Moving the Goal Posts

 - Dorian MacQuarrie

You are never going to finish your collection. Or at least, Takara will do their darndest to prevent it. 

Okay, maybe that should be "you are never going to be finished with collecting"?

With the recent talk (legitimate or otherwise) of a 35th Anniversary Optimus Prime on the horizon, aka MP Optimus Prime 3.0, Takara have once again moved the goal posts. Just when you felt your collection was headed towards completion, they've rebooted things and given us a new aesthetic to buy into. I think it was inevitable we would eventually see a more cartoon styled MP Prime to go along with their wonderful Megatron and other such cartoon focused releases. Some are expecting this to be a complete relaunch of the Masterpiece line and honestly, I wouldn't mind. Seeing the recent reveal of MP Prowl with animation accurate bright blue windows did cause me to vomit a little; a styles clash if there ever was one. But a brand new, cartoon accurate Prowl on the other hand? I'd be keen on that. In my Sunstreaker review I floated the idea of Takara releasing a new Sideswipe to better match his golden brother. This is something I think we will definitely see in the coming years as Takara try to change the direction of their product to keep us digging into our wallets to buy more and more toy robots. 

Be it the pressures of business or an insidious plan to keep collectors on tenterhooks, rarely does a line reach full completion. Rarely do we have the entire cast of a show or every iteration of a toy we were hoping to buy, and even with something as grand as Takara's Masterpiece line, it was always going to be the same. Once the heavy hitters are released it's time to move on to another project and release those same big name characters in ever new and updated versions. Call it the fetishisation of Generation 1 and the seeming inability for companies and collectors alike to explore new and different ideas or just call it good business sense, one way or the other, you're never going to have that complete collection of Masterpiece styled bots. Of course in this instance "complete" depends on your personal definition. Complete might mean a certain core cast or sub-group of Transformers and not necessarily every single release or member of a team. But for those who seek to have a complete Season 1-2 cast of G1 Transformers, your time is running out and it might be Takara who decide when things change. I'm sure this will leave a large enough gap for a multitude of Third Party companies to step in and complete those missing figures but regardless of how much noise a group of collectors make, I doubt it would still be financially viable once a new Masterpiece styled line is fully underway, building off the back of seminal releases such as Inferno, Sunstreaker or the aforementioned Megatron. 

We have of course seen this before. As new lines roll out, new aesthetics take over and lines can remain incomplete. Generation 1 gave way to Beast Wars, which in turn gave way to Car Robots/RiD and so on and so forth. It's easier to accept when it's off the back of a cartoon. It feels more self contained and expected. Look to the Generations line though and see how with every iteration of that particular line, Classics, Universe 2.0 and Generations itself, the goal posts were ever changing and from one wave to the next we started to drift away from aesthetics laid down in the early waves. Again, this was probably easier to accept as a Generations shelf can accommodate a varying degree of different aesthetics and toy lines given the nature of the Transformers brand and the world it presents. 

Masterpiece on the other hand, the seemingly iconic representations of these characters? When that changes, it's more difficult to accept. I have written time and again about the diverging aesthetics of the line. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker encapsulate this perfectly and never was there a bigger red flag (or yellow in this case) that the line was going to change, restart, reboot, call it what you want, but the goal posts would be moved. Takara will usher in a whole new set of cartoon accurate MP toys and not just current moulds with ghastly blue windows but brand new versions of Sideswipe, Prowl, Starscream etc. It's bound to happen. It must happen. It's not in Takara's interest to allow us as collectors to finish up and complete a line. Sure, plenty of us will just find something else to collect but that might be a product from a different company altogether. Takara have captured the adult collector market as never before but with no other core product in their repertoire to keep those same adult collectors engaged, they'll just need to start all over again but in a new and interesting way. 

And on that grim note, keep it #Refined

Follow Dorian on Twitter @Vigadeath

RRCo Review - Movie Masterpiece Barricade

- Ben Watson



Moving beyond the poster boys of Optimus and Bumblebee, the Movie Masterpiece line seems to be beginning to properly establish itself. With Ironhide on the way and our subject matter today, the line's first Decepticon, Barricade (if you don't count what is technically MPM-1, Takara's release of the 2010 Leader Starscream). So how does this bad cop go about his beat? 

Being one of the small roster of new characters chosen to grace the first live-action film, Barricade very quickly gained a kind of fan favourite status. What better way to represent and introduce the Decepticon philosophy than making the police car robot a bad guy? Something seemed to instantly click with his character. But somehow this didn't relate to him becoming a regular feature of subsequent media. Not appearing in Revenge of The Fallen, though apparently not shown to explicitly die in the first film so he could be brought back for it, it wasn't until Dark of the Moon that he popped up again in an unexpected cameo. Sitting out Age of Extinction and then making a semi-triumphant return in The Last Knight, replete with characterful new look, brings us to his standing in the present day. Ten years have yielded a total of two extra appearances for the character (No Animated walk-on? No Prime namedrop? Ok...) and yet even with those stats on the table, Barricade feels no less worthy of receiving the Masterpiece treatment. 

Widely regarded as one of the more iconic additions to the franchise made by the movies, Barricade - despite his lack of screen time - has never been far from the minds of fans. A strong contender for the 2007 focused MPM line then. Here his first appearance is as faithfully recreated in plastic (and metal!) as it's probably possible to be. His trollish proportions and appropriate layout of car parts are all here. Articulated claws end his very long arms of the law. The vehicle mode's actual wheels adorn his wrists. The front bumper of the car peels away and warps into his chest. Spikes fold out of his hips and feet. Even the lightbar on his back splits and angles out.

A great deal is done to break up and round out the shapes all previous Barricade figures have worked with which they - due to their mainline Deluxe (on average) price point limitations - never really did. The transformation of this figure is very involved to result in the look of this robot mode, but isn't anywhere near as complex as you might think. Following the general scheme of the original 2007 Deluxe, it's nowhere near as time consuming or frustrating as, say MPM Optimus' conversion. Using the greater size of the figure (something akin to a very large Voyager) parts which would have been fiddly and too small to manipulate, let alone engineer and mold properly are here given the ability to add that extra level of deformation to the robot mode.

However, care has been taken with the design to not break up the car mode too much. Seams are mostly kept to the "natural" panel edges of the car to result in a particularly clean alt mode. I say "mostly" because there is one particularly jarring scar running down each of the doors. Rather than work with the line created by the edge of each of the windows, which would result in more accurately shaped panels on the robot's arms, the seam is jagged and cuts into the body of the car. Why? Despite this singular flaw, Barricade's fully licensed Ford Saleen police cruiser mode is spot on. Featuring all the necessary decals, including his infamous "To punish and enslave" motto. This mode even goes so far as to sport an Oklahoma license plate and each of the headlights are actually painted pieces behind a clear front. 

While the alt mode is suitably imbued with malice and relatively perfect, to which degree the same could be said of the robot mode is up for debate. Yes, Barricade strikes the perfect monstrous figure when resting on his feet rather than his wheels, but isn't without his limitations. Firstly a waist swivel is present, but totally blocked by the folding and tabbing roof kibble that makes up his back (that has the gall to feature a stand port as if to say "yes this is his actual back, what were you thinking?"). Similarly, his wrists are fused. Admittedly, so much goes into make each of his hands in the transformation that I can't see how this could have been engineered to include a wrist joint, but the lack of one on a Masterpiece figure is certainly jarring. His large and expressive hands are left for you to try to make the most of using only his very high elbows and bicep swivels. 

Despite these slightly annoying hindrances, Barricade can still articulate with character. Even his mouth opens! Ratcheted shoulders, hips and double knees along with perfectly tight ankles allow him to hold many a menacing pose. The inclusion of diecast also adds to his stability. Found making the basis of his torso, including his radiator grille and in his feet (the soles of which are softer plastic for grip on flat surfaces) the material adds that suitably high-end heft to the figure. All this combined with the way the robot mode is made of relatively large pieces makes the figure feel rock solid. 

In terms of accessories, Barricade includes only one. The mace/rotor/spiked wheel/Dyson death machine that he extends from his arm in his only fight with Bumblebee in the first film. It certainly beats any previous weapon a Barricade figure has wielded just due to its screen accuracy but if this is what we got instead of a Frenzy minifigure... I know what I'd rather have. Still, the rotor itself spins and is of quite an appreciable size. However, it has nowhere to store in robot or vehicle mode when not attached to his half-untransformed arm and must adorn a clear display stand it comes attached to?! The instructions even tell you to keep it this way when not in use! While I can joke about something else replacing the weapon, it's clear as day that this stand piece didn't need to be included and can be chalked up as a complete waste of resources. ...Well I guess it did give me a laugh at least. 

So we've covered build, articulation, alt mode, weapon, detailing... What about the paint? This is my one real head scratching moment with this figure. Ok, the mace stand might have beaten it, but why does the figure feature this particular deco? Metallic blue abounds to add something for your retinas to latch onto beyond more black and white but surely it should be purple? Maybe I'm alone in this assumption, but when every other Barricade has had these sections painted purple (even the badge on the car's side) I have been lead to believe that's the colour they should be. Was I just not paying attention and he has in fact got blue highlights in the film? I can only assume "yes" is the answer to this as apparently the design team has worked with the actual renders from ILM used in the film when producing the MPM line. That doesn't make me think it's any less weird though. To me, this deco feels totally out of left field but I must admit, it works. 

MPM-5 Barricade then is a tour-de-force of excellent styling. Finally, after a decade we've received the most astoundingly accurate rendition of the character and while it isn't 100%, it instantly throws any previous contenders to its throne (looking at you Human Alliance) in overnight lockup/the big house/the klink. I'm left with the inescapable feeling that this is what movie figures should have been from day one. With no real budgetary constraints towards rendering the design as faithfully and as ingeniously (and as solidly!) as this, it really does have the air of a proper piece of movie memorabilia. Whatever your stance on that movie may be, this is the kind of product that has been missing from its merchandise for over a decade and for that reason alone, MPM Barricade is worth a recommendation. The real dues you have to give the figure however are many and its sheer presence gives me a lot of hope for the continuing Movie Masterpiece Series. To not think about adding this figure to your collection would be...criminal. 



Follow Ben on Twitter @Waspshot23

Read an older article here

RRCo. Reviews: MP-39 Sunstreaker

 - Dorian MacQuarrie

It's not often that we review things in the traditional sense at RRCo. but sometimes a toy comes along who demands the attention. With that in mind let's go for a spin with MP-39 Sunstreaker.  

MP-39 Sunstreaker, the toy which was both never going to happen but also completely, inevitably, was going to happen. It has been many years since his brother Sideswipe was released and while time has been very kind to the MP-12 mould, Takara and their design department have not. The face of Masterpiece Transformers has changed from a shiny example of robotic perfection to something a bit more grey, a little bit disturbing in some cases but somehow still very attractive. 

I've waxed lyrical about the MP line numerous times and with every post I end up writing about the subject, my opinion is compromised shifts ever more into a stable, more accepting position. I'm still not fully supportive of cartoon focused Masterpiece toys but the quality of toys we have seen to achieve this goal is astounding. Now, I am aware that we could have still had this quality of toy but with the earlier MP aesthetic but I'll casually ignore that thought and press ahead.......

Masterpiece Sunstreaker is a wonder to behold. My initial reaction upon opening the box and seeing that sleek, sexy alt mode was pure elation. It has been a while since I experienced such an initial excitement at opening a Masterpiece car as many of my recent purchases consisted of Diaclone repaints and as amazing as they might be, it isn't the same as a whole new mould.

From the opening hood and doors and on to the chrome intakes, the attention to detail is stunning and harkens back to the Diaclone line itself in representing a thoroughly convincing alternate mode. 

Of course there is the option to display him in a more real-world accurate manner. The mechanism to achieve this is fairly ingenious but I can't say I'll ever display Sunstreaker this way, on the times when I do indeed have him displayed in alt mode (we all like to have an alt mode party sometimes right?). Put him alongside Sideswipe and the magic is complete. Finally, after five years we have this dynamic duo in official Masterpiece form! 

Before we even get into the robot mode (and thus the transformation, oh boy oh boy), the alt mode, as is now the norm for toys of the Masterpiece line, is covered in paint. Hard wearing, glossy, luscious paint. Sunstreaker practically glows a rich golden yellow, something which could never have been achieved with base plastic and this just adds to that initial awe upon opening the box. 

So about that transformation process..........

This is really where the differences between Sunstreaker, the most recent car-bot and Sideswipe, the first, become apparent. Actually, the qualitative differences start a moment before this as the second you pick up Sunstreaker it becomes very apparent that he weighs much more than Sideswipe due to so many more parts being packed into that alt. mode.  

Weight aside... where Sideswipe had a fairly traditional transformation scheme with a few neat tricks, Sunstreaker pulls out all the stops, with bells, whistles and extra panels to boot. The first run through, while not difficult or complex, definitely took a bit of time. Maybe I was hesitant to scratch the paint (which has held up after several transformations) or maybe it was just the experience of a completely new toy as I had sworn off watching any video reviews beforehand, but still, I took my time and was careful with every port, peg and panel. Maybe I just wanted to savour the whole experience and not rush things as it's not often I get my grubby hands on a toy at the actual time of release

The legs are fairly straight forward and the outward swing from the body of the car is quite a graceful movement before all the tidying up of the inner legs occurs. The feet are surprisingly simple and I love how they look in bot mode for such an iconic design element. 

Moving up to the torso, it should be a simple matter of rotating the windscreen to the back and flipping the chest over but alas, here is where we get into the few issues of this toy. The clearances allowed at every stage of this process are minimal. Were it not for the pieces involved being either clear plastic and/or painted I would feel pretty comfortable allowing them to clash and rub against each other. It is definitely the most nail biting part of the whole transformation. 

The arms thankfully, return us to the land of elegant efficiency with minimal fuss and some very nice tidying up taking place along the elbows. As for the head, it simply slides up and into place, revealing that handsome mug of Sunstreaker. 

The final piece of the transformation and probably the most fiddly (not to be confused with the most nerve-shredding mentioned previously) is the backpack. Lots of small painted parts with tight tolerances and small clearances. It's a fairly simple set of motions but I still find myself double checking to make sure everything is perfectly in place rather than relying on them to naturally fall into their designated positions of their own accord as the layers of Sunstreaker's backpack come together.

There is one more moment of nail-biting as you rotate the backpack around on what honestly feels like too-soft a piece of plastic but maybe this was intentionally used to allow a measure of flex. The very final step is the satisfying CLICK of hooking the backpack into place for maximum solidity. 

The overall motions of Sunstreaker's transformation are fairly simple, fold out the legs, pull down the arms and tidy up the backpack but there is so much more going on with every step. Initially it felt a little laborious but it's now something I really enjoy if maybe not to the same tactile degree as Ironhide or Inferno. There is less of a 'Masterpiece moment' with Sunstreaker as with the two just mentioned and I'd even say the most impressive piece of engineering is flipping the intakes back and forth but even that is met with small clearances and a lack of fluidity.

Once you have successfully navigated the transformation process you will be met with one gorgeous robot (robots can be gorgeous right?). Where Sunstreaker really succeeds is in the initial impression. From the silhouette, to the shining paint work and finally to the chest panel and headsculpt, he looks incredible. Screen accurate and quite critically, very well proportioned. But regrettably, when you look a little closer things begin to unravel somewhat. I find that there are just too many panels, hinges and separate parts on display to capture that true cartoon likeness seen by other recent Masterpiece toys. While this isn't something I necessarily lament, it feels like there could have been steps taken to tidy up some of these panel-puzzles if they could have diverged a little from the source material. 

My final criticism is the backpack. It is indeed a mighty rucksack intended for a weekend camping in the hills but honestly, in hand, it's not that bad. I don't think it's necessarily the size of the backpack which is jarring but more how much it feels juxtaposed against the sleek proportions of Sunstreaker. From some angles the figure's frame feels too small to accommodate the backpack as successfully as I would like. 

Beyond these minor issues, I think the figure is massive success. 

Keeping in line with recent releases, Sunstreaker comes with all the added articulation you would expect. From the wrist swivels allowing for more accurate gun-holding and hands-on-hip poses to the lovely double knees, double elbows, ab-crunch and shoulder joints, Sunstreaker is packed to the cyber-gills with joints aplenty. This is where, as said in a previous article, the Masterpiece line is headed and I am fully on-board. 

In the pictures for this article, I opted for more dynamic yet tighter and more expressive poses which made use of whatever head tilts, shoulder-joints and wrist swivels available. My photography game is still on Beginner mode so I hope this comes across. 

With every subsequent release I find myself treading further into this world of 'cartoon accuracy' but I can't help myself! Every dissenting notion I have had is swept aside by the in-hand experience. The dark greys replacing full black? Love it. The silver/grey paint used for the faces? Love it. The only aesthetic criticism I have for Sunstreaker is his chest. I dearly wish there was a more toy-styled display option with less of the faux hood and shrunken windows and something approaching a middle ground between this and what we saw on Omnigonix's Spinout but still, it looks great and does the job as intended. 

I'll close with this... when put aside Sideswipe exclusively, I think the time between their releases is evident. The aesthetic has changed and try as you might, squint as much as you want, the truth is Sunstreaker and Sideswipe do not go together as seamlessly as when put alongside other releases from their respective times. The solution to this is of course, for Takara to release a new Sideswipe mould altogether and not just a repaint. In the meantime, as long as you display your toys with a mind towards this shifting aesthetic, Sunstreaker can fit in to a larger group display, just fine.

Oh yeah and he also comes with this dumb mask.....

Until next time, keep it #Refined. 

Masterpiece Minimalism

- Ben Watson

For most of my collecting life, the Masterpiece line has been above my pay grade. Occupying a legendary higher plane of top quality and an associated dimension of  exclusivity. But is this still true today? Many collectors take Masterpieces as their bread and butter and fill their boots in the way the rest of us CHUG-scrubs would with regular figures. Since the rebirth of the line ushered in by MP-10 and the first Autobot cars, releases have been frequent, bringing down some prices and opening up the line to many more collectors, but has some sheen rubbed off the Masterpiece name along the way?

After consecutive years of multiple MP releases now pushing the total number of figures in the line towards the half-century mark it's now perfectly possible to have a sizeable collection composed of just those figures. Masterpiece now occupies a space reserved not only for a handful of iconic characters in their own incongruous scale as it once did, but strives to be a premium assortment of updates in a similar format to Generations. As a (for the most part) spectator to it, I can't help but feel this proliferation of goodness has watered-down the top drawer punch of the MP line. 

Of course, don't get me wrong, the quality of the figures themselves seems to have gone from strength to strength with each new mold being a new masterclass in plastic wizardry. To those with the resources to keep up with every release this must be an unending conveyance of delights. But to those people I ask, "Is it still special?" The obtainment of a new Masterpiece should be an event, an infrequent joyous occasion, like Christmas or TFN. I still remember how huge it felt to get my hands on my first MP figure even if it was the less-than-iconic Year of the Horse Optimus Prime. I'd never thrown that amount of pennies at a toy. I'd never had such an experience of high-end design and construction. I'd never had a figure prove itself to be a masterpiece to me. Can this level of awe be sustained for so many sequential pieces?

We're now entering a phase of the line where costs seem to be beginning to rise to a point that cuts people off from the figures on offer again. To those biting their fists as they hit the pre-order button for MP Dinobot, a much larger commitment is made and hopefully will lead to a much larger payoff. You can't deny any £200~ figure is an event purchase. But are the £40~ Hasui cars or their litany of obscure repaints? Takara have certainly realised how they can maximise their gains from the MP line but you can't tell me Tigertrack was the highlight of anyone's collection so far... (Shoutout to you if it was)

In light of this saturation I've chosen to be particularly selective with my Masterpiece purchases now that I'm in a position to afford more of them. I still want each one to be a Big Deal and a memorable piece in my ever-expanding hoard for more than just inherent physical qualities. Just over half of my MP figures were picked up at conventions as a kind of core of that particular haul. My first was to mark my 21st birthday and my own way of marking Transformers' 30th. Each one is a significant and special part of my collection and I feel like if I let myself go and snap up many more, that very subtle and particular feeling would be lost and I'd receive them in the same semi-numb state as I do when bringing home mass retail figures from Tesco. 

Masterpiece Transformers deserve reverence and a space upon some metaphorical plinth in your collection. With the current subtle trend towards making the line more like other high-end collector toys on offer in Japan with the incorporation of alternate faces and effect parts, the line lowers itself down just slightly from the lofty realm it once sat above in. I don't object to this paradigm shift, in fact I embrace it but it is changing what the words "Masterpiece Transformers" mean to many.

For the moment I'll continue to keep Masterpieces in my house at a minimum. The collection I do have is eclectic and not really representative of my tastes in Transformers at all but I recognise each one as their own self-contained hit of true excellence. Of course, if we were living in a time of Unicron Trilogy Masterpieces, I would be singing a completely different tune. While I see the MP line for the crowning achievement it is, it's only just starting to dabble in the character designs that really matter to me. It's very possible this is what allows me to show restraint when presented with the smorgasbord of delicacies on offer from the MP menu, but buddy if MP Armada happened tomorrow, I'd still want to take it steady and savour every dish. 


Follow Ben on Twitter @Waspshot23

Third Party and the CHUG Renaissance

 - Dorian MacQuarrie

It could be said, that in the world of Third Party toys, Masterpiece reigns supreme. With multiple companies making versions of fan favourite characters designed to populate your MP shelf, an awful lot of resources are poured into cashing in on the popularity of Masterpiece Transformers. Just how much money there is in an MP Springer analogue when there are half a dozen on the market is up for debate but as a whole, Masterpiece is the cash cow of the day. 

Yet cast your mind back to the earliest days of Third Party toys, from the lowliest resin garage kit to the game-changing City Commander from Fansproject, every Third Party release revolved around Classics, Henkei, Universe 2.0 and Generations toys. Due to the accessibility of mainline toys versus the scant few Masterpiece offerings at the time there was no other choice for burgeoning Third Party companies but to cater to the CHUG collectors but this also allowed for a vast array of products. Whether it was an improved head sculpt and G1 accurate gun or of course an armour kit to turn a white Optimus Prime into a true Ultra Magnus, the scene eventually moved onto fully fledged figures intended to fill out your CHUG shelves, representing characters which, at the time, Hasbro and Takara were never going to release. At its peak, CHUG focused toys so utterly dominated the scene that it was seen as the final destination for Third Party toys. 

Even with the vast amount of releases from a myriad of companies show that 3PMP (a phrase I often use on forums and social media) is well and truly leading the charge I would say we are actually experiencing a renaissance in Third Party CHUG toys, with one major caveat....it's paving the way for a level of self-determination for Third Party companies we have never seen before. 

As it currently stands, the major non-Masterpiece lines on offer from Third Party companies are MMC's Reformatted, Maketoys Cross Dimension (and formerly their Manga Mech and Combiner lines), Planet X's Fall of Cybertron offerings and of course the numerous different legends scale releases from DX9, Iron Factory, Mech Planet etc. This isn't an exhaustive list but it's what I would consider the big hitters at the moment. 

Each have a very clear focus, zooming in on a particular aesthetic and sometimes a particular set of characters, allowing collectors to place their bets with a company and have a higher chance of seeing Fall of Cybertron Megatron released or maybe the full Decepticon Justice Division. Or perhaps in the case of Maketoys' Cross Dimension line, we just wait and see what wonders they drop on us and squee in anticipation.

There is plenty on offer for the discerning CHUG enthusiast who seeks to step into the world of Third Party toys but I would say at this point, CHUG is an incorrect and misleading term. They are often deemed CHUG as they are non-Masterpiece toys, being defined by what they are not rather than what they are. The question is then, what are they? Were you to take a number of toys from the various ranges mentioned previously, you would find they share very little in aesthetics. They are no longer CHUG-focused toys and if you are able to fit them in to a CHUG shelf, it's not with the same level of aesthetic integration as with the early days of Third Party toys. So again, what are they?

As MMC release more and more IDW styled toys they will begin to stand alone as a display of comic accurate releases, not to mention the extra height and bulk most MMC toys carry over those from other companies which often puts them in their own scale. Were you to take Takara's LG Skids, heavily based on the IDW design, it would look drastically out of place alongside MMC's releases. Maketoys' Cross Dimension could be considered Neo-Classics, Hyper Anime Classics, the mainline style turned up to 11 and packed full of articulation but when actually put alongside mainline toys from the past ten years, they clearly do not share a similar enough aesthetic. Sure the same could be said for the mainline toys that make up the many releases which fall under the CHUG banner but nothing so much as putting Striker Manus alongside Universe 2.0 Sunstreaker, or even placing Rioter Despotron in the centre of your CHUG Decepticon shelf and realising that he's packing far more detail and design work than half of the Decepticon toys Rioter stands alongside. Even on my own shelves I ensure Striker Manus stands near other, very particular Third Party toys which then in turn stand next to Hasbro and Takara releases, almost acting as an aesthetic buffer between the super-robo styling of Striker Manus and the clunky design of Henkei Prowl.  

Similar to MMC and their current IDW styled toys, as Maketoys release more and more Cross Dimension (and combiners, maybe? Please? #MaketoysLiokaiserPLZ) they will start to stand apart from any CHUG toys they might share shelf space with and little by little, they become an entity unto their own, CHUG toys only in that they are not Masterpiece and not because of any shared aesthetic or intention to fill in the gaps missing on your CHUG shelf. While yes, these companies will always fall back to Transformers characters and designs for inspiration,the toys themselves won't need a Hasbro or Takara toy line to fit into in order to justify a purchase or give the toy a purpose, they will be simply added to an already established line, be it Reformatted or Cross Dimension or whatever new lines appear in the next few years. That is quite a remarkable shift away from the gap fillers of yesteryear and actually, even the current 3PMP offerings. 

Personally I think there is a stigma around paying top dollar for a toy people see as intended to stand alongside mainline figures, which are often seen as lesser in terms of design, build and of course, price point. Third Party toys are an adult-collector focused product and when held hand in hand with Hasbro mainline toys, there is a gulf of intent and purpose some collectors struggle to bridge. Masterpiece toys on the other hand are of course adult-collector focused so 3PMP toys can be more easily reconciled with the 'serious business' line of Masterpiece. 

Time and again I have seen negative comments about paying £50 - £80 for what amounts to only a CHUG toy but paying the same for a 3PMP toy is more acceptable as the price is more equatable with Takara MPs and of course, the intent of the toy, to be an adult collectable, in some ways justifies the price. Rarely is there more or better engineering put into one than the other beyond the capabilities of the company making the toy. Fanstoys Tesla does not stand head and shoulders above Perfect Effect's Warden just because it is Masterpiece focused and should be seen to have a higher quality of paint, build, design and engineering as dictated by the label 'Masterpiece' but unfortunately I do think some people see it this way. For the record, Perfect Effect's Warden is a very literal masterpiece of a toy. 

The introduction and subsequent rise of 3PMP, has brought a legion of new collectors who before wouldn't have shown much interest in Third Party toys. I like to imagine these same collectors watching jealously, as early adopters of Third Party toys enjoyed the fruits of labour from Fansproject, TFC and Maketoys, biding their time, waiting for a product which appealed to their collecting sensibilities. This influx of new collectors means new customers so of course there is a lot of money to be had if a company can nail the Masterpiece aesthetic and have the right characters at the right time. It's only natural for the Third Party scene to turn away from its CHUG roots and devote more time and money into releasing toys that appeal to these particular collectors. 

To echo my earlier words, we may be experiencing a renaissance in CHUG focused Third Party toys, with the best releases from the best companies, with levels of design, engineering and character choice which are stunning to behold. But! And this is a very big But, with a capital B, it is not going to last. Once MMC have filled out their ranks of IDW styled toys you won't have a CHUG shelf, you will have an IDW shelf. Eventually you will have a Cross Dimension shelf and maybe one day you'll even have a Lost Exo Realm shelf at which point these toys should no longer be labelled CHUG as really, the only trait they'll share with actual CHUG toys is that they are not 'Masterpiece' toys. Maybe the hard work of the marketing teams at MMC or Maketoys will score a victory and we will indeed call them Reformatted toys and Cross Dimension toys and those labels will carry with them the traits of those lines, be it comic accurate and super sturdy or super-robo with anime flair. At that point calling them CHUG toys will be a massive disservice to the designers behind releases such as MMC's Carnifex or Maketoys' Thunder Erebus as they are truly, in their own right, masterpiece toys. 


As always, keep it #Refined.

Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla

- Ben Watson


You may have caught my recent article outlining my thoughts on Beast Wars twenty years on and now after a TFNation haul-based development, I'm going to reassess how I'm feeling about that. But before you can shout "Revisionist sentiment!" I can tell you it all comes down to three words; Masterpiece Optimus Primal. 

In my previous piece I mentioned how I was relatively unfazed by the coming of Masterpiece figures aimed, laser-like directly at me but after handling the original version of MP Primal, when met with the newer one at a good price - you bet I went for it. What we have here is the MP-38 Convoy (Beast Wars) Legendary Commander Ver. In other words; a toy accurate Masterpiece Optimus Primal. This kind of accuracy is my main concern with the wider MP line at large as I hold little desire for cartoon centric design. (But then it turns out this deco pulls double duty and is actually screen accurate to that one time Optimus appeared in the Beast Wars II anime? Go figure.) To see Masterpiece finally render that which I regard as the ultimate goal of the line - a perfect version of a toy beloved from years ago - I couldn't really say no to the boss monkey. 

Of course, on the one hand suddenly gaining a stylistically totally different MP figure only exacerbates my previous issue of design dissonance. This guy sure ain't gonna fit in with the handful of car based Masterpieces I already own and by virtue of his MP status then won't really gel with most other regular TFs either. Primal exists in a strange singularity in my collection, above and beyond all his peers. But by a little touch of convention magic, right now it simply couldn't be a problem. 

The fact this figure is a stone-cold stunner with incredible engineering and accessories obviously helps but the one thing that's letting me feel like I didn't just shell out for a random action figure is that it's part of a con haul. This is an effect I've always thought about expounding my feelings on and now is definitely the time. Nothing ever feels weirdly out of place or one of a kind when you come home from a convention with an armful of diverse delights. After spending a weekend picking up bots of all shapes, sizes and styles, these disparate pieces all have one thing in common that irrevocably links them to each other in your collection: they all came from the same con. 

For weeks now I've had all the components of the cash crater that is my TFN haul stood around the surfaces of my home in little gangs, not yet content to release them into the wild of my wider collection. And standing at the head of the pack is MP Primal. A for-the-time-being surrogate Prime leading haulmate Autobots, Omnicons, Spychangers and Mini-cons into battle upon my coffee table. Right here, right now, Primal has his place all thanks to that sentimental force surrounding and binding him to the other figures I got within hours of him. 

So what are my feelings towards Beast Wars now? I'm still very aware of that stylistic gulf but choose to wade across it at least partway because if there's one thing this figure has shown me, it's that journey is worth it. MP-38 is a true masterpiece. Perfectly realising the first Optimus I ever knew while packing in everything worthwhile from his original toy and then some. Light up eyes, a metal chain mace, pop-out cannons, different faces? Forget about it. And thanks to some factory error, I even got an extra sword! 

Masterpiece Optimus Primal has well and truly dispelled any doubts I had about my continuing love for my first Transformers series. To tell you this figure feels right is simultaneously succinct and a towering understatement. While I hugely appreciate the toy stylings of this version, I didn't get my hands on an OG (here meaning Original Gorilla obvs) Primal until I was in the swing of purely vehicle based lines. I saw the monkey man on my telly screen long, long before realising the weirdery of that spring open gun arm or spiky skull mace. 

So to have a figure which captures the best of both worlds, with proper wrist guns and a jetpack bumflap but also bright blue swords and a toothy mask face is simply sublime. This is the most complete representation of this design we are ever going to see. The rumoured Power of The Primes Optimal Optimus housing a gorilla that's on its way will surely be huge fun (and now an instant pick-up for me) but it will not come within dung flinging distance of the simian spectacle of this awesome ape. Simply put: no other Primal will ever be as #refined. 

Follow Ben on Twitter @Waspshot23

The Once and Future King

- mantis nine nines

Recently I purchased a Maketoys Cupola (the KO Data Clerk version to be accurate) and it got me thinking about what it is that defines a “Masterpiece” Transformer. Not because it is a 3P design, and not because it is a KO, but because it is 1:24 scale. Too big for most collectors to fit in with their MP Datsuns and the like, but perfect for my needs. 

For more years than many reading this have been alive, I have collected cars, models, and whatever else I can find in the 1:24 scale. And since 2003, this included Transformers. The original Masterpiece Prime may appear to be an outdated relic these days, but it’s impossible to overstate what a leap forward MP-01 represented for the TF fandom. Full of die-cast, packed with features and gimmicks, and designed to represent the ideal vision of the character, this was a new standard for what a Transformer toy could be. It was also an almost spot-on 1:24 COE truck. I loved it. It sold like hotcakes, and thus began the cycle of excellence that leads us back to the present day. And what a present! Transformers are getting the royal treatment, with loving care lavished upon us loyal Transfans.

The first attempt at a True collector-focused line began with MP-01 and the Binaltech/Alternators. These figures gave us what we were sure we wanted at the time: G1 characters with highly detailed car modes and a large degree of articulation. For years collectors kitbashed and customised figures to be as G1 accurate as possible, and represent as many characters as possible. I remember buying a red KO Hound Hummer with the intention of creating a “perfect” Ironhide. At the time I would have never thought a TF collector could do any better, and I was not alone. Little could I know that the 1:24 scale boom would be short-lived.

Classics was only intended to fill in for a year while Hasbro awaited the dawn of the Bayverse, but it ignited the fandom’s passion like no other. Trading accurate car modes and gimmicks for tighter engineering and more solid robot modes, the fandom seemed to suddenly realise that no, THIS was what they wanted all along.In fact I remember reading forum posts where people stated as much in almost those exact words. Fans wanted anything and everything they could get in this new style. Such was the hunger for Classics that Hasbro alone could not keep up. It was at this time that FansProject went from making gun and matrix upgrades for Alternators Prime and got the ball rolling full speed with City Commander. Hasbro continued to crank out molds as well, and fans were sure that collectors could not do any better.

When the announcement came that a new Masterpiece Prime was being created, much of the fandom were uncertain why. Others were upset that the “final” pressing of MP-01 had just been released, and here we were with a blatant cash grab. Little could we know just how correct this was. Since 2011 Transformers collectors have ridden an unprecedented wave of product aimed at making sure every character, no matter how obscure, is represented on their MP shelf. And yes, once again we are certain that what we have is EXACTLY what we want.

So where do we go from here? As you may have surmised, I believe that what was old is new again. Big bots are back baby, and 1:24 is the future. MPP-10 remains a curiosity for many, but as Wei-Jiang, Robot Hero, and KBB continue to upscale and enhance bots, and third parties like Toyworld continue with their larger than MP scale offerings we creep ever closer to full circle on What Fans Want.

It's not just size either. With Takara delivering all the cartoon accuracy we could ask for, a lane is left open for a shift back to vehicle accuracy. Not at the sake of good looking bots, but in spite of them. Given the brilliant engineering we see from all comers these days I'm sure there's someone capable of making both bot and car perfect. A perfect Prowl that also has a detailed interior? Yes please!

Perhaps one day this post will seem prophetic and perhaps not. Maybe the whole thing will collapse. All I can say for certain is that whatever the Absolute Ultimate Version is today will be obsolete tomorrow. Or not. Sometimes you just have to be patient for the future to catch up to the past.

Until next time, keep it #Refined


Follow Dan on Twitter @mantisninenines