One week later and I am loving this set even more. I’ve really been taking my time enjoying each mode and not rushing through every aspect of the set. Haven’t even combined SS and Leo yet, in either mode. That’ll be next. The more I familiarize myself with the set the more I see how far from a mainline figure it really is. Gives me a lot of hope for future Haslabs. I wish I could look forward to getting Space Chicken, but alas I was not able to back it. As it stands, the set is toy of the year fot me, quite easily.
Anyone else’s Victory Saber have a Face Cover that won’t come down all the way? Mine gets stuck midway and I’m not going to try to force it.......is it an assembly error or is it something I should try to brute force?
Besides some minor chrome scratches my figure is pretty solid. I am very pleased with this figure. It’s just super fun to play with and looks great. Saber Fun little guy. Modern mini bot sized. Super articulated. Would like to see the Road Caesar to be similar. Don’t know if it will happen at retail with the very tiny Brain Masters. Speaking of Brain Masters I wish the Saber head was clear plastic. It’s tight and scary to move. Wish it was solid plastic with a metallic flake paint on the glasses. But overall an awesome figure Star Saber Big guy, overall happy with the articulation. Super solid joint with hefty ratchets. But like others have said not much lift out at the shoulders. Wrist tilt would have been nice. V star is just an awesome heft ship but doesn’t do anything different than any other version. Base mode is there, do it once and forget about it. Victory Leo Besides the waffling on the back canons Leo is a very solid figure. Robot and Lion mode shine. The space shit mode is there. Of the two figures he feels like his budget was way smaller but still feels better than most of the leaders released today. Victory Saber It’s is what it always was. Star Saber with a jet pack and boots made out of Victory Leo’s body. Everything stays on really well super hefty tabbing. Stand is a little wobbly with him in it. Micro Master They are your standard WFC Micro Masters. They are well painted but they are pop off central. Normally I’m not bothered by screw holes but Holi really needs something with the big hole in his chest. Fire is the better of the two. In the end this set was definitely worth the $180.
That’s what I’m doing......I did Transform Victory Leo....... Thankfully, Star Saber’s transformation doesn’t seem as much of a departure from the MP Star Saber
My thoughts, Part 1: General Observations Pros: -takes a lot of inspiration from the MP Star Saber (makes sense, the same designer of the MP release worked on the Haslabs release, even lamenting that Victory Leo never made out in the MP Line) -articulation is on par, if not better, than the MP version......Saber has normal leg articulation, not the odd articulation that Classics Skyfire, Astrotrain had No QC issues so far Nit Picks (though not deal breakers, just wish the budget allowed for it) -no Shoulder Mounted Psycho (?) Missile Pods the MP had - no small sword for Saber -blade storage different than the MP/ Animation Model Again, I know the budget/ design was intended to fit with the Main Line (WFC/ Legacy), so Bells and Whistles from the Masterpiece Release was probably cost prohibitive, if they wanted to have the figure be available at a lower price than Unicron or newer MP’s Cons -not many Victory Era Characters yet to display alongside (or fight) till Fall Coming Soon, my thoughts on Vehicle Modes, Combined Modes
Agree on the shoulder missiles and smaller blade! The smaller blade should have been an unlock at a minimum! Hopefully someone releases an upgrade kit.
If/when someone does a kit with swords, would you guys want silver painted or chrome blades? I could go either way. Silver paint is a little more robust but chrome would look really nice and would compliment the bits of chrome on SS’s chest.
Chrome and made of a material not prone to bending. Blade on mine is curved, I think due to the way it was packed(and/or the type of plastic it’s made from).
Yeah mine is slightly curved too. Blades should always be loose in a tray with either tape over them or a cover to hold them in place.
Alright, fiddled with the hilt and blade more and got the blade to stay perpendicular into the hilt more securely. The blue handle has a detent to lock it when pulled out all the way, then another detent when retracting into the hilt. You’re going to want the hilt unlocked; lowered but not locked into the fully extracted position. Insert the blade perpendicular to the hilt(1 of the raised edges above the tab will shallowly be embedded into the socket), if you feel resistance, don’t push further as it may damage the connection tab for the blade, or the hilt socket. After the blade is inserted into the hilt, push the blue handle up. You’ll feel it gently secure the blade at 2 soft detents. I can definitely feel the difference compared to last week. Most important thing is to not use too much force inserting the blade. You’ll know if you’ve done this right as the handle will straighten the blade a bit as it makes contact within the hilt. Connected the feet wrong in Victory Saber mode last week and corrected this week. It’s a lot more stable now. In Star Saber mode I found it’s a lot easier to manipulate the ankle tilt by tilting at the heel rather than at the foot. There’s still some resistance but it moves easier that way.
I wonder.......how much of the aborted Power of the Prime’s Star Saber was carried over into this? I know they didn’t really show what we might’ve had, but.......
Judging by how compromised the actual POTP evolution figures were, I doubt we're seeing much of any existing design in HasLab Star Saber outside of "jet fits into chest of super robot," but that's been baked in since G1.
I agree, there would have been a lack of Brain Master and it would have some matrix compartment on the figure. This feels like a blend of all of the previous VS figures. G1, RM and MP.
Hard to say as I remember John Warden mentioning it was in the works during the Prime Wars years. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was just an idea for Saber and Star Saber, no Brainmaster and with simplification all throughout. Any POTP leader is much simpler compared to Haslab Star Saber alone. Probably a matrix gimmick instead of the Brainmaster. Sword molded or attached to the hilt and just swivels away for transformation to jet mode. In this specific case I think resorting to crowdfunding helped as there’s a number of cost reduction measures that could’ve compromised this set to convince mass retailers to pick it up. Ideally it wouldn’t have to be crowdfunded but in this case I think it definitely helped.
I've got to fiddle with it way more, but I like what I've seen so far. My biggest criticism is that the instructions suck. They are not overly clear at times and are WAY too big. For a figure this premium, I'd like to see multiple sheets or a bound set like large lego sets.
