Haven't seen any unfortunately. I wouldn't mind one for myself too!

LOL good job on making it relevant again

Go for the high end Masterpieces and third party figures.

Even more expensive but at least the engineering matches the price (most of the time).

I get your point on third party figures. Some of them are remarkably accurate though - check out figures like Fanstoys Quakewave & Scoria, and X-Transbots Apollyon, and tell me if you see anything spinoff-ish about them

As for MPs, yeah preordering is the way to go. And if you want to subsidize the cost of your purchase even further, you can also order a couple of extra figures at preorder price, and sell them at *slightly* under market price when they're released. This always works, unless the figure ends up being a total flop.

Lastly, third party and MP figures typically hold their value better than other TF lines. So if you ever need your cash back, your MP and third party collection will *usually* get you back a healthy chunk of your cost (and even a profit, if you held on to some high demand figures).

This post has been edited by omichael: Jan 25 2015, 12:42 AM

There are definitely no guarantees when it comes to one's collection retaining its value. But most of the time, MP figures and to a lesser extent reputable third party figures are a safer bet than most other lines.

A big reason is because many of these high end figures are not carried by mainstream retailers, making them less available in the market, and also less likely to get deeply discounted... like what recently happened to Generations Jetfire at Aeon. And to other "acclaimed" non-MP figures, like Generations Springer.

The TRU MPs are an exception to this trend, they go on sale periodically but then also tend to get scalped and go up in value again later. See TRU's MP Grimlock and their last batch of MP10.

It's also quite rare to find a hobby shop offering substantial discounts on MISB MP figures. Especially anything that came after MP10. This in turn helps hold the value of BIB MPs, so they don't drop TOO much.

Not that I'm suggesting a collector should even care too much about market values. It's just for fun. What really matters is the value the owner himself gets out of his collection

This post has been edited by omichael: Jan 27 2015, 07:50 AM

I completely agree with you, it's just that I choose to enjoy my TF hobby in two ways...

Firstly is as you mentioned, appreciating the toys themselves, the engineering, the creative direction, the satisfaction of owning accurate representations of my favorite characters.

But I also enjoy following the trends in the scene. The market conditions and competition among 3P companies. The fans' opinions. And observing what goes up in value, and what doesn't.

It's all quite fascinating to me... how we grown men spend our money and connect with each other around these precisely made pieces of plastic

Looks promising from that blurry pic. Hopefully they don't disappoint with the engineering.

MP Soundwave finally has his playmate...



KFC Transistor is pretty awesome BTW. One of the best paintjobs I've seen on any figure, and fits right in with your MP collection in terms of scale and aesthetics.

The metallic paint does stand out a bit though...

Because Michael Bay's TF universe is unfortunately part of money-grabbing mass pop culture, not passion-driven science fiction.

All those characteristics you pointed out are there to differentiate the characters for less intelligent people with shorter attention spans.

You can almost imagine the meetings they had about this...

One executive probably said "We need the robots to have more personality so kids remember them at the toy store!"

And that's when they came up with cheap differentiators like cigars, racial stereotypes, archetypes like the gruff army sergeant and the ninja, etc.

I don't think it's the designers' fault. It's the executive/marketing department.

Selling off a very small handful of Generations figures (and one AOE):

https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/3486164

So far I'm still waiting for a perfect G1-based Devastator!

Hercules was pretty cool a few years ago, but his engineering is now outdated compared to the newer 3p combiners.

Green Giant is fantastic but scale is a bit off and looks wise also feels more like Devastator-inspired than actual Devastator.

As for this new Hasbro Devy... it's not bad but still hard to get excited when you've been spoiled by third party

Best hope is for a company like Warbotron to make one some day...

This post has been edited by omichael: Feb 3 2015, 07:20 PM

Seconded on Thew! He's the best reviewer IMO. Genuinely funny, never boring, and videos are just the right length.

Peaugh is overrated to me but he's consistent and he gets his reviews out fast.

Reluctant sale ok! He's doing you a favor if you buy it

If you have disposable income, incurable G1 nostalgia, and an appreciation for the highest standard of toy engineering, pretty much every original MP mould is a must-have.

(With the possible exception of MP5 Megatron, and in my unpopular opinion, MP21 Bumblebee.)

Even if a new official MP Megatron comes out - possibly years from now - I don't see how he's going to look much better than X-Transbots Apollyon. Which wipes the floor with any official Megs in existence up to this point...

I share your reservations.

Heard their plastic quality and QC are bad.

But also heard they're determined to get this one right. They seem to be very aware how crucial this figure is to their brand.

So yeah, RM480 gamble... worst case just sell it BIB for a minor loss.

The wait and see approach can backfire because some 3P companies are unreliable when it comes to reissuing their figures.

Some of the best 3P figures - like FT Quakewave - are impossible to find at non-scalper prices.

So too bad for whoever didn't snap it up when it first launched.

I prefer to just buy any figure that looks promising, and then sell later if a better version comes along.

How's the quality? Any buyer's remorse? I been considering getting this guy also because his styling fits perfectly with an MP collection!

I hope they release a Devastator.

That scale and gritty styling would be perfect for Devy... and finally the sorta-nice-but-not-quite-there Green Giant and Hercules can be put to rest.

Their Menasor should be pretty badass too.

MP25 is... Tracks!