Hi! Today at Toronto TransformersCon I finally picked up a Robot Masters Victory Saber kit, but one with a twist - they're cosplaying as Decepticons! (Above is the combined VS, beside my other two catches for the day...) As you may or may not know, Victory Saber is the combined form of the two main Autobot/Cybertron characters seen in the Japanese G1 series TF: Victory (and also featured in the Robot Masters animations) - Star Saber and Victory Leo. This particular set, as noted above, has a Nemesis Prime-like re-paint, and the schemes go pretty well together, in fact. (I personally wish that the regular VS had such a matching scheme, but how and ever...). As far as the moulds themselves go, they aren't too bad - Star Saber has a smaller figure that transforms into a smaller jet, and folds up to fit into the larger robot's chest cavity, and the whole thing turns into a larger interstellar craft. Victory Leo turns from a robot to a giant winged lion, and comes apart to become the lower legs and backpack of Victory Saber. SS is the better of the two by himself - he stands well in super-robot mode, the super-jet mode is mostly ok (the weaker rubber prongs sticking out above the shoulders are a bit awkward, though) and the smaller robot is a nice additon, though it would do with more articulation. I wish the sword wasn't so bendy, though. VL, I find, is less useful - after I pulled him apart the first time to form VS, he doesn't seem to fit all that well together again when you try to stand him in robot mode, and the leg joints (which go inwards from thigh to lower leg) are a bit fiddly - he doesn't stand evenly. Overall, it's a well-done app on a decent set of moulds - though I'd love to see an updated take on Victory Saber (along with similar updates for Metalhawk, Dai Atlas and Sonic Bomber, of course!). And I'll just consider the characters to be cosplaying at the annual IaconCon! Gary
Hey hey, now here's a nifty, older piece. Victory Saber's one of my most fave Autobot(s) around. This is a pretty nice set, which is funny since I recall e-hobby's preview photoshopped pics of him actually looked worse than the final toy. I agree with most of what you said, and would like to add on my two cents. To be honest I quite dislike this mold. I definitely won't knock its simplification and dumbing down of certain features (Star Saber lacking his brainmaster for instance), considering its size. However, I will criticise its lack of improvements to the mold, primarily in the articulation department. I would like to consider myself not an articulation obsessed person, but considering that was one of the goals of the RM line, and others toys like Prime, Lio Convoy and Beast Megatron getting improved articulation over their vintage versions, I was pretty disappointed that RM VS could barely move more than his vintage counterpart. Take into fact that I find the quality of the plastic poor, and Victory Leo's face sculpt rather lacking, and I was one disappointed VS fan. At least the Decepticon colour scheme's pretty cool. I'm probably being unfair in my comparison, but I can't help it really. THIS will always be Victory saber to me: Still, RM VS was a (if very brief) renaissance for Victory Saber, and I will lap up any Victory toys Takara-Tomy releases .
I wish that they would reissue regular size Victory Saber and Robotmasters Victory Saber in a G1 Optimus Prime matching color scheme. These are great figures combined, but the colors always make them look apart.
It turns out that according to the e-Hobby site, the two are in costume, in order to infiltrate a weapons bazaar on Earth (and stop the real Deceticons from getting there first!) As far as alternate colour schemes go, I have a few ideas of my own as to what would be good for Star Saber and Victory Leo... Gary
