COUNTDOWN: 6 more noteworthy facts about Masterpiece Transformers

Whether operating under the rebooted banner of MPG or its original title, the Masterpiece line continues to be a solid talking point when it comes to Transformers collecting.

After all, with so many releases over an extended period, there are bound to be a few nuggets of interest along the way! So today, after our initial list, here are 6 more noteworthy facts about Masterpiece Transformers that you might find intriguing.

#6: The line was the first to give names to some classic Diaclone decos

It’s unsurprising, given the toy line’s roots, but TakaraTomy has always been keen to pay dues to Diaclone in its Transformers output. That became clear during the mid-2000s era of e-Hobby exclusive repaints, which featured recreations of classic pre-TF colour schemes on the vintage moulds, except now with assigned Autobot or Decepticon faction allegiance and suitably robots-in-disguise character names to boot. This is where the likes of ‘Red Tracks’ became the separate persona Road Rage, or the retooled silver take on the pre-Skids Honda City R design was first named Crosscut. Further examples have dropped elsewhere since, such as Spinout or Burnout. Yet Masterpiece has subsequently become the most prolific in naming these new characters under the Transformers banner, debuting a surprising number of Diaclone colour schemes before their being utilised elsewhere. The likes of Cordon, Loudpedal, Exhaust, Reboost, Riggorus and Delta Magnus all owe their identity to the high-end line, which is a hit rate not to be sniffed at!

#5: The Masterpiece scale has been intentionally broken several times

Even a casual Masterpiece collector will not be immune to discussions about scale. After all, ever since the line soft-rebooted back during the double whammy of MP-9 and MP-10, the idea has generally been to amass a series of toys all following a consistent sense of size versus one another that is largely accurate to the classic 1980s Transformers cartoon series. This might seem like folly to some, given how wildly inconsistent the animation could be from time to time, and of course, it has led to all kinds of confusion regarding the haphazard real-world vehicle scaling that results from having the robot modes take priority. Thus, fans will often cite the Holy Scale Chart as the go-to resource needed to settle any debates about what is or isn’t ‘correct’, although even this approach hasn’t been without its compromises along the way, and especially because TakaraTomy has intentionally ‘broken’ the established scale on more than one occasion. One of the most notable examples is MP-22 Ultra Magnus, who in his humanoid guise is not meant to be much taller than Optimus Prime, standing roughly a half-head above the Autobot commander on-screen, give or take. Yet the Masterpiece figure is a total beast when compared to either version of Convoy, purely because the designers decided they wanted the vehicle mode cab section to be the same size as MP-10’s own truck form and have the ability for the human minifigures to sit inside. The same is true of MP-24 Star Saber, which, although it’s still one of the largest Masterpiece figures of its kind, is actually significantly smaller in its combined super mode than it should be, given it was rather weirdly downscaled to work better alongside current Generations toys at the time! More recently, there’s been a whole debate about how well the cab robot of MP-60 Ginrai works in scale, given it’s significantly smaller than MP-10 or MP-44 (and, for what it’s worth, the same size as Studio Series ’86 Optimus Prime). Weirdly, the official production notes for the 1988 Masterforce cartoon place the character of Ginrai as taller than Prime! However, it’s reasonable to see why many fans would have expected them to be the same in toy form (despite others sharing screenshots to prove Ginrai really should be that much smaller). Still, for the MPG-09 super mode to come in about right, the resulting cab robot has been made smaller, for better or worse. Oh, and let’s not even get started on the Masterpiece human mini-figures, which have always been notably undersized to do things like sit inside MP-10’s vehicle mode before TakaraTomy then introduced an entirely separate larger alternative with the Spike accompanying MP-47 Hound. Confused? You’re not the only one!

#4: We may never see that Cliffjumper prototype released

Unless you’ve missed it, chances are you’ve seen the super exciting images of a supposed Masterpiece Cliffjumper prototype doing the rounds on the internet. Bet you can’t wait for that to land, eh? Wassat? It was almost four years ago? And there’s been nothing concrete in terms of news since? Yes, in one of the more baffling anecdotes about the line from recent times, it really has been quite some considerable time since the leaked retool of MP-45 was first glimpsed (assuming it’s real!), whether in the initial green test shot form or what appeared to be a much more final fully painted figure. And despite the distinctly muted reception to the Bumblebee version of this mould, there was still plenty of excitement for such an idea, not least because it seemed like we might be about to receive our first licensed Masterpiece Porsche collaboration (which could potentially have led to another particular fan-favourite being given the treatment), but also because this overhauled take on the design looked so much more impressive than the initial outing. Yet here we are, still waiting, and no Cliffjumper in sight. Rumours persist of foul deeds behind the scenes, as online chatter suggests that TakaraTomy parted ways with the factory producing various problem-riddled toys at this time, somehow losing access to moulds such as MP-45 and MP-47 Hound into the bargain (hence no repaints of either having materialised). In truth, there’s no hard evidence for that situation beyond “it makes sense” and He Tell Me. Still, whatever the reality of it all, the little red devil remains on the shelf for now (not your shelf at home, mind, but the proverbial “not currently happening” shelf!), and it appears as though that may well continue to be the case.

#3: The Masterpiece numbering makes no sense

If I had a penny for the number of discussions I’ve sat through where someone attempts to confidently explain the Masterpiece numbering system to me then, well, I’d have a lot of pennies! Yet for all the extensive mental gymnastics, the reality is that TakaraTomy is fairly clearly making this stuff up as they go along, with little to no consideration about a consistent or cohesive sequence of denominations for the toys they’re making. Things started off simple enough, with the ‘main’ releases of the various moulds given sequential numbering (MP-1, MP-2, MP-3 etc.) and any slightly unusual repaints then granted an identifying letter of some kind (such as MP-1B Black Convoy or MP-3G Ghost Starscream), and additional characters or Diaclone alternatives following suit (hence MP-12T Tigertrack). Except then, 2015’s Exhaust release threw that out of the window by being MP-23 instead of MP-20E, which was compounded by MP-26 Road Rage and MP-31 Delta Magnus also did not following the previously established pattern. An added complication came with the so-called ‘+’ repaints in 2016, and MP-14+ being an ‘anime’ colour version of the previously released MP-14 Red Alert. This made sense until MP-36+ debuted as a toy-inspired take on the Megatron design, although perhaps it just meant ‘+’ was the ‘alternate toy/toon deco’ in each case. Except that doesn’t explain the subsequent releases of MP-38+ Burning Convoy (to say nothing of MP-38 Legendary Leader Convoy being an anime-inspired repaint of MP-32!), MP-39+ Spinout (which rather impressively broke both the precedents set by MP-12T Tigertrack and MP-23 Exhaust!), MP-48+ Dark Amber Leo Prime (I thought black repaints got a ‘B’?), MP-52+ Thundercracker (ok, seriously, what are we doing here?), and, perhaps worst of all, MP-52+SW Skywarp (I mean… come on!). All of this leads to the inevitability of stuff like MP-53+B Diaburnout, which must surely be the final nail in the argument that TakaraTomy is doing any of this with a logical thought-through plan for how to identify these toys. Still, it’s been fun to witness!

#2: One Masterpiece toy was designed in just twelve days

Next, we need to discuss one specific Masterpiece toy, which is 2007’s original iteration of the iconic Decepticon leader, the MP-5 Megatron. Much has been said about the figure over the years (including on this very blog just recently, where we maligned it as one of the biggest lemons from the twenty-year-plus roster!). Yet, for all its many faults (and some undeniable strengths, mind), it has to also be acknowledged that this complex beast was conceived under extreme pressure and certainly less than ideal circumstances. In fact, TakaraTomy legend Hisashi Yuki was granted just twelve days to concoct the design for what became MP-5, as he later outlined in a 2014 interview. It seems he was not initially supposed to be in charge of the process, but when he was assigned the job, the deadline came as part of the package, and he had to quickly crack on! This is despite the size of the product not having been decided before the plan came to scale it to match MP-1 Convoy and reissue that figure with a new trailer component in the form of MP-4. Unfortunately for Yuki, he became responsible for this design, too, and did that in just one evening due to the Japanese holidays and the required schedule. In the context of all this, he did an amazing job!

#1: MP-3 Starscream was worked on by a toy design legend!

Endless Seekers have become a staple of many Transformers toy lines over the years, but arguably none more so than Masterpiece. After all, we’ve had three separate takes on the design since its inception, with ever-increasing levels of cartoon accuracy in each case. Things were a little different for Starscream’s original debut in 2006, and the intent was clearly to deliver as real-world accurate a jet mode as possible, with few robots in disguise toys outside of Binaltech claiming such a level of accuracy. It may be a bit of an outlier now in Masterpiece terms, but this approach makes all the more sense when you realise that it was famed Japanese mecha legend Shōji Kawamori who pioneered the project, taking the existing MP Starscream plan (which more closely resembled what later become MP-11) and dramatically overhauling it into the detailed MP-3 figure we actually got. Karamori is well-known for having led the design of Super Dimension Fortress Macross, so it makes sense he would look to bring some of that influence here, as evidenced by his devotion to making as accurate a jet form as possible (even sacrificing Starscream’s traditional grey colour scheme in favour of a real-world blue-green F-15E Strike Eagle vibe). Perhaps the most talked-about embellishment is the sizeable hip ‘scabbards’ in robot mode, allowing the rear fin kibble to be removed from the legs. These were largely unpopular at the time (although you could just pop them off if they really bothered you!), but there’s still no denying that MP-3 remains a fascinating ideal in Transformers history now, and features what must still be the finest jet form ever conceived in the brand’s tenure.

So that’s our list!

TTFN