Well, he doesn't pose like the modern figure lines and feels closer to Prime Wars Trilogy thanks to the jank joint handling. He technically has the correct joints but functionally not executed well. Victory Saber really does feel well at home with PWT figures and out of place compared to WFC / Legacy. For those of us with still quite a few PWT figures, it's not necessarily a bad thing but not up to par for being the price of a Titan. Titans pose better than this guy. LG-EX God Ginrai is still pretty expensive new in box but is an unstable mess compared to Victory Saber. At least VS is a much better attempt at the core bot model. Four FEXT-03 sets put together. Unfortunately, the price has almost doubled since I bought them. I thought they were pricy enough back then. I can house two Titans inside.
I’m surprised how many people backed this project to get a Generations Victory Saber, and are now upset that they received a Generations Victory Saber. I don’t see any similarities in the feel or engineering (other than his normal gimmick) to anything in the Prime wars toys, and I completed those lines. The only articulation issue I have with him is his outward shoulder range.
Same. PW figures all had a sort of ‘soft’ or wobbly quality to their joints, and less refined designs. While I love many of those figures, they still carried some of the ‘lower quality’ vibe that TFs had been suffering from since TFP. Star Saber doesn’t feel like those to me. He feels really robust and solid, more like what we’ve been getting with the latest figures. He fits perfectly well to me, although I will be installing shoulder joint upgrades should anyone make them.
Now I have chrome scuffing issues on Saber after only a few transformations to the Star / Victory Saber alt mode. 3 missing spots of chrome now. Annoying. Good job, Hasbro... I guess if you want to maintain a clean chrome finish, don't transform into alt mode. I am not typically one to ask for new labels for a set, but yeah, this one will need it. Well, there's always the bare-metal foil approach that car modelers know about. It's not because of "Generations". The set can be labeled with anything and wouldn't matter. It's because of the price saddled with the unexpected degree of QC and design issues in-hand. "We are also exploring new innovation and articulation for Transformers that have never been done before." Yeah, didn't really see that. We have core class figures that are better articulated than Victory Leo.
I think they were referring to the new way the butterfly joints work, which I think is a really cool, non-invasive way to do them on future figures.
So far my general opinion is... very good. He's big and impressive looking, feels pretty properly stiff in the joints, and feels pretty sturdy in build overall besides something subjective that I have noted below. Besides some minor paint stuff scratches or over-sprays here and there (and I do mean minor except for one which I'll talk about in a minute) I haven't found anything that is going to diminish my enjoyment of this figure. My biggest issues after about an 90 minutes of handling are these: One of Sabers shoulder ball joints is very tight. It moves, but it scares me a little that it might be stressing the post that it connects to. I don't see any stress marks so far so my hope is that with a little more careful handling it'll loosen up more before a problem comes up. The "Brain of Courage" has a thin slash of white paint across it's chest which is a bummer but I may be able to clean it up if I'm careful. Not sure and honestly if any part of this guy was going to have a paint issue I'm glad it was this one. The main Star Saber body hip joints bug me and I don't know why. They are on ratchets that feel maybe too hard and I just don't feel super confident in them holding up. I suspect the joint is extra tight compared to other figures of his size because it's designed to hold the weight of his big Victory Lio boot and while that is ultimately a good thing I just can't shake that it doesn't feel right to me. This is a very subjective comment on my part. The sword blade is supposed to be able to installed into the hilt in either orientation to the crossguard/wings. With the cutting edge aligned with the crossguard it fits great but the other way on my copy it took quite a bit of effort to get the blade installed at the correct angle and firmly enough to not pop out. So yeah, all in all I have some minor concerns and quibbles but he's otherwise pretty dang cool so far. I've mentally kept a note about all the QC issues I've seen others report and so far everything looks good on my copy and that is a pleasant change of pace compared to what I've dealt with trying to complete Legacy wave 3 and the latest Studio Series bots.
i got this guy today. Not pleased at all. Definitely need third party add on to improve some areas. Cant wait for DNA to fix these issues like shoulder articulation required more outward movements, ankle needs more rocker movements and sabers head can move up hiding brains head. Maybe give star saber posable hands? Bigger guns and longer sword?
So for the sword blade, you pull on the handle to change the orientation. To have it flat-facing the jet part, you pull down the handle. To have it edgewise, you push up the handle.
I'm looking at the sword and blade again but I don't see what you are referring to. The handle pulls in and out sure but I don't see how that changes anything about the blade orientation. Pics?
I have it, I like it, I'm glad it exists, but it's still behind the original G1 and MP/KFC sets for me. I find the lack of working landing gear particularly annoying.
Crap, mine has the filled in part on saber that prevents the nose one from plugging in. Anyone had any luck with replacement parts from Hasbro?
This could be a good figure, but after waiting on a late package that arrived damaged, and opening it to find sloppy paint aps, and having to contact support for replacement parts... I'll have to reserve my opinion for a later time, after I put 2 hasbro products together to make one good one to review.
I'm away from the house, but here's how it works: pull or push the handle BEFORE inserting the blade. Handle up works with one orientation. Handle down works with the other.
Just got my set in today!! Havent gone over them too much but joint wise they feel perfect. A few weird paint thing tip of the saber jet has a splotch of black paint and star sabers knee has a but of off color yellow. Sadly victory leos chest chrome has some bad scratches, vut it doesnt bother me too much. Ill be going through them more later after I finish some yard work.
Smaller things and extras/accessories: Pros: * Holi & Fire are painted pretty nicely at least * Display base is pretty to look at. * If you're a fan of blast effects, you get to up your arsenal, and they go well with VS's MANY guns. Cons: * While it's probably sturdy enough, the base has a worrying wobble when a heavy combined VS is attached. * The Micromasters weren't great to start with, but the molds are really feeling worn out, and legs pop off too easily. It's obvious this was the 'easy' add-on, and it's too bad they weren't a little more ambitious for new molds or remolding to give us something like Clipper. Overall: - Not bad, and nice to have, but borders on pointless for me, reminding me of how Masterpiece toys will add accessories and display bases to justify their inflated prices. Victory Leo: Pros: * Lion mode works a bit better than I originally expected , and better than the G1 toy counterpart. * Lots of guns * Pretty good articulation for something made to come apart and combine Cons: * 'Flying brick' mode is dumb,dumb,dumb, dumb, dumb, but there mainly to combine with Star Saber's jet mode. * Joints to flare out the lion mane bits are mostly pointless * Can be prone to scratching its own paint. * Robot mode is kinda short, with weird feet. Overall: - Nearly every negative about Leo is either a carry-over of the original design it's based on, or compromise in the service of the super mode combination. Better than it needs to be. Star Saber: Pros: * The whole pattern with BrainGuy fitting into Saber, which fits into Star Saber, makes for a fun experience. Damn, but Courage the Cowardly Brain is tiny. * Robot mode is bold, clean, stocky, and heroic-looking, looking admittedly more Gundam-y than Transformers. * Robot artictulation is quite nice despite its bulk, with bonuses like butterfly shoulder joints and an ab-crunch. Only things I think needed improvement are the range of the ankles and the outward pivot of the shoulders. Cons: * Smol Saber is a bit weedy with some hollow bits, but this is somewhat forgivable since He is somewhere around the size of a old Scout class or "Bumblebee tiny Deluxe" * Full robot mode is a bit squat/stocky in proportion, to keep the combined mode from looking too lanky * Altmode is another made-up thing that flies 'cause we say so and it has wings/fins, but more convincing than Leo's 'vehicle' mode. We don't talk about base mode. * The blue walls of the chamber that encloses lil' Saber feel a bit thin and flexy to me, and I get a bit worried about the stresses that are put on that area. * Star Saber helmet is a partsforming piece, which disappoints me, but is probably a better option than some overblown armature. Head movement is limited thanks to the whole big head-on-little-head thing, and he's got a fat Joe Swanson neck, not to mention the antennae/horns get knocked askew SO damn easily. * Sword looks a little small for Big Saber, and I wish there were different size blade attachments included. Overall: - Perhaps my favorite part of the set. What it does well, it does very well, and most of my complaints come more from the source material than anything introduced in this version. Victory Saber (combined): Pros: * The epitome of overkill, with either robot or V-Star jet mode bristling with guns and guns, and weapons and more guns and more weapons and... * Combined VS robot mode is better balanced and proportioned than some other attempts at the super form ,especially the original G1 Victory toy * Articulation is not hampered much by the added bulk and kibble, though the nature of the 'platform shoes' mean his ankle joint looks like it's halfway up his leg. * It can be fun to determine where to mount, hang,or store all the different guns, cannons, and weaponry. Cons: * The epitome of overkill. With the Japanese anime-esque bristling with weaponry look, there's a fine line between "cool and badass" and "stupid and trying too hard", so YMMV. * Can become a bit unwieldy in full combined form, with lots of guns and other bits to potentially be knocked off. OVERALL Overall: - Personally, I feel this is a very enjoyable set, and worth the (original, maybe not after-market) price, even if you're not a big fan of Victory and/or JTF. With something like Haslab Unicron, where the size and nature of it makes it mostly a display piece, VS feels more like a real toy you can feel about as confident messing with as any large WFC/Legacy toy. There's also a lot you can do with it, with two different transforming figures which can combine in two different configurations (three or more figures depending on how you count smaller Saber or the Micros). If you aren't big on the full combination,there's a good chance you might enjoy one or both of the individual figures. There are a lot of options and configurations to experiment with, and I find this set more fun than the average Titan or Masterpiece item with a similar price tag.
You have to pull the handle down to get the blade in at all. The blade will not fit with the handle up.
