Courtesy of a great team work of our 2005 Boards members Cheem The Rup and opoptimus, we can share for you a proper translation of the MP-44 Optimus Prime Ver. 3.0 Designer Team Interview from the new Transformers Generations Book 2019.
A Japanese-to-Chinese translation of this interview surfaced on Baidu, and our very own Cheem The Rup shared it in our forums with a fast Google translation. A few hours later, 2005 Boards user opoptimus was kind to translate all the interview from Chinese to English for all of us. The interview cover some interesting facts and trivia about the process design of the new MP-44 Optimus Prime mold:
- Planning for this Masterpiece started while back on December, 2016.
- How they worked the G1 cartoon proportions in both modes.
- Innovation in design and articulation.
- Trivia about all the accessories included.
But we don’t want to spoil anything else, so we suggest you to read the full interview translation after the jump and then join to the ongoing discussion on the 2005 Boards!
1: When did the project planning start?
We normally start planning for an MP project a long time in advance, this was started from back in December 2016. At that time we still thought MP10 (Convoy 2.0) was the best/definitive OP, but looking at the time line from 1.0 to 2.0, a 3.0 would be on the table sooner of later, so we started planning real early.
2: Where did you start?
The first thought was “to surpass OP 2.0”, but we couldn’t quite imagine exactly what counts as “surpass” at the beginning. We thought of areas of improvement, for example a more accurate mouth plate, better articulation etc. Also the comparability with MP 36. we wanted to do a cartoon accurate Optimus just like MP 36 Megatron. So we drew up an Optimus with ideal proportions then started to think about the mechanism within,
3: It’d be difficult to recreate a cartoon accurate Optimus?
For example the truck wind shield and the ‘bot mode chest. The angle and height-width ratio are both different. In the past we would find a middle ground between truck and bot then achieve a balanced look by detail design. But this time around, we really wanted to recreate this difference in physical form. Although MP 10 has quite an involved transformation, the parts placement actually follows the G1 toy. But in order to create the definitive Optimus, we were willing to change it up this time around. If it couldn’t surpass OP 2.0 this project would be pointless.
4: Proportions have evolved too!
From past experience designing Optimus, the balance in the cab and back section is very tricky. First it’s the size of ‘bot mode chest; it’d be too wide to be toon accurate if using the truck wind shield directly. Also the trailer hitch section needs to be thin in order for the trailer to sit at a proper height, but on the other hand Optimus’ legs are long and thick in the cartoon so kind of mass shift between modes, it’s very difficult to achieve a balance.
5: How did you solve this?
We had a flash of genius to move the mass as solution, so that in ‘bot mode the volume in the legs is increased and volume in the chest decreased. So we came up with the transformation to move some of mass on the side of the cab to the lower half of ‘bot mode. We used to have to put a lot of effort into concealing the arms seamlessly into the cab, with this design it’s automatically solved as well.
6: What an amazing idea!
But here comes the color problem: the upper body (cab) is red and the lower body is blue. So we had to hide the red surface within the legs, with the rear tires too.
7: The tires have finally disappeared
The rear tires are narrow and rotate to conceal inside the legs. We felt this is a must.
8: Another evolution in design is a clean and flat waist.
Finally able to make the waist flat (LOL). Initially we though of the same mechanism as Megatron. Then we wanted to achieve better articulation without breaking up the sculpt, so this time the waist doesn’t have the articulated front skirt pieces but has an automatic mechanism where if the thighs move up the skirts retract. And we made them pop back up automatically as well.
9: The double knee joint gives off an action figure impression
This is a modern construction we only started to pay attention to recently. The friction resistance in the the two joints is different, so only when the first joint is bent to a certain degree then would the second joint engage. So that in normal posing only one joint is engaged to keep the body proportions. Because MP 36 has incredible articulation, this Optimus definitely needs to be able to match up with that.
10: The trailer has several new gimmicks, a lot more play value
We thought if the trailer isn’t re-made properly, it wouldn’t be called Optimus 3.0, so we can’t have a similar trailer to MP 10’s. So we thought about what gimmicks hadn’t been done before. For example the mobile artillery in “Fire in the Sky”. We thought it could be formed from the battle station with wheels added.
11: Using Roller to drag the artillery; seems like a very Takara-esque Sci-Fi design
Yeah we wanted to include this kind of Takara-esque Sci-Fi gimmick similar to Diaclone. The figures included have magnets on the bottom of their feet so they can stand on the deck etc. Although it’s not an official way to play, you can have this interact with the Diaclone figures as well. This sort of product cross over play pattern is something we’d love to see.
12: There are two styles of head sculpt..lots of accessories!
Because there’s two drawing styles in the G1 cartoon so we made two head sculpts. And the head is removable so that scene from “City of Steel” where Bumblebee is holding Prime’s detached head can be recreated.
13: I almost forgot there’s that episode where Prime had a jet pack…
Yup he sure did.
14: What’s with Starscream’s head and the intakes
To recreate that certain scene lol.
15: So technically it’s not Prime
Yep, so yeah these can’t be stored inside the trailer (does it sound like an excuse? lol)
16: Which part to design has most effort gone into?
The trailer. Although the cab is always more important and the trailer just kinda needs to be a square box, its thickness is quite hard to get right. Making it too thick would effect the overall height, so it took several tries to get to where we are.
17: Something not in the cartoon?
We’ve made slight changes to the toes and added bumper-like details so they look more realistic.
18: Would this product be the benchmark for future releases just like MP 10 did before?
MP 10 already had the design philosophy of “recreating the cartoon”. In a sense we finally arrived at a time where we can face the origin of Transformers, where staying true to that source material without modifying or compromising can be viewed as a good thing.
19: Now that the project is finally done and dusted, how do you feel?
Feel like “we’ve done everything we could”. This is Optimus Prime after all, so we put in our heart and soul. At the same time even if we overdid it, Prime would forgive us (LOL). After MP44, the MP benchmark might have been raised again!
Shin Densetsu
Welp, there’s nothing really to add here, when Takara rereleases MP-44, a new thread will be made.
Also, if you have questions about rules, PM staff, remember this rule:
7. No Public Discussion On Staff Actions
Do not mouth off or publicly question staff decisions. If you have a problem, comment or question, contact a member of the TFW2005 Staff.
We are trying to curb 1p VS 3p discussions that tend to derail topics in the news/rumors forum and in threads that aren’t really about that.
Besides, there’s already a dedicated thread for MP-44 options when it comes specifically to that:
ELEMENT TE-01 vs MS-01 vs MP-44 VS MP-44 KO
Have at it, but remember the following rules:
TFW2005 Rules
MP-44 KO discussion:
MP-44 KO
Want to rant? Okay, go here:
The Official Rant Thread
Do you like MP-44? Here’s your thread:
MP-44 Optimus Prime Discussion/Appreciation Thread
Do you like MP’s in general?
The Masterpiece Appreciation thread
Oh you think MP-44 will be repainted and want to post your speculation about it?
The G1-Focused Masterpiece Speculation Thread
ElekTriC
what? prime has magnets?
God Orion
Not sure what you mean but I have never done that here…
You are right and all of your points make sense. The thing is I still own a figure that I am afraid of damaging or breaking because of its price and all the QC issues I have had. I can't fully enjoy it but I love its design so I feel a bit upset.
Read it before and the reasoning is amazing. It's still a lot for a toy and it represents a lot of sacrifices for something I can't 100% enjoy.
It makes me sad really thinking about it. That's why I put it back in its box and why I wait for KO. I would have preferred never ever thinking about buying a KO and playing, posing, transforming and enjoying my official for the rest of my life as it's the best representation of my all-time hero. I hope you can all understand what I mean as I in no way praise KOs except when they are original design and second to none. Bootlegs are just a good alternative for this kind of situation.
BrutiKing
Just wanted to put something here: (sorry if it’s been posted before here. Never saw it)
BrutiKing
I think it was @Teletran-1 ? This site might be good for ya:
Mandarake
not sure if it’ll satisfy you though. I do believe some of these are “used”, but from my experience, used is pretty much pristine lol. A bit of culture shock. 30,000 yen so around $280 usd for the cheapest one. Not bad imo
make sure to read all of the description before purchasing though. Has a bit of important info.
Paco Grande
Perfection! I’m anxious for MP-49 and when they reissue 44 it will be hard for me to resist buying a second copy. I’m hoping the Yen drops before then so it will be easier on the wallet.
Sam
Dude, it bums me out to see you so personally hurt by this figure. I know how excited you were by it, remember how your wife surprised you with the purchase (something along those lines, right?) and enjoyed your company on the ride as we waited for its release.
The fact is, this is a toy made by people being paid jack-shit in a different country from which it was designed in. There's gonna be QC issues. Transformers toys are the most complicated toys out there. Hot Toys prices are ridiculous, and those things don't even need to transform. When there's so many moving parts there's just so much more room for error, statistically.
No one's gonna argue that TT should improve their QC (especially after Hound's shitshow), but ultimately we get what we pay for. Yeah, $450 is expensive, but if you wanted impeccable QC and more R&D time it would actually cost us more.
If I remember right, you ordered yours from Amazon Japan so you did get customer support, right? A new copy when your paint was messed up on the pelvis? If you're in Japan you have full customer support, unfortunately outside of Japan it's up to the retailers, and well generally you get what you pay for (order from Nippon Yasan, avoid tax, but be stuck with what you get)
The good thing about boards like these are we have MVPs like @BrutiKing who posted guides about repairs, we had everyone helping each other out and @Jarrod guiding people on paint and fixes. Lucky we have this place, because when things turn bad we can actually make the most out of it.
In terms of MP-44, since I've been messing with mine as a permanent deskbot for the last 10 months, here's my thoughts on QC:
The grey paint on the abs isn't applied properly. It should not scrape that easily.
My knees are both fine, and I literally pose him every day in different poses where I use both joints.
The yellow paint on his crotch is still pristine.
There's some paint wear on his thighs from where I wasn't careful and let them scrape against the pelvis when moving him.
That's it, man. Everything else is all amazing. Mine doesn't hold his gun in the right hand so well but I think I've made that worse by giving him Megatron's purple gun to hold (that has a slightly wider tab) so that might be partly on me.
We're not defending Takara's QC, but we can still defend their use of a glossy coat of paint, accessories that we want and love, and the design and love that went into this toy.
franpincho
View attachment 28707060
oku
Insults.
Mind reading.
Gaslighting.
This is the kind of the comment that could get deleted.
God Orion
No way, I was talking about how much I like my offical but how much I was afraid of playing/transforming it.
If it ever gets rereleased and updated with fixes for the knees and all the wobbly sections, I willl happily buy another, trust me! But a KO will do it for now as I will have no worries of breaking it just by staring at it like with the official. Loads of you won't admit it because you have good copies (at least you say so) but look at how many have had problems with theirs and how many got sent back. I can't believe some still defend Takara on this particular figure. Seeing the price we paid, we should never have to worry about all these issues and we should have some customer support. That's all I have ever said.
HolyCulture
Like one of the rules they’re breaking now? No talking about deleted posts or mod actions. It just clutters up the board.
Like my post right here. It doesn’t belong and should get deleted with all these useless comments up above.
oku
Well, maybe they were deleted for other reasons.
God Orion
It seems I was wrong though… Each time I did, it was deleted, that was why I said so.
Trip
I'll post a picture of it tomorrow. At some point
oku
Searched the keyword "3rd party" in this thread and got 200+ results.
Render
Hi! Which tab are you talking about?
Trip
Only if you're me.
franpincho
Debatable.
divinecomedy
That's reaching. Given the time involved in packing up and driving to the PO, 1 dollar might as well be a waste of time. Also we are living in a pandemic, I expect discretionary purchase to drop in the end. Not rocket science. People don't need an MP-44 to live.