Million Publishing Transformers Generation 2014 Vol.1 Exclusive Revealed - Shouki with Targetmaster Daniel

I want to like it. I like the idea. I think I could be behind it more if it had a new head. Targetmaster Daniel is very oddly colored. I would have liked it more had it stuck to the Targetmaster color pattern of the originals with red and black.

Hmmm... that's an interesting exclusive. I wish I knew more about the train bots and it's too bad that there is only one train mold right now, so I don't think we will ever see the other team members.

Nope.

It definitely needs the head. Without the proper head crest, it just looks like Astrotrain. Here are some images of G1 Shouki from my gallery for those of you not familiar with this Japanese exclusive character.

I wonder how they'll explain his Decepticon shuttle mode. Guess he's joining the ranks of Doublespies now.

Emerje

Stormrider wrote:I wish I knew more about the train bots and it's too bad that there is only one train mold right now, so I don't think we will ever see the other team members.

same. i dont know anything about the character... but why would he have a decepticon symbol in shuttle mode?

You guys are killing the mood for me. THAT IS WONDERFUL! New head or not, I am not gonna be picky about this. None of the Million Publishing exclusives have been remolds, so this is no different.

And Targetmaster Daniel?!!! I'm just... lost for words. It's too much. Shouki alone was cool enough, but their inclusion of a Targetmaster Daniel of all things is too much goodness.

And yet, this is another beautiful Million Publishing exclusive I'll probably never get to own (because they're always so expensive).

Sabrblade wrote:You guys are killing the mood for me. THAT IS WONDERFUL! New head or not, I am not gonna be picky about this. None of the Million Publishing exclusives have been remolds, so this is no different.

And Targetmaster Daniel?!!! I'm just... lost for words. It's too much. Shouki alone was cool enough, but their inclusion of a Targetmaster Daniel of all things is too much goodness.

And yet, this is another beautiful Million Publishing exclusive I'll probably never get to own (because they're always so expensive).

Hold the phone guys, it's a dual homage! It not only homages Shouki, but the shuttle mode and Mini-Con reference the Thunder Arrow and its pilot, aka Skystalker and his Space Shuttle:





And I must say, using Groundspike as a bow and as a pantograph is really clever. I'm sold

I love this, this will be the first million publishing exclusive I actively seek out.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:You guys are killing the mood for me. THAT IS WONDERFUL! New head or not, I am not gonna be picky about this. None of the Million Publishing exclusives have been remolds, so this is no different.

And Targetmaster Daniel?!!! I'm just... lost for words. It's too much. Shouki alone was cool enough, but their inclusion of a Targetmaster Daniel of all things is too much goodness.

And yet, this is another beautiful Million Publishing exclusive I'll probably never get to own (because they're always so expensive).

Hold the phone guys, it's a dual homage! It not only homages Shouki, but the shuttle mode and Mini-Con reference the Thunder Arrow and its pilot, aka Skystalker and his Space Shuttle:





And I must say, using Groundspike as a bow and as a pantograph is really clever. I'm sold

Million Publishing, why do you torture me with your expensive levels of awesomeness?

Sabrblade wrote:Million Publishing, why do you torture me with your expensive levels of awesomeness?

I shouldn't tell you this but... I've done some digging and Skystalker has no counterpart in Japanese fiction. This opens up possibilities:

- Skystalker's toy is unnamed in Japan, never got a representation in the Victory cartoon or manga while his ship did.
- Victory/Zone saw the trainbots reissued
- In 2025, Daniel would be approximately 27 (Japan age) or 32 (US age), given his age of 12 in Season 3 or TF:2010
- His father Spike was one of the main guys behind the "-master" process.

How will we connect the dots?

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Million Publishing, why do you torture me with your expensive levels of awesomeness?

I shouldn't tell you this but... I've done some digging and Skystalker has no counterpart in Japanese fiction. This opens up possibilities:

- Skystalker's toy is unnamed in Japan, never got a representation in the Victory cartoon or manga while his ship did.
- Victory/Zone saw the trainbots reissued
- In 2025, Daniel would be approximately 27 (Japan age) or 32 (US age), given his age of 12 in Season 3 or TF:2010
- His father Spike was one of the main guys behind the "-master" process.

How will we connect the dots?

You should see the arguments that have gone on over at the Wiki to make Skystalker and the nameless pilot into the same person.

Finally, a different character using this mold. I was so tired of seeing Astrotrain. He is very nice. The blue is very clean and sleek looking. Never heard of the character so not having a new head isn't bothersome. Especially because I'll never get this. Would not have minded this being a Botcon figure. I'm still disappointed that the club never gave us Wings Universe Blast Off.

Man, the more I look at this thing, the more I can't believe how clever it is. You got the character of Shouki to make sense of the Train Mode, Daniel as his Targetmaster since he was the main human in The Headmasters, the Shuttle Mode is made into the Thunder Arrow with Shouki and Daniel going undercover, Daniel in in his Excel Suit (Exosuit) colored like the Thunder Arrow's pilot to better the disguise, and Daniel uses the Groundspike mold that turns into a bow as a play on the ship's name of "Thunder Arrow".

Sabrblade wrote:Man, the more I look at this thing, the more I can't believe how clever it is. You got the character of Shouki to make sense of the Train Mode, Daniel as his Targetmaster since he was the main human in The Headmasters, the Shuttle Mode is made into the Thunder Arrow with Shouki and Daniel going undercover, Daniel in in his Excel Suit (Exosuit) colored like the Thunder Arrow's pilot to better the disguise, and Daniel uses the Groundspike mold that turns into a bow as a play on the ship's name of "Thunder Arrow".

That all might work for you, but it turns me off even more about this.

Seibertron wrote:That all might work for you, but it turns me off even more about this.

This is no different than the kind of crazy homage stuff that the Club and e-HOBBY do. It's obviously aimed at fans of the Japanese G1 cartoons. Of course it's not gonna appeal to the masses.

It's an interesting idea but definitely isn't worth the hoops needed to jump through to get a Million figure.

I love this.

I'm buying this.

Sabrblade wrote:Man, the more I look at this thing, the more I can't believe how clever it is. You got the character of Shouki to make sense of the Train Mode, Daniel as his Targetmaster since he was the main human in The Headmasters, the Shuttle Mode is made into the Thunder Arrow with Shouki and Daniel going undercover, Daniel in in his Excel Suit (Exosuit) colored like the Thunder Arrow's pilot to better the disguise, and Daniel uses the Groundspike mold that turns into a bow as a play on the ship's name of "Thunder Arrow".

All I see is:

- Shouki
- Thunder Arrow homage
- Skystalker homage

Nothing else. >:oP

Sabrblade wrote:

Seibertron wrote:That all might work for you, but it turns me off even more about this.

This is no different than the kind of crazy homage stuff that the Club and e-HOBBY do. It's obviously aimed at fans of the Japanese G1 cartoons. Of course it's not gonna appeal to the masses.

I think you aimed this at the wrong person. I'm a massive fan of the Japanese G1 cartoons. It's part of why I started Seibertron.com. I had bootleg tapes of the Japanese cartoons a decade or more before they came out on DVD overseas. Masterforce is my all-time favorite Transformers cartoon followed by Headmasters or Victory.

The crazy homage stuff that the Club and e-Hobby do doesn't always work for me either. There are a lot better choices and better ways to implement this stuff. Poor decisions don't always need to be rationalized. Still doesn't work for me.

Easy pass. There are some molds that shouldnt be repurposed. Astrotrain is one of them.

Rated X wrote:Easy pass. There are some molds that shouldnt be repurposed. Astrotrain is one of them.

I agree ... at least not without a new head.

Seibertron wrote:

Rated X wrote:Easy pass. There are some molds that shouldnt be repurposed. Astrotrain is one of them.

I agree ... at least not without a new head.

But his head is so boring and generic. It could pass for a number of ordinary dudes.

Sabrblade wrote:

Seibertron wrote:

Rated X wrote:Easy pass. There are some molds that shouldnt be repurposed. Astrotrain is one of them.

I agree ... at least not without a new head.

But his head is so boring and generic. It could pass for a number of ordinary dudes.

You're rationalizing cheap and poor decisions for a toy that we are paying around $100 for. For that kind of money, I'd like to get a new head and better decisions made. $100 for a poorly executed repaint isn't how I like to spend my money.

Sabrblade wrote:And yet, this is another beautiful Million Publishing exclusive I'll probably never get to own (because they're always so expensive).

This is exactly why this is a poor execution of this idea. It's an expensive toy. For an expensive toy, I'd like to get a lot more bang for my buck. I own all of the other Million Publishing figures, BotCon exclusives and e-Hobby exclusives (minus gold Jazz and silver Streak) and would still like to see something better than a repaint of a mold that isn't so great by today's Triplechangers standard. New head, I'd be happier. Without a new head, this is just Autobot Astrotrain with a Targetmaster partner with very poorly chosen colors.

Seibertron wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Seibertron wrote:That all might work for you, but it turns me off even more about this.

This is no different than the kind of crazy homage stuff that the Club and e-HOBBY do. It's obviously aimed at fans of the Japanese G1 cartoons. Of course it's not gonna appeal to the masses.

I think you aimed this at the wrong person. I'm a massive fan of the Japanese G1 cartoons. It's part of why I started Seibertron.com. I had bootleg tapes of the Japanese cartoons a decade or more before they came out on DVD overseas. Masterforce is my all-time favorite Transformers cartoon followed by Headmasters or Victory.

The crazy homage stuff that the Club and e-Hobby do doesn't always work for me either. There are a lot better choices and better ways to implement this stuff. Poor decisions don't always need to be rationalized. Still doesn't work for me.

Gonna agree with you on pricing and such, as I want this and cannot have it, but I want to ask, if not Shouki, who do you do Astrotrain as? Galaxy Shuttle? Rail Spike? There's a very small pool of train bots out there for Astro Train to even be, and I'm glad we're getting one.

Well, I say "getting" and mean "Lusting and holding our wallets as opportunuity passes us by"

The fact that they bothered to MAKE the Pantograph out of a minicon only makes the homage better, for me as a train nut. I never batted an eye when Astrtrain didn't have it, (and the only precedent is in his alt-mode, not the character) but now that its there, its kinda like a police car without its lightbar.

I'm enjoying that this exists, even if I'd never own it and I'm not too big a fan of the Japanese fiction. At first I was wincing when I heard he turned into the Thunder Arrow, but seeing Daniel dressed up as the pilot made me smile.

Sabrblade wrote:

Seibertron wrote:That all might work for you, but it turns me off even more about this.

This is no different than the kind of crazy homage stuff that the Club and e-HOBBY do. It's obviously aimed at fans of the Japanese G1 cartoons. Of course it's not gonna appeal to the masses.

Good point. I am thinking back to e-Hobby Hauler with the explanation why he was orange in one brief appearance in the show but green as the exclusive toy.

Personally, I would love to have seen e-Hobby continue on the Stepper and Artfire direction and do a Minerva repaint (maybe that will be next year's use of Nightbeat/Bumblebee's mold).

Stemming from (semi-)obscure Japanese TF lore, I'd feel cheated if this toy didn't come with some sort of convoluted fiction-based backstory/explanation for its existence.

Though, really, is "Shouki and Daniel go undercover as a Decepticon ship & pilot" really that convoluted a premise for this?

I mean, it's not like there's some big epic galaxy-spanning adventure involving an all power MacGuffin needed to destroy the latest Eldritch Abomination before the Multiverse implodes upon itself in a "Crisis on Infinite Cybertrons" ordeal needed to rationalize this thing.

It's just "Two dudes go spying on the villains wearing clever attire."

Chromedome has Stylor, whose now the "Counter Arrow" targetmaster

"Upgraded" Shouki gets Daniel, whose "Thunder Arrow" is perfect for infiltration.

Poyguimogul wrote:Chromedome has Stylor, whose now the "Counter Arrow" targetmaster

What?

Poyguimogul wrote:"Upgraded" Shouki gets Daniel, whose "Thunder Arrow" is perfect for infiltration.

Seriously, what?

The Thunder Arrow is a ship.

"Arrow" body type was the point.

I know what's up with this toy, just want to point out two exclusive figures of "Headmasters" related characters coming with "Arrow" Targetmasters..

Poyguimogul wrote:"Arrow" body type was the point.

I know what's up with this toy, just want to point out two exclusive figures of "Headmasters" related characters coming with "Arrow" Targetmasters..

Okay, I get that.

Though, the "Counter Arrow" still confuses me since that's RiD Mirage's Japanese name.

Wasn't it also the Bow & Arrow used by Chromedome in the Headmasters manga?

"Charge Arrow" - my bad.

Poyguimogul wrote:Wasn't it also the Bow & Arrow used by Chromedome in the Headmasters manga?

*goes looking for info on this weapon*

Seems to be the "Charge Arrow".

Though, that seems to have been a one-time ordeal as the Wiki says that Chromedome lost it after its single one-shot use.


Though, I'm surprised that folks can remember such an obscure, one-off item that served no purpose after its only appearance, and belonged to no one in particular. Especially in a story that hasn't even been translated into English yet.


EDIT: Ninja'd.

I like this, but he will be part of my own collector's fiction universe. I can't find the pics, but I put Henkei Astrotrain with these guys:

http://www.seibertron.com/toys/index.ph ... type=exact

and the scale is awesome. I even found a way to make a (not-so-great-but-tolerable) big gun out of him and the combined Rail Racer can hold him.

The only thing that didn't make sense is that the other trains all have autobot symbols and Astrotrain had a Decepticon logo. I had some dumb collector's fiction where he was part of their team (weapon's specialist) and this makes it better. All trains == all Autobots, Astrotrain got a 3rd flying mode from Decepticons and switched sides (similar to the TFCC version of the Elite Guard Combaticons turning when they got power-hungry when Deathsaurus offered them combining tech. Coincidentally, that same issue also showed Blastoff looking at plans that implied that he was going to get outfitted with an additional alt-mode (train)).

So this fig will be my pre-Decepticon version and the fact that the train mode has an Autobot symbol and the shuttle has a Decepticon logo makes it even better.... but like a lot of the others here, I wonder if this fig will ever be within my budget, reach, and reason.

Mkall wrote:I love this.

I'm buying this.

I agree, sign me up.

I like this way more than Ghost Starscream.