I think someone else posted the Super Megatron kit I was talking about already, which I do wish made him a little more taller than it does. Like I get that Super Megatron is supposed to be smaller than Star Convoy, but I feel like what we got was a ridiculous lol

But for Star Convoy I was referring to this one:


there was also this one that helped kind of give him his proper truck mode:

but that one you'd have to 3d print & paint yourself which idk if I have time nor that talent lol

Either way now that I've handled them I like both of them. While Super Megatron feels like a major upgrade from TR Galvatron tho the face swap gimmick is a little annoying to do on my copy plus one of the wings just can't tab no matter what I do. Star Convoy kind of feels like a side grade from POTP Optimus. Like he looks a lot better in person & they nailed the head sculpt, but the joint tolerances are weird compared to POTP Prime, also the star is very annoying for what should theoretically be a very simple thing to do. He also gave me reason to keep that core Hot Rod around even if I think he's the weakest core class we've gotten lol

I'd love to see a proper rendition of Star Convoy & Super Megatron someday, but for now these ain't that bad.

Also stickers ugh. But hey it helped me practice for when I get Victory Leo lol

But going back on topic I really hope my VS ships soon.

 

Well crap. Now I want this upgrade kit!

 

"Unfortunately we are unable to retrieve Delivery Options at this time. Please try again later."
 

 

Hey yall! line art finished on this mini star saber animation project, took about a week and a half to clean up but looking foreward to completing it! lets say go!

 

What is the deal with people find it shipped already?
I signed up on the fed ex app
Does it do it from your home address or by name on parcel?

 

Home and name (at least last name, I'm not sure about first - I just know my wife and I have different last names and it doesn't track stuff coming for her)

 

It’s not actually shipped yet. Just the label has been created.

I believe you have to sign up specifically for FedEx delivery manager to be able to get notices of shipments based on your name and address.

 

Thank you

 

This has “G1 commercial bumper.” written all over it. Great work!

 

Thank you! Star Saber was more tricky to animate than I expected, he is one boxy guy, but it was worth it for this haslab!

 

Hot dayum! Looking good! Would you mind if I attempted to pixelart over the top of it? Its a bit of a new passion of mine

 

Great, they need signatures... I work from home but this month I have to go in once a week to the office. Who wants to bet what day FedEx decides to show?  

 

Fedex will always attempt delivery the next day, though. So unless you're super unlucky and end up in on both those days you should be fine.

And if you are super unlucky you could always request it be left at your local Fedex pickup location. Which is not necessarily a Fedex post office and is usually more convenient. For example the nearest Fedex hub for me is the town over, but there's a Fedex pickup location in a Staples two streets down from my work place. If it arrives on a day I'm at work I can always have it sent there instead of the next city over.

 

Definitely! Super excited to get mine!

 

Ahh, there we go. Fedex says my label’s been created!

 

True, plus one of those days is semi optional so if it happens to be the day they show, I will just decline going. Just a holiday get together type of thing. The other one is on a Friday so it gives me six days for redelivery.
I don't have any right to whine about having to direct sign anyway. I'm blessed to live in a pretty rural area where I don't have to worry about anyone stealing so it's just an inconvenience to me. Most folks need the signature to protect themselves in case they get their item stolen.

I kinda need to get over myself!  

 

by all means go ahead!!!

 

Spent almost a whole day to transform all the 3 versions of Victory Saber and here's my thoughts

Pakaging
The boxart is beautifully done where you get 2 layers / versions of boxart. The default one is what you see on a modern days while the inner layer is giving you the olden Takara boxart vibes. I do miss thise kind of boxart from Takara from the olden days.


Upon unboxing, there's another cardboard covering the accessories on the top layer while the main figures are at the bottom. Given this is a Haslab product, I do not really like this kind of packaging where there's no protection to the figure and the paint, especially how they apply the plastic tied on the chrome part. If this is an usual retail unit I'm totally fine, perhaps I'm having higher expectation on Haslab.


The blast effects are exactly carried over from Siege Jetfire. The display stand looks beautiful and there's 2 configuration for the stand. There's an additional adapter given specifically for the jet mode.

This is the setup for jet mode.


And this is for bot mode.


Star Saber
The transformation on Star Saber is pretty simple and follow almost loke what you have see on the show. I'm glad that Haslab didn't leave any hollow parts where you will have cover for both the biceps and lower legs transformations. The only hollow parts you will notice is on the cavity hiding the palm (both
Saber and Star Saber)

My only QC issue found is there's no opening for one of the tab to plug in the nose cone. Hopefully this only affects certain rather than a widespread issue. During jet mode, the brain master can sit in the cockpit


My first nitpick is there's no proper landing wheels doe both Saber and V-Star. Saber is using the peg on the nose cone and 2 tabs at the knee to act as the landing gear while V-Star is using a flip out on the knees and the ankle as the landing gears instead of the dlip up red shoulder pads. While it does the job nicely, still a proper landing gear will be much appreciated.

My second nitpick is there's no flip up opening on both the shoulder cannon to reveal the missle pods. Not an issue here just that I'm expecting a more accuracy on a Haslab product.


The sword storage is different here compare to G1 and MP. It is stored in the hip instead of the back. It deviates from show accuracy but I find the implementation here is smart as the backpack need to be folded for bot mode and for scale purpose as well.

One thing to take note when you are combining Saber to V-Star is the chrome part. Many people has their chrome ripped off / scratched as we tends to apply pressure on it. For me, I insert a thin layer of cotton before combining it to ensure no accident happens.


The brain master implementation is smart enough given the size of this figure. It's so well painted despite being such a tiny figure.


What I doesn't like about Saber bot mode is the visible sword hilt. I know the main attention will be Star Saber / Victory Saber but I believe Hasbro has the ability to better engineer it but it seems to be plain lazy. Articulation is good for my standard where you even get an ab crunch on top waist rotation. The range of movement is only suffering on the limited knee bend but it's good enough for most of the posting. The head movement is also limited where you cant look down or up. Side to sode rotation is about 45 degree max. The blaster seems to be too loose for me.


Combination to Star Saber is very traditional where you flip Saber's legs toward its chest and plug Saber into the chest cavity for Star Saber. The 2 black cover on the side of the chest here has tab to slot into Saber'a lower leg to hold Saber. While many complain about the big neck of Star Saber but its acceptable for me as it needs to cover the head of a Saber and is unavoidable. The head movement here is same as in Saber but you can look up and down now.


The arm movement is good and not only you get forward butterfly joint, you also have backward butterfly joint. However I noticed that the moment you utilise the butterfly joint, it will cause Saber to fall out from the chest easily. Not sure if it's me that doesn't know how to secure Saber or what as the instruction didn't cover it at all. You also get the same articulated fingers with 5mm port as in Jetfire.


What I like is how you can hold the shield. You can either hold it with the fist or you can clip it to the side of the forearm . Sword can also pegged to the back of the shield and this give you the Gundam vibes. Another way to store the sword is pegging it to the side of the waist aka samurai style.


My complain here for Star Saber is the sword is too tiny for it size. While it is nicely sculpted but it's too small to fit the best swordman in the universe. Guess we can only rely on potential third party upgrade kit. I also wish that the hilt can be longer for a better 2 hand sword wielding pose.

Similar to Saber, you also have ab crunch for Star Saber. The leg movement is similar to Saber as well.

 

^ It’s interesting that you say that about the length of the sword. To my eyes, the overall length of the sword is perfect. It’s just that it has a particularly long hilt and a shorter blade section than your typical European broad sword. That’s much more an Asian broadsword design. But a 3P longer blade would look ridiculous to me with a hilt section this long.

 

Victory Leo
The transformation for Victory Leo is also very similar to G1 where you need to cover the face, shorten the length of the leg, flip put the claws and you will have Victory Leo in its beast mode. While PvP critics about the tail here, it is show accurate


Jet mode is mainly used to combined with Star Saber and nothing much to talk about. You still doesn't get a nose cone for jet mode after so many years


The Bot mode, the range of movement is same as Saber but you will get somewhat better knee bend to forcefully pull a super hero landing pose. The weapon holding is also very G1-ish where you can peg the V-Lock Riffle to both side of the forearm and peg the V-Lock Cannon to the waist. My wish is we can move the gatling guns instead of sitting still there.


The only "eye sore" in Victory Leo bot mode is the gapping issue on its crotch. Reason being the tab to hold the 2 half of the body is slight on the upper side and there's no tab near the crotch area. Another "eye sore" os the height of Victory Leo when standing next to Star Saber. Understand that the reason is to have a better scale for combination but still looks bad when you compare it to G1 and MP.


Victory Saber
Perhaps this is the main highlight of this set. The jet mode is very pretty. I hope we have an option to place the V-Lock Cannon at the middle instead at the side like G1 since we have 2 Riffles at the side.


The combination to bot mode is also very traditional where Leo will split into 2 to form the boot and the backpack form the backpack for Victory Saber. All also Victory Saber in the market, Haslab implementation is the best so far. Range of movement is exactly the same as what you have in Star Saber. The joint is strong enough here to hold the combination and you can still pose with ease, unlike the MP one.


Conclusion
This is the best Victory Saber you can have in the market. You get the Articulation, accuracy and fun of playability from Haslab despite of some of the nitpick that I have. It won't replace my G1 and MP but this will be one that I will frequently play and pose with. I do wish Hasbro would scrap the final tier lock on Holi and Fire and use the budget to give us better screen accurate gimmick. For now, I can't wait for the best Haslab Deathsaurus. While the team has mentioned that the next Haslab won't be a Victory character, I do hope Hasbro can continue the Victory line in their mainline as I'm still hoping to see a new Liokaiser, Dinoking and Road Caesar.