Next two Masterpiece toys for Australia

[DELTAprime]

If they released these at the same time in Australia as in Japan and HK and for a better price than TRU's ripoff prices I would go with the Australian release just to be able to read the included books.

I don't know if Gok is allowed to answer this or not, but I'm wondering if there are potentially breakable latches (or other parts) on MP Starsaber like on the G1 toy?

[Trent]

They're a bunch of morons on TFW. It will be funny in 5 years when collectors are seeking out this super rare variant.

And I'll probably have one

[CaminusPrime]

any idea on prices? i can feel my wallet tensing...

[Jetfire in the sky]

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?

+1

I have no interest in the comics but a huge interest and collection of Japanese exclusive G1 toys with SS being one of my long time favourites, and in my little brain the cartoons/G1 tech specs should have heavy influence on primary canon.

Anyway I still think it's wonderful that Gok got the job to translate the instructions and write bio's. You will never please everybody but don't take constructive criticism to heart, you are a minor celeb in TF world now

[TAAUBlaster]

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.

Fair enough I didn't think along those lines. I admit that I do take ebay and online stores for granted these days. But I still don't (and never will) support TRU exclusivity. It has been an annoying and impossible hurdle in my collecting life. Partly because there is no store anywhere near me, and partly because of their extreme prices. And their poor excuse for an online store infuriates me.

Sorry, I didn't mean to derail the thread

[griffin]

Fair enough I didn't think along those lines. I admit that I do take ebay and online stores for granted these days. But I still don't (and never will) support TRU exclusivity. It has been an annoying and impossible hurdle in my collecting life. Partly because there is no store anywhere near me, and partly because of their extreme prices. And their poor excuse for an online store infuriates me.

Sorry, I didn't mean to derail the thread

Don't worry... we all get into a routine with something new, and can't believe that other people still do something the old way.


Or it's a bit like those facebook users who are oblivious of other websites out there... or people who are so addicted to twitter and texting with their phones, that they wouldn't have a clue how to hand-write and send a letter by post.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

Just read the news posts re. Goki's 'translations'. Haven't read the comments.

Nice work @Goki - I like the direction you went with.
Even if IDW-religious-fanatic-Star Saber wasn't a more interesting character than generic-Japanese-flawless-noble-hero Star Saber (which he is, albeit more or less by default), it also fits in nicely with the way that the Classics-esque line is tying in with the comics lately.

[Deonasis]

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.

Gok mate, please read this as my thoughts and not an attack.

Why bring in the Latin? I know it is a personal touch but the motto is a big thing and I see no connection to the language.
Why write up a 100% G1 inspired toy with the bio from IDW comics? That is like "translating" the upcoming APS-01U Optimus Prime with his bio from Animated or was it Wheeljack or Shockwave who created the dinobots? If a Victory Leo is created you may be writing off your own bat to tie-in the IDW Star Saber to him.

Yes the flawless heroic saviour archetype has been done before but someone still manages to create pretty good Optimus bio's for his many releases.

Still glad you got the Hasbro gig though and I still think you are a top dude. The coolest thing i think is that you are creating variants with your work and there is a collector type (as you know) who will be tracking down Gok's transformers.

Mind you i read many posts loving what you have done so what do i know eh?

[griffin]

Working for Hasbro is everyone's dream... but is it more curse than blessing?

[Bidoofdude]

The bitchfest on TFW is pretty hilarious. Cool work on the bio Gok.