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I was wondering if there was any kind of consensus on what the best and affordable Optimus Primes are? I have the masterpiece Hot Rod and Bumblebee and would love to have a cartoon/G1 Prime but the masterpiece one is over $400 which is really high at least for me. Just curious if there were some other good tried and true options out there. I know next to nothing about the 3rd party versions.

The one tfcrafter just posted looks amazing!
 
superdoug said:
I was wondering if there was any kind of consensus on what the best and affordable Optimus Primes are? I have the masterpiece Hot Rod and Bumblebee and would love to have a cartoon/G1 Prime but the masterpiece one is over $400 which is really high at least for me. Just curious if there were some other good tried and true options out there. I know next to nothing about the 3rd party versions.

The one tfcrafter just posted looks amazing!
Click to expand...
Thanks! In terms of MP G1 Optimus Primes, you have several options.

Official:

MP-01 Optimus: the first Masterpiece figure, it was revolutionary for its time but honestly hasn't aged well, and doesn't scale with current MPs.
MP-10 Optimus: A very solid figure but since the MP line has shifted to a cartoon style, it might look out of place with the newest MPs.
MP-44 Optimus: The current MP Optimus. Looks solid but in my opinion it's overengineered, leading to breakages in the knees. Additionally, while it's coated in glossy paint, it also makes it more prone to paint chipping. It's also extremely expensive as you've said.

3rd party:

Transform Element TE-01: This is the one I posted. It's heavy and chunky due to die-cast components. It's very cartoon accurate and features a gun with an LED.
Magic Square MS-01: It's been discontinued for a while so prices on the aftermarket have gone up like crazy. Not as heavy as the TE-01 and not as accurate, although it is highly articulated.

There are also KO versions of MP-10 and MP-44, but the MP-44 KO is made of very soft plastic, which has caused a lot of breakages.
My recommendation is the TE-01. It'll set you back $105-$150 depending on the retailer, but it comes with everything you need: 2 heads depicting different cartoon eras, blaster, and axe. You should still be able to find it on ebay. Hope this helps!
 
tfcrafter said:
Thanks! In terms of MP G1 Optimus Primes, you have several options.

Official:

MP-01 Optimus: the first Masterpiece figure, it was revolutionary for its time but honestly hasn't aged well, and doesn't scale with current MPs.
MP-10 Optimus: A very solid figure but since the MP line has shifted to a cartoon style, it might look out of place with the newest MPs.
MP-44 Optimus: The current MP Optimus. Looks solid but in my opinion it's overengineered, leading to breakages in the knees. Additionally, while it's coated in glossy paint, it also makes it more prone to paint chipping. It's also extremely expensive as you've said.

3rd party:

Transform Element TE-01: This is the one I posted. It's heavy and chunky due to die-cast components. It's very cartoon accurate and features a gun with an LED.
Magic Square MS-01: It's been discontinued for a while so prices on the aftermarket have gone up like crazy. Not as heavy as the TE-01 and not as accurate, although it is highly articulated.

There are also KO versions of MP-10 and MP-44, but the MP-44 KO is made of very soft plastic, which has caused a lot of breakages.
My recommendation is the TE-01. It'll set you back $105-$150 depending on the retailer, but it comes with everything you need: 2 heads depicting different cartoon eras, blaster, and axe. You should still be able to find it on ebay. Hope this helps!
Click to expand...
there's also Yuexing, Model Wizard and Yes Model but they are celshaded.
 
**** no luck. Crack in the rear stabiliser like others have reported. Hope it doesnt get worse.


20210706_142112b.jpg


20210706_142152b.jpg
 
MP-52 is a massive improvement over MP-11. Thank god my only QC issue was the hairline crack at the base of the rear stabiliser. No issues with the ankles.
The transformation is still a pain the arse with some tricky parts getting it all pegged together. But once done, it feels so fantastically solid!
And wow that paint app and cartoon body proportions are so frickin awesome!

IMG_3067b.jpg
 
koolkollectibleskhai said:
MP-52 is a massive improvement over MP-11. Thank god my only QC issue was the hairline crack at the base of the rear stabiliser. No issues with the ankles.
The transformation is still a pain the arse with some tricky parts getting it all pegged together. But once done, it feels so fantastically solid!
And wow that paint app and cartoon body proportions are so frickin awesome!

View attachment 530325
Click to expand...
Agreed and thanks for taking this comparison photo - I hate MP-11 so much I couldn't even bring myself to take him out of airplane mode for the purpose of snapping a photo :p And the front view doesn't even show what I think are the most critical improvements both functionally and aesthetically - which is making the tail fins and nose cone disappear in robot mode. Amazing what articulation a figure can have when he's not a walking pile of vehicle kibble!

My first time transforming MP-52 was a horrible hour-long experience, I think in large part due to PTSD from Masterpiece Hound always being one step away from crumbling in your hands. But now that I've developed some confidence in the durability of this mold I've come to enjoy the transformation. It does have some annoying steps you have to do in a very particular order or you'll have to back up, and I'm not a fan of steps that rely on pure memory instead of intuitive design - like which direction the nose cone rotates. But once you memorize the tricks it's all pretty straightforward. That and a lot of the difficult to snap together bits on mine kind of "broke in" after the first go around.

But yeah, a super solid Masterpiece release. I like him so much I went ahead and pulled the trigger on Thundercracker and would do the same with Skywarp if they'd change the bizarre mismatched cockpit to match the others. It's such a dynamic, expressive mold that it won't be difficult to find three very different ways to display all three.
 
Here's my look at the new MP-52 Starscream, with a comparison against the old MP-11 Starscream. Amazing what 10 years in toy engineering can do! Watch out for cracks - luckily mine only has one on the rear stabiliser, so no issues in bot mode. Hope you can check out my thoughts :D

 
i'm not a fan of sophisticated panel lines, it wasn't like that for the earlier MPs, not sure when they decided to go full panel lines like they did with the cheaper lines, glad that they are now back to clean lines, too bad pricing has gone up by 3 folds i have already stopped the line. I'm just waiting for Jazz and at the moment the metal puzzle Jazz is taking the spot lol.
 
the new starscream is the proper starscream we should have had all along. Better late than never.

I do wish they would have stuck with the MP01, MP05 scale when doing the MP36, MP44 and now MP52

Regardless, its nice to see some G1 attention given and has got me rewatching the old classic cartoons and as a bonus my 4 year old son is now hooked as well!!!
 

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