Another Shot of the Masterpiece Star Saber Prototype

I just can't wait for the preorders to start and buy it instantly.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:I don't see a lot in the way of joints or seams that would give an idea as to how the figure comes together. I really feel keeping the Brainmaster gimmick intact is crucial.

This is a really important point.

Star Saber's transformation is so simple, if the complexity is not in his "nesting doll" attributes, we're getting screwed over.

Counterpunch wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:I don't see a lot in the way of joints or seams that would give an idea as to how the figure comes together. I really feel keeping the Brainmaster gimmick intact is crucial.

This is a really important point.

Star Saber's transformation is so simple, if the complexity is not in his "nesting doll" attributes, we're getting screwed over.

Absolutely. Is it too early to start wishing for a MP Victory Leo?

So, if it isn't too hard to transform Star Saber, will this affect the price in a positive way?
Due to the fact that it wouldn't be a lot of engineering involved to make him transform.

Torneira wrote:So, if it isn't too hard to transform Star Saber, will this affect the price in a positive way?
Due to the fact that it wouldn't be a lot of engineering involved to make him transform.

That's a good question. Keep in mind that there's a general set price point for Masterpieces that Takara tries to stay within so who knows. They might load him up with little add ons to keep the price on the same level.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

Torneira wrote:So, if it isn't too hard to transform Star Saber, will this affect the price in a positive way?
Due to the fact that it wouldn't be a lot of engineering involved to make him transform.

That's a good question. Keep in mind that there's a general set price point for Masterpieces that Takara tries to stay within so who knows. They might load him up with little add ons to keep the price on the same level.

Given recent trends, I think we can safely assume at least a baseline price of $160.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

Counterpunch wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:I don't see a lot in the way of joints or seams that would give an idea as to how the figure comes together. I really feel keeping the Brainmaster gimmick intact is crucial.

This is a really important point.

Star Saber's transformation is so simple, if the complexity is not in his "nesting doll" attributes, we're getting screwed over.

Absolutely. Is it too early to start wishing for a MP Victory Leo?

NEVER

Courtesy of the fine folks over on the Planet Iacon Facebook page we have an image from one of the Japanese hobby magazines featuring new images of the Masterpiece Star Saber prototype. The images give us our first look at Saber and the vehicles modes. We also get a look at MP-22 Ultra Magnus, the Movie Advance G1 style Deluxe Wheeljack, and the massive non-transforming Scorponok figure from Gigantic Action.

SABER!!!!!

Please have the Yuuki no Brain as well! Please have the Yuuki no Brain as well!

Sabrblade wrote:SABER!!!!!

Please have the Yuuki no Brain as well! Please have the Yuuki no Brain as well!

Then it will truly be the best MP evah!!

I want this...Wonder if the sword sheaths the same way as in victory. Still would like to know if there's a victory Leo on the way.

All the fuzzy feelings inside.

ZeroWolf wrote:I want this...Wonder if the sword sheaths the same way as in victory. Still would like to know if there's a victory Leo on the way.

We'll know for sure once we see connectors attached to Saber's feet and back

Even if there's no MP V-Leo I'll be happy if it's even compatible with the original V-Leo.

guarayakha wrote:Even if there's no MP V-Leo I'll be happy if it's even compatible with the original V-Leo.

Some people are speculating that it might very well be backwards-compatible with the G1 Victory Leo toy.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:I want this...Wonder if the sword sheaths the same way as in victory. Still would like to know if there's a victory Leo on the way.

We'll know for sure once we see connectors attached to Saber's feet and back

Considering that all Victory Leo has to do to combine with Star Saber is to be giant platform shoes and a jetpack, it isn't that far off from the realm of possibility.

Not at all familiar with the Japanese-exclusive cartoons (Headmasters, Zone, Victory etc) but that looks pretty sweet.

I know Takara does Masterpiece Brave toys as well...I need to watch GaoGaiGar so I have an excuse to buy them. I can imagine they'd go very well together with this guy (heck, the "symmetrical docking" twins like HyoRyu and EnRyu look transformer-y anyway).

Delta Magnus wrote:Not at all familiar with the Japanese-exclusive cartoons (Headmasters, Zone, Victory etc) but that looks pretty sweet.

I know Takara does Masterpiece Brave toys as well...I need to watch GaoGaiGar so I have an excuse to buy them. I can imagine they'd go very well together with this guy (heck, the "symmetrical docking" twins like HyoRyu and EnRyu look transformer-y anyway).

I did not know this...I wonder if they have made a MP Genesic GaoGaiGar or a King J-Der J Phoenix accessory...Takara will own my soul at this rate.

im not blown away. probably because im not invested in the character. but hey, small blurry grey prototype pics wouldnt have blown me away anyways. looking forward to the real deal.

Delta Magnus wrote:Not at all familiar with the Japanese-exclusive cartoons (Headmasters, Zone, Victory etc) but that looks pretty sweet.

I know Takara does Masterpiece Brave toys as well...I need to watch GaoGaiGar so I have an excuse to buy them. I can imagine they'd go very well together with this guy (heck, the "symmetrical docking" twins like HyoRyu and EnRyu look transformer-y anyway).

Takara did have a Masterpiece line for the Braves. But it only lasted long enough to get King Exkaiser and Dragon Kaiser.

ZeroWolf wrote:

Delta Magnus wrote:Not at all familiar with the Japanese-exclusive cartoons (Headmasters, Zone, Victory etc) but that looks pretty sweet.

I know Takara does Masterpiece Brave toys as well...I need to watch GaoGaiGar so I have an excuse to buy them. I can imagine they'd go very well together with this guy (heck, the "symmetrical docking" twins like HyoRyu and EnRyu look transformer-y anyway).

I did not know this...I wonder if they have made a MP Genesic GaoGaiGar or a King J-Der J Phoenix accessory...Takara will own my soul at this rate.

You'll have to look in Bandai's direction as they own the Brave anime designs (thanks to Sunrise belonging to Bandai now), and the options are quite a few. Right now, the non-transforming Super Robot Chogokin series has a good part of the GGG line-up, including Genesic GaoGaiGar, as well as some other Brave series robots. As for transforming figures, the Brave Gokin series has GaoGaiGar (I'd suggest looking for v2 as it fixes some faults of the original), Genesic and GaoFighGar, but those are slightly older figures and more finnicky, not really Soul of Chogokin material.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:

Delta Magnus wrote:Not at all familiar with the Japanese-exclusive cartoons (Headmasters, Zone, Victory etc) but that looks pretty sweet.

I know Takara does Masterpiece Brave toys as well...I need to watch GaoGaiGar so I have an excuse to buy them. I can imagine they'd go very well together with this guy (heck, the "symmetrical docking" twins like HyoRyu and EnRyu look transformer-y anyway).

I did not know this...I wonder if they have made a MP Genesic GaoGaiGar or a King J-Der J Phoenix accessory...Takara will own my soul at this rate.

You'll have to look in Bandai's direction as they own the Brave anime designs (thanks to Sunrise belonging to Bandai now), and the options are quite a few. Right now, the non-transforming Super Robot Chogokin series has a good part of the GGG line-up, including Genesic GaoGaiGar, as well as some other Brave series robots. As for transforming figures, the Brave Gokin series has GaoGaiGar (I'd suggest looking for v2 as it fixes some faults of the original), Genesic and GaoFighGar, but those are slightly older figures and more finnicky, not really Soul of Chogokin material.

Don't Takara have any ownership over the material? They created it after all.

Sigh, and there was me hoping we'd get updated, super-articulated and fully transforming versions of the Symmetrical Docking teams. I can dream...

(Although for 90s toys, the original Takara figures are actually incredible from what I've seen. Unfortunately they're also very rare.)

Delta Magnus wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:

Delta Magnus wrote:Not at all familiar with the Japanese-exclusive cartoons (Headmasters, Zone, Victory etc) but that looks pretty sweet.

I know Takara does Masterpiece Brave toys as well...I need to watch GaoGaiGar so I have an excuse to buy them. I can imagine they'd go very well together with this guy (heck, the "symmetrical docking" twins like HyoRyu and EnRyu look transformer-y anyway).

I did not know this...I wonder if they have made a MP Genesic GaoGaiGar or a King J-Der J Phoenix accessory...Takara will own my soul at this rate.

You'll have to look in Bandai's direction as they own the Brave anime designs (thanks to Sunrise belonging to Bandai now), and the options are quite a few. Right now, the non-transforming Super Robot Chogokin series has a good part of the GGG line-up, including Genesic GaoGaiGar, as well as some other Brave series robots. As for transforming figures, the Brave Gokin series has GaoGaiGar (I'd suggest looking for v2 as it fixes some faults of the original), Genesic and GaoFighGar, but those are slightly older figures and more finnicky, not really Soul of Chogokin material.

Don't Takara have any ownership over the material? They created it after all.

If anything, only the original Brave series molds. The animation and original character design was done by Sunrise, and well, Bandai owns those now. Hope you're not against playing for the other team if need be.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:I want this...Wonder if the sword sheaths the same way as in victory. Still would like to know if there's a victory Leo on the way.

We'll know for sure once we see connectors attached to Saber's feet and back

It's been awhile since I've played with mine so don't hold me to this but I think Star Saber didn't have any visual connection points on it since Lio clipped on using existing pegs and holes and such.

Scroponok is almost $500. Yikes!! I might as well buy a 3P Scorpy that transforms for that price.

Yeah... just gimme a release date and price, and I'll start saving. Star Saber is definitely among my top three Autobots and probably part of the top ten Transformers in general, so I'm very pleased to see that he seems to be turning out very well.

I wouldn't mind there being backwards-compatibility with the original Victory Victory Leo, but it's not something I desperately need for it to have. Though I would consider a third party Victory Leo of equal size, stature, and quality.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Delta Magnus wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:

Delta Magnus wrote:Not at all familiar with the Japanese-exclusive cartoons (Headmasters, Zone, Victory etc) but that looks pretty sweet.

I know Takara does Masterpiece Brave toys as well...I need to watch GaoGaiGar so I have an excuse to buy them. I can imagine they'd go very well together with this guy (heck, the "symmetrical docking" twins like HyoRyu and EnRyu look transformer-y anyway).

I did not know this...I wonder if they have made a MP Genesic GaoGaiGar or a King J-Der J Phoenix accessory...Takara will own my soul at this rate.

You'll have to look in Bandai's direction as they own the Brave anime designs (thanks to Sunrise belonging to Bandai now), and the options are quite a few. Right now, the non-transforming Super Robot Chogokin series has a good part of the GGG line-up, including Genesic GaoGaiGar, as well as some other Brave series robots. As for transforming figures, the Brave Gokin series has GaoGaiGar (I'd suggest looking for v2 as it fixes some faults of the original), Genesic and GaoFighGar, but those are slightly older figures and more finnicky, not really Soul of Chogokin material.

Don't Takara have any ownership over the material? They created it after all.

If anything, only the original Brave series molds. The animation and original character design was done by Sunrise, and well, Bandai owns those now. Hope you're not against playing for the other team if need be.

I go where the toys are, I think it was the brave chokin line I was looking at before. Though the Soul of Chogokin line is also nice though far more expensive to complete GGG's arsenal (the key to victory sets)

Bandai is doing a SOC GGG due sometime this fall

I'll have to price that up then (its not going to be cheap is it...) Thanks Chuckdawg

Xephon0930 wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:I want this...Wonder if the sword sheaths the same way as in victory. Still would like to know if there's a victory Leo on the way.

We'll know for sure once we see connectors attached to Saber's feet and back

Considering that all Victory Leo has to do to combine with Star Saber is to be giant platform shoes and a jetpack, it isn't that far off from the realm of possibility.

Wouldn't risk combining a 20 year old figure to a modern release. The former is sure to break just by looking funny at it.

ZeroWolf wrote:I'll have to price that up then (its not going to be cheap is it...) Thanks Chuckdawg

It'll probably be in the $200-$300 range

fenrir72 wrote:

Xephon0930 wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:I want this...Wonder if the sword sheaths the same way as in victory. Still would like to know if there's a victory Leo on the way.

We'll know for sure once we see connectors attached to Saber's feet and back

Considering that all Victory Leo has to do to combine with Star Saber is to be giant platform shoes and a jetpack, it isn't that far off from the realm of possibility.

Wouldn't risk combining a 20 year old figure to a modern release. The former is sure to break just by looking funny at it.

Victory Leo is known for easy breakage?

A 20 year old figure is sure to be. Given the plastics used for MP would also have a different composition which in turn may possibly affect the strength of the PVC/ABS or whatever material back in the early 90s.

fenrir72 wrote:A 20 year old figure is sure to be. Given the plastics used for MP would also have a different composition which in turn may possibly affect the strength of the PVC/ABS or whatever material back in the early 90s.

When I got Victory Leo like 7 years ago I had to preform surgery on his leg because one of the lions paws came off. So yeah, I would not use my vintage figure

Sabrblade wrote:Victory Leo is known for easy breakage?

Mine is as sturdy as a rock

Ready for some more Takara Tomy Masterpiece Star Saber prototype images? Thanks once more to Weibo user 北马伊斯力, we get a look at two pages from the Masterpiece Guide (released today), featuring even more shots of the Autobot leader - and maybe suggesting extra features. Take a look below!

@ Saberblade

Brave module is included. Your fears averted.

Never understood the appeal of Star Saber. He's super cool don't get me wrong, and maybe I'll think differently when I see painted prototypes, but I never watched Masterforce so I don't feel any connection to the Saber character.

Hmmm doesn't appear to retain the brainmaster feature despite having Saber in the cockpit. That's a bummer... at least I have my original

fenrir72 wrote:@ Saberblade

Brave module is included. Your fears averted.

Sideshow Sideswipe wrote:Never understood the appeal of Star Saber. He's super cool don't get me wrong, and maybe I'll think differently when I see painted prototypes, but I never watched Masterforce so I don't feel any connection to the Saber character.

He was in Victory, not Masterforce.

Sideshow Sideswipe wrote:Never understood the appeal of Star Saber. He's super cool don't get me wrong, and maybe I'll think differently when I see painted prototypes, but I never watched Masterforce so I don't feel any connection to the Saber character.

The appeal to Star Saber is:

1. He's an asskicking no-nonsense swordsman and warrior.
2. He doesn't die every second episode.
3. Aesthetically, he's one of the coolest transformers ever made.
4. Heavily armed gunships is better than a Semi or Winnebago any day, especially in a war.


QED

fenrir72 wrote:@ Saberblade

Brave module is included. Your fears averted.

Like Powermaster Prime he is a 3-step:

1. Yuuki no Brain (Brain of Courage)
2. Saber
3. Star Saber

I see the Brain in the cockpit, but I can't tell if the gimmick is present.

Super Megatron wrote:

Sideshow Sideswipe wrote:Never understood the appeal of Star Saber. He's super cool don't get me wrong, and maybe I'll think differently when I see painted prototypes, but I never watched Masterforce so I don't feel any connection to the Saber character.

The appeal to Star Saber is:

1. He's an asskicking no-nonsense swordsman and warrior.
2. He doesn't die every second episode.
3. Aesthetically, he's one of the coolest transformers ever made.
4. Heavily armed gunships is better than a Semi or Winnebago any day, especially in a war.


QED

I too once asked about the appeal of Star Saber as a character:

I get that he looks cool and did some cool things, but what's the appeal of Star Saber, personality-wise? He just seems like an after-school role model who never makes mistakes (and therefore doesn't learn from them) and is practically perfect in every way. Not exactly a three-dimensional guy.

The ending theme even sings about how he never misbehaved as a child.

And got the following answers from folks who find him appealing:

He's the only Autobot who's somebody's dad, which is kind of interesting.

Adopted and raised a human child on his own is pretty unique really for an Autobot leader. It just hasn't been developed very deeply in anything I've read. Combine that with him being a tiny bot who expands several times to "Leader" size and there's a lot of potential for him to be cool there. If he showed up in a US book as a non-Villian he could rock.

For me the appeal is the design. A Masterpiece Star Saber (and especially Victory Saber) would really pop on a shelf.

uper bad@$$ best swordsman in the galaxy space hero robot is someone's dad! The first part is the selling point. The second is the texture that gives him some character.

He's a super robot heroic leader. They're not really about depth. You could say the same thing about most versions of Optimus Prime. This character-type gets texture more than depth in kids programming.

here his texture is adoptive father. It's something a least.

I guess the fatherhood aspect really is a big part of his character appeal. Though, this bit of Q&A occurred before he appeared in the IDW comics as a zealot.

..in which he is a twisted, religious fanatic, acting as hand for a genocidal maniac (and quite keen on Genocide himself).

So pick your traits, there's enough to please a good part of fandom.

Haven't even seen what it looks like in goddamn technicolor, and I want it so badly... what's his predicted release date, again?

This guy is going to be so epic.

Shut up and take my preorder!

Sabrblade wrote:I guess the fatherhood aspect really is a big part of his character appeal. Though, this bit of Q&A occurred before he appeared in the IDW comics as a zealot.

He has the coolest 1st ep intro in all 3 Japanese g1 cartoon, spaghetti western style


Also he drinks tea.


nuff' said.

guarayakha wrote:He has the coolest 1st ep intro in all 3 Japanese g1 cartoon, spaghetti western style

That clip was pretty cool... till the characters started talking, which killed it.

Sabrblade wrote:

guarayakha wrote:He has the coolest 1st ep intro in all 3 Japanese g1 cartoon, spaghetti western style

That clip was pretty cool... till the characters started talking, which killed it.

^ This.

Mindmaster wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

guarayakha wrote:He has the coolest 1st ep intro in all 3 Japanese g1 cartoon, spaghetti western style

That clip was pretty cool... till the characters started talking, which killed it.

^ This.

Hideyuki Tanaka FTW!