New Box Image of Takara Tomy Masterpiece MP-24 Star Saber
Thursday, March 5th, 2015 9:08AM CST
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Posted by hinomars19 on March 5th, 2015 @ 9:32am CST
Yuki has gone to great lengths to think of the arm articulation regardless of the awkward high shoulders, the thigh area looks (from what we've seen) to have more than enough clearance for dynamic posing and the overall playability of the whole toy is what you'd want from this size and price point. He also follows the anime proportions to a T.
Magnus is just...missing something.
Sure, the transformation is quite clever with the cab and all but once you get over the initial amazement of the cab going origami style...he kinda just stands there......am I the only who feels he is too static and no fun?
Posted by Moody magpie on March 5th, 2015 @ 9:38am CST
Posted by Desslok2201 on March 5th, 2015 @ 9:41am CST
hinomars19 wrote:This may be an unfair statement, given Star Sabre's development may have been on the cards a lot longer etc, but am I the only one wishing MP Magnus had been given the same love and care as this figure? I know SS is a result of Yuki's love and passion of the character, so again maybe that gives him an advantage, but Magnus just seems to be missing that extra zing.
Yuki has gone to great lengths to think of the arm articulation regardless of the awkward high shoulders, the thigh area looks (from what we've seen) to have more than enough clearance for dynamic posing and the overall playability of the whole toy is what you'd want from this size and price point. He also follows the anime proportions to a T.
Magnus is just...missing something.
Sure, the transformation is quite clever with the cab and all but once you get over the initial amazement of the cab going origami style...he kinda just stands there......am I the only who feels he is too static and no fun?
I'm really sorry you feel that way. I think Magnus was an out of the park home run. I love his heft, and how sturdy he is. I think it goes very well with the stoic nature of his character.
In reference to the pic, that should put to rest any question of who MP-24 will be.
Posted by fenrir72 on March 5th, 2015 @ 9:57am CST
hinomars19 wrote:This may be an unfair statement, given Star Sabre's development may have been on the cards a lot longer etc, but am I the only one wishing MP Magnus had been given the same love and care as this figure? I know SS is a result of Yuki's love and passion of the character, so again maybe that gives him an advantage, but Magnus just seems to be missing that extra zing.
Yuki has gone to great lengths to think of the arm articulation regardless of the awkward high shoulders, the thigh area looks (from what we've seen) to have more than enough clearance for dynamic posing and the overall playability of the whole toy is what you'd want from this size and price point. He also follows the anime proportions to a T.
Magnus is just...missing something.
Sure, the transformation is quite clever with the cab and all but once you get over the initial amazement of the cab going origami style...he kinda just stands there......am I the only who feels he is too static and no fun?
Hip swivel? Given the design that would have been hard to implement.
Posted by cramoptimus maximus on March 5th, 2015 @ 11:06am CST
Small mold MPs are ok in alternate mode, I kinda prefer the small boxes for those, saves storage room, but a full size MP ought to come packaged ready in its most glorious form and a big beautiful box!
Anyway...
Posted by cramoptimus maximus on March 5th, 2015 @ 11:13am CST
Posted by sol magnus on March 5th, 2015 @ 12:01pm CST
Desslok2201 wrote:hinomars19 wrote:This may be an unfair statement, given Star Sabre's development may have been on the cards a lot longer etc, but am I the only one wishing MP Magnus had been given the same love and care as this figure? I know SS is a result of Yuki's love and passion of the character, so again maybe that gives him an advantage, but Magnus just seems to be missing that extra zing.
Yuki has gone to great lengths to think of the arm articulation regardless of the awkward high shoulders, the thigh area looks (from what we've seen) to have more than enough clearance for dynamic posing and the overall playability of the whole toy is what you'd want from this size and price point. He also follows the anime proportions to a T.
Magnus is just...missing something.
Sure, the transformation is quite clever with the cab and all but once you get over the initial amazement of the cab going origami style...he kinda just stands there......am I the only who feels he is too static and no fun?
I'm really sorry you feel that way. I think Magnus was an out of the park home run. I love his heft, and how sturdy he is. I think it goes very well with the stoic nature of his character.
In reference to the pic, that should put to rest any question of who MP-24 will be.
Agreed. I love my Ultra Magnus. He stands heroically amongst my MP Autobots...the way it should be. The only thing he "lacks" is hip-swivel, and that is very easy to overlook.
I think Star Saber is an awesome figure, but since I have no real connection to the character, so I'm (still) not getting one. It's tough, though.
Posted by Mindmaster on March 5th, 2015 @ 3:05pm CST
Posted by hinomars19 on March 5th, 2015 @ 4:52pm CST
sol magnus wrote:Desslok2201 wrote:hinomars19 wrote:Lots of stuff I said about MP Ultra Magnus
I'm really sorry you feel that way. I think Magnus was an out of the park home run. I love his heft, and how sturdy he is. I think it goes very well with the stoic nature of his character.
In reference to the pic, that should put to rest any question of who MP-24 will be.
Agreed. I love my Ultra Magnus. He stands heroically amongst my MP Autobots...the way it should be. The only thing he "lacks" is hip-swivel, and that is very easy to overlook.
I think Star Saber is an awesome figure, but since I have no real connection to the character, so I'm (still) not getting one. It's tough, though.
Haha, I thought I'd be alone on this. No worries folks. Magnus isn't a bad figure, I guess I just see potential wasted. A few extra pushes or that little extra time on the drawing board would have made such a difference. To stay on topic, that's what I see in Star Sabre; a figure that was, design wise, pushed to it's limit leaving no stone un-turned. I suppose what SS has in his favour of course is how the original toy was no different to his animation model, so I guess Yuki had the advantage of updating existing engineering, leaving more room for refinement.
My own opinion of course, but Star Sabre has that play-ability I like, it justifies that price point and the giant package it comes in. My bank Balance hates me but I am truly looking forward to him. I'm just not prepared for the hit right now and he has crept up on me real fast.
Posted by chuckdawg1999 on March 5th, 2015 @ 5:26pm CST
cramoptimus maximus wrote:Wow, he big... Too tall to fit in that box in robot mode. I really prefer when they come packaged in robot mode and not the alternate mode....
Small mold MPs are ok in alternate mode, I kinda prefer the small boxes for those, saves storage room, but a full size MP ought to come packaged ready in its most glorious form and a big beautiful box!
Anyway...
Normally I'd agree but I think Star Saber is a special exception since its full robot mode is a combination of several gimmicks that should be experienced first.
Posted by Sabrblade on March 5th, 2015 @ 6:58pm CST
For the 20th Anniversary, Takara made MP-1 Convoy (20th Anniversary Optimus Prime)
For the "Welcome to Transformers 2010" promotion that honored the 1986 movie and the G1 cartoon's third season (which was dubbed in Japanese as "Transformers 2010"), Takara made MP-9 Rodimus Convoy (Rodimus Prime).
For the 25th Anniversary, one could suggest MP-8 Grimlock as possible candidate for celebrating that year, since he was an Autobot leader in the Marvel comics and Takara even made that MP-8X King Grimlock figure based on Marvel Grimlock.
So with Optimus and Rodimus, and even Grimlock, already done, that takes care of the first two Autobot leaders of the 1980s in both the cartoon and comics, so Takara kinda had to go with a later Autobot leader for the 30th Anniversary. And I'd say leaving it to the fans to vote on it was a nice move.
Posted by Desslok2201 on March 5th, 2015 @ 9:41pm CST
Sabrblade wrote:The more I think about it, the more I realize that Star Saber of all bots being the 30th Anniversary figure is just following Takara's tradition of making MPs of an Autobot leader for special commemorative celebrations.
For the 20th Anniversary, Takara made MP-1 Convoy (20th Anniversary Optimus Prime)
For the "Welcome to Transformers 2010" promotion that honored the 1986 movie and the G1 cartoon's third season (which was dubbed in Japanese as "Transformers 2010"), Takara made MP-9 Rodimus Convoy (Rodimus Prime).
For the 25th Anniversary, one could suggest MP-8 Grimlock as possible candidate for celebrating that year, since he was an Autobot leader in the Marvel comics and Takara even made that MP-8X King Grimlock figure based on Marvel Grimlock.
So with Optimus and Rodimus, and even Grimlock, already done, that takes care of the first two Autobot leaders of the 1980s in both the cartoon and comics, so Takara kinda had to go with a later Autobot leader for the 30th Anniversary. And I'd say leaving it to the fans to vote on it was a nice move.
I'll start saving now for the 2020 MP Fort Max and 2025 Dai Atlas then
Posted by megatronus on March 5th, 2015 @ 11:04pm CST
hinomars19 wrote:sol magnus wrote:Desslok2201 wrote:hinomars19 wrote:Lots of stuff I said about MP Ultra Magnus
I'm really sorry you feel that way. I think Magnus was an out of the park home run. I love his heft, and how sturdy he is. I think it goes very well with the stoic nature of his character.
In reference to the pic, that should put to rest any question of who MP-24 will be.
Agreed. I love my Ultra Magnus. He stands heroically amongst my MP Autobots...the way it should be. The only thing he "lacks" is hip-swivel, and that is very easy to overlook.
I think Star Saber is an awesome figure, but since I have no real connection to the character, so I'm (still) not getting one. It's tough, though.
Haha, I thought I'd be alone on this. No worries folks. Magnus isn't a bad figure, I guess I just see potential wasted. A few extra pushes or that little extra time on the drawing board would have made such a difference. To stay on topic, that's what I see in Star Sabre; a figure that was, design wise, pushed to it's limit leaving no stone un-turned. I suppose what SS has in his favour of course is how the original toy was no different to his animation model, so I guess Yuki had the advantage of updating existing engineering, leaving more room for refinement.
My own opinion of course, but Star Sabre has that play-ability I like, it justifies that price point and the giant package it comes in. My bank Balance hates me but I am truly looking forward to him. I'm just not prepared for the hit right now and he has crept up on me real fast.
I actually agree with you 100%. Ultra Magnus is cool, and I love his heft, but he's definitely missing that special something. To me, he's a poseable statue, not an action figure like MP10 or any of the MP cars.
Call me crazy, but range of motion should count for something. I found the shoulder articulation extremely disappointing, and the lack of hip swivel even more so. The usual "well, the design really doesn't allow for it" defense falls flat for me - that just means the design was poor, not that the lack of articulation is acceptable as a result. That's not to say there aren't great things about him - the way the arms transform is clever, and the way the rubber wheels at the foot flip out to reveal the molded, animation accurate mini-wheels is awesome. But there is certainly room for improvement.
Still, I do think it's a bit unfair to compare Magnus to Star Saber... he looks amazing, but also benefits from the very solid, made-up (i.e. not earth based) alt mode that makes it easier (I would think) to unfurl into a robot.
Posted by fenrir72 on March 5th, 2015 @ 11:45pm CST
megatronus wrote:hinomars19 wrote:sol magnus wrote:Desslok2201 wrote:hinomars19 wrote:Lots of stuff I said about MP Ultra Magnus
I'm really sorry you feel that way. I think Magnus was an out of the park home run. I love his heft, and how sturdy he is. I think it goes very well with the stoic nature of his character.
In reference to the pic, that should put to rest any question of who MP-24 will be.
Agreed. I love my Ultra Magnus. He stands heroically amongst my MP Autobots...the way it should be. The only thing he "lacks" is hip-swivel, and that is very easy to overlook.
I think Star Saber is an awesome figure, but since I have no real connection to the character, so I'm (still) not getting one. It's tough, though.
Haha, I thought I'd be alone on this. No worries folks. Magnus isn't a bad figure, I guess I just see potential wasted. A few extra pushes or that little extra time on the drawing board would have made such a difference. To stay on topic, that's what I see in Star Sabre; a figure that was, design wise, pushed to it's limit leaving no stone un-turned. I suppose what SS has in his favour of course is how the original toy was no different to his animation model, so I guess Yuki had the advantage of updating existing engineering, leaving more room for refinement.
My own opinion of course, but Star Sabre has that play-ability I like, it justifies that price point and the giant package it comes in. My bank Balance hates me but I am truly looking forward to him. I'm just not prepared for the hit right now and he has crept up on me real fast.
I actually agree with you 100%. Ultra Magnus is cool, and I love his heft, but he's definitely missing that special something. To me, he's a poseable statue, not an action figure like MP10 or any of the MP cars.
Call me crazy, but range of motion should count for something. I found the shoulder articulation extremely disappointing, and the lack of hip swivel even more so. The usual "well, the design really doesn't allow for it" defense falls flat for me - that just means the design was poor, not that the lack of articulation is acceptable as a result. That's not to say there aren't great things about him - the way the arms transform is clever, and the way the rubber wheels at the foot flip out to reveal the molded, animation accurate mini-wheels is awesome. But there is certainly room for improvement.
Still, I do think it's a bit unfair to compare Magnus to Star Saber... he looks amazing, but also benefits from the very solid, made-up (i.e. not earth based) alt mode that makes it easier (I would think) to unfurl into a robot.
UM is like from another era. if you put it. Kind of like the Robetech sga spanning 3 generations. Star Saber is like the "Next Generation".
UM, "simple" gimmick. Just an exosuit over a mini robot. Saber, well you have a mini robot who turns into the face of another robot that turns into the core module for another exosuit.
So apples and apples......and I really can't see them applying a white Convoy within UM and still get the awesome results of the final product.
Posted by shajaki on March 6th, 2015 @ 10:50am CST
I've always thought that was a strange argument. It's like, aren't the designers responsible for mistakes or oversights?megatronus wrote:The usual "well, the design really doesn't allow for it" defense falls flat for me - that just means the design was poor, not that the lack of articulation is acceptable as a result.
Posted by Jelze Bunnycat on March 6th, 2015 @ 11:04am CST
shajaki wrote:I've always thought that was a strange argument. It's like, aren't the designers responsible for mistakes or oversights?megatronus wrote:The usual "well, the design really doesn't allow for it" defense falls flat for me - that just means the design was poor, not that the lack of articulation is acceptable as a result.
Designing in general is all about making compromises, between what you want, what looks good, and what's physically possible. Tons of articulation and other moving pieces for instance, is what one would want, but that would make the toy too complex and fragile.
Posted by guarayakha on March 6th, 2015 @ 11:09am CST
I'd imagine that UltraMagnus was designed around a stricter budget while being able to keep the die-cast and rubber tyres, and StarSaber being given a tad more of that $$$ for being a special case.
Posted by Agamemnon on March 6th, 2015 @ 12:23pm CST
I'm not saying that is what happened here, but I think it is at least as plausible as mistakes or laziness (though I am not accusing anyone of specifically calling the designers lazy.)
Personally, I like the price point (in fact I thought UM was going to be much, much more expensive.) And I am happy with the results. Isn't there always room for improvement? (Such as when an artist's piece of work is never "done...")
Posted by Ironhidensh on March 6th, 2015 @ 1:00pm CST
To me, Magnus is everything I've been waiting for and then some. Are there tiny things that could be better? Of course, but in the face of the sheer awesomeness of this figure, they aren't worth thinking about.
Posted by megatronus on March 6th, 2015 @ 2:56pm CST
JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:Designing in general is all about making compromises, between what you want, what looks good, and what's physically possible. Tons of articulation and other moving pieces for instance, is what one would want, but that would make the toy too complex and fragile.
I think that's an impossible to prove hypothetical - all we can really do at this point is comment and opine on the product we have, not the one that was never made.
Also, I'm not asking for a ton of articulation on top of what we got - is a hip swivel really too much to ask for? He's the only mold that doesn't have one besides the Seekers (and that mold is a decade old). Between inhibited arm movement and lack of hip swivel, UM's dynamism really takes a hit. Alleviate just one of those issues and I doubt I'd be so adamant in my criticism.
But you're right, it's all about compromise. I think UM is a transformation-centric figure whose play value comes from alt-mode interactions and conversion, not necessarily robot action. And that's OK - but my priority is the robot mode, so predictably I'm a bit disappointed.
guarayakha wrote:I'm sure they'd have consider all possible options and it was all down to the problem of production costs.
I'd imagine that UltraMagnus was designed around a stricter budget while being able to keep the die-cast and rubber tyres, and StarSaber being given a tad more of that $$$ for being a special case.
I doubt they had a design out there and said "remove some moving pieces; production costs are too high." I'm more inclined to think the designer got a set of specs, such as "cab has to match MP-10," "alt mode must interact with the other cars," and a few other details, and this is the design they came up with. Star Saber may have gotten more money, but I think Star Saber being a stand alone piece gave the designers the room to minimize the compromises this line demands.
Agamemnon wrote:Indeed, besides physics, money often factors in. If UM could have had much more articulation, but the cost was pushed up over $300 per unit, would that be worthwhile? Or is this compromise, with a cheaper price point, preferable?
I'm not saying that is what happened here, but I think it is at least as plausible as mistakes or laziness (though I am not accusing anyone of specifically calling the designers lazy.)
Personally, I like the price point (in fact I thought UM was going to be much, much more expensive.) And I am happy with the results. Isn't there always room for improvement? (Such as when an artist's piece of work is never "done...")
I doubt a waste swivel or greater arm articulation (or both) would have pushed the price point up by $100+. Besides, you had the first run of MP10 sell out at $250, and the second run sell out at $300. Changes in the Yen:Dollar conversion rate aside, a few extra bucks wouldn't have made a huge dent in sales. The line is fairly well established and predictable at this point.
Yes, there's always room for improvement. For example, I love Sideswipe, but you can see through his side, and his legs are hollow. For me, these are hidden well enough to be overlooked and accepted as a necessary compromise. Ultra Magnus' lack of waste just seems like an unnecessary compromise. That's just my two cents.
Ironhidensh wrote:Honestly, and I don't mean to offend here, but the complaints against ultra Magnus sound like nitpicking. Ever since the white repaint of MP-1 came out, we've been begging and begging for a true ultra Magnus. Well we finally got one. Hell, if you count the upcoming combined wars figure, we have two ultra Magnus' this year.
To me, Magnus is everything I've been waiting for and then some. Are there tiny things that could be better? Of course, but in the face of the sheer awesomeness of this figure, they aren't worth thinking about.
Great. I'm glad you (and others) feel that way.
Posted by Va'al on March 7th, 2015 @ 7:46am CST
Posted by Ironhidensh on March 7th, 2015 @ 9:27am CST
Posted by guarayakha on March 7th, 2015 @ 11:00am CST
Goddamnit. That G1 polystyrene box shot hit me hard, because of all that battle damage!
Posted by SlyTF1 on March 8th, 2015 @ 1:19am CST
Posted by Razzerian on March 9th, 2015 @ 9:59am CDT
Posted by chuckdawg1999 on March 11th, 2015 @ 1:05am CDT
Posted by fenrir72 on March 11th, 2015 @ 1:12am CDT
Agamemnon wrote:Indeed, besides physics, money often factors in. If UM could have had much more articulation, but the cost was pushed up over $300 per unit, would that be worthwhile? Or is this compromise, with a cheaper price point, preferable?
I'm not saying that is what happened here, but I think it is at least as plausible as mistakes or laziness (though I am not accusing anyone of specifically calling the designers lazy.)
Personally, I like the price point (in fact I thought UM was going to be much, much more expensive.) And I am happy with the results. Isn't there always room for improvement? (Such as when an artist's piece of work is never "done...")
The Takara engineers were indeed given the marching orders to keep the cost down. It was posted in one of those Hobby Magazines in Japan. It's in the MP-UM thread.
Posted by Arctorro on March 11th, 2015 @ 6:18am CDT
No offence, but I'll be too busy playing with mine to watchchuckdawg1999 wrote:Can I be totally honest? I'm getting this figure no matter what, I'm just secretly hopping no other reviewers get it sooner so I can do my review first.
To be honest, I hope you do get yours quickly to get an early review up. It's always nice to watch a review first.
Posted by wilcosu35 on March 14th, 2015 @ 1:37am CDT
Posted by guarayakha on March 14th, 2015 @ 2:18am CDT
Posted by Sabrblade on March 14th, 2015 @ 9:33am CDT
Posted by chuckdawg1999 on March 15th, 2015 @ 10:40pm CDT
Arctorro wrote:No offence, but I'll be too busy playing with mine to watchchuckdawg1999 wrote:Can I be totally honest? I'm getting this figure no matter what, I'm just secretly hopping no other reviewers get it sooner so I can do my review first.
To be honest, I hope you do get yours quickly to get an early review up. It's always nice to watch a review first.
Thanks and don't worry, I don't rush reviews out just to be first. On a release date I've heard the 21st of March as well, that's from Robot Kingdom. I contemplated making an order but the cost with EMS shipping was just too much.
Posted by Krapicon on March 17th, 2015 @ 6:48am CDT
With the release date of Star Saber coming with in a week I came across this image of Star Saber in Box. Enjoy!!!
Posted by guarayakha on March 17th, 2015 @ 7:59am CDT
Not that it makes me any less excited for StarSaber
All Yuki needs to do now is tweet a picture with dozens of MP-24 boxes to bring the HYPE!!
Posted by mooncake623 on March 18th, 2015 @ 8:52am CDT
Check out the the photos of the Asia Exclusive Coin we've mirrored below and remember keep your optics tuned to Seibertron.com for the latest in news and updates, plus the best galleries around!
Posted by shajaki on March 18th, 2015 @ 1:21pm CDT
Posted by Arctorro on March 18th, 2015 @ 11:44pm CDT
Posted by shajaki on March 19th, 2015 @ 6:13pm CDT
Posted by Sabrblade on March 19th, 2015 @ 6:14pm CDT
Posted by Tsutsukakushi on March 19th, 2015 @ 7:07pm CDT
Posted by Burn on March 19th, 2015 @ 7:15pm CDT
Should be here before Arctorro's.
Posted by chuckdawg1999 on March 20th, 2015 @ 12:09am CDT
Posted by Tsutsukakushi on March 20th, 2015 @ 1:24am CDT
Wondering when some American import sites. Will get this toy in stock.
Posted by chuckdawg1999 on March 20th, 2015 @ 1:28am CDT
Tsutsukakushi wrote:Reading rumors on some sites. That the release date is the 21st of March.
Wondering when some American import sites. Will get this toy in stock.
So am I. Keep in mind that the day they get physical possession might be different than the day the processes them and it goes up on a site. We might get lucky as some places have Saturday workers so I'm thinking Monday the earliest.
Posted by wilcosu35 on March 20th, 2015 @ 1:49am CDT
Burn wrote:Received my payment request from HLJ this morning. Had an automatic shipping reminder for my private warehouse the other day, so paid for SS and shipping for him and four others.
Should be here before Arctorro's.
mine is also in now just to wait for ufomaru tomorrow, and the whole shebang for this month can be shipped.
Posted by guarayakha on March 20th, 2015 @ 2:29am CDT
http://tfnd.net/discuz/forum.php?mod=vi ... rom=portal
Minor nitpicks:
1) Looks like the battle helmet requires disconnection from the joint to allow free movement.
2) Rear landing gears for SaberJet is in a weird position.
Posted by Va'al on March 20th, 2015 @ 4:04am CDT
Posted by Fox Thiagarajan on March 20th, 2015 @ 6:28am CDT
Posted by Mindmaster on March 20th, 2015 @ 7:49am CDT
Posted by NuclearConvoy on March 20th, 2015 @ 7:54am CDT