Oh, the funniest parts were deleted. I remember when the tankies were trying to argue that if we had communism, everyone would be able to get a Unicron for free.

 

More people need to realize this. A niche character just means that it’s a returning character for some, and a new character for many.

 

No Jan or Holi stretch goal?

 

Backers need to be over 9000!!

 

3,125 backers.

 

Good, I liked those.

 

The funniest part is people bought it.

 

Saber. The smaller robot. I noticed that Star Saber has the hinged hands which is awesome, but I would like for Saber to have them.

Again though, his hands are on balljoints, so I'm sure someone out there will come up with something.

 

Who wants to place their bets that the final stretch goal is a gap filler kit?

 

I think my only real disappointment with this project is that I was sort of hoping it to have more stylized, Obari-esque proportions, as per most of the "glamour" animations in the series.

Putting that aside, though, this is pretty clearly a "modern engineering" update of the original toy (especially since they defaulted to the toy orientation for the sword, with the animation orientation being an afterthought), with some of the squat-ness of the G1 figure intact, and that's a perfectly valid take.

 

Anyone know how that compares to the pace of other HasLabs? I’m mulling putting in an order for 2, but it’ll be at least 1.

 

That's what I thought. I was ready to bag it, despite it being potentially chug and then I saw how cheap the prototypes looked. They should've charged more if this is what they can do for 180.

 

If it wasn't $369 I'd back it.

 

Should have bought the micromasters

 

Starsabers helmets too big

 

My concern for this is that the JG1 fandom is deeply passionate but not particularly broad. I can see a lot of sales immediately after launch to the long suffering fans, but having that well dry up before hitting the goal.

Tankies?

More stretch goals will be revealed as they get closer. Galactus didn't reveal Nova until a week or two ago, and Silver Surfer with less than a week to go.

 

Firstly, for those in the EU, you can back this from the following links:
Victory Saber : Figurine de Collection Premium - Hasbro Haslab Transformers
Zavvi Germany
though please check first whether or not Zavvi delivers to your location.

I think pretty much all that can be said about the figures themselves has been said. I'm a big fan of MP-24, flaws and all and I think the Haslab VS has potential. My main hopes are:
1. that the method of inserting Saber into the V-Star in both jet and robot modes uses a new concept and not the G1/MP "hook" mechanism
2. that Saber's knees aren't such a pain to bend

Hopefully there's time to fix many of the current shortcomings of the prototypes.

A very small rant:
I'm really glad headmasters were done decently in Titans Return/Legends. Still a lot to improve but overall I'm happy with them. It's annoying that Hasbro/Takara have not yet figured out how to properly do modern powermasters and brainmasters. MP-24 had Saber's face in the jet body instead of in the brainmaster (as in G1). At least the sliding mechanism was included. While I like that Saber's face is part of the brainmaster this time, I do not like the twist transformation and the elimination of the sliding gimmick. It's a tactile and essential part of the experience IMO, like clicking a headmaster into its slot. Closing the chest panel and seeing the face slide up is a big part of the fun and it's disappointing that they went with another mechanism.

A much longer rant:
How amateurish and budget-starved is Hasbro's marketing department? Teenage youtubers with a setup worth <$500 manage a much clearer, higher definition and better organised presentation. Again and again Hasbro has shown complete incompetence when it comes to marketing and communication.
1. Hire proper presenters. While these two guys may be crucial to the team, they are absolutely not the correct choice when it comes to presenting a new product. Even in the TF youtube world, there are many who would do a much better job at presenting this. Just grab one of them.

2. Show the toy, not the presenters. We want to see the product. Have a showcase of the product as many toy reviewers do. In this case, a plain, dark background. Proper lighting. The figure in the middle. The presenter's face should occupy no more than 10% of the screen (if at all) and should stay in one corner.

3. Publish a video, don't do a stream. Streams only make sense if there is audience interaction. Taking/answering questions. Just film a properly produced video instead.

4. 4K video quality, no less. It is unthinkable and utterly inexcusable that a massive toy company can't provide their marketing department with proper microphones and cameras.

5. Get to the point. Why the long wait before the video actually starts?

6. Show at least part of the transformation. Some snippets at least. If not with the prototype then at least with the digital model. This is meant to be a more "playable" figure than the MP. Transformation is a big part of playability.

7. Show some articulation and movement. Handle it by hand, stop-motion animate the prototype or animate the 3D model with accurate articulation limits. Just show more than static figures.

 

Backed, but this doesn’t have the haslab polish like their other releases do. This feels like a commander/leader class bundle pack.

I think this is really intended for the Takara KD/LG lineup equivalent for whatever the next toy line will be, because there is no way this would need to be a crowdfund item in the Japanese market.

They had the exclusive retool for Super Ginrai and Godbomber in Japan that didn’t get a Titans return release, maybe this is similar? Except with introducing haslab the can crowdfund it here for extra $$$, then announce it at Japanese retail after

 

Proportions are based more on the original toy than on the animation.

See also the tall Victory Saber boots with small toes, versus the flat boots with huge anime mecha feet.

 

Niche political label