No way. It’s all about G1.
The artwork on the 20th anniversary DVD release was pretty good. don’t fix what isn’t broken.
Without Beast Wars, Transformers quite possibly wouldn’t exist today (at least as we know it today). Beast Wars was the line that took the brand off life support, ushered in poseable figures en mass, created standardized size classes for the figures, and is the best example of story telling in a TF series. I love G1, but Beast Wars definitely oozes awesome on its own.
You give BW far, far too much credit. You act as if the brand would have died off and faded into obscurity were it not for BW, and that is simply not the case.
Sure, the series may have hit a dryspot in the 90’s but, the concept and it’s characters were just too good to stay gone forever. And those of us G1 fans never left. We were always still out there, hoping for a resurgence. It was only a matter of time before Takara/Hasbro took a shot at it again.
Furthermore, if BW was that important? We’d have seen a big resurgence of its own by now. But that isn’t what happened. Instead the G1 style caught on and exploded again.
That’s why I made a parenthetical statement stating as we know it. G2 was a line of full of recolors from G1 and was commercially a failure. Hasbro put it in the hands of the subsidiary Kenner for distribution since it was a dying brand. Once the line got back on its feet, Transformers came back under the Hasbro flag and has been evolving as a brand ever since. Many fans (including myself) loved G2, but the masses did not. Once BW came back in, using the original show as a backdrop, you created a new idea with an established continuity. It also proved that the line can be revamped from the ground up with new concepts and ideas (RID, Armada, Energon, Cybertron, Animated, Prime, RID2015). The point you stated about G1 catching on and resurging is part luck and also time. As we got older, so does our increased spending potential. Hence why you have the MP line. Is it profitable, I hope so. However, I doubt it is a line that carries the brand forward. The other mainline figures are what has been bringing it home for HasTakTomy. MP and Generations are the icing on the cake. I would call those a corporate love letter to the fans in toy form. The reality is that Transformers never really went away from the pop culture arena, and BW is a big player in that fact. Without Beast Wars, I think the line would have laid dormant for a period and would have tried to return. However, I doubt it would be in the same place that it is in now.
So what do you guys think about MP-28 Hot Rod? At first i was dismissive of this release because of his unusually small size compared to Prime, proportion issues with his legs, and that he technically wasn’t Rodimus.
I love Rodimus Prime but don’t have a figure of him because i owned his U.S release. Aside from rampant quality control problems, and being a colossal pain in the butt to transform, there was just SOMETHING about him that didn’t feel right. Basically got rid of him on e-bay before he inevitably broke.
MP-28 however, looks pretty damn good in some pictures though. In some ways, more faithful that MP Rodimus. The pricepoint doesn’t hurt either.
I am pretty much gonna get rid of my US Release MP Hot Rod because of this one. The billboard chest and (depending on the pose) the slightly odd proportions hurt it. Otherwise it is the figure that we have been waiting for. If you are on the fence about it, you won’t be disappointed. One of my faves in the collection at the moment.
Another note about Hot Rod. The chrome on the arms wears down super quick. Strongly recommend putting a lacquer of some type on it for protection.
I had the U.S Release MP Rodimus. First off, i hated that they choose to have him Homage the G1 toy with paint apps to match. Instead of being the show accurate representation he should have been like the japanese release. I can sorta appreciate the thought but, that was still really lame.
And it was actually the second one i had. First one arrived broken in the package. And then mine developed various stress marks after CAREFULLY transforming him once. WTF. Cheap crap QC.
Like i said, i put him up on ebay before i inevitably broke him one day. I had planned on getting a japanese release later on, hoping the quality was better but, never got around to it. Now he’s $200+ at minimum on e-bay, and i’m not sure he’s worth that now. If anything, i’d grab DX-9 Carry instead. Transforming him was such a pain in the ass too, even if the altmode looked great. And again, there was just SOMETHING about the way he looked that didn’t feel right (besides the various G1 toy homage paint apps).
I think MP-hotrod comes closer in faithfulness. My mini-Rodimus stand in.
I am gonna throw my US release up for sale for 30-40 bucks. Keeping the Targetmaster tho LOL. I honestly hate toy homages. The only time it is really ever up for debate is with Swoop. Either it’s red or blue. Outside of that, I think toon accuracy is the way to go.
I got a Takara MP Rodimus on release.
I’m afraid to transform it.
I just TF’ed mine the other day. I like to live dangerously. No stress marks or broken bits on it, but it’s getting sold. Since MP Hot Rod came out, it hasn’t been on display since.
Sold my MP-09 Hot Rod for 45. Now to sell off quite a few more things. Gotta make roomand fund some of the later releases.
Looking for the YOTG Optimus Prime (Clear Laser Rod)
TRU has it now for $50
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=45754266
Platinum YOTM Optimus Primal for 41.99 (if you want it LOL)
EDIT - Now its 52.69, but you can only buy it if you are a Prime Member. They best GTFO on that one LOL
Terrible resolution, but a new image of MP Cheetor
If only that Laser Rod Optimus was in the RID 2001 Black convoy/Scourge color scheme, I would be on it like white on rice.
Pumpkin spice Optimus… sigh…
If it was in that color, it would have never gotten that low LOL. Should have done a “Nucleon Quest” homage.
The G2 Laser Rod Prime mold is to this date one of my favorites. It’s actually the first Optimus Prime that I bought for myself ($15 on clearance at KB Toys). To update it, all you would need is some minor resculpting and ankle tilts.
New images for the Combiner Wars Cartoon
Scan from Figure King showing MP Inferno
I am intrigued, but I think I am in the camp of the figure being G1 to a fault.
Titans Return early reviews (courtesy of the Chosen Prime)
Hardhead
Skullcruncher
Blurr
Scourge