- The truck does look quite toony, so if that was the intent (duh), then they did a good job
CONS
- The bot is a panel-y hot mess. Planel lines and hinges everywhere. It looks like a 3P product from five years ago.
- The short/squatty abdomen, square grill that should be much taller, and fake windows are unforgivable.
- The proportions seem to have been taken off screen shots from a human/minibot perspective, making his entire upper body much shorter than it should be. This is my biggest complaint and the #1 reason I was skipping this, even before we learned the absurd price. Of course, I skipped Megatron v2 for the exact same reason. When did TFs all get high-pockets?!
Maybe one of the KO companies can improve the proportions when they put this out, much like they did with MP-10.
I would take a MP-10-scaled MP-01 over this ANY day of the week. I have my MP-01 and Faith Leader... but I would need something in between.
- I really like the head, so props for that
- The Starscream parts are comical and unnecessary, but it's cool that they bothered
- The truck does look quite toony, so if that was the intent (duh), then they did a good job
CONS
- The bot is a panel-y hot mess. Planel lines and hinges everywhere. It looks like a 3P product from five years ago.
- The short/squatty abdomen, square grill that should be much taller, and fake windows are unforgivable.
- The proportions seem to have been taken off screen shots from a human/minibot perspective, making his entire upper body much shorter than it should be. This is my biggest complaint and the #1 reason I was skipping this, even before we learned the absurd price. Of course, I skipped Megatron v2 for the exact same reason. When did TFs all get high-pockets?!
Maybe one of the KO companies can improve the proportions when they put this out, much like they did with MP-10.
I would take a MP-10-scaled MP-01 over this ANY day of the week. I have my MP-01 and Faith Leader... but I would need something in between.
I’m pretty sure the torso is the same height as MP-10’s, it’s just the skinny legs that make it seem squatty. I say this because my 10 & 36 are basically the same. It is mostly an optical illusion since Megs has longer legs.
Is that an asian thing maybe? Is anime infested with high trouser characters? I know that they love posing figures with a ridiculous amount of crotch thrust. Maybe they love long legs and short torsos...?
Thank you, this pic illustrates my point perfectly. Long legs + stumpy torso = absurd proportions. There is no optical illusion.
When I see Megs v2 and Prime v3... in my head, it's exactly this:
![12523[1].jpg](https://www.fighting118th.com/forum/data/attachments/9/9754-7c2a5a18181731fd422acb3553f035dd.jpg "12523[1].jpg")
When I see Megs v2 and Prime v3... in my head, it's exactly this:
Yeah, Megs has longer legs, but shoulder to crotch they are within a 1/4” of each other. The long legs and huge head really blow it out of proportion visually along with the fact Prime’s crotch drops lower between his legs. Obviously Prime’s proportions are more desirable, but I think you’d be surprised just how close they are physically in hand.
I mean the dude was always all legs thanks to being a sideways gun. I do agree with you guys that a frickin semi should NOT be all legs.
I mean the dude was always all legs thanks to being a sideways gun. I do agree with you guys that a frickin semi should NOT be all legs.
Again, you're posting pics that prove my point 
That still from the cartoon is drawn from foot-level such that you're looking up at him and see the underside of his helmet, chest, waist, etc,, thereby making the legs seem larger and the torso shortened because of the perspective, NOT because that's his actual proportions. It's a wonder that the designers didn't make his feet wider than his head too.
If the drawing someone uses for reference designing a figure is from a ground-level perspective, OF COURSE the product is going to have long legs and a stumpy torso, but that doesn't make it correct. It just means they're a shitty designer that doesn't understand perspective.
I'm just glad we don't have iconic stills that have a lot of horizontal foreshortening... otherwise, these same hack designers would give us figures with one huge arm and one tiny t-rex arm, BECAUSE CARTOON
That still from the cartoon is drawn from foot-level such that you're looking up at him and see the underside of his helmet, chest, waist, etc,, thereby making the legs seem larger and the torso shortened because of the perspective, NOT because that's his actual proportions. It's a wonder that the designers didn't make his feet wider than his head too.
If the drawing someone uses for reference designing a figure is from a ground-level perspective, OF COURSE the product is going to have long legs and a stumpy torso, but that doesn't make it correct. It just means they're a shitty designer that doesn't understand perspective.
I'm just glad we don't have iconic stills that have a lot of horizontal foreshortening... otherwise, these same hack designers would give us figures with one huge arm and one tiny t-rex arm, BECAUSE CARTOON
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That ankle tilt is pathetic. Glad I canceled due to my impatience. Now the wait continues for a good Jazz. FT? Can you do it?
I bought him back in July and completely forgot about it until TFD sent me a shipping notice a few weeks ago. The car mode blows Downbeat away... makes DB look like a fisher price toy. The bot mode looks good too, and it really comes down to aesthetics. I like the wider chest on Hova, but I like the head sculpt better on Downbeat. But the car livery is to die for. Hova has skinnier feet than I think he should, but he also has the option of shoulder wheels for people like me who prefer the toy look. Both bots get some things right.
Hova's only major flaw IMO is the shoulder clip in bot mode. It's an awkward design, and I always feel like it's going to disconnect during anything but light handling. And I'm not even sure I'm doing it right, as I halfway suspect that there is a better way and I'm just not getting it from the instructions. I need to do more research to see if I missed something.
Overall, he's not perfect, but he's not Omnigonix-level of half-baked either. This is definitely a more complete first effort by T&R, but you're not going to mistake it for a FT or XTB bot either. Worst case, I'll put him on the alt-mode shelf where he'll look badass.
Hova's only major flaw IMO is the shoulder clip in bot mode. It's an awkward design, and I always feel like it's going to disconnect during anything but light handling. And I'm not even sure I'm doing it right, as I halfway suspect that there is a better way and I'm just not getting it from the instructions. I need to do more research to see if I missed something.
Overall, he's not perfect, but he's not Omnigonix-level of half-baked either. This is definitely a more complete first effort by T&R, but you're not going to mistake it for a FT or XTB bot either. Worst case, I'll put him on the alt-mode shelf where he'll look badass.
The rims are what kill the car mode for me like those ghetto ‘Dubs’ toy cars, otherwise I’d consider getting him for altmode alone. The chest on the robot is even more ridiculous than I first thought as Bobby’s giant thumb completely vanished underneath it. My collection demands Downbeat since he is yet another 3rd party bridge (like toon Gundog) between my G1 and Gtoon MPs.
I finally pulled the trigger on JinBao OS Gravity Builder and have set B on the way. I’ll buy A as soon as C is in stock stateside to save on shipping.
I finally pulled the trigger on JinBao OS Gravity Builder and have set B on the way. I’ll buy A as soon as C is in stock stateside to save on shipping.
Just out of curiosity, why OS GB instead of Constructor? Aesthetics, price, size, or something else?
I love the aesthetics of it, the price is right and my Bruticus is JinBao so I know what I am getting quality wise. Reviewers say it is a sizable leap in quality over my Bruticus and I already love that thing to death.
My only issue with the Jinbao stuff is the fact that they are copying stuff that's only marginally G1 aesthetically. The things they are copying are pretty fast and loose with the interpretations.
I'm not a purist and go with the one that pleases my optics. The gritty overly detailed look of GB is exactly what I want and the color JinBao used for the purple makes it look even better than Generation Toys below.
I just wish someone had made a gritty, detailed Bruticus for JinBao to knock up before they did Warbotron. I like my shit to look real world when it's that big.
Yeah, I don't want simplified toony, but I don't want gritty overly detailed either unless it fits the source material. I guess that's why Constructor hit all the right buttons for me. I don't mind the detail per se on GB necessarily, but the new interpretations are where they lose me. And hopefully jinbao fixes those arms, as they could hang past his knees in that pic. Or maybe the thighs are really short. Something is off to me eyes proportion-wise, but jinbao has a way of improving that kind of thing, so you're probably safe.
I'm getting the Zeta aerialbots and XTB stunticons, but I'm really waiting on G1 MP Technobots. Computron was always my favorite combiner, as he was the one who didn't get dumber in his combined form. He wasn't just a robotic version of Hulk like most of the others. And he had bots with futuristic vehicles not pretending to look like earth transportation, or at least not 1984 earth transportation. Maybe that's what we were supposed to be driving in 2005...
I'm getting the Zeta aerialbots and XTB stunticons, but I'm really waiting on G1 MP Technobots. Computron was always my favorite combiner, as he was the one who didn't get dumber in his combined form. He wasn't just a robotic version of Hulk like most of the others. And he had bots with futuristic vehicles not pretending to look like earth transportation, or at least not 1984 earth transportation. Maybe that's what we were supposed to be driving in 2005...
Pretty sure there is a thigh extension kit out there for GB, but no word which direction JinBao went. Most are saying the upgrade kit is not included (and obviously the old one will not fit). I love it and can't wait to smoother it in that panel lining goop I discovered from Tamiya. So much detail.