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With Transformers toy technology improving with time, there was only one thing that has hindered toys in the past; car licensing. With Masterpiece MP-12 Sideswipe looking to be a great figure, it looks to be nearing perfection. As indicated by a placeholder image from TakaraTomy on Cybergundam blog, it looks like the toy will feature authentic Lamborghini aesthetics, and even the Lamborghini sigil. Authentic licensing was introduced in the Alternators/Binaltech toyline and continued in the Movieverse with such car franchises as Chevrolet and Mercedes-Benz. This will be first time a Transformers Masterpiece figure has a car logo, and the first time the Lamborghini logo has been featured on Transformers toy since G1 Sideswipe.




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I really need to reconsider my stance on not buying Masterpiece toys. Yeah. The more I see of Sideswipe, the more I want this.

them paying for the right to use other companies IP makes sense, since they're cracking down on other companies using theirs. and I like the move. Not every TF needs to be a licensed vehicle (when they get around to doing a new, better deluxe Hot Rod, or a proper Springer, for example) but those who were always clearly a very specific model of car should be paid for to remain so. Not sure we're likely to see a real Porsche Jazz any time soon, or a VW Bumblebee, but we can hope. Particularly as the price for MP Sideswipe has scaled compared to the size. Still maybe a tad big for my collection, but some of the more Cybertronian looking characters, or the likes of triplechangers, etc. will work fine for that price at that size.

I am glad they were able to get the rights. It makes the figure more authentic. I wonder if Sideswipe is being released first as opposed to Jazz or Bumblebee because of Takara/Hasbro were able to seal the deal with Lamborghini first.

It Is Him wrote:I really need to reconsider my stance on not buying Masterpiece toys. Yeah. The more I see of Sideswipe, the more I want this.

you don't own a single masterpiece figure? what a shame lol. why have you passed? i would assume cost has a lot to do with (which i can't blame you for)

i just really want to know if we're getting these over here. i'll probably get the takara version of soundwave, but if they're going to start chuckin out the smaller more inexpensive cars, then i'd like to know that hasbro is releasing them as well. .. which also could be problematic as i've only preferred the hasbro version over takara once when it comes to masterpiece figures.

So Lambo gives them a blessing but Ferarri told them to suck it ??? (Dino)

TimothyR wrote:

It Is Him wrote:I really need to reconsider my stance on not buying Masterpiece toys. Yeah. The more I see of Sideswipe, the more I want this.

you don't own a single masterpiece figure? what a shame lol. why have you passed? i would assume cost has a lot to do with (which i can't blame you for)

i just really want to know if we're getting these over here. i'll probably get the takara version of soundwave, but if they're going to start chuckin out the smaller more inexpensive cars, then i'd like to know that hasbro is releasing them as well. .. which also could be problematic as i've only preferred the hasbro version over takara once when it comes to masterpiece figures.

Nothing to do with cost. I'm just not fond of overly-sized toys.

Cool, glad to see that Lamborghini are behind the Countach being used as Sideswipe.

Slightly off topic, RobotKingdom posted a release date of 27-10-2012 for Sideswipe, yay.

This actually doesn't please me.

As someone else pointed out, this makes a proper G1 Jazz and Bumblebee in the MP line a lot less likely because of the possible difficulty in obtaining licensing for those alt modes.

It would be a shame to have an incomplete G1 lineup, or worse, have some of them be proper homages and some be altered because of license disputes.

Seems cool, I might pick it up now, if only, because of the novelty of having a licensed Lamborghini toy that turns into a robot. However that isn't enough for me to buy it now, maybe a u.s release.

You guys do realize that Porsche, Lamborghini, and VW are all the same company now right. Lambo giving up Sideswipe gives us hope for jazz and Bee.

Give Me Your Rocket Pack!!!!!!!!!! Awesome I love masterpiece Tformers I just hope its in scale with hotrod car mode they can have a race futurist vs the past all I need myself a MP9 anyone can help me have a look at this auction and tell me if this it worth bidding or if there is a better deal somewhere.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300720256746? ... 616wt_1401

it seems to be the only one in the UK and i don't want to get done for customs, if anyone can advise that would be great!!!

gunman_sr5 wrote:You guys do realize that Porsche, Lamborghini, and VW are all the same company now right. Lambo giving up Sideswipe gives us hope for jazz and Bee.

I did not realize that. That is good news indeed!

Call me a naysayer, but I still don't buy into the ol' "they didn't want their products associated with war products" bit. If someone can show me where Hasbro stated that as a fact or where they said it in one of those old Q&A's (and not through word of mouth), I'd be happy to eat my own words and put my foot in my mouth. I'm pretty sure that's one of those rumors that gained so much traction that people assumed it was fact. And even if Hasbro did say it, I'd fall back on it sounding like a marketing or sales rep at Hasbro didn't pitch the concept properly to VW/Porsche, nor did they fight hard enough ... or VW/Porsche wanted a licensing fee which Hasbro/Takara didn't want to pay. Any of those theories make more sense than "we don't want our products associated with war products."

Transhunter wrote:Give Me Your Rocket Pack!!!!!!!!!! Awesome I love masterpiece Tformers I just hope its in scale with hotrod car mode they can have a race futurist vs the past all I need myself a MP9 anyone can help me have a look at this auction and tell me if this it worth bidding or if there is a better deal somewhere.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300720256746? ... 616wt_1401

it seems to be the only one in the UK and i don't want to get done for customs, if anyone can advise that would be great!!!

Here you go buddy:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MP-09-Masterpiece-Rodimus-Prime-Rodimus-Convoy-Version-One-/230801381896?pt=US_Action_Figures&hash=item35bcd59a08

70 bucks 20 shipping 3 days and no bids yet. A much better price for MP-09 than that other dealer you posted. His prices are a rip-off.

Rated X wrote:

Transhunter wrote:Give Me Your Rocket Pack!!!!!!!!!! Awesome I love masterpiece Tformers I just hope its in scale with hotrod car mode they can have a race futurist vs the past all I need myself a MP9 anyone can help me have a look at this auction and tell me if this it worth bidding or if there is a better deal somewhere.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300720256746? ... 616wt_1401

it seems to be the only one in the UK and i don't want to get done for customs, if anyone can advise that would be great!!!

Here you go buddy:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MP-09-Masterpiece-Rodimus-Prime-Rodimus-Convoy-Version-One-/230801381896?pt=US_Action_Figures&hash=item35bcd59a08

70 bucks 20 shipping 3 days and no bids yet. A much better price for MP-09 than that other dealer you posted. His prices are a rip-off.

Thanks mate for the help but that bid is in the US and when ships i always pay a heavy custom tax which can be more expensive then that UK seller and to be fair there was a guy selling his for 249.99 in the UK Crazy huh!!! cheers anyway

Transformers got me into cars, when I grew up I got back into Transformers because the Alternator line had great car replicas. Great news for car and Transformers fans like me. This will allow it to fit into my Alternator collection even better.

gunman_sr5 wrote:You guys do realize that Porsche, Lamborghini, and VW are all the same company now right. Lambo giving up Sideswipe gives us hope for jazz and Bee.

Not quite. They're still all separate companies, however they all fall under the Volkswagen Group. That's not the same as being a single company, rather they are all subsidiaries of Volkswagen Group, including Volkswagen itself:

Volkswagen Group on Wikipedia.

Lamborghini may have yielded the rights, but Porsche and Volkswagen can still decline the licenses.

Transhunter wrote:

Rated X wrote:

Transhunter wrote:Give Me Your Rocket Pack!!!!!!!!!! Awesome I love masterpiece Tformers I just hope its in scale with hotrod car mode they can have a race futurist vs the past all I need myself a MP9 anyone can help me have a look at this auction and tell me if this it worth bidding or if there is a better deal somewhere.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300720256746? ... 616wt_1401

it seems to be the only one in the UK and i don't want to get done for customs, if anyone can advise that would be great!!!

Here you go buddy:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MP-09-Masterpiece-Rodimus-Prime-Rodimus-Convoy-Version-One-/230801381896?pt=US_Action_Figures&hash=item35bcd59a08

70 bucks 20 shipping 3 days and no bids yet. A much better price for MP-09 than that other dealer you posted. His prices are a rip-off.

Thanks mate for the help but that bid is in the US and when ships i always pay a heavy custom tax which can be more expensive then that UK seller and to be fair there was a guy selling his for 249.99 in the UK Crazy huh!!! cheers anyway

in the US and with no shipping prices for the UK. Sucks, as I'd have taken the $20-40 hit on shipping for that price/size of TF.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

gunman_sr5 wrote:You guys do realize that Porsche, Lamborghini, and VW are all the same company now right. Lambo giving up Sideswipe gives us hope for jazz and Bee.

Not quite. They're still all separate companies, however they all fall under the Volkswagen Group. That's not the same as being a single company, rather they are all subsidiaries of Volkswagen Group, including Volkswagen itself:

Volkswagen Group on Wikipedia.

Lamborghini may have yielded the rights, but Porsche and Volkswagen can still decline the licenses.

They're still all part of the same parent company (Volkswagen Group, which would be equivalent to General Motors, who owns its subsidiaries of Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC, and Buick (... and previously Saturn, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Hummer, Saab, etc). According to Wikipedia, Volkswagen Group owns Audi who owns Lamborghini.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamborghini (lists Volkswagen as its parent company)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subsidiary

yes, but just as a DVD publisher might get the rights to release DVDs and Blu-rays of Beast Wars, that doesn't necessarily equate to them being able to reproduce the GI Joe Valor Vs Venom film.

craggy wrote:yes, but just as a DVD publisher might get the rights to release DVDs and Blu-rays of Beast Wars, that doesn't necessarily equate to them being able to reproduce the GI Joe Valor Vs Venom film.

I'm confused how this relates to the discussion that one of the companies that is owned by Volkswagen Group has granted the license to Takara and that this might be a shift in the willingness of Volkswagen Group to grant the licenses for their brands to Hasbro and/or Takara.

Still, different companies, so different policies even if they're not independent. I'm not holding my breath just yet, just so you guys know. General Motors has only really pushed the Chevrolet and Corvette brand of cars, no other brand whatsoever.

Seibertron wrote:

craggy wrote:yes, but just as a DVD publisher might get the rights to release DVDs and Blu-rays of Beast Wars, that doesn't necessarily equate to them being able to reproduce the GI Joe Valor Vs Venom film.

I'm confused how this relates to the discussion that one of the companies that is owned by Volkswagen Group has granted the license to Takara and that this might be a shift in the willingness of Volkswagen Group to grant the licenses for their brands to Hasbro and/or Takara.

one company might give another company a license relating to one of their brands, but not necessarily the license to use a second of their brands for a similar product.

craggy wrote:

Seibertron wrote:

craggy wrote:yes, but just as a DVD publisher might get the rights to release DVDs and Blu-rays of Beast Wars, that doesn't necessarily equate to them being able to reproduce the GI Joe Valor Vs Venom film.

I'm confused how this relates to the discussion that one of the companies that is owned by Volkswagen Group has granted the license to Takara and that this might be a shift in the willingness of Volkswagen Group to grant the licenses for their brands to Hasbro and/or Takara.

a company might give one company a license relating to one brand, but not necessarily the license to use one of their other brands for a similar product.

I agree with that statement. It is a possibility, however, one that I think all of us would welcome. Imagine Bumblebee as the 2012 Beetle! That would be awesome, though I'd prefer the original ... it's just very outdated. It'd be really slick if they could figure out how to do both versions with the same transformations. "modern" and "vintage" editions.

Seibertron wrote:

craggy wrote:

Seibertron wrote:

craggy wrote:yes, but just as a DVD publisher might get the rights to release DVDs and Blu-rays of Beast Wars, that doesn't necessarily equate to them being able to reproduce the GI Joe Valor Vs Venom film.

I'm confused how this relates to the discussion that one of the companies that is owned by Volkswagen Group has granted the license to Takara and that this might be a shift in the willingness of Volkswagen Group to grant the licenses for their brands to Hasbro and/or Takara.

a company might give one company a license relating to one brand, but not necessarily the license to use one of their other brands for a similar product.

I agree with that statement. It is a possibility, however, one that I think all of us would welcome. Imagine Bumblebee as the 2012 Beetle! That would be awesome, though I'd prefer the original ... it's just very outdated. It'd be really slick if they could figure out how to do both versions with the same transformations. "modern" and "vintage" editions.

oh, yes, it would be brilliant. personally, with Masterpieces, I'd like each to use their classic alt mode, but would be more than happy for there to be modern variants, especially at these "reduced" prices. I think developing the MP line into a line varying between Voyager and old MP sizes as the characters demand it, and keeping the same level of engineering and quality (maybe improve the quality a bit - from some reports of past releases) and pricing them equivalent or cheaper to most of the 3rd party releases people are all over would be a great idea for Hasbro/TakaraTomy. Make MP their "adult collectors" line (lets be honest it already is, but just hasn't gotten as much product as we're willing to spend on it)

they could do something like one a quarter, with maybe 2-3 new molds a year and make out pretty well. I'd consider jumping onto the line fully if there was some kind of statement of intent along these sort of lines. The original size/cost of MPs was really too prohibitive for me to get them, and for the companies to make as large a cast as the characters they're focussing on (G1 originals) lends itself to.