MP-42 Cordon: The Grail Cometh

 - Dorian MacQuarrie

Message boards and Social Media are humming with the reveal of MP-42 Cordon aka, Police Sunstreaker and to use an expression often heard by the kids these days, I am shook. 

c. TFW2005

The relaunched Masterpiece line has always leaned heavily on Diaclone repaints of the Autobot cars, less so in recent years but for a time, it was definitely needed to fill in the time between new mould releases. Personally, I think some are a good partner to their parent mould, such as Tigertracks and Roadrage, others though, can entirely eclipse their pre-paint and stand head and shoulders above the rabble. Exhaust, Bluestreak and the gem that is Loudpedal are some of the best looking Masterpiece cars to date. While I still lament the lack of a Diaclone inspired black Ironhide, I am thrilled, absolutely over the moon to see that Takara is finally releasing a modern day take on the Diaclone Countach LP500S Patrol Car Type aka Police Sunstreaker. 

Of all the releases ever to appear under the extended banner of Diaclone/Transformers, this absolute marvel of a toy has sat atop my own personal collecting mountain. Back in the halcyon days of Universe 2.0 and the following Generations lines, I dearly hoped we would see some sort of repaint but alas, it was not to be. Then of course there was a spate of repaints shown off a few years ago, with the winners decided by fan vote. Among their ranks was indeed a Police Sunstreaker but again, it was not to be. 

c.  TFWiki.net

Now, finally, after years of missed opportunities and the tantalizing release of Masterpiece Clampdown hinting at what might one day be, we are on the cusp of seeing a bona fide, genuine modern day Police Sunstreaker. Given the popular and highly successful focus on cartoon accuracy, I feel Diaclone repaints are the perfect opportunity to bring back to toy focused details, similar to what we have seen with MP Loudpedal and it appears this is exactly the route Takara have chosen. 

Details are still scant but from the one official image we have of MP Cordon, it is at least clear we are getting a new head sculpt and oh, by.the.Gods. It's gorgeous. Utterly wonderful. It fully encapsulates the style of the by-gone Hasui era where the focus was more on an iconic representation of the character, with a slant towards cartoon accuracy. 

The head on the current MP Sunstreaker looks great and is perfectly fitting for the current Masterpiece aesthetic but this is altogether more classic, car-robot inspired. Also, those red eyes just throw him right into the deep end of Diaclone repaints. Lovely. 

If this is all we see, it'll still be a winner in my books but while we're at it, I would love to see a G1 toy inspired missile hand, although given how the included rifle looks quite like said missiles, this seems unlikely. Also, I would love to see a return of a nice feature we saw with MP Loudpedal, Diaclone inspired stickers. Faction logos are all well and good but I also like to imagine these toys as Masterpiece Diaclone, free from any Hasbro mandated branding. Finally, from an engineering point of view, I'm keen to see how they work in the light bar. If it's just a partsforming piece I'll be a touch disappointed given the transformation wizardry already on display with the mould. 

One final note, completely at odds with my previous comment on faction logos, I wonder if we will just see a straight repaint, or maybe they'll add a dash of narrative. It's clear that this will be an Autobot but given how they handled Exhaust and Loudpedal, it would be interesting to see some options for a Decepticon logo instead, maybe as part of this magical sticker sheet I'm dreaming of. A Decepticon patrol car would be a nice parallel to the recently released MPM Barricade. 

Until next time, keep it #Refined

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