Toy Review - JP MP-24 Masterpiece Star Saber

[griffin]

(Please post comments, photos or even a fully comprehensive review - these are just brief details to start you off)

Series - Masterpiece
Sub-line - none
Size/class - n/a
New/remould/redeco - new
Wave - n/a (MP-24)
Released here - expected here in Oct 2015 (released in Japan March 2015)
Approximate Retail Price - 19,000yen (about AU$210)
Approximate Size - 30cm?
Allegiance - Autobot
Alt-mode - Cybertronian Jet & armour.
Main Features/Gimmicks - Brainmaster, exosuit, display stand.
Main Colours - Red, white, blue.
Main Accessories - Sword, Brainmaster, gun, shield/stand.

[MayzaPrime]

Can't wait to get this

I was thinking of waiting until the local release, but I dont think that I can wait until October to get it and with the poor AUD$ at the moment it is going to cost the same either way.

[BigTransformerTrev]

Can't wait to get this

I was thinking of waiting until the local release, but I dont think that I can wait until October to get it and with the poor AUD$ at the moment it is going to cost the same either way.

Yeah mine arrived ehobbybaseshop and with the awful dollar between him and Exhaust and shipping it's gonna be $300+

Mate of mine in Malaysia got his last night - he is thrilled with it! But then he was a big Victory fan as a kid . Hoping I like Star Saner too

[griffin]

With the fluctuating exchange rates, it's best to compare the yen price at JP sources to the US$ price at HK sources... but postage will be big factor from either location.
And I prefer to get the HK exclusive Coin or any JP Amazon exclusives, which adds another $10-20 value to the HK sources (when comparing the two). For me, the only reason why I got the JP version of Star Saber was because I had Exhaust on pre-order, so decided to save postage by getting them from the same place.

Looks like HLJ have now sold out of their excess stock of Star Saber, so the HK sources might be the only ones left.

HLJ was 18,000 yen, which equals about AU$193.
Ehobbybaseshop is US$150, which coincidently currently equals AU$193... but comes with the collector coin that is worth $10-20.

But if you took the chance of getting a pre-order at HLJ at the discounted price of 14,400 yen, hoping that the yen rate wouldn't blow out as much as the US rate, that would have been about AU$154.

[UltimateGalvatron]

I don't really know Victory (or Zone or whatever G1 Japanese series he's from) so if I get one from someone I'll keep it or if I come across it in a shop I'd buy it but not go out of my way to buy it.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

Initial thoughts, based on a quick look and a once-through transformation. Housecleaning took rather longer than I was hoping, so there was less time to play around with him than I'd anticipated.

Firstly, it's very much what the MP line is supposed to be about according to the designers: upscaled, cartoon-accurate, more poseable versions of the old G1 toys. I don't have Victory Star Saber, but from the look of it this piece is very much just that: a better-proportioned, screen-accurate, far more poseable Star Saber. Fun to handle, looks great, but also pretty basic for a Masterpiece IMO.

The little dude (Yūki no Brain) does what he's supposed to. He fits inside the jet mode cockpit, and inside the Saber robot mode chest, where he raises the Saber-mode robot head. Paint apps and detailing are quite impressive for such a small toy - he really is tiny. To be fair, if he wasn't so small then the overall toy would have had to have been ridiculously large, instead of just being (still just short of ridiculously) huge as it is. But still, when you get right down to it, he's really just an accessory - kind of ironic given that canonically he's the actual 'character' part. Getting him into the right spot to raise Saber's head can be a bit fiddly, but once he's locked in the mechanism works pretty well. Limited articulation, but for a figure that size it can't really be helped.

Saber (the jet/smaller robot that makes up Star Saber's chest) is pretty sweet. Jet mode isn't the best ever (the small wings and overly large engine mean it really doesn't look capable of flight), but it is adequate (and has landing gear), and fits mini-Brain-man quite well. Voyager Brainstorm could take a lesson or two here. The robot mode is quite a bit better, though again Brain can be tricky to get into the right position to raise Saber's head. His legs don't have the best articulation, but they're not awful either - he's no Classics Mirage, but he's far from a brick. His wrists point inwards slightly, but the wrist swivel helps make up for this quite a bit. The hollow forearms may bother some people. The face sculpt looks great, especially the glasses/goggles. He looks good holding the weapons and has good proportions. Slightly smaller than most of the MP car Autobots so far IMO, but not horrendously so.

The V-star mode is, well, it is what it is. Much like the original Star Saber toy it's basically a folded-up robot cosplaying (not entirely convincingly) as a space-sled. It does store most - though not all - of the accessories in alt-mode, and it's definitely got a satisfying size and heft to it. The landing gear works well enough, though one of the front pair of wheels is really stiff on mine. It looks quite a bit better - though again not exactly aerodynamic - with Saber attached to it. The flight stand/shield works well. Not exactly elegant, but functional, and good on the screen accuracy count.

Star Saber (the big robot mode) is what it's really all about. Transformation to SS mode is mostly pretty straightforward, but you do have to get some of the steps in the right order to lock the Saber/chest into the V-Star/body securely. Use the instructions for the first time or two is my advice. He can't quite store all of his accessories on his back, but he can have two out of three stored at a time. Most of his parts can be stored/held, except for the support of the stand. The colour scheme works well - nice and heroic-looking, with a good overall balance which manages to avoid looking garish despite being all vibrant primary colours. His face sculpt looks pretty stern (mostly due to the angle of the eyes), so it should work for the Western/IDW release's characterisation. Poseability is great as you'd expect from an MP release, proportions are excellent (again as you'd expect), he's nice and heavy, and above all he's big. If Brain was tiny, then Star Saber is massive. Not quite Fortress Maximus or Generations Metroplex massive of course, but he towers over MP10 Optimus Prime (who comes up to his mid-chest height). I don't have MP Ultra Magnus to compare, but at a guess he'd still be a good head-and-a-half taller than Magnus. Even without his shoulders he'd still loom over most other TFs, including most of the Combiner Wars combiners - it's also G1/Victory-accurate, but if you're wanting to display him amongst other TFs you may be better going with Saber mode. Fortunately he manages to pull it off. His joints are sturdy enough, but I can see some of them getting loose over time if you're the kind of collector who likes to play with your TFs. The legs are mostly pretty tight on solid ratchet joints, but the shoulders and arms are more flexible - great for a sword-fighting character, but not so great for long-term durability.
Again, he's not exactly an engineering marvel (in fact he's kind of basic for an MP IMO), but that's not really the point of MP Star Saber - he's an MP update to Victory Star Saber, and in that sense he's more than adequate.

If the above appeals to you, then yeah: this toy is for you. It's big, it's fun, it's Star Saber. If you couldn't care less about Star Saber as a character but like the MP line and/or the look of the toy, then it's worth picking up. If you like big, solid, fun toys, well: he's freaking big, he's solid, and he's fun. If you're on the fence, I'd honestly suggest skipping on it, especially since it's gotten a bit pricier than what I paid for it. I ended up getting it for ~$150, and I'd say it's worth it. I wouldn't want to pay too much above that though.

[UltraMarginal]

Excellent review, thank you, though, I'm still on the fence

[drifand]

He is worth anything below 19,000 yen original RRP.

The extensive Aussie dollar drop is a big difference of getting one below $160AU delivered and owning one way above $200 now.

He looks better than mp-10 imo and way more value for money. People who stick to G1 plan then they won't buy this.

For me, anything "new" from TT is > than a repainted mp.

[UltraMarginal]

Uh, Star Saber is G1.
Takara G1.

[Hursticon]

Uh, Star Saber is G1.
Takara G1.

Truth!

Awesome review, Odey, now the feverish wait to receive my shipping notice has been further exacerbated!