Not as much as you'd think. It did force them to render him with the larger backpack size, than the smaller size (both are screen accurate, scene dependant), but that's about it.

People complain about gimmicks like that jacking up the price, but common electronic components like that are very cheap, especially at wholesale volumes. Unless they go full on crazy-mode like with the Webdiver series, basic electronic functions are a "value added" gimmick. The toy was always going to be expensive AF. Adding the electronics might only add like, a dollar to the cost, but feels like so much more value than that. Which is why they get added. Same deal as all the piles of accessories that people wish they would omit and simply charge "half price" for the whole package instead.

 

Yup, the same person who did it for Unicron is doing it here, a few pages back. I like his work  

 

Having not seen the Japanese Anime, I don’t know this character (or rather characters, since three bots seem to be involved.). Does look pretty good though. The robot forms are generally good (although the lion robot having silly looking horns is a bit of a head scratcher). The jet modes… the Saber jet mode is a pretty good looking space plane. The others two which increase in size as he combines, look a less coherent, although not bad. I.e. bulky things with jet bits. I guess they work as space ships.

I doubt I’ll back. Not knowing the character itself isn’t so much an issue if it’s really good, and this largely appears to be. I got G1 toys as a kid not watching much of the cartoons, after all, although this is a much higher price point. But is it that good?

I got the Haslab UK invite, and I thought it a bit cheeky that they’re charging us £179.99 while US backers are charged the same in dollars. I.e UK backers are paying the equivalent of $247.67! This does seem to be pretty commonplace for figures voyager upwards though, charge the same (even more sometimes) in pounds as dollars. I expect to be charged a bit more, taking into account delivery, tax, etc, but that much more? I’ve actually saved a bit of money importing on occasion…as long as the import tax isn’t charged, which can be a bit of a lottery.

It kind of shows how used to the prices I am, that I don’t even find £179.99 all that much for what the figure(s) incorporate. It’s just knowing those of us outside the States are being marked up so much!

Anyway. I’ve bought quite a lot of transformers stuff these last couple of years amd I don’t really have enough space. There are a few more figures preordered, including an ER Titan Scorponok, so I think they will do for now. My collection is almost complete. This is nice, but not for me.

 

My point was that it would cost them an absolutely miniscule amount to put on a proper presentation. Table, black curtain, lamp, camera, mic. That's it. Literal children on youtube manage better. It's not about production values or flashy videos. Just get a decent camera (~$200 or just grab any modern smartphone) and mic (~$50 or even less) and point the former at the toy and the latter at the presenter.

 

That's still probably something of a poor investment on their part. These ad-hoc stream presentations are a substitute for the panels we'd normally have gotten at places like SDCC/NYCC/ToyFair. And the industry is hoping to be able to go back to that sort of thing soon.

 

Looks cool for the Generations line but as a MP collector, I'll wait until Takara someday in the distant future make a MP version of Leo to go alongside my Star Saber. Couldn't justify the big bucks for such a Generations figure with its blockiness and gaps.

 

I was wondering what line does this closely align to.

 

If they ever tackle the character at that scale again, they'll probably redo Star Saber as well. He's certainly not up to current MP standard, and the shoddy joints of the original release couldn't support a Victory Saber combination even if they wanted it to.

 

Honestly I'd rather all micromaster characters be made at Legends scale, just for the sake of articulation

 

And my point is that I don't tune into the streams in order to go "oh wow look at the presentation!" I want to see the damn figures. I want to know the pricing. I want to know when it will be available and where I need to go to get it. That's it. I'm not looking for some epic movie. I'm not even looking for a review of it. I'm looking for information. Honestly I would be happy if it was a freaking PowerPoint slideshow.

 

That's usually what we'd be getting, with the typical slideshow panels at ComicCon at the like. These low production value streams are just supposed to be a temporary measure, so I agree. As I said on the last page, why bother investing in them?

 

Kay, didn't know that. Thanks

 

If I had to guess I would not be surprised in the slightest if we get the next stretch goal, assuming that it gets very close to getting backed by the end of next week, the second week of September. Most likely during a transformers Tuesday. So I would say probably on the 8th

 

Depending on the quality of that work. The MP-24 set a new standard for this transformer, then the guys from Hasbro Pulse come with things like that horrible Saber... Even the pose and pic they used for it on the renders is like the worse they could choose. And in a such important project like this, yes, I think the resposnibles of it should be rising the bar on everything (again, I'm talking about the design), but for me, I see they are lowering it and making some serious mistakes, and if I see serious mistakes, I think it's shameful when, again, comes from serious designers working for such important project. So no, it's not a personal attack, it's an argumented opinion about the work of somebody.

Do you like it? Good for ya and I really hope you enjoy it. But again, stop insulting me (referring to all those who tried to) or trying to make look like I said something without any reasoning when it's just a valid opinion you just don't like. Get over it.

 

Just to clarify that rumour did not come from me.
I haven't seen/heard anything saying he's coming.

I am just very much hoping that he is, and hopeful that if the Victory Saber HasLab does well that a new figure becomes more likely  

This is a great point, you also need to take into account purchasing equipment for individuals is limiting as the team members change brands fairly frequently.

And one thing to keep in mind is the teams are doing their best filming from home due to the pandemic.

Once the office opens back up in September then we'll likely see higher production values as they'll have access to the studio and production team at the RI HQ.

 

Exactly. Complaints like this, and I'm not saying the original person who made it feels this way, stink of fans just seeking out something to complain about. It's part of the reason why I absolutely hate this fandom at times. Because transformer fans are one of the few that do everything in their power to complain and whine and play the victim card. To act like they get nothing and everything is horrible. And it drives me up the wall when other phantoms are getting a tenth of the Goodwill, attention, and merchandise that we get. We are in a golden age and should be celebrating it and instead people are complaining because the select figures come in a brown box.

This presentation was perfectly fine. It showed off the figure it gave us the price it told us what to expect and teased what could be coming. I don't need it to look like a professional reviewers video on YouTube. Because guess what I'm not watching for a professional review. I'm looking for the basic information.

 

This is so damn cool to see, especially as a big fan of Star Saber. I haven’t backed it yet, partly because I feel my Star Saber needs are fully satisfied by the MP, but once color and final pics are released I may lose my resolve.

Honestly if Star Saber was a mainline release I’d buy without hesitation. I’m just not as much of a fan of Leo and I’ve never really liked how they look combined. So for me to buy this set means paying for a figure and a feature I have no interest in. Would be nice if there were different tiers that allowed for purchase of just SS.

Regardless if my personal proclivities, I’m super happy to see it happening and the enthusiastic reception it’s gotten warms my heart.

 

I have been comparing this to the Masterpiece and, while there are obvious limitations because of the different lines they fit in, Haslab Star Saber seems like an improvement in a few ways. MP Saber had really weird looking legs that were fairly limited in terms of articulation while Haslab Saber seems like it uses the more modern WFC engineering for the legs. Oh, and the hollow arms are annoying but hey, even the MP had them as well so nothing is safe.

Overall, is a more appealing product the more I look at it.

 

My bad. I can never keep you "insiders" straight, and one of you definitely brought it up earlier. But ultimately, I wouldn't be surprised. Just as Unicron sort of became the precursor to SS86, I don't doubt that Hasbro has some sort of marketing tie-in in mind to piggy-back off of Star Saber. I could see them doing something low-cost but wacky, like having Landcross occupy the Core slots for a season or something like that. And if Victory Saber gets funded, his primary nemesis also obviously on the radar.

 

I am backer 3,883.