Masterpiece MP42 Cordon

Working area for reviews.

Moderators: Skyquake87, ganon578

Post Reply
User avatar
Skyquake87
Protoform
Posts: 3986
Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2010 9:34 am

Masterpiece MP42 Cordon

Post by Skyquake87 »

Name : Cordon
Allegiance: Cybertron
Function: Reserve Trooper


Bio: Cordon is a reserve trooper afflicted with a glitch that causes regular memory loss. Born in an ancient era of Cybertron, Cordon's regular amnesia has frequently stripped him of any judgment of right or wrong, but has granted him one gift: The skills inscribed in his body systems from the multitude of different personae and experiences he has lived through. Among his expertises are the detoxification of iron habu venom, the improvement of dynamo repairs, and even cooking an exquisite feast for harvest festivals. But such a renaissance 'bot also attracts the attention of the Decepticons...


Cordon is the latest Masterpiece repaint/ retool to homage the Transformers' origins in Takara's Diaclone line, giving us the very silly Countach Turbo Tuning Police Car. I was expecting the red version of the Turbo Tuning Countach, so confounded my expectations, at least. Looks nice with Clampdown, although my inner pedant thinks it'd be better if they both carried the same language in their respective liveries for consistency. These obscure repaints are still my Masterpiece hit of choice, as they offer something just a little bit different to another version of a character we've had fifteen versions of in other Transformers ranges already. The bio is ...odd. Cordon clearly has mental health problems (how modern), but does Cybertron have Harvest Festivals and cooking?


Robot Mode: Cordon's robot mode is very pretty. He looks very clean and sharp in mostly white, with the black parts adding some nice visual punch. He also eschews the MP Sunstreaker's horrible haunted 'tradegy/comedy' theatre mask face in favour of the design sported by the original toy. This is much better and helps make Cordon feel more like a legit character, rather than some funhouse attraction. It's really nice and detailed, and I like how glum he looks. Speaking of details – check out the shin panels. No boring cartoon accurate flat panels here, instead we've got the nice machinery bits sported by the original toy done up in a nice glossy black paint. I like how his shoulders are framed by the shiny engine block too. In short; he looks gorgeous.

Alternate Mode: The Countach is easily my favourite sports car design. I like that it's wedgy, but areodynamic at the same time. This is utterly unconvincing as a police car, but I don't care. It looks superb, and the silver engine thingies at the back look excellent. Best of all, you can tuck them away to give the vehicle mode the more familiar look. He can also pop out a cannon from the back for an attack mode. Lined up against the regular Lambo mould, he does look just a shade smaller, despite being the same size. An odd thing to say, but I think it comes from the likes of Sideswipe having fewer moving parts, so they look a little more bulky by comparrison.


Marks out of ten for the following:

Transformation Design: The transformation on this thing is ridiculous. It's ingenious, the way everything pretzels and twizzles about, but it's not for the faint hearted and it's one that definitely needs you to pay attention to tolerances and such. Whilst the instructions are good, they aren't especially helpful and I found referring to YouTube videos and then back at the instructions the best way to avoid breakage. Even doing this, I ended up removing the wing mirrors as I just can't do the legs to vehicle without the things snapping off. 9/10

Aesthetics: The crisp black and white deco and general good looks of both the robot and vehicle modes mean this is an incredibly good looking toy. 10/10

Durability: Cordon doesn't feel fragile, but I would recommend great care is taken when handling and especially when transforming. He has so many moving parts and the way the windscreen tucks up into the backpack is a particularly hairy moment. 7/10

Articulation: Definitely fits the definition of 'action figure' – Cordon has a superb range of movement, and can strike some very dynamic poses. I don't find myself that there's anything in particular I'm missing. 9/10

Fun: I always find this a tough one to grade for Masterpiece figures. They're not really designed for 'fun' and more for showing off. I don't play with them in the same way as I would a regular retail release figure. I suppose the fun for these comes from just being impressed by them. And Cordon, with his good looks and complex transformation, certainly does that. 8/10

Price/Value: I baulked at the price for this guy - £89.99 – but having him in hand and seeing the work that's gone into engineering this figure, I'm happy that this is a fair price. Your mileage may vary, of course. 8/10

Overall: Whilst not an essential addition to any collection (unless you're me), Cordon is a stunning piece of work and a worthy addition if you're already deep into picking up Masterpiece figures. He lacks the character familiarity to make him worthwhile if you're not into obscurities and non-entities, but he looks a damn sight better than the ghoulish looking Sunstreaker. 7/10
Attachments
MPC 008 (640x480).jpg
MPC 008 (640x480).jpg (203.05 KiB) Viewed 2283 times
MPC 007 (640x480).jpg
MPC 007 (640x480).jpg (182.27 KiB) Viewed 2283 times
MPC 006 (640x480).jpg
MPC 006 (640x480).jpg (176.12 KiB) Viewed 2283 times
MPC 005 (640x480).jpg
MPC 005 (640x480).jpg (191.73 KiB) Viewed 2283 times
MPC 004 (640x480).jpg
MPC 004 (640x480).jpg (192.53 KiB) Viewed 2283 times
MPC 003 (640x480).jpg
MPC 003 (640x480).jpg (203.7 KiB) Viewed 2283 times
MPC 002 (640x480).jpg
MPC 002 (640x480).jpg (193.07 KiB) Viewed 2283 times
MPC 001 (640x480).jpg
MPC 001 (640x480).jpg (189.09 KiB) Viewed 2283 times
User avatar
Skyquake87
Protoform
Posts: 3986
Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2010 9:34 am

Re: Masterpiece MP42 Cordon

Post by Skyquake87 »

Only taken a year , but here's some pictures, finally!
Post Reply