DSC_1974
MP 44.... I was eyeing this piece for over a year because at 35,000 Yen plus a hefty shipping fee, it would have ended up being close to $500 CAD after shipping.
But as luck would have it, a few weeks ago I was able to secure this one at a local EB Games, which was about MSRP, but I was able to benefit from a trade in promotion. It wasn't as a pristine box, but hey it's Optimus Prime, and my MP 36 needed a playmate.
So here we have it... the highlights from this figure. Highlights because if I were going to go into full detail, this would probably be an hour long to read.
The set is packed with what you'd expect from an Optimus Prime set, along with a few extra surprises. You get Prime and his trailer, along with a die cast Matrix, Energon supply hose, Roller, and the Repair Bay drone thing that apparently is called an Anti-Aircraft gun this time around.
You also get the Whitwicky's Spike and Sparkplug, along with Carly, three additional heads (cartoon round faced, battle damaged, Starscream with air intakes), his blaster, a damaged waist effect piece,, Energon Axe, two Energon blast effects that double as thruster effects, and the jet pack itself. There's also an adapter so you can use the base that comes with MP Dinobot with this figure, which is yet another expensive one.
Overall, it felt like Takara Tomy decided to pull a Hybrid Convoy and throw the kitchen sink at the set this time, third time and all.
The small figures can be positioned to ride in Prime's cab, on Roller,, within the cockpit of the Repair Drone, as well as several magnet friendly surfaces within the Trailer. Decent articulation on them for the tiny size though they're not going to be winning any likeness awards.
Going kind of in reverse, I'll quickly go over the non robot stuff because quite frankly while it's neat, it's not really my thing when it comes to Prime,
Naturally, the Trailer can be hitched to Prime in Cab mode, and Roller along with the Remote Drone can combine with it in several variations, including the classic Repair Bay. Also like the MP 10 and the Hybrid Convoy trailers, there are legs under the trailer that deploy to give it more stability.
New to the formula is that Roller and the Remote Drone can be linked together, forming a mini Tractor Trailer, and the Remote Drone can be taken off it's arm and combined on top of Roller. Furthermore, this particular iteration of the Trailer comes with a removable under carriage so that you can store all his accessories without cluttering the interior of the Trailer itself.
His Ion Blaster can be folded up and attached to the various components in different ways.
So lets talk about the actual Prime figure itself.
With this relatively recent shift to producing more toon accurate bot modes, it would be an understatement to say that the transformations are becoming more and more complex, mostly because most bot modes don't have wheels hanging out, or other vehicle bits, really. As a result, you pretty much get some really elaborate shell movements along with what is best described as an "inside-out" transformation.
This was the case with the impressive MP 34 Megatron, and it's definitely the case here.
The instructions have the transformation officially pegged at 75 steps, which is why it took me an hour to get it done... well mostly.
Those who have handled MPs will understand it's not just the steps, but rather, how thing some of these parts can be, coupled with the Lord knows how many hinges and joints are in these things. All these factors put together, coupled with how well pretty much everything fits together, is a true testament to the design team, QC, material selection, and price tag. Build quality is generally not an issue with this figure, though I did have some difficultly swapping out heads and the pieces that make up Prime's pelvis are kind of rough. Since we're on Build Quality, joints don't have any issues either or parts finishes.
Paint wise, with the exception of unfortunate areas of paint rub, you're going to get an overall set with great paint applications, with colours chosen by someone who isn't colour blind... or maybe they know how to use the Dropper tool on Photoshop.
The chrome work is a bit uneven in that the surfaces can appear to be slightly warped, especially the silver parts on Prime's feet.
But hey... they're shiny!
When you've finished with transformation, you get a figure that's probably 90% of the way to being truly cartoon accurate. There's the larger than normal backpack, which leads to some back heaviness. Furthermore, proportion wise I feel that Megatron got it closer, as to me Prime's shoulders are bit too small. What makes it even more impressive is that Megatron had to create volume out of thin parts.
Functional Matrix chamber is also a nice touch.
Size wise, MP44 is probably 1/8" taller than MP10, so the sizes are very comparable.
From an articulation perspective, it's definitely no Three A sixth scale figure, but for a figure that can transform it's go pretty much all the right moves. You get ankle tilts and ankle rollers, double jointed knees, thigh twist, hips, waist, ab crunch by pulling the torso off the waist, shoulders with limited lateral movement, biceps swivels, single jointed elbows, rotating wrist with slight bending capabilities, and ball socket at the base of the head.
The hips have a neat design to them - you can't pull them down to get more range of motion, but the waist flap does rotate with the upper leg, so it will naturally move out of the way. Prime also has flaps all around the waist to facilitate maximum range of motion there.
The aforementioned shoulders unfortunately somewhat limit the forward posing capabilities of the arms, the wrists are really not that useful, and the actual waist movement is quite limited without popping the the torso up,
Small ankle spurs also limit the types of dynamic poses the figure can pull of because of the heavy backpack.
Hands are kind of neat, Like with other MP figures with fists (such as Arcee), the index figure is separate from the other three, which are moulded together. Joints are present where these digits meal the palm of the hand, and the fingers have functional joints at the first point outward from the palm. This overall allows you to get a competent looking gun holding hand, along with a decent looking closed fist.
Overall, you'll still have great time playing within the limits, but it's just somewhat of a letdown given how great Megatron turned out.
A few more notes before closing out here. The Prime heads all have functional points on them, and they're pretty thin too, so be mindful of that while handling them. There's also a battery pack, which I've yet to power up, but I believe it's a combination of lights and sounds.
I've been fortunate enough to possess all three MP Optimus Primes, though this is my first Takara version. MP 01 will always remain a classic, despite being a comparatively crude figure... I mean, the thing is about a foot tall transformed and has so much die cast in it you can use it as a weapon of mass destruction.
In the battle of MP 10 versus MP 44, it's really a tough call. It comes down to preference because they both represent high quality versions of the character, just that MP 10 is the toy aesthetic whereas MP 44 is all about that show accuracy. MP 44 undoubtedly pairs with MP 36 much better than MP 10.
I'd say if you got one of those MP 36+ figures, which mimics Megatron's classic toy appearance, you're probably alright sticking with MP 10 from a looks perspective, especially if all you're really into is the bot mode and aren't too fussed about having all those points of articulation.
It's a combination of taste, and price, though there are some insane resellers who are trying to sell MP10 for basically the same price as a MP 44.
Hopefully Toys R Us will do their usual thing, and bring some version of MP 44 to its stores, most likely pulling a Rodimus Prime and ditching the trailer. Still, it would be a good compromise to get the main figure and hopefully keep the glorious paint (it's Toys R Us... you never know).
Now if they'd only make that MP Wheelie that I've always wanted...
DSC_1974
MP 44.... I was eyeing this piece for over a year because at 35,000 Yen plus a hefty shipping fee, it would have ended up being close to $500 CAD after shipping.
But as luck would have it, a few weeks ago I was able to secure this one at a local EB Games, which was about MSRP, but I was able to benefit from a trade in promotion. It wasn't as a pristine box, but hey it's Optimus Prime, and my MP 36 needed a playmate.
So here we have it... the highlights from this figure. Highlights because if I were going to go into full detail, this would probably be an hour long to read.
The set is packed with what you'd expect from an Optimus Prime set, along with a few extra surprises. You get Prime and his trailer, along with a die cast Matrix, Energon supply hose, Roller, and the Repair Bay drone thing that apparently is called an Anti-Aircraft gun this time around.
You also get the Whitwicky's Spike and Sparkplug, along with Carly, three additional heads (cartoon round faced, battle damaged, Starscream with air intakes), his blaster, a damaged waist effect piece,, Energon Axe, two Energon blast effects that double as thruster effects, and the jet pack itself. There's also an adapter so you can use the base that comes with MP Dinobot with this figure, which is yet another expensive one.
Overall, it felt like Takara Tomy decided to pull a Hybrid Convoy and throw the kitchen sink at the set this time, third time and all.
The small figures can be positioned to ride in Prime's cab, on Roller,, within the cockpit of the Repair Drone, as well as several magnet friendly surfaces within the Trailer. Decent articulation on them for the tiny size though they're not going to be winning any likeness awards.
Going kind of in reverse, I'll quickly go over the non robot stuff because quite frankly while it's neat, it's not really my thing when it comes to Prime,
Naturally, the Trailer can be hitched to Prime in Cab mode, and Roller along with the Remote Drone can combine with it in several variations, including the classic Repair Bay. Also like the MP 10 and the Hybrid Convoy trailers, there are legs under the trailer that deploy to give it more stability.
New to the formula is that Roller and the Remote Drone can be linked together, forming a mini Tractor Trailer, and the Remote Drone can be taken off it's arm and combined on top of Roller. Furthermore, this particular iteration of the Trailer comes with a removable under carriage so that you can store all his accessories without cluttering the interior of the Trailer itself.
His Ion Blaster can be folded up and attached to the various components in different ways.
So lets talk about the actual Prime figure itself.
With this relatively recent shift to producing more toon accurate bot modes, it would be an understatement to say that the transformations are becoming more and more complex, mostly because most bot modes don't have wheels hanging out, or other vehicle bits, really. As a result, you pretty much get some really elaborate shell movements along with what is best described as an "inside-out" transformation.
This was the case with the impressive MP 34 Megatron, and it's definitely the case here.
The instructions have the transformation officially pegged at 75 steps, which is why it took me an hour to get it done... well mostly.
Those who have handled MPs will understand it's not just the steps, but rather, how thing some of these parts can be, coupled with the Lord knows how many hinges and joints are in these things. All these factors put together, coupled with how well pretty much everything fits together, is a true testament to the design team, QC, material selection, and price tag. Build quality is generally not an issue with this figure, though I did have some difficultly swapping out heads and the pieces that make up Prime's pelvis are kind of rough. Since we're on Build Quality, joints don't have any issues either or parts finishes.
Paint wise, with the exception of unfortunate areas of paint rub, you're going to get an overall set with great paint applications, with colours chosen by someone who isn't colour blind... or maybe they know how to use the Dropper tool on Photoshop.
The chrome work is a bit uneven in that the surfaces can appear to be slightly warped, especially the silver parts on Prime's feet.
But hey... they're shiny!
When you've finished with transformation, you get a figure that's probably 90% of the way to being truly cartoon accurate. There's the larger than normal backpack, which leads to some back heaviness. Furthermore, proportion wise I feel that Megatron got it closer, as to me Prime's shoulders are bit too small. What makes it even more impressive is that Megatron had to create volume out of thin parts.
Functional Matrix chamber is also a nice touch.
Size wise, MP44 is probably 1/8" taller than MP10, so the sizes are very comparable.
From an articulation perspective, it's definitely no Three A sixth scale figure, but for a figure that can transform it's go pretty much all the right moves. You get ankle tilts and ankle rollers, double jointed knees, thigh twist, hips, waist, ab crunch by pulling the torso off the waist, shoulders with limited lateral movement, biceps swivels, single jointed elbows, rotating wrist with slight bending capabilities, and ball socket at the base of the head.
The hips have a neat design to them - you can't pull them down to get more range of motion, but the waist flap does rotate with the upper leg, so it will naturally move out of the way. Prime also has flaps all around the waist to facilitate maximum range of motion there.
The aforementioned shoulders unfortunately somewhat limit the forward posing capabilities of the arms, the wrists are really not that useful, and the actual waist movement is quite limited without popping the the torso up,
Small ankle spurs also limit the types of dynamic poses the figure can pull of because of the heavy backpack.
Hands are kind of neat, Like with other MP figures with fists (such as Arcee), the index figure is separate from the other three, which are moulded together. Joints are present where these digits meal the palm of the hand, and the fingers have functional joints at the first point outward from the palm. This overall allows you to get a competent looking gun holding hand, along with a decent looking closed fist.
Overall, you'll still have great time playing within the limits, but it's just somewhat of a letdown given how great Megatron turned out.
A few more notes before closing out here. The Prime heads all have functional points on them, and they're pretty thin too, so be mindful of that while handling them. There's also a battery pack, which I've yet to power up, but I believe it's a combination of lights and sounds.
I've been fortunate enough to possess all three MP Optimus Primes, though this is my first Takara version. MP 01 will always remain a classic, despite being a comparatively crude figure... I mean, the thing is about a foot tall transformed and has so much die cast in it you can use it as a weapon of mass destruction.
In the battle of MP 10 versus MP 44, it's really a tough call. It comes down to preference because they both represent high quality versions of the character, just that MP 10 is the toy aesthetic whereas MP 44 is all about that show accuracy. MP 44 undoubtedly pairs with MP 36 much better than MP 10.
I'd say if you got one of those MP 36+ figures, which mimics Megatron's classic toy appearance, you're probably alright sticking with MP 10 from a looks perspective, especially if all you're really into is the bot mode and aren't too fussed about having all those points of articulation.
It's a combination of taste, and price, though there are some insane resellers who are trying to sell MP10 for basically the same price as a MP 44.
Hopefully Toys R Us will do their usual thing, and bring some version of MP 44 to its stores, most likely pulling a Rodimus Prime and ditching the trailer. Still, it would be a good compromise to get the main figure and hopefully keep the glorious paint (it's Toys R Us... you never know).
Now if they'd only make that MP Wheelie that I've always wanted...