Next two Masterpiece toys for Australia

[5FDP]

IMHO The work that Goki has done is tremendous and there is always going to be differences of opinion. At the end of the day, it's a collaborative effort in that Hasbro has the final say and that's what they wanted to go with. For those idiots over on the international forums - you mad bro? We get an exclusive, you don't. Suck it!

[Jetfire in the sky]

As a reward for everyone's civility, here's what the front cover art of the booklet looks like. This is the original Japanese version, not the adapted version. The main difference with the adapted one is that "Cybertron Commander Starsaber" is replaced with "Autobot Enforcer Star Sabre." And naturally the Japanese text down the bottom is translated to English.

I love that artwork, the pose is closer to the hard to find first release packaging of the G1 version. I prefer the two hands on the sword, it shows more power when wielding it. I can't wait to get this Masterpiece!!

[Lint]

Really annoyed that you are changing how to spell the name.... Don't care about American v English....(although there is precedent in the commonwealth to keep the American) The Japanese have provided the English since 1989, they use it officially in 2015, and your changing it for the fun of it!

Not annoyed by it, but I agree with Krayt on this one. He's Saber in, presumably, every publication and piece of packaging related to him. If he had a birth cert, his name would be spelt as Saber.

You wouldn't rename Hauler to Haulier would you?

[Krayt]

Are you buying it?

I've picked up the WJ and BB, but not to open, and if money ever gets tight they are gone!!...

I didn't like that WJ has no Japanese version of the instructions, for BB they left the Japanese in the box, and for MP-11SW they placed Chinese in with the Japanese.

If Magnus and Starsaber continue to have both, I may track them down during a sale, but I will already have the Japanese version.

If the Japanese booklet is ommitted, I'm not going near these. Too expensive!!! and my Bookshelf has a marvelous set of Japanese MP Instruction booklets only spoiled by the Cars not having booklets.

[Paulbot]

I understand how the decisions were reached, although I don't agree with them, but I can't complain about the bio, because I haven't read it. In fact no one that's complaining about the bio has actually read it.

It's like getting angry about a movie based on trailer (casts a look at comments about Star Wars VII) or one photo of a prototype toy (casts a look at comments about CW Devastator).

[GoktimusPrime]

Not annoyed by it, but I agree with Krayt on this one. He's Saber in, presumably, every publication and piece of packaging related to him. If he had a birth cert, his name would be spelt as Saber.

It would actually be written as セイバー, which would be Romanised as Seibaa. And if you're citing the decorative English spelling on the G1 box, then if they ever made a Masterpiece Cab, and let's say Hasbro wanted it adapted as Cab (as opposed to being repurposed as Hosehead), should it be spelt as Carb (as per his spelling on his G1 box)? And I vaguely recall seeing Star Sabre's name spelt as "Star Saver" on official material too (since 'v' is typically pronounced as 'b' by most Japanese speakers). Also, the Japanese pronunciation of セイバー (/ˈseɪbɑː/) is closer to 'sabre' (/ˈseɪbə/) than it is to 'saber' (/ˈseɪ bər/). If you wanted to approximate the pronunciation of 'saber' in Japanese, it would be セイバール (seibaaru) rather than セイバー (seibaa).

You wouldn't rename Hauler to Haulier would you?

No, because it would drastically alter the pronunciation. If I were asked to translate or adapt a bio for Cab, I would spell the name as Cab (キャブ), not "Carb" (カーブ). Although Takara's box spells it as "Carb," the actual Japanese written name is "Cab." Unless it's going to significantly impact on pronunciation, I'm not going to Americanise my spelling. And in this case, using the Standard spelling makes it closer to the Japanese pronunciation than the American spelling anyway.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

Just wanna chime in with a well done Gok.

I've orderd mine and it'll be the Japanese one one(being in Japan and all...), but I find the character of IDW SS more interesting than Mr BlandHeriocs, and want to read the bio Gok wrote. That'd be super cool.

I see no reason to get all angsty about it IMO. Both bios are valid and it wouldn't surprise me if the majority of people buying the Japanese one couldn't read the Japanese Bio anyway, so they could well have gone for an IDW point as well and most people woudn't know until they were told. Oh man, that would be the ULTIMATE troll! lol

Just glad to see more MPS coming out in Aus. Happy days, especially considering how lack lustre the AOE toys were.

As for the name spelling, after knowing how, um flexible Japanese knowledge of English is, I support the name change and the reasoning behind it.

[Lint]

Also, the Japanese pronunciation of セイバー (/ˈseɪbɑː/) is closer to 'sabre' (/ˈseɪbə/) than it is to 'saber' (/ˈseɪ bər/). If you wanted to approximate the pronunciation of 'saber' in Japanese, it would be セイバール (seibaaru) rather than セイバー (seibaa).

It's not closer to sabre than saber because both those words are pronounced exactly the same. Also I thought transcription of loan words into katakana was phonetic, not based on spelling? Like would the word 'minibar' really be turned into ミニバール (minibaaru) just because it ends in r? I think not.

No, because it would drastically alter the pronunciation. If I were asked to translate or adapt a bio for Cab, I would spell the name as Cab (キャブ), not "Carb" (カーブ). Although Takara's box spells it as "Carb," the actual Japanese written name is "Cab." Unless it's going to significantly impact on pronunciation, I'm not going to Americanise my spelling. And in this case, using the Standard spelling makes it closer to the Japanese pronunciation than the American spelling anyway.

Well I didn't come here to debate Engrish or pure mistakes in transcription. However keep in mind that the Mitsubishi Starion (Stallion) IS the official name of that 80's sports car . In any case it seems that you only recognise Star Saber as written in Japanese as the 'official' name and have taken liberty with the translation of his name. If Hasbro is cool with this (they probably won't even notice) I guess he's now officially Star Sabre in our market.

Fun fact though: Hasbro have previously held the trademark for STAR SABER, but do not appear to have applied for STAR SABRE.

[drifand]

ignore the debates, I am just looking forward to the toy. Nice work Gok.

[Cleon]

Just skimmed through this thread and the tfw one....

Honestly, in the age of the internet, this sort of reaction is pretty normal (someone gave a few examples a few posts up that I can recall have happened recently).

Anyway, my thoughts are pretty much the same as others here (who cares? it's not like the English replaces the Japanese one, it's in addition to it), and congrats/good job for adding a material contribution to the fandom Gok!