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Thread: Next two Masterpiece toys for Australia

  1. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime View Post
    I can now reveal that MP Star Sabre was the third translation/adaptation job that I was doing for Hasbro. However, the English bio is completely different and unrelated to the Japanese one. The Japanese bio is based on Star Sabre's appearance in Transformers Victory, where he was -- character-wise -- basically a clone of Optimus Prime (re: flawless heroic saviour archetype). The English bio is based on IDW Star Sabre, where Star Sabre is an incredibly dark character.

    In the Japanese booklet, Star Sabre's function is "Autobot Supreme Commander." For the Hasbro version, his function has been changed to 'Duly Appointed Enforcer of the Tyrest Accord' (at times abbreviated to 'Tyrest Accord Enforcer' or just "Autobot Enforcer" in different parts of the booklet). Japanese G1 tech specs don't have mottos, and I only had access to the booklet and not the tech specs card (so I have no idea if TakaraTOMY have newly created a motto for him), but the motto I created for the Hasbro version is "Quidquid facio sancitur divinitus.", which is Latin for "Everything I do is divinely sanctioned." -- and yes, I have written the motto in both Latin and English (as I did for Stinger ).

    More reveals to come.
    I think this is very bold and excellent of you to go this route! And also, just another day of Goktimus making news...
    http://tformers.com/hasbro-australia...5793/news.html
    Twit and insta @lukeabarnett

  2. #12
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    I'm confused by one of the user comments over on Seibertron
    New Acquisitions:
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  3. #13
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    So many trolls on the American forums, who just don't understand (or too ignorant to want to understand), that these are an Australian exclusive translations that was required for the toys to have English for non-Collectors (and some collectors).

    There is so much hate over the choice of using the only American/Western version of Star Saber (from IDW), instead of doing a write-up of the original Japanese version.... and I don't see why they need to care. The bio has nothing to do with their MP toy (if they import the Japanese version or wait for an American release), and the bios are supposed to be following canon sources like IDW and TFwiki, so aren't like FunPub or even some Hasbro bios that just make up random stuff.

    People complaining that a Western release of Star Saber should have a write-up of the Japanese character makes no sense, as Hasbro America would never do that on their Masterpiece toys, which barely have any character bios on them to begin with... so really, this one could have gone either way. It was the choice of the person solicited, not something any branch of Hasbro probably cares about. Until Hasbro Australia sets boundaries on what can be written, or dictates that it MUST be a translation, then it can be whatever is likely to be most familiar to Collectors.
    (I personally would have gone with the Japanese character, because most collectors are buying this mould for the Japanese character, not the IDW character... and we don't have a lot of English translations of Japanese characters, so the Japanese bio in English would have been more collectable to me.)

    None of the content is untrue or made up... and if the non-Japanese speaking trolls on the American sites stopped to think about it, there are now two bios in the box of the two different versions of the character (if you can read Japanese and English). That's a bonus, that no other country is going to get (unless the ones sold in HK also have the English booklet).

    This is why I don't often publicly post about these JP/HK imports on the main news page at TFW2005 (I just post it in the dedicated ANZ news topic)... because some get confused thinking it is a Hasbro America release and think it is coming soon to them, while others get angry about it not being released in their country so get all abusive about it.
    And no matter how much you try to set them straight, you are just one rational voice in a crowd of complainers.

  4. #14
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    If the word "translated" wasn't used by Goktimus on the Facebook announcement, this wouldn't have drawn out the trolls or confused non-Australians, who are going off about it not being a translation of the Japanese character.
    Next time, maybe use something like "new westernised bio", or something less confusing.

    The instructions may be translated, but the character bio is completely original (from legit source material).

    Maybe future bios of Japanese characters should just stick to being translations or re-writes of that Japanese version of the character, if the original Japanese character is more popular than a lesser known American version... and leave Hasbro America to create something "Western" IF they ever release the toy in their market.
    Because when you think about it, the IDW Star Saber is so obscure, it doesn't warrant a Masterpiece toy, but the Japanese Star Saber does warrant a Masterpiecec toy. (and the design isn't based on the IDW design)
    Did you discuss the direction of these with anyone first to see if this was a good idea to not write up the more well-known version character that the toy is based on?
    If not, maybe a quick word with one or two people (you are allowed to talk to by Hasbro) first to see what would be more desirable to the target market of these toys.


    And what is with the latin on all of them?
    You might as well put Mayan on it, or any other obscure language to the target market of these (Australians).
    Why not just use Cybertronian if you are going to have the English under it?
    Last edited by griffin; 4th February 2015 at 04:44 PM.

  5. #15
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    I think going with the Japanese character version, would be ideal. But its ok to alter it to share some traits from IDW. I am not really familiar with either version of the character unless I look it up on wiki. I think the use of Latin for the character is an odd choice. I'm curious how does the motto sound when translated in Japanese?, but I think the Latin worked a lot better with Ultra Magnus. I look forward to reading the Bio.

  6. #16
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    This is great news. I like that TRU have seen sense in bringing asian imports to the Australian market and more importantly in a timely fashion! Gives us more options really and I am feeling less pressure to preorder on sight.

  7. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by TAAUBlaster View Post
    While I'm glad Hasbro seems interested in the MP line now, I highly doubt they will be able to price it any better than the online stores (TFI for example is $195) With Magnus being $300 at TRU - I can't see why they would make Prime much cheaper (if at all.)
    Believe it or not, but there are actually Transformer fans and casual collectors who haven't heard of TFI, or Robotkingdom, or ebay, or who don't even (I am not kidding) have a credit card or clean credit record. They do however have cash, and sometimes eftpos. There's a whole world of bricks and mortar buyers, and sometimes very lucky children, who want big pretty Masterpiece toys.
    On the lookout for MISB Headmaster Highbrow, Takara or Hasbro. I'm sure I could make you a sweet deal!

  8. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lint View Post
    This is great news. I like that TRU have seen sense in bringing asian imports to the Australian market and more importantly in a timely fashion! Gives us more options really and I am feeling less pressure to preorder on sight.
    That's what it boils down to... having another option, or backup if something was so popular you miss out on a pre-order, and the secondary market price shoots right up above our retail price. By the time it is released here, you should have exhausted all your other options, to then buy locally if you have no better choice.

    Plus, there is the reassurance of easy refund or exchange if anything is missing or broken... something that is difficult or impossible from online sources.

    And I'm not advocating buying these at full price, or reject cheaper imports for it. Wait for a sale if you prefer to buy the local version, as the sale prices are what they work out for an acceptable profit margin... making the regular retail prices a bonus for them.

  9. #19
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    I called it... but it was fairly obvious...

    Now to buy it from Toys R Us or online?????

  10. #20
    CoRDS is offline Rank 6 - Dedicated Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by griffin View Post
    That's what it boils down to... having another option, or backup if something was so popular you miss out on a pre-order, and the secondary market price shoots right up above our retail price. By the time it is released here, you should have exhausted all your other options, to then buy locally if you have no better choice.

    Plus, there is the reassurance of easy refund or exchange if anything is missing or broken... something that is difficult or impossible from online sources.

    And I'm not advocating buying these at full price, or reject cheaper imports for it. Wait for a sale if you prefer to buy the local version, as the sale prices are what they work out for an acceptable profit margin... making the regular retail prices a bonus for them.
    IMPULSE PURCHASE!!!

    i had to fight the urge to buy another bumble bee when i saw one on a shelf.
    edit:spelling

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