{"id":24653,"date":"2013-08-26T23:54:11","date_gmt":"2013-08-27T04:54:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=24653"},"modified":"2013-08-27T00:24:05","modified_gmt":"2013-08-27T05:24:05","slug":"transformers-masterpiece-mp-12t-tigertrack-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=24653","title":{"rendered":"Transformers Masterpiece
MP-12T Tigertrack Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a> Originally, I was going to do something a little different with today\u2019s review. Last week, I took a look at Masterpiece Sideswipe and so I\u2019ve basically already covered this entire figure. Just take out the word red, toss in yellow and *boom* it\u2019s pretty much done, aside from a few cosmetic changes. The plan was to do just a quick Review Gallery for Tigertrack, highlight some of the differences, and mark him as done. <\/p>\n

But in photographing Tigertrack, I realized that I had a story I wanted to tell. It\u2019s about loving & collecting toys \u2013 actual toys, not just little totems from my favorite licenses. So, if you need to know the specs of Tigertrack the toy, head back to Sideswipe\u2019s review<\/a> because you\u2019ll find most of what you need to know there.<\/p>\n

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There are a few differences other than deco changes, namely the jackhammer accessories instead of the piledrivers and the neat idea to swap in Red Alert\u2019s faceplate with Sideswipe\u2019s head. It gives Tigertrack a slightly unique feel \u2013 it\u2019s not a lot, but on redecos every little bit counts. Other than the yellow overall deco, there\u2019s some nice little touches like the blue tampos on the feet and the two-tone missile \u201clauncher\u201d. Finally, the packaging is unique to Tigertrack, featuring a simple, but elegant silver foil design. Pretty neat. <\/p>\n

Okay, if you need more than that, go check on Sideswipe<\/a>, because we\u2019re about to go neck-deep in the history of Tigertrack!<\/p>\n

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I don\u2019t mean to come across condescending earlier when I mentioned collecting toys versus totems. There\u2019s nothing wrong with collecting toys based on everything but the toys themselves. I do it all the time myself. Is my DC Classics shelf full of amazing action figures representing my favorite comic characters of all-time? Not really. It is loaded with some of my favorite comic characters of all-time (I still am in awe they made Jemm, Son of Saturn), but the figures mostly range from great to good\/average, with a few real stinkers in the mix. I don\u2019t mind one bit, because I love the little plastic universe hanging out on my shelves.<\/p>\n

Now, I do much prefer it when a great toy matches up with a property I love \u2013 that\u2019s how Takara has got me buying these Masterpiece dealies to start with. In trying to decide where to draw the line, just looping it around the G1 characters of my youth seemed a really smart place.
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And by that standard, I didn\u2019t much need a Tigertrack. He\u2019s not technically a G1 character, instead paying homage to a redeco of Sideswipe available through Figure Oh magazine in Japan. That was available just ten years ago. In toy years, that means the Hulk movie figures were out, MO2K was still (sorta) in stores, Transformers was somewhere between Armada & Energon. DC toys were, as usual, barely at retail with the 6\u201d Batman line dying & JLU getting its slow start. So, basically, not that long ago and a lifetime ago at the same time. <\/p>\n

So why make a Masterpiece of a 2003 redeco? Well\u2026 probably to diffuse the costs of the mold, but why buy it? Well, it turns out that Tigertrack itself is paying homage to something much, much older. And that makes him a great toy with a great story and I will eat that up almost every time. <\/em> Continue to Page 2…<\/a><\/p>\n

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If you\u2019re familiar with Transformers, then you know that the vintage toys were largely cobbled together from other transforming lines in Japan, a large portion of the coming from the Diaclone line. And Diaclone was all about the Lamborghini. <\/p>\n

The very first Diaclone transforming car (and possibly the first transforming car-to-robot toy ever) was a Lamborghini. That\u2019s not Tigertrack, it\u2019s was red and it was Sunstreaker\u2019s mold. Then there was a Police Car Countach. Then came the more traditional mold, vintage Sideswipe\u2019s, which was also done in red (who doesn\u2019t like red?), then, black, then yellow, and then a police car on the new mold again. Hold up, there was a yellow in there. Catch that? Well, that\u2019s technically Tigertrack.<\/p>\n

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And if the story ended there, that would still make this figure really neat to me. One interesting difference between Sideswipe & Tigertrack was their faction symbol \u2013 Tigertrack doesn\u2019t have one. There are stickers included \u2013 a honkin\u2019 big Autobot symbol or a more modest-sized classic one, but they have to be applied if you want to make this guy part of your Autobots. I haven\u2019t decided if I want to do that yet. <\/p>\n

Takara wisely left that decision to the collectors because it allows for this figure to also be an update of that old \u201cNew Countach\u201d Diaclone No. 15. And, in the myriad of collectors, I bet there\u2019s more than a few out there who have eaten that up. I admit that I\u2019m not some well-versed Diaclone fan, I just find all this interesting, including the custom option to leave this guy the way he was before Hasbro found him. <\/p>\n

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Speaking of Hasbro, there\u2019s one more fun tidbit to Tigertrack\u2019s story. Remember that when it came time to turn Diaclone into Transformers, there were two Lamborghinis. The tricked out version available in red and a police deco and then the standard version in red, yellow, black, and a police deco again. The rumor goes that the second, standard, mold, would be done in yellow and the original mold would keep its original red. To sum up, that\u2019s a yellow Sidewsipe & a red Sunstreaker. \u2013 And, hey to make it even more confusing, Sunstreaker wouldn\u2019t even be Sunstreaker, he would be Spin-Out. So, red Spin-Out, and yellow\u2026 Sideswipe. Just how close did we come to having \u201cTigertrack\u201d thirty years ago? Would Takara be making red repaint of this classic MP now? Would all of our feelings be the same, just with a little bit of a switcheroo on the colors? I stay up at night asking myself these questions\u2026 *<\/p>\n

* – Well, I stay up at night writing incoherent reviews. I ask myself the questions even later. <\/em><\/p>\n

In the end, none of that may blow anyone else\u2019s mind the way it does mine. Did I mention Spin-Out\u2019s weapon would have been an \u201cElectron Pulse Gun\u201d, the very gun dear Tigertrack is said to carry? Okay, okay, I\u2019ll stop…<\/p>\n

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Overall, yes, this guy is still an expensive repaint. I paid $90 to snag him from BBTS<\/a>. I thought that was a pretty good deal considering he was a Tokyo Toy Show exclusive and only $10 or so over the regular price for Sideswipe. It was a lot of money, but I think he\u2019s a fascinating toy to own and talk about. He’s also a great exclusive – if you’ve got the cash to spare you can snag him, and if not, he\u2019s easily skippable. <\/p>\n

I had to have him though. I love putting together this awesome Masterpiece shelf. Going back to my comment about the totems, I love Transformers and I’m thrilled to be getting amazing versions of Optimus, Soundwave, Sideswipe. I collect this line for the license, but that’s not the only reason. Heck, I also collect Transformers when they’re brave enough to get a little silly – I have F-15 Eagles in orange\/yellow, blue, & neon green! And, yes, I’m happy to collect a few novelties in this line if they tell a great story. Tigertrack evokes a great back story, one we don’t even know all the details of, and, in a way, that helps him to transcend the very license he hail’s from? That’s awesome. I know some folks want MP to be serious business. I do too. They’re pricy and they come out slowly. And that’s not to mention that there are a ton of classic Transformers this scale could finally bring greatness too. But all that history and greatness, Sunstreaker, Tracks, Wheeljack – nearly anyone on my MP want list – spawned from Diaclone and it’s great to get a piece of that back, even in repaint form. And I find myself with a new character crawling his way up my MP want list. I hope Sunstreaker is a given for MP and I keep coming back to the idea that an MP Spin-Out would be an amazing companion piece to Tigertrack. That’s a full circle I can appreciate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \t

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