This new MP-52 Seeker mold has been pretty sensational with the quick release of Starscream and Thundercracker, and now Takara have completed the core trio with the release of Skywarp. I for one am grateful that Takara did not take years to release these three like they did with the MP-11 mold!
Click through below to watch my video review over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel. Make sure to give the video a thumbs up, and also subscribe to the channel to stay tuned for upcoming Masterpiece reviews!
Packaging and accessories are pretty much as per the previous MP-52 releases. I'm still disappointed that Takara did not include a Reflector camera accessory for the Seekers to hold, but included yet another Megatron gun. The paint app of that is still too dark I think, especially compared to the guns provided with the MP-11 mold (see my video for the comparison).
Either way, the inclusion of the base is nice for those that like to display in jet mode. The thruster effect accessories attach easily enough and look decent. The face plates are essentially the same as those provided for Thundercracker, although the paint app is more of a flat finish as opposed to the slightly metallic finish on Thundercracker. I actually like that there is the slight variance between the three characters.
There was a lot of discussion upon early photos of Skywarp pointing out the distinct change in the hue of the purple. Not just between the old figure, but also compared to many of the promotional photos from Takara. But what I noticed was that those same promotional photos had different colour timing depending on the source website of the images.
I found that the same images from Japanese retail sites showed the purple to be the same as the released figure, with a highly saturated purple that is high in contrast. But then other US based website and some HK based websites showed the promotional photos with a much more lilac-like hue more similar to the previous MP-11 colour.
From those promotional photos, I was actually looking forward to the lilac colour, as I thought it suited the cartoon matte finish of recent figures. Early in hand photos showed the purple having an almost blue colour to it, so I was quite disappointed.
But once I got the figure in hand, it's very strange that the colour to your own eyes appears different to how it appears in photos and videos! The colour in hand is actually very nice indeed, and makes the figure stand out much more than the lilac colour.
The difference in purple is even more apparent in bot mode, and I think it's gorgeous! It matches better with the darker purple with the MP-29+ Shockwave, and is a nice contrast against purple Decepticon diorama backdrops.
As with the other two MP-52 releases, the paint app overall is fantastic. The very dark grey paint over most of the figure gives a much more premium look than the plain unpainted black shiny plastic of the MP-11 version.
I also love the touch of teal on the kneecaps, and the nice lighter grey around the air intakes and torso. I didn't have too many paint defects on my copy, apart from a tiny scratch on his shoulder. So overall, I'm really happy with how Skywarp turned out.
In terms of build quality, I'd have to say that Takara has improved with each MP-52 release. The joints on Skywarp are firm, but not too tight. The plastic also feels more sturdy, and I did not have any issues with cracking at the base of the rear stabilisers or the ankles.
I think these three new Seekers really are the pinnacle of cartoon accuracy in the MP series. Just the organic aesthetic nature of the design, the magical way in which the legs and feet transform, and the nice poseability really make these shine on display. Yes the torso sequence to fold the jet mode cockpit into the chest is still a pain in the arse, but the final bot mode result is superb.
The paint app really make these three standout, especially from their far more plasticky MP-11 predecessors. If you're an MP collector and love the G1 cartoon, then I could not recommend these enough. Seeing these standing on your shelf will definitely bring out all that 80s cartoon nostalgia! Here's hoping they announce a new Soundwave figure soon in this new cartoon-accurate style!
When Takara finally announced all the Seeker coneheads in MP form, I was so happy just to finally be able to complete the original G1 cartoon Seeker cast in MP form. The releases of Ramjet and Thrust were plagued with controversy over QC issues that resulted in incorrect shoulder assembly on Ramjet and loose hips on Thrust.
For the most part, the Dirge release has rectified those previous issues, but it's still not a perfect figure by any means. Click through below to watch my full video review on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel. More pics and my thoughts are also further below.
The box art is the same classy MP design (thankfully they haven't decided to change that like they did with the collector card art!). Accessories are a bare minimum with the recent MP-11 releases. The cluster bombs are a nice addition for jet mode, but pretty useless to me for bot mode.
Jet mode looks pretty nice, but mine did have a weird issue with the knees that prevented me from being able to get the brown wide panels to sit flush with the wings. I tried various knee angles, but just couldn't get it right. I gave up in the end since I always display the core cast in bot mode.
And overall in bot mode Dirge does look pretty nice. I do wish they had given him more paint application, since he does seem very plasticky. Some premium glossy or metallic paint would've given him a more premium feel.
At least this time there's no issues with the shoulders and loose hips. Everything feels firm and sturdy. I would be very careful with the folding joints on the wings though. I've barely touched mine, but can see small stress marks on some joints already, so be careful there.
I do like the head sculpt, and the overall body proportions I think are the best out of all the conehead variants on the market. The 3rd party choices all have something off about them for me, such as heads that are too small, or bodies that are too short or too tall. I think the MP-11 mold strikes a decent enough balance for cartoon accuracy. Some hate the large knees, but I think they look pretty great.
Together with his conehead brethren, they look awesome on display. There's enough mold retooling to make them interesting, and the differences with the standard MP-11 Starscream mold also sets them apart nicely.
For now, I'm glad they've completed the Seekers I wanted in the MP series. No doubt I'm sure the future will hold some new design, but hopefully that's a few years off and Takara can release more characters from the G1 Season 1 and 2 character list. Definitely looking forward to Sunstreaker!
It's been a while since MP-11NR Ramjet was released, and there was the major assembly issues with the shoulders that tainted many figures received by collectors. Luckily mine was OK, but I definitely hoped the new MP-11NT Thrust would have no issues.
Overall, it's another solid release by Takara, with no major QC issues on mine either. There are a couple of nitpicks after playing around with it a bit more though. But click through the link below to watch my full video review on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel.
The packaging is the standard TF Masterpiece style, which I still love. There aren't too many accessories though, but it's been like that with these MP-11 variants now. The price is certainly high, but we can only put that against the supposed "exclusive" nature of the release. I'm not totally convinced of its exclusivity, and it wouldn't really affect my purchase anyway. I had to have these official coneheads in my MP collection, and I believe they look the best compared to the other 3rd party options out there.
If you watch the video, you'll see the alt mode too, which is great (I forgot to take some alt mode photos!). People have complained about the looseness of the torso section that slides down to the waist. Mine was loose out of the box, but I simply pushed harder on the shoulders and the slide mechanism clicked into place and it's as stable as the other MP-11 variants (not the original MP-11 that has a very loose torso that does not click into place).
The main issue for me really is that I think the maroon coloured plastic seems to be a softer type of plastic that scratches and marks very easily. After I transformed into alt mode, sliding the torso section back down was rather difficult, and I ended up scratching the sides of the cockpit. It's not visible in bot mode luckily, but still annoying.
I actually prefer Ramjet, and since mine had no assembly issues, I actually think it's overall a better quality product than Thrust! It would be nice if both figures had more paint app for that extra premium feel, but I think most of the MP-11 figures lack paint apps in general.
Despite the plastic quality, I think the overall aesthetic of Thrust is just perfect from the G1 cartoon. And it fits in beautifully with the other Decepticon MP figures, just as you'd expect any of the MPs to all look like they're from a consistent series.
The 3rd party offerings are decent stand-alone figures, but just don't have that cartoon MP aesthetic. I think they're mostly too thin, with small heads and lanky proportions. With Thrust, I think the proportions actually look more natural in scale with the body. He does have the large kneepads, white face, and yellow eyes, but they're the reason he simply looks like he's stepped out of the TV screen! I love it!
And I love the little smirk he has on the face sculpt. I like those little differences rather than all the MP-11 figures have the same expression!
In the end, all I need now is MP Dirge to be released to complete my G1 cartoon Seekers, and of course the upcoming MP-36 Megatron release! The update to the photo above with those two will pretty much make me happy enough that I could stop collecting MP Decepticons! But hopefully they continue to make more characters from the cartoon through 2017 - should be an interesting year for sure!
It took Takara seemingly forever to finally release Thundercracker in the MP-11 mold. After the exclusive and expensive Skywarp release, they pretty much have done the same with Thundercracker. For the price it's pretty lacklustre, but the baby blue cartoon accurate paint app just looks so damn good!
Together with Starscream and Skywarp, the original trio of Seekers from the G1 cartoon really do look fantastic.
Here's my full video review going over some of the QC issues and my overall thoughts on the figure. Scroll down further for more pics and thoughts too :)
The packaging is the usual MP style, which is classic due to its overall simplistic design.
In alt mode, the classic G1 colours really do look sensational. The only part that's not really screen accurate is the black nose cone, so I'm not sure why they bothered going with the black and not leaving it as blue too.
The bot mode is still fantastic too, but the QC drops in standard due to visible plastic sprue marks. The same marks can be seem on Starscream and Skywarp, but there they seemed to be finished off much better so are not so noticeable. On Thundercracker, especially around the shins they are quite noticeable.
But as I said above, the moment you see all of them together on display, any thoughts about QC are pretty much forgotten since they just look amazing together. I'm definitely glad to finally have them all in the collection, and now look forward to Ramjet and the other coneheads in 2016!
Big Transformers haul that just came in today. Great start to the weekend! Reviews coming soon, so stay tuned to the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel for all the updates :)
Finally got another MP Seeker in recently with the Hasbro Asia exclusive release of MP-11SW Skywarp. Overall, a great addition to the MP cast with another core Decepticon from Season 1 of the classic cartoon. There are some minor nitpicks of mine though.
Here's my full video review - hope you can check it out, subscribe, like, and comment with your thoughts on the loyal warrior servant :)
And here are some pics with the other MP Decepticons. They are now sorely missing their fearless leader!!
