they just announced the third tier today. Morg I think

 

Or the "Super dealer deluxe" clear coat via sleazy car salesman tactics.

 

Now that I’m off work and had a chance to really look at this, I’m super undecided.

I like this character a lot, but I don’t feel this looks that good. The proportions are weird, and generally I see a lot of aesthetic choices I don’t like. From the gaps that shouldn’t be acceptable on a made to order Haslab project, to the weapons and way leo attaches, this should be better.

I’m sure I’ll enjoy it in hand, but I already have the MP and the Planet X. This isn’t really doing enough to make me want it.
If it were a mix between both designs - I’d be into it. If it did some of the visual tricks that the flame toys does with the lion face for the combined mode chest - I’d be into it. If it were modernized at all and not just a g1 toy with more articulation - I’d be into it. The MP already does articulated G1 toy just fine, so what’s the allure?

do I buy this just to support more JG1 characters getting updates or do I ignore it since it’s just more of the same? Maybe I’m just burnt out: I’m already contemplating selling off 90% of my Siege, Earthrise, and Kingdom stuff - it just bores the hell out of me. No good media, nothing actually new, just old stuff over and over. This brand is just so stagnant.

 

You're my frigging hero man  

 

That would be an easy way to lose trust in future projects.

 

Nova was revealed August 2, which was a little over a week into the campaign.

Hasbro reveals HasLab Nova figure

 

Great! I was just thinking where could I get it  

 

Because (like me), you have a CHUG-scale collection as well as an MP-scaled one, and want a Star Saber for that collection too.

Any other easy questions?

 

No idea. Email confirmation didn’t say anything so I think people are guessing by looking at the number of backers either before or after their order.

 

Because it falls in a no-mans land of desired (necessary) complexity, product line and target audience.

Back in PotP, it was widely speculated that Star Saber was queued up for it because of the evolution theme of the line. In retrospect, a Leader class Star Saber would have been a under-designed mistake. Witness how compromised TR Overlord and more notably, PotP Optimal Optimus was, to get them within the $50 price target. Star Saber done right would need to be larger and bulkier than leader.

When Siege Commander class Jetfire came along, many people pointed out that the plastic, size and transformation scheme could be relatively easily adapted for Star Saber. And that's more or less true. You can do and $80 Star Saber pretty well and the Haslab Star Saber more or less reflects that. But probably with relatively simple paint. And remember: a defining characteristic of Japanese late-G1 is the lavish color schemes influenced by anime.

But where does Victory Leo fall? You could again, probably do him at leader class... or a bit smaller... or a bit bigger. It kind of depends what you're going for and if you wanted to include the gun. This is the same problem Hasbro faced with Legends (TR) Godbomber, who is a glorified accessory pack for the Japanese Super Ginrai (Magnus Prime here). Magnus Prime himself was a modified and more elaborate figure than Leader class TR Powermaster Optimus Prime, already breaking the Leader class price tag by himself. Godbomber was too small for leader, but too big for Voyager. Victory Leo would probably be a $60 figure on his own.

And in both cases, we're talking figures with a design and target audience that is more towards hardcore fans.

In the end, let's say we're getting $80 Star Saber and a $60 Victory leo. That's $140 right there. Now throw in an expanded budget for paint and engineering, plus a premium for being a limited run figure (10k-20k, instead of hundreds of thousands), and we arrive at $180 pretty easily.

Kind of the meta-argument in this whole thing is that the retail price points are stifling, which is why we're seeing $30 "Deluxe++" Voyager-price point figures like SS86 Hot Rod or $22 Minibots. Or consider Kingdom Commander class Rodimus Prime - a "Voyager+++ class core figure (a step up from ER Leader Optimus Prime) with a big plastic box and a lot of blast effects to just meet that $80 price point. Or heck, ER Optimus Prime himself, a Voyager++ figure with a quick-and-dirty trailer. What would a legit trailer have pushed that figure to? Probably around $65. I happen to think $65 is a fair price for ER Optimus with a full featured trailer.

The thing is, Hasbro fills these price points in coordination with retailers who don't really care what's in them, so long as there is product at that price. But the brackets between them are empty, and every year or two squeeze a figure or an idea out. Back in Transformers Prime, it was Breakdown (above Deluxe, sub-Voyager).

A mass market Star Saber in the US was the dream for many years for long time TF fans. But the Haslab approach is probably better, with one look at PotP Optimus Primal being the reason why.

 

I did buy them ... but it isn’t quite the right deco for Victory Holi. I think there was an exclusive pack where the deco was closer, but I wasn’t gonna buy that.

 

i was hoping for the brainmaster to be slightly bigger, and i hope it doesnt 'transform' into the head the way MP star saber did.

i also hope that it will be COVERED in weapon and blast effect ports.

i wonder what the backing teir rewards are?

 

Galactus hit the halfway point in a day. Then it slowed down. Curious to see what the numbers are at around 11 tomorrow. Thinking of getting a second through BBTS or TCP so I can pay for the bulk of it when it comes in.

 

Oh crap....seriously?

I remember that guy, he was pretty cool!

Really surprised they went with him though.  

 

At first when I saw the grey prototype, I thought being under $200 was a steal. But after seeing SethSunday4/Oh_Crack digibash, I felt like it's over price, lol. Man, that hollow lower arm on Saber looks really bad.

 

It exists. It's KFC Toys Simba. I believe it was leaked some time ago that it, along with some Fanstoys 3P MPs, were designed by Takara designers moonlighting for 3P companies to make MP figures that wouldn't get made otherwise. It's sure been interesting how Takara MPs and Fans Toys MPs have been so complimentary for so many years, while Fans Toys won't get anywhere close to an Optimus Prime, Megatron and Starscream.

 

Probably because they want to hold back more popular heralds for a retail release.

 

These look fantastic!

 

Right now those are just prototype digital renders, Hasbro could change some things down the line. They did end up improving the hands on Unicron mid development.

 

What they showed isn’t the final product and I doubt a digibash could accurately portray how it will actually look in the long run. However the final picture makes me want it even more lol.