Okay, rather than spam the Issue Discussion thread I've decided to start a new thread. This is the place to talk about Transformers (and any other models, action figures, etc. that you want to).

As some of you already know, I received my Takara Masterpiece Megatron recently. He's unmodded (no orange tip added to his gun barrel) and made it through customs without a hitch. Here's my review of the figure:

Sculpt: Masterpiece Megatron is a thing of beauty. He's the most cartoon accurate transformable Megatron we've ever received. I specify transformable because the Revoltech Megatron and various PVC figures look more like the animated version, but don't actually transform. And what's the point in having a Transformer that doesn't transform?   The head sculpt is particularly great, really capturing classic Megatron's look. He's not quite perfect though, as his legs are a bit spindly and his fusion cannon/scope is fricking HUGE (but lighter than you'd think).  The various panels on his body pop off (and on, thankfully) very easily, so it's not easy to handle him and almost impossible for a child to play with him. Not that you'd want a little kid playing with him anyway, as he's quite expensive and a bit fragile around his joints. Still, Masterpiece Megatron will be the centerpiece of any Transformer collection (unless you happen to have Masterpiece/20th Anniversary/DVD Optimus Prime).   Megs' alt mode is a very accurate if over sized recreation of a Walther P-38. That accuracy is what caused the import problems in some places.  The gun is too ginormous to be mistaken for the real deal up close, but from a distance I could see people being fooled. The bot mode is the real highlight though.

Articulation: Megs is articulated like crazy. Ball-jointed head and shoulders, cut elbows and wrists, individual finger articulation, forward and side movement in the hips and legs, cut knees and ball jointed feet (at the ankles). The only thing he's really missing is waist articulation. But he's still got more posing possibilities than many figures out there (such as most Marvel Select and DC Direct figures). And he also transforms.

Paint:  Pretty basic. No shading or washes but neither are they really necessary. The Decepticon logo is cleanly painted on his chest and the various buttons on his torso look fine.

Transformation: Ugh!  Masterpiece Megatron makes the Alternator/Binaltech transformations seem like kids stuff. He is a royal pain in the ass to transform.  He came with an eight page instruction book (written in Japanese). The little panels on his body pop out very easily (have I mentioned that already? ) and the transformation itself is counter-intuitive. Make sure you have a good hour or more to spare if you want to attempt to transform this *** (though once you get the hang of the origami like transformation it should only take 30 minutes).  Do yourself a favor and just keep him in bot mode. He looks better in that form anyway.

Accessories: Megatron comes with an energon mace with a loooooong chain, as a tribute to the pilot episode" More than Meets the Eye, part two."  He also has the lightsaber and gun he used against Prime in the 1986 Transformers movie as well as a little Kreemzek figure.  Megatron's fusion cannon/scope has a button on it that activates a very bright, if not well focused light to simulate firing the weapon.

Cost: Extremely pricey, especially since he's an import (currently between $120 and $180, from what I've seen, a bit less if you had the foresight to pre-order him). The chances of him getting a US release are slim, due to his transformation into a realistic looking gun, and even if he was released here he'd probably get a Rainbow Brite repaint. Just look at how Classics Megatron was painted, and he turned into a nerf gun.   Masterpiece Megatron is only for the serious collector who wants a cool display piece (or for those with a lot disposable income). 

Overall: A truly great figure worthy of the Masterpiece title. He's not easy to get a hold of, but if you can find him and are willing to pay the price he's a wonderful addition to your collection.

 

Currently the rumor floating around is that the next Masterpiece after the upcoming Skywarp is going to be Grimlock.  That would be the coolest thing since... ever.

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Dungeon Crawl Inc. - It's the most fun you can have without three midgets and a whip!

Clearly he isn't a Transformer to transform that often. If he's more awkward than the Alternators then he must pretty terrible. The first Alternator I got (Smokescreen) looks great but I can never get it to turn back into a car properly, the legs don't seem to fold up properly into the rear of the car.
A masterpiece Grimlock would look so entirely cool, I probably could never afford it though.

The last Transformer I got was movie Optimus Prime. His transformation is pretty good. Not extremely hard but reasonably challenging, satisfying is the word I would use. I like the sound effects it makes when the head comes up and I like the truck noises it makes when you press the button. The cannon fires quite powerfully (movie Blackout knows this all too well). Movie Optimus stands around a foot tall and stands pretty well even on soft carpet. He's pretty articulate (as I said I had him in a dancing pose and holding hands) though the head doesn't really move. I absolutely love Prime's truck mode, whatever you think about the flames, I believe the truck mode is great.
A brilliant bonus is that batteries come supplied and are already in place to make the sound effects, a thoughtful touch by Hasbro.

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Scratchit: But he's a cripple!
Blackadder: He's not a cripple, Mrs Scratchit. Occasionally saying "Phew! My leg hurts!" when he remembers to wouldn't fool Baldrick!

VkmSpouge:

Clearly he isn't a Transformer to transform that often. If he's more awkward than the Alternators then he must pretty terrible. The first Alternator I got (Smokescreen) looks great but I can never get it to turn back into a car properly, the legs don't seem to fold up properly into the rear of the car.

I feel ya, brother.   The first Alternator I got was a loose Jazz (Meister) off ebay.  Trying to transform him without instructions wasn't exactly fun.  I finally found some online and can now transform him without aid (though it takes awhile, since I usually make at least one wrong turn in the process).  I still haven't quite gotten the hang of transforming the Hot Rod (Rodimus) alternator I got recently, but he's still a lot easier than MP Megatron. Having read other's reviews, I knew Megs would be a headache to transform but I wanted to say I had transformed him at least once. Now that I have, he's staying in bot mode. If I need Megatron in gun mode I'll use the one that came with Masterpiece Prime. It's actually scaled so a transformer can hold him. Mass shifting ftw!

VkmSpouge:

A masterpiece Grimlock would look so entirely cool, I probably could never afford it though.

One good thing about Takara only releasing a couple Masterpiece Transformers per year is that it lets you save up to afford the expensive bastards.

VkmSpouge:

The last Transformer I got was movie Optimus Prime. His transformation is pretty good. Not extremely hard but reasonably challenging, satisfying is the word I would use. I like the sound effects it makes when the head comes up and I like the truck noises it makes when you press the button. The cannon fires quite powerfully (movie Blackout knows this all too well). Movie Optimus stands around a foot tall and stands pretty well even on soft carpet. He's pretty articulate (as I said I had him in a dancing pose and holding hands) though the head doesn't really move. I absolutely love Prime's truck mode, whatever you think about the flames, I believe the truck mode is great.
A brilliant bonus is that batteries come supplied and are already in place to make the sound effects, a thoughtful touch by Hasbro.

How's the auto-morph feature, or whatever they call it? I've heard that it sometimes makes transforming the figures more difficult.

I was debating on whether or not to get movie Prime but decided not to.  I don't see them improving upon Masterpiece Optimus Prime anytime soon and I resent the flames painted on movie Prime.

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Dungeon Crawl Inc. - It's the most fun you can have without three midgets and a whip!

The auto-morph feature is rather cool. It's basically the head coming up and the chest widening. So I set Optimus Prime up, transform him into robot mode and then release the auto-morph move and the head comes up and there is some transforming noise and a couple of LEDs in Prime's chest flash, quite good.
Strangely on the boxes of Ratchet and Blackout it says there is auto-morph but there simply isn't, that's a bald face lie.

About your Masterpiece Megatron you might want to watch for it rusting. I read an article on Seibertron.com about some people seeing rust develop on their Megatrons.

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Scratchit: But he's a cripple!
Blackadder: He's not a cripple, Mrs Scratchit. Occasionally saying "Phew! My leg hurts!" when he remembers to wouldn't fool Baldrick!

VkmSpouge:

The auto-morph feature is rather cool. It's basically the head coming up and the chest widening. So I set Optimus Prime up, transform him into robot mode and then release the auto-morph move and the head comes up and there is some transforming noise and a couple of LEDs in Prime's chest flash, quite good.
Strangely on the boxes of Ratchet and Blackout it says there is auto-morph but there simply isn't, that's a bald face lie.

Interesting. Maybe the auto-morph feature is just on one version of the figures and they were lazy and reused the box art. Do you have deluxe or voyager sized figures?

VkmSpouge:

About your Masterpiece Megatron you might want to watch for it rusting. I read an article on Seibertron.com about some people seeing rust develop on their Megatrons.

Yeah, I read about that a few days ago.   No rust on mine so far, but just to be safe I put some WD-40 on his metal bits. Hopefully he should remain free of "cosmic rust."

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Dungeon Crawl Inc. - It's the most fun you can have without three midgets and a whip!

Ratchet and Blackout are voyager size, Prime is of course leader size. I don't have any deluxe sizes yet though I would very more like to get Barricade because he looks good and comes with Frenzy.

One bone I had to pick with these Transformers is the packaging. I had to cut through over a dozen bits of sticky tape, several rubber bands and untwisted a half dozen wires to get the Transformers free of their box. Some of the wires had been knotted and were impossible to undo so I had saw through them using my scissors. I know its nice to have toys securely wrapped but this is taking things to extremes.

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Scratchit: But he's a cripple!
Blackadder: He's not a cripple, Mrs Scratchit. Occasionally saying "Phew! My leg hurts!" when he remembers to wouldn't fool Baldrick!

I got my paws on the new Walmart exclusive Masterpiece Starscream repaint figure today.   So here's my review:

Sculpt: As is typical with Masterpiece Transformers, MP Starscream looks awesome. One of my favorite features is his head, which can flip around to reveal a second face with a smirk on it, which suits Starscream perfectly. His jet mode is an F-15 and it looks great. It could almost pass for a model jet painted for an airshow, rather than a Transformer. The flaps all work, the landing gear comes down, a panel on the back lifts up, the cockpit opens, the missiles on his wings are removable and the nose cone opens up. He's not without his flaws though.  For one thing, at 8 1/2 inches tall (to the top of his head, ignoring his wings and shoulder bits which stand up a bit higher) Starscream is tiny compared to Masterpiece Megatron and Prime, both of whom are just shy of a foot.  He'll still tower over any Alternators you might have, but he looks like a dwarf when he's standing next to MP Megs. Proportionately Starscream is way out of scale. It's impossible to estimate Masterpiece Megatron's real height since without mass-shifting he'd be tiny (since he transforms into a gun) but Masterpiece Prime is a good comparison. Starscream should be twice his current size in order to be properly scaled with Prime in their alt modes, however that would make him huge in bot form (17 inches or so).  The biggest problem though is the quality of plastic he's made from.  Starscream feels very fragile, like a model airplane.  I've heard tales of pieces breaking, so be careful when handling or transforming him. Definitely don't allow a little child to play with him unless you don't care if he gets broke. He's for display only!  

Articulation: Masterpiece Starscream isn't as articulated as MP Prime or Megatron but he still has plenty of movement. He has a ball-jointed head (with aforementioned swappable faces), full shoulder movement, cut biceps, bendable elbows, bendable (but non-rotating) wrists, finger articulation (multiple digits!), some slight waist movement, full hip movement, cut calves, and bendable knees. However, the extra bits around his legs limit his mobility and he has some trouble balancing. Otherwise he has a nice range of movement. And he turns into a jet.

Paint:  The original Japanese version of Masterpiece Starscream made by Takara had a weird green and maroon color scheme but this Walmart exclusive version has his proper G1 colors (white, blue, and red).  This version also has the Decepticon symbol and stripes painted on wings and a nice wash that brings out all the panel lines on him, along with some scorch marks on his back (which are much more subtle than 20th Anniversary Prime's battle damage paint). 

Transformation: Complicated but not frustrating, getting Starscream into jet mode and back shouldn't take more than a couple minutes. The hardest part is not breaking him while you transform him, especially when you first transform him and are unsure of every step. Just follow the directions and take your time and you should be able to keep him in one piece.

Accessories: Starscream comes with a nice base with a plastic stand that you can use to prop him up in either jet or robot mode. He also comes with a tiny Dr. Archeville figure (A G1 character with ties to Starscream) who can sit in his cockpit and a little clamp you can attach to him in jet mode which enable him to hold the Megatron gun that came with Masterpiece Prime.

Cost: At $49.99 Starscream is a steal compared to most Masterpiece Transformers. Even if you can't find him at your local Walmart (or don't have a local Walmart), he still goes for around 65-80 bucks on eBay, which isn't bad either.

Overall: The fragile nature of this figure along with his scale and balance issues brings down my opinion of it somewhat, but it's offset by the cheap price.  And honestly, what Transfan is going to pass up on a G1 accurate Masterpiece Starscream?  Now all we need is a Masterpiece Soundwave... 

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Dungeon Crawl Inc. - It's the most fun you can have without three midgets and a whip!

Masterpiece Starscream sounds very good. At $50 it's a very good price. Looking at pictures of him he look good, certainly a great toy to have in the collection. Love the smirk.

I recently purchased movie Jazz and Megatron. Jazz is quite nice. Oddly I don't like the Pontiac Solitce in real life because of its looks but as a toy it and Jazz look great. Jazz transforms well and stands up quite well too.
 Megatron is different. His alt.mod looks fine and his robot mode is scary. When transforming Megatron its good up until the point comes to fold his legs under the wings. This is hidelously bad. Trying to bend the knees, hips, ankles to the right angle, rotating them, try not to get the little plastic spur thing on his legs get caught on his hip joint (and it always does). It is such a pain in the arse, almost up there with Alternators. Still he goes well alongside movie Optimus Prime and they can happily beat the robotic *** out of each other

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Scratchit: But he's a cripple!
Blackadder: He's not a cripple, Mrs Scratchit. Occasionally saying "Phew! My leg hurts!" when he remembers to wouldn't fool Baldrick!

Since I've already done Megatron and Starscream I figured I should write a review of Masterpiece Prime as well.

Sculpt: Perfect. Just perfect. At almost a foot tall MP Prime's bot mode is a sight to behold. Just about everything about it is a flawless recreation of G1 Optimus. The U.S. releases have shorter smokestacks then the Japanese versions to conform with American safety laws. However, despite this difference, they are all virtually the same figure and all of them look great.  Prime's alt mode is a cab-over-engine semi truck. While G1 accurate it's not as realistic as the alternators and lacks side windows and doors. Still, it's a decent looking truck, espeicially if you have a trailer to attach to it.

Articulation: Ball jointed head, full shoulder articulation, cut biceps, bendable elbows, full wrist movement, individual finger articulation, rotating waist, full hip movement, cut calves, bendable knees and ball jointed feet.  MP Prime can really strike a pose.    As an added bonus his faceplate moves up and down when you touch a button on the back of his head to simulate talking. There are also flipup panels in his arms which have little monitors for communicating with his fellow Transformers. MP-01 and 20th Prime had stickers of Bumblebee on one side and Starscream on the other while MP-04 and DVD Prime have Grimlock and Megatron respectively.  Oh, almost forgot... His chest opens up to reveal the Matrix of Leadership.

Paint:  Nothing too complex, just a basic clean paint job. There are variations of colors of other minor details depending depending on which version you get though. The U.S. release, called 20th Anniversary Prime, has battle damage paint. While this is not too dramatic I still find it a bit annoying and detracts slightly from the toy's look. The later 20th Anniversary DVD Prime has painted blue eyes rather than the vac-metal blue of the previous primes along with a more orange paint job. He also has painted gray metal parts instead of chrome, which makes him look cheaper. The color of his ion blaster varies in accordance with which Prime you have as well: Masterpiece Primes have gray guns (as did the first few 20th Primes), 20th Primes have black guns, which makes them the most G1 accurate in that respect, and the DVD Prime comes with a blue and yellow gun. 

Transformation: Intricate but very intuitive and fun, MP Prime is the gold standard for transformations. It doesn't take long to get the hang of it and can be done relatively fast, considering how many moving parts he has. He's also sturdy enough that you don't need to worry and breaking him. He's currently the only Masterpiece Transformer you can say that about.

Accessories: Optimus comes with his ion blaster, an energon axe (like in the pilot episode "More than Meets the Eye. part 2"), and the Matrix of Leadership hidden in his chest (which lights up with the touch of a button. He also come with Megatron in gun mode with removable stock, silencer, and scope, as well as an adjustable handle. DVD Prime comes with an additional base that makes sounds when you touch a button. These include classic transforming sounds and a couple Prime quotes but since it's not Peter Cullen doing the voice it's kind of lame.

Cost: The Masterpiece Primes are pretty expensive now, especially MP-04 who comes with a trailer. The U.S. releases are generally cheaper, especially the DVD Prime who can still be found at retail. So price ranges between $50 and $300 depending on which version you get. Personally I'd go with 20th Anniv Prime or MP-01, since they look good but won't put you in the poor house (they tend to go for around $120 - $150 on eBay).

Overall: The best Transformer ever made. Nuff' said.

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Dungeon Crawl Inc. - It's the most fun you can have without three midgets and a whip!

Sounds a really good toy of Optimus Prime. How does his size compare to that of the other Masterpiece Transformers?

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Scratchit: But he's a cripple!
Blackadder: He's not a cripple, Mrs Scratchit. Occasionally saying "Phew! My leg hurts!" when he remembers to wouldn't fool Baldrick!

VkmSpouge:

Sounds a really good toy of Optimus Prime. How does his size compare to that of the other Masterpiece Transformers?

He's about a foot tall in bot mode, standing eye level with Masterpiece Megatron and towering over MP Starscream. He also scales very well with Alternators, in both alt and bot modes, so most people (myself included) display him with their Alternators. 

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Dungeon Crawl Inc. - It's the most fun you can have without three midgets and a whip!