Let's Say Go!
Got the Hasbro version today; so same toy, but translated/adapted booklet, and "Ages 15+" sticker in English stuck on the bottom of the front of the box, otherwise everything ought to be the same as the TakaraTOMY version. This toy is a phenomenal improvement over the original G1 figure, which, as many of you know, I just can't stand. IMHO G1 Star Sabre is a poor toy, even by 1989 standards (1988's Powermaster Optimus Prime & especially Super Ginrai were much better figures IMO). Sure, the colours are somewhat bland, but so is the original toy, and the cartoon model even moreso. So much like MP22 Ultra Magnus, it is quite show-accurately bland!I think that MP Star Sabre has done a reasonably good job in taking what was originally a really blocky G1 toy which was rendered as a slick Gundam-style robot (which is no accident, as the Star Sabre cartoon model was designed by Okawara Kunio) and then rendering that as a toy.
Some neat parts about this toy include:
* Sabre maintains the Motorovator/Brainmaster gimmick and manages to have head articulation! Okay sure, the gimmick is really a complete cheat, as the Energon Figure (Brain of Courage) doesn't actually transform into Sabre's face as they do on the G1 Motorvators/Brainmasters, but it's an understandably necessary cheat in order to allow the head to move. But yeah, the Energon Figure itself doesn't actually transform -- when you close the chest, it slides up the face which is already sitting behind the upper chest.
* I like how Star Sabre's helmet can attach and detach from the Victory Star's (V-Star's) claw arm, allowing it to free up head articulation but also allow the helmet to connect to the Victory Star in alt mode.
* The weapons can be held by both Sabre and Star Sabre despite Star Sabre's hands being much larger than Sabre's.
My main gripes with this toy are:
* The Great Sword (large); because just like the G1 toy, Star Sabre can only properly hold it with the blade oriented sideways, making it completely impractical to use as a weapon. I tried to get him to hold it properly, but I can only do it my having his fingers hold the hilt very, very loosely, so it's impossible to play with the toy with the sword in that orientation. Fortunately he can hold the Gladius Stellae ('Star Sabre' - small blade) in a proper position. Also that extra long hilt/handle for the Great Sword just doesn't work as well as the shorter default hilt. There are no tabs on it to clip into the hands, so Star Sabre just doesn't hold it as firmly. It's fine for display purposes and light fiddling/play, but it might get annoying during more rigorous play as the sword might be prone to falling out from the top of the fist.
* The back panel that folds up may inadvertently trigger the release switch for the smaller Sabre robot. I find that the main trick to get around this is to tab the panel from the top, and take care not to make the bottom part sit entirely flush.
Overall I'm quite happy with this figure. IMO an MISB MP Star Sabre presents superior value for money compared to purchasing an MISB G1 Star Sabre toy.
'Scuse my grainy phone pics.
The G1 toy does this as well, but MP Star Sabre does it so much better! The G1 toy basically has a place for the blade to attach to, but it sticks out like a sore thumb and isn't really concealed well. I've seen someone rip the chrome right off their Star Sabre's blade while drawing it out.Originally Posted by Raptormesh
So I think this new design on the MP toy is a massive improvement over the original concept.
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Speaking of the robot, I really quite like the "double Brainmaster" gimmick on Star Sabre -- when I first looked at the Brain of Courage, the following words popped in my head: "This is me, the irreducable me." 
