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. 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. 

The Power of the Obscure

Or "The G1 You Forget"
Or "Toy Only Charisma"

 - Ben Watson

The strength of the characterisation in Transformers is one of the reasons the franchise has lasted so long and generated so many successful new forms for itself. Yet behind every grand accomplishment is a nameless workforce, shrouded in mystery. Everyone loves the A-list posterboys but I'm here today to extol the virtues of the unknown - or at the very least those guys you have to wiki to remind yourself about... 

Combiner Wars Killbison

What first comes to mind when delving into the depths of obscurity in Transformers is the segment of G1 often left off people's cursory mental summation of the series. I caught myself the other day thinking that Action Masters and Micromasters were the end of the G1 road and all that's left for Generations to mine in coming years, but not so! The host of Euro and Japanese exclusive figures holds a veritable smorgasbord of way better design than the flailing death throes of American G1. It seems the team responsible for choosing what gets to grace the gilded plinth of Generations has realised this too, with releases like Black Shadow, Overlord and Liokaiser all precluding the sorry likes of Snarler, Over Run or Erector. Maintaining a focus on what crowded US store shelves in the tail end of the 80's isn't the best way to go about making cool robots for today's audience despite most collectors being very unfamiliar with the characters on offer from overseas. 

Titans Return Black Shadow

This veil of mystery that distance and rarity cast over these characters is almost palpable and a huge part of their appeal (at least to me). They take the place of the playground legend, that weird toy your friend's friend brought back from holiday with odd writing on the box... "Yeah there's no such thing as a black Thunderwing, Jake stop lying!" you can almost hear. The language barrier itself providing a sense of mystique as character bios and cartoon appearances held their secrets 'til the day of translation. It all adds up to give these toys and subsequently their newer versions since, a real legendary status. Optimus Prime may be an icon to the world but among TF circles other names are spoken in awed tones. 

Titans Return Overlord

I find myself really able to sink my teeth into this kind of vogue. Many of the figures I covet or cherish are those that I really had to journey deep into the fandom to learn about. Like hacking away at the jungle that fills your senses at first glance to find the ancient ruin within, the process of going from "I didn't know that existed" to "I know everything there is to know about it" is hugely satisfying and confers a sense of possession of forbidden knowledge not privy to the masses. In this way these super obscure characters are lent a kind of power. A variety of mental sway that the likes of Megatron and Soundwave can never hold. 

G1 Stalker

In such a vast fandom orbiting around such a long lived franchise it feels like a sense of metafandom comes along with new releases that tap into this source. When Titans Return Sawback (Lione) was revealed I genuinely had no idea who I was looking at while others instantly clapped their hands to their mouths and proclaimed "Hell naw, Lione?!" It's like a reference was made to something you know and love and you punch the air cos someone else GETS the thing you're into - all while being inside a sphere of nothing but very specific fan references. 

Combiner Wars Hellbat

All in all, it adds up to make me value something like my Liokaiser way way more than like, Bruticus. It's that added stratum of nerdliness that makes no hardcore collection complete without a sprinkling of it. It may not hold the same kind of awe inspiring I-dare-not-even-touch-it status as the original, but just a portion comes down from its lineage to grace the Combiner Wars figure with a special something - even if it is just a box of repaints I was extremely hesitant to spend on... 

Combiner Wars Liokaiser

No one should ever drop the words "True Fan" but the appreciation of these kinds of pieces really does show you've done your homework but fear not if the dog ate yours because most of the fun is finding out about them in the first place. There's not many corners of the TF universe I've not peered into, so finding something undiscovered is always a boon. Great untapped veins of character and design potential lie waiting in the toys that never got time on your telly box. And it's not just from the periphery of G1 - G2, Machine Wars, RID 2001 exclusives, Universe 2003, the history of Transformers is peppered with gems lost to time. There's so much more out there than your cartoon, comic or movie cast, all you have to do is look for it.