There is a rumor about MP combiner these 2 days

[xueyue2]

I know there are always rumors about MP combiner, so I usually don't pay much attention to these.

This morning I actually saw someone post a photo apparently is constructicon team in their vehicle mode in Baidu, very early development stage, which I just laughed at it and closed the post. (Now I can't find it anymore, might be deleted.... make this more suspicious)

Just now I saw someone from TGFC again saying this, what he says matchs what I saw this morning in Baidu, so let me translate his post here:

http://club.tgfcer.net/thread-7271868-1-1.html

关注微博的可能昨晚就知道了，已经有人暗示了。
Anyone pay attention to Weibo might already know this from a hint last night

确实难以想象，还是套出，得2500起吧
It is hard to image, MP combiner will be released in a set, I guess the price will be RMB 2500 +.

另外，有极少数人有灰模图，不知道过几天会不会流出。
Very few people actually has the gray mold pictures, don't know if they will release (these pics) in the next few days or not.

追加：MP合体包括大力神在内，三个项目开发中，目前进度只有大力神。

Plus: right now there are 3 projects for MP combiners, only Devastator project is making progress.

[Shepp]

With the success of CW, and the countless 3rd party combiners, I think there might be some validity to an MP combiner being in the works.

Having one released is a completely different story.

Devastator is so iconic, that eventually there will be one. Considering Devastator doesn't have a scramble-city setup, it doesn't have to be modular and reduces design complexity.

Bruticus would be another iconic combiner, same with Predaking. Both would sell like hotcakes. I don't think there's as big a demand for the other combiners.

Here's the bigger question: would it be a box-set release from the get-go, or individuals with a re-issued box set?

But we just received a large Devastator figure, so this might be a couple of years off, with the other two even farther.

[positivelyken]

This is exciting news if true, but it raises a lot of questions. Would it be a horrendously expensive box set or a series of six individual releases? Is there a licensing issue around the likeness of the construction vehicles? Would the extra parts (chest shield, hands, head, etc) be integrated into the individual bots?

CW Devastator has its weaknesses, but the designer claimed he incorporated some MP-style ideas into the overall design. Plus it is more less to scale with MP figures already. So if there's going to be an official MP Devastator, I wonder how different it would be in terms of transformation and appearance compared to the CW version.

[The7thParallel]

You would have to sell them separately. The cost, otherwise, would scare both buyers and shareholders alike.

[xueyue2]

Originally Posted by positivelyken

This is exciting news if true, but it raises a lot of questions. Would it be a horrendously expensive box set or a series of six individual releases? Is there a licensing issue around the likeness of the construction vehicles? Would the extra parts (chest shield, hands, head, etc) be integrated into the individual bots?

CW Devastator has its weaknesses, but the designer claimed he incorporated some MP-style ideas into the overall design. Plus it is more less to scale with MP figures already. So if there's going to be an official MP Devastator, I wonder how different it would be in terms of transformation and appearance compared to the CW version.

The post on TGFC said it will be a box set, and 2500 + RMB, that's roughly 500 CAD +.

The pic I saw this morning, I didn't take it too seriously back then because I could see they are constructicon for sure, but very early stage in design. I was talking to myself "ok, another unknown 3rd party jump to the game", then just close the post. Just now I checked my firefox history, was able to find the post, but it was deleted in Baidu, only 404 left now.

[predahank]

interesting
If it does happen, I wonder if they'll scale it like the toyworld offering

[funkmasterke]

Originally Posted by xueyue2

The post on TGFC said it will be a box set, and 2500 + RMB, that's roughly 500 CAD +.

Yeah that seems a little steep. Well the Soul of Chogokin line is almost that expensive for the more complicated releases and people still buy those.

So maybe, but I would imagine they would split them up as I would think the time put into the individual robots would be wasted on a set.

[Darth Cylon]

Hasui Shogo san did say that he used some of his personal ideas of he thought could be MP Constructions/Devastator when he designed UW Devastor. No doubt Takara is using the Generations line to experience some simplified MP designs.

Scale-wise, if Takara is sticking to the G1 scale chart, then each contructicon will be roughly the same height as MP Ironhide/Inferno. They will be shorter even than Shockwave. But I think the decisions will be given to the combined form first rather then the individual.



And I think it will be released individually since the extreme high cost of a box set will simply not maximize sales. Also the timed release will give Takara feed back if there's any issue.

[steamwhistle]

Notably "great" things about construction vehicles: I don't think there are licensing issues, and scale of the vehicle mode doesn't really matter, as each type of vehicle (dump truck, dozer, loader, etc.) is built in varying sizes in real life.

It does seem like UW Constructicons could be improved to MP quality with some upgrades. The transformations could, for the most part, be maintained. A new MP Devastator could be about 10% bigger to enable the design tweaks.

I like the CW/UW Constructicons as they are close to MP scale, and I avoided all but one of the other CWs (as I can't afford everything and) because I felt the scale was too far off for my liking, as I do want my collection to be relatively in-scale, mostly. I picked up CW Combaticons because, well, they were my favourite combiner, and LG Arcee, because she needed to be in my collection. Due to the scale mismatch, and my busy life, I haven't opened them yet.

Oi, I digress.

With recent news of formalizing the "Omega Supreme" naming rights (as I think I recall reading), perhaps we'll get an MP Omega, within the next 18 months, and then an MP Devastator a year after that?

It would be fun if they could follow the G1 release timeline, and then follow those with MP Stunticons and Aerialbots (with Superion's airplane legs facing the right way). It does look like there are exciting times ahead for us!

[down_shift]

Takara designers have said on a few occasions that they wanted to do Devastator and Bruticus in the past. Even CW Devastator started out early as an MP project if I'm not mistaken, but it was obviously reworked for the line.

I've heard from a few designers that Takara has lots planned for 2017, but admittedly none of my discussions have had to do with combiners.