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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...
Old sparkplug on a vintage marine motor at the Bath Maritime Museum. I like it a lot better when viewed on a black background (press L).
Performed a little maintenance on the 2.4T lump, changed the spark plugs for some fresh Denso K20TT 4606 plugs.
So far they perform well. Gap was already set correctly.
Image © Susan Candelario / SDC Photography, All Rights Reserved. The image is protected by U.S. and International copyright laws, and is not to be downloaded or reproduced in any way without written permission.
If you would like to license this image for any purpose, please visit my site and contact me with any questions you may have. Please visit Susan Candelario artists website to purchase Prints Thank You.
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...
Pictures of the Romer Shoal Light from on board the Royal Caribbean Anthem of the Seas at the beginning of our week-long cruise. The Romer Shoal Light is a sparkplug lighthouse that dates from 1898 and is in the Lower New York Bay. It is 2 and a half nautical miles north of Sandy Hook, New Jersey. A few of the pictures also show the Sandy Hook Lighthouse in the background. I was able to see a number of lighthouses in New York Harbor this trip. On board the Royal Caribbean Anthem of the Seas for the Seven Night Labadee & Puerto Plata Cruise (November 6th through 13th, 2022). The cruise embarks from Cape Liberty (Bayone, NJ) with stops at Labadee, Haiti and Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic before heading back to New York City. The itinerary changed after Hurricane Nicole canceled our planned stops.
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...
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...
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...
Spring Point Ledge Light
Spring Point Ledge Light is a sparkplug lighthouse in South Portland, Maine that marks a dangerous obstruction on the west side of the main shipping channel into Portland Harbor. It is now adjacent to the campus of Southern Maine Community College.
History
The lighthouse was constructed in 1897 by the government after seven steamship companies stated that many of their vessels ran aground on Spring Point Ledge. Congress initially allocated $20,000 to its construction, although the total cost of the tower ended up being $45,000 due to problems with storms and poor quality cement. The lighthouse featured a fog bell that sounded twice every 12 seconds, and a lantern fitted with a fifth order Fresnel lens first lit by Keeper William A. Lane on May 24, 1897.
Improvements were made to the lighthouse throughout the 20th century. It was electrified in 1934, and in 1951, a 900-foot breakwater made from 50,000 short tons (45,000 t) of granite was constructed in order to connect the lighthouse to the mainland. The lighthouse was originally owned and operated by the United States Coast Guard. However, on April 28, 1998, the Maine Lights Selection Committee approved a transfer of ownership of the tower to the Spring Point Ledge Light Trust, with the USCG retaining only the light and fog signal. On May 22, 1999, Spring Point Ledge Light was opened to the public for the first time in its history. It is a popular spot on any summer day for families to picnic and boat-watch on the breakwater or for fisherman to spend an afternoon catching fish. Adjacent to the lighthouse, visitors may also tour the old Fort Preble, the Southern Maine Community College Campus, and visit a small gift shop.
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Spring Point Ledge Light Station on January 21, 1988, reference number 87002279.
For more information: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Point_Ledge_Light
Do not use/copy without permission.
Become a fan: Facebook
Check out my website: J. Schusteritsch Photo
John's mk2 Jetta project car that started out being used as a dumpster behind a building before he got his hands on it. He swapped the interior, fixed the body himself, had a hand from a friend re-spraying it, then installed a handful of awesome parts and is now in the midst of an ABA swap with a Neuspeed supercharger (which he's hoping to finish by H2oi).
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...
On top of a Chevy 350 small block are cylinders 6 and 8 next to each other on the head. This well-worn, well-used 25 year old engine is impressive on the engine stand.
Kingsland Point Light and Sleepy Hollow Light, is a sparkplug lighthouse on the east side of the Hudson River in Sleepy Hollow, New York, United States. It a conical steel structure erected in the 1880s
Spark plug 2001 Jeep Cherokee
7/21/2013 @ 95,014 miles factory Champion plug I don't think they were ever changed
plug were worn out, gap was 0.060-75 vs 0.035 factory.
Replaced with Champion platinum power RC12PEC5
Cleaned throttle body
Jumped wire for power window switch lock out
Soldered tan n yellow wires in driver kick panel
Brake cleaner on engine clean up oil ready
You can find me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/andiliciouscom
Or through my Website: www.andilicious.com
Hier findest du mich auf Facebook: www.facebook.com/andiliciouscom
Oder über meine Website: www.andilicious.com
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
When Transformers Armada/Micro Dentetsu was released, the show was OK but they toys felt like such a giant ste backwards after the excellent offerings of the Car Robots 2000 lineup. But, there were a few gems in that pile, one of which Optimus Prime, which further refined the combining trailer concept by making them turn into a pair of pants.
The actual toy was fun, but engineering wise it was effectively a giant brick, especially the trailer part.
Now, as luck would have it, the most exciting part of the Legacy Evolution line we're currently living through is the upcoming Commander Class Armada Optimus Prime, which so far looks good, at the very least not being watered down class wise like other recent Primes are.
There was also, a few years ago, a third party Fans Hobby attempt at the Armada Prime toy. I'd never gotten any third party of this size, and was figuring that one day I'd get a nicely priced Power Baser (Powermaster Optimus Prime) at TFCon.
Well, turns out if you snag them at preorder from your friendly neighbourhood online toy store, they're actually not horrendously priced.
I didn't take my original out, but I think this Fans Hobby version (Naval Commander... for Amada, get it?!?!) is slightly bigger than the OG figure. Conceptually it's the same (core figure, trailer, mini-con) but with a few premium tricks and twists.
From a high level, visually things have changed, part due to modernization and partly due to desire not to get hassled by the lawyers. The truck mode seems a bit longer, proportionally, compared to the original figure.
The trailer is probably where you see the greatest difference. Gone is the motoorized transformation gimmick, which was expected and fine with me. Certainly more firepower this time around with the inclusion of two rocket launchers... spring loaded rockets I might add. Prime's hand cannon extends to a much larger size for mounting in trailer mode. The pontoon things on the side of the trailer are now removable and can be mounted on several spots, specifically in robot mode.
Trailer turns into nonsensical alt modes, which is par for the course. There's extended trailer mode, which is basically fancy trailer with ramps, and then there's base mode which is... fancy trailer with ramps AND platforms. Shout out to the Fans Hobby team for including semi functional knee cannons, which was a spring powered missile launcher on the original toy.
the transformation scheme has been drastically changed, which should be expected. The core robot probably has about the same amount of articulation, where as the combined mode certainly has more than before.
In some weird twist of fate, the combined mode actually has more articulation than the core robot, thanks to the ab crunch. However, as you can imagine, the sheer bulk of both modes does get in the way of movement, as does the general design, but with the exception of the tabs that keep combined mode together, joints are well designed, robust, and can take a beating.
Sparkplug is a big gangly looking, but sports some impressive engineering to result in a fairly articulated figure.
As with most third party figures (or at least the well designed ones) transformation involves some twists and turns that wouldn't make it to a mainline figure, and you'd be hard pressed to find them on a MP figure, though it could happen. The fascinating thing is that despite the sheer precision required to make all the tiny parts fit properly, Fans Hobby pulled it off. There's some engineering decisions I disagree with, but the QC on this thing is very impressive.
There's actually far less paint on this figure than I anticipated, but that could be them trying to be realistic on budget. Also, for those interested, the materials used feel like what we get on our modern mainline figures... or at least the Legacy stuff.
Also possible on this figure (which I didn't test) are swap out of the combined mode ears for larger, more OG design ears, the ability to swap out the eyes for clear eyes, and of course, LED lights but I didn't have the battery..
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...
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...