2024 is the 40th anniversary of Transformers, and fans are looking forward to some of the upcoming figures as part of the celebration. Outside of future mainline release leaks, last week saw leaks for the next Masterpiece releases. Yes, releases as Takara Tomy finally announced the next two Masterpiece figures: MP-60 Ginrai and MPG-09 Super Ginrai from Transformers: Super-God Masterforce.
In case you’re still not familiar with Ginrai or Super Ginrai, Ginrai is an Autobot Godmaster who combines with an Optimus Prime-looking Transtector. When Ginrai combines with the trailer, they form Super Ginrai. In the west, the coinciding toys were released as Powermaster Optimus Prime so if you want to add these two to your Prime collection, then by all means.
MP-60 Ginrai
While Takara Tomy has released three versions of a Masterpiece Optimus Prime figure with varying degrees of plastic gymnastics, Ginrai has a much simpler transformation scheme with the front of the truck cab becoming the backpack in robot mode. So, if you’re one of those collectors with opinions on transformers backpacks, you should know what to expect if you’ll get this guy.
Also note that this figure follows the colors of the original toy, which we’ll get into later.
In the original toy, the Godmaster folds into an engine block and it attaches to the Transtector before transformation into Ginrai as this unlocks the transformation mechanism. The Masterpiece version will obviously have the same feature though I can’t say if it’s just for toy accuracy or it will also unlock the transformation.
Once transformed, Ginrai should be very articulated thanks to the (assumingly) less complicated transformation that MP-30 Optimus Prime. While both elbows and knees only feature a single axis joint, they are able to bend close to 180-degrees. Same goes for the hips as the armor panels can open up, especially the wheels on the sides to outward leg movement. You can even dislodge the arm transformation for some forward shoulder butterfly movement.
The accessory load out is rather basic outside of the main figure and the Godmaster. It comes with a pair of blasters and effect parts.
Transformers Masterpiece MP-60 Ginrai
December 2024 / ¥22,000
Order via HobbyLink Japan
MPG-09 Super Ginrai
Along with MP-60 Ginrai, Takara Tomy is also releasing MPG-09 Super Ginrai as part of their newer Transformers MPG line. To those unfamiliar, the MPG line was originally intended as the high-end brand for combining Transformers figures. But based on this announcement, some brand consolidation is going to take place, more on that later.
MPG-09 Super Ginrai will also include the core Ginrai figure, but Takara Tomy will also do a Missing Link Convoy for this release as the Ginrai figure will be animation accurate, which is the reverse of what they did with Missing Link Convoy. If you prefer toy accuracy, you will need to get both sets, especially after we take a look at the accessories included.
But outside of the colors, this Ginrai should be exactly the same as the solo release.
But of course, the main gimmick of this set is the trailer that can transform into either the base mode, or robot mode in which Ginrai will combine into to form Super Ginrai. I can imagine this guy to be quite large so I hope it does have articulation and more importantly, stability to maintain those poses.
This is everything that comes with the set, and if you want a more toy-accurate rendition, it will come with an additional Super Ginrai head part to match. It also comes with additional energy effect parts to replicate scenes from the series, as well as a more scale-accurate non-poseable Ginrai figure.
Transformers MPG MPG-09 Super Ginrai
December 2024 / ¥42,000
Order via HobbyLink Japan
While MP-60 Ginrai is the 60th numbered release, it is the 100th figure when you include all the recolors. With this, Takara Tomy has mentioned that this will be the last Masterpiece release as it will be consolidated to the MPG line, creating a single brand of high-end Transformers figures. I’m inclined to believe that this will give Takara Tomy another excuse to release yet another Optimus Prime/Convoy figure in this new consolidated brand with the MPG numbering scheme. I also don’t know if the consolidation will include the Movie Masterpiece figures as they also use a different numbering scheme.
You can check out the promo video they released below.
Lastly on a semi-related note, I’ve been tracking the Transformers Legends Super Ginrai figure as my analogue to a mainline/Generations-scale Powermaster Optimus Prime. Following this announcement, I wonder if demand for that figure in the secondary market would increase or decrease. I obviously hope for the latter but let’s see.
