Care of Planet Iacon on Facebook, we have a screengrab of what appears to be a computer listing showing a pair of upcoming Takara-Tomy Transformers releases, which translate as Masterpiece MP-37 Artfire, and Legends series LG-42 Godbomber. Taghobby supports the former listing, giving MP-37 Artfire a May 2015 release priced at 15,000 yen – so it looks like the next Masterpiece release is Masterpiece Artfire, and that Takara-Tomy’s Legends Ginrai will be getting his combiner upgrade in the same timeframe.
To bring those not aware of these characters up to speed – Artfire was a 1987 release who only came out in Japan, and was a Targetmaster remold of Inferno. So this release makes sense, in that Takara-Tomy will be releasing a retooling of Masterpiece Inferno with an additional Targetmaster and the sweet red and white deco. Godbomber, also known in the US as Apex Bomber, was similarly originally a Japan-only release. Released in 1988, he was a part of the Masterforce series, where he transformed into a secondary trailer and power-up armor set for Ginrai, the Japanese release of Powermaster Optimus Prime. This means that the new Ginrai who comes out at the end of this month will also get to transform into this ultimate power “God Ginrai” form. He’ll almost certainly not work with the US Powermaster Optimus Prime due to the redesign Takara-Tomy have given their Ginrai.
For now, please treat these listings as rumors, albeit with some very solid backing for Artfire. We’ll update you when official confirmation arrives, which will almost certainly be in Japanese hobby magazines in the new year.
The post Masterpiece MP-37 Artfire and Legends LG-42 Godbomber coming? appeared first on Transformer World 2005 - TFW2005.COM.