The Transformers: Masterpiece

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The Transformers: Masterpiece (トランスフォーマー マスターピース) is a toyline of collector-focused toys that are mostly based upon classic Generation 1 toys, but manufactured with today's advanced engineering techniques. Masterpiece Transformers tend to be very expensive, with an average price of 10,000 yen (approx. $118.30), and with Grimlock's cost purportedly rising to 13,000 (approx. $153.79). Currently (2013), the Masterpieces appear more frequently with a handful being released yearly.

Though the Masterpiece line is largely developed by Takara/TakaraTomy with the Japanese market in mind, several releases have been made available in Australia as Target and Toys R Us-exclusives, distributed by Hasbro Australia. A few have also been released in the U.S. at Walmart and ToysRUs.

Scale and rate of releases

The Masterpiece G1 line began with Optimus Prime and variants of the mold (Ultra Magnus, Prime with Combat Deck, etc) before moving on to the Seekers and Megatron. This encompassed the first six years of the toyline. Unfortunately, the Prime mold was huge in comparison to the other characters, 2009's Grimlock was slightly undersized compared to the Seekers, and 2010 consisted of more redecos of previous molds.

In 2011, the line can be considered to have been rebooted; first with Rodimus Prime, and followed with a new-mold Optimus Prime scaled to Rodimus's height (as well as providing an overall better robot-mode aesthetic). This was followed by a extensively remolded "Coronation" Starscream, and the rate of releases increased significantly in 2012/2013, with characters being designed to the new scale. In this 2-year span, Takara released no less than 13 new characters: Sideswipe, Soundwave (and 5 of his minions), Sunstorm, Red Alert, Tigertrack, Prowl, Bluestreak, and Smokescreen, while Hasbro added Thundercracker and Acid Storm to the mix. At least 5 characters (2.5 new molds) are scheduled for 2014: Wheeljack, Bumblebee, G2 Sideswipe, Soundblaster (with new mold Ratbat) and an Ultra Magnus (redeco of Prime) with combining trailer.

In addition, Grimlock and "Coronation" Starscream were re-released for the Asian market in 2013.

Sublines

Two sub-lines have emerged, one designated as MP-B## based upon the Brave franchise (not covered in this wiki), and another with the designation MPM-# to represent live-action film series Transformers (see below).

Products

Generation 1

Standard products

Special editions

Live-action movie series

Hasbro versions

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