New Prototype Images: Takara Tomy Masterpiece Star Saber - Brainmaster Confirmed

AND he has head articulation in both robot modes? Color me curious to see how that works. Even if it turns out to be a bit cheatsy, it certainly looks more impressive than Brainstorm's tech-spec meter sticker.

the last picture reminds me of people who wear big glasses and have to squint their eyes to see!

How tall is he going to be? It looks like he is twice as tall as MP Wheeljack.

Zeek99g wrote:How tall is he going to be? It looks like he is twice as tall as MP Wheeljack.

He's going to be slightly taller than the G1 Star Saber toy.



Here's some size comparison pics with G1 Star Saber and other toys (including MPs):

Nerdgasm imminent....

Yep. The second preorders go live for Star Saber, I am totally going to go for him. Too cool to just let slip away.

Oh man this thing just keeps looking better and better every time I see it. Definitely gonna have to break my own rule of not importing things just to get this guy

What is that Unicron I see in the corner?

dalekslayer96 wrote:What is that Unicron I see in the corner?

Which one? There were multiple Unicrons on display at this event.

Sabrblade wrote:

dalekslayer96 wrote:What is that Unicron I see in the corner?

Which one? There were multiple Unicrons on display at this event.

The one in the grey unpainted plastic.

dalekslayer96 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

dalekslayer96 wrote:What is that Unicron I see in the corner?

Which one? There were multiple Unicrons on display at this event.

The one in the grey unpainted plastic.

This one?



That's the prototype for Beast Wars Neo Unicron.

What does a "brainmaster" transform into ? Ive only heard of headmaster, targetmaster, and powermaster...

Also, isnt this guy combiner size in the cartoon leaving the possibility for a classics shelf if you want cartoon accuracy ?

Rated X wrote:What does a "brainmaster" transform into ? Ive only heard of headmaster, targetmaster, and powermaster...

Also, isnt this guy combiner size in the cartoon leaving the possibility for a classics shelf if you want cartoon accuracy ?

For lack of better words the face

Rated X wrote:What does a "brainmaster" transform into ? Ive only heard of headmaster, targetmaster, and powermaster...

Brainmasters fit into the chests of the larger robot and form their faces.








Though, the gimmick on this MP seems to be a little different from how it was on the G1 toy, enabling this MP to have full neck articulation.

Rated X wrote:Also, isnt this guy combiner size in the cartoon leaving the possibility for a classics shelf if you want cartoon accuracy ?

Yep! I'd say he's very perfectly scaled for a Classics shelf.

Rated X wrote:What does a "brainmaster" transform into ? Ive only heard of headmaster, targetmaster, and powermaster...

Also, isnt this guy combiner size in the cartoon leaving the possibility for a classics shelf if you want cartoon accuracy ?

Brainmasters are sort of like Headmasters, but instead of forming the full head and being inserted into the neck, they are inserted into a compartment in the torso, and when the compartment is closed with the Brainmaster in it, the face rises up. Similar concept , radically different execution.

As for display options... You could display him on the Classics shelf, but I think he's more meant for the Masterpiece shelf.

Thanks guys. That is a very weird "master" concept. I take it these brainmasters came out only in japan ? Around the time Hasbro jumped the G1 ship when powermasters and pretenders didnt do so well back in america ?

I might just buy this guy for my classics shelf and put him next to trailerforce Ginrai. Were they in the same cartoon ? Ive never watched the japanese cartoons because I just hate subtitles. Shame really cause I have them all burned to disc. I never liked how all Japanese robot cartoons used the same clip whenever they transform or combine. It always seemed lazy. The American cartoon artists hand drew the transformation different each time.

Rated X wrote:Thanks guys. That is a very weird "master" concept. I take it these brainmasters came out only in japan ? Around the time Hasbro jumped the G1 ship when powermasters and pretenders didnt do so well back in america ?

I might just buy this guy for my classics shelf and put him next to trailerforce Ginrai. Were they in the same cartoon ?

Here's some background info for ya courtesy of the Wiki.
http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Brainmaster

Rated X wrote:Thanks guys. That is a very weird "master" concept. I take it these brainmasters came out only in japan ?

The three smaller Brainmasters (Blacker, Braver and Laster) were released in Europe as the Motorvators (Gripper, Lightspeed and Flame) without the combiner kibble.

And Star Saber was God Ginrai's successor (meaning they were the star of their respective series) but they did appear in the former's cartoon together. Later God Ginrai was killed and turned into the Magic Mushroom that's Victory Leo.

Rated X wrote:Thanks guys. That is a very weird "master" concept. I take it these brainmasters came out only in japan ? Around the time Hasbro jumped the G1 ship when powermasters and pretenders didnt do so well back in america ?

Yep, they were all Takara's doing when Hasbro decided to switch to primarily Micromasters in 1989.

However, the three smaller Brainmasters (Blacker, Laster, and Braver) did get redecoed and released in Europe in 1991 as a new group called the Motorvators. Blacker was redecoed into Gripper, Laster into Flame, and Braver into Lightspeed (no relation to the Technobot of the same name). And their smaller Brainmaster figures were renamed as simply "Energon Figures". And none of them came with their original combiner pieces (the three Brainmasters were originally a combiner called Road Caesar).

Rated X wrote:I might just buy this guy for my classics shelf and put him next to trailerforce Ginrai. Were they in the same cartoon ?

Ginrai was in the Super-God Masterforce cartoon, while Star Saber was in the Victory cartoon. But, Ginrai did make a couple guest starring appearances in Victory in which he would team up with Star Saber.

Rated X wrote:I never liked how all Japanese robot cartoons used the same clip whenever they transform or combine. It always seemed lazy. The American cartoon artists hand drew the transformation different each time.

Not quite true. A lot of the transformations seen in the G1 cartoon were recycled from episode to episode. They just played them over whatever environments they needed to be in the background instead of in a fancy sequence. Optimus Prime's transformation was the most notorious case of this.

Though, I think they did give each transformation a fresh drawing for each one that happened in the 1986 movie, but that being a movie was a special case.

Sabrblade wrote:

dalekslayer96 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

dalekslayer96 wrote:What is that Unicron I see in the corner?

Which one? There were multiple Unicrons on display at this event.

The one in the grey unpainted plastic.

This one?



That's the prototype for Beast Wars Neo Unicron.

Well dammit. It looked kinda cool.

The more I look at that unicron, the more I see a sorta resemblance to the death star Vader transformer.

I still maintain that we got a better unicron out of the deal, though I would like to see them take another whack at it, maybe for the 40th anniversary.

ZeroWolf wrote:The more I look at that unicron, the more I see a sorta resemblance to the death star Vader transformer.

He has more in common with Cybertron Primus actually.

I kinda thought they'd have to sacrifice gimmicks to pull this guy off, but nope, so far it's all there! Icing on the cake would be if they ever do Victory Leo. I guess we'll see.

I'm already afraid of what the pricing will be on this guy, but hopefully I can afford it. I might not ever need to bother getting the original once this guy comes out.

kirbenvost wrote:I kinda thought they'd have to sacrifice gimmicks to pull this guy off, but nope, so far it's all there! Icing on the cake would be if they ever do Victory Leo. I guess we'll see.

I'm already afraid of what the pricing will be on this guy, but hopefully I can afford it. I might not ever need to bother getting the original once this guy comes out.

This. MP SS should be cheaper................good thing I held off getting the vintage (?)

Let's continue Sunday with a look at what appears to be a true Masterpiece figure from Takara Tomy, courtesy of TagHobby's scans of the Dengeki magazine: Star Saber. The images show off the various features of the figure, from posability, to weapons, to brainmaster module, and a comparison shot with MP-20 Wheeljack - check em out mirrored below!

Holy crap them wizards at Takara never cease to amaze me.

I still wonder if Star Saber can hold his sword edge facing forward and not with the blade wielded at its side. That and where did that shield come from?

Interesting indeed. I'm looking forward to playing with this toy soon.

I knew Star Saber was big, but the Brainmaster himself is as big as the standard MP cars? That's just wild(ly awesome).

megatronus wrote:I knew Star Saber was big, but the Brainmaster himself is as big as the standard MP cars? That's just wild(ly awesome).

I think the Brainmaster is the little dude, kinda like a Powermaster, Headmaster, or Targetmaster. Star is the same of the deluxeish size bot, if mnemory serves, And Star Saber is the deluxish folded up into the larger armor. At least I think that's how it goes.

And, whoah. This is looking awesome!!

Agamemnon wrote:

megatronus wrote:I knew Star Saber was big, but the Brainmaster himself is as big as the standard MP cars? That's just wild(ly awesome).

I think the Brainmaster is the little dude, kinda like a Powermaster, Headmaster, or Targetmaster. Star is the same of the deluxeish size bot, if mnemory serves, And Star Saber is the deluxish folded up into the larger armor. At least I think that's how it goes.

And, whoah. This is looking awesome!!

Since we're getting technical, here are the official names:

Tiny figure: Yuuki no Brain (Brain of Courage)
Intermediate figure: Saber
Full combined figure: Star Saber

The term "Brainmaster" is used in a gimmick describing sense only.

Looks nice!
Theres eens to some artistic liberty taken with his solo jet mode.
Wonder how he will look doing this:

You know,without the helmet.

Very nice so far. Hopefully Takara makes a Masterpiece Victory Leo, so that we could get a Masterpiece Victory Saber. If it doesn't happen, maybe a Third Party company could make their own Victory Leo. Anything is possible, so it could happen.

Nope, still does nothing for me.

Ravage XK wrote:Nope, still does nothing for me.

Surprising that there are still you guys taking the time to post this.

Ravage XK wrote:Nope, still does nothing for me.

What's wrong with it? Star Saber didn't call you on his phone?

i wonder what the repaint will be called?

Even the shield from the last (non-clip show) episode...



Best. Masterpiece! EVER!

griftimus prime wrote:i wonder what the repaint will be called?

BlackStarSaber, obviously.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Agamemnon wrote:

megatronus wrote:I knew Star Saber was big, but the Brainmaster himself is as big as the standard MP cars? That's just wild(ly awesome).

I think the Brainmaster is the little dude, kinda like a Powermaster, Headmaster, or Targetmaster. Star is the same of the deluxeish size bot, if mnemory serves, And Star Saber is the deluxish folded up into the larger armor. At least I think that's how it goes.

And, whoah. This is looking awesome!!

Since we're getting technical, here are the official names:

Tiny figure: Yuuki no Brain (Brain of Courage)
Intermediate figure: Saber
Full combined figure: Star Saber

The term "Brainmaster" is used in a gimmick describing sense only.

Oh, that's it, thanks! I should have remembered that too, what with Saber Blade being said so often (even in Japanese) in the Victory cartoon. Plus, I was expecting correction from our resident Sabrblade, and his awesomeness in not having to reference the Wiki. (Is TFwiki wired directly into his brain? )

So, it was Saber, combining to become Star Saber, then combining with Victory Leo to become Victory Saber. (Plus the Yuuki no Brain initial combination with Saber.) It was weird to not see the little guy emphasized more, what given the characters in Masterforce. Perhaps they wanted the Brainmasters, Multiforce, and Chestforce (or Breastforce, depending on the translation viewed?) to be completely separate from Masterforce. Or perhaps they are all assumed to be transectors? Something tells me I am losing something in the translation of the subtitled episodes...

I'm a little worried that the figure won't be able to hold the sword straight.

I wonder how the shield will be incorporated into the jet?

As for an MP Victory Leo, that's hopefully a 50/50 chance but given the projected response maybe 90%?

Hopefully not a repeat of Starconvoy that didn't get a Grandus re-issue

chuckdawg1999 wrote:I'm a little worried that the figure won't be able to hold the sword straight.

Yeah, Xephon0930 mentioned this too. From looking at the pictures, it looks like the huge forearms may be the culprit. It's hard to see if the handle of the sword is long enough for the guard to clear the forearm.

Hmm, it doesn't really look like he'll be able to hold it straight. Kind of a silly design, but the original was like that too.

One thing I'm glad for is the movable antennae. It was kind of bugging me how far they pointed outwards, so I'm happy to see they can point out to varying degrees.

I also really like how well the spaceship mode all fits together compared to every other version so far. Finally, no huge gaps!

All signs are pointing to this being one of the best MPs ever!

kirbenvost wrote:Hmm, it doesn't really look like he'll be able to hold it straight. Kind of a silly design, but the original was like that too.

One thing I'm glad for is the movable antennae. It was kind of bugging me how far they pointed outwards, so I'm happy to see they can point out to varying degrees.

I also really like how well the spaceship mode all fits together compared to every other version so far. Finally, no huge gaps!

All signs are pointing to this being one of the best MPs ever!

On the original toy the blade went into the hilt a different way so it faced forward, maybe that can be done on this figure too.

Agamemnon wrote:It was weird to not see the little guy emphasized more, what given the characters in Masterforce. Perhaps they wanted the Brainmasters, Multiforce, and Chestforce (or Breastforce, depending on the translation viewed?) to be completely separate from Masterforce. Or perhaps they are all assumed to be transectors? Something tells me I am losing something in the translation of the subtitled episodes...

The way I always viewed the Brainmasters (after watching the Victory cartoon, that is) was that the little brain guys weren't their own persons but were more like manifestations of the larger robots' minds or minds and souls (or maybe, retroactively, their sparks, but that's a different can of worms), with the larger robots being the true versions of them.

After all, during the transformation sequences for each, the smaller dudes were often seen changing into some kind of energy form prior to entering the chests of the larger robots. Though, there were some occasions that the stock footage transformation sequences weren't used and did show the actual, physical brain robots to be inside the chests, but I still think that they're just emissaries for the true selves of the larger Brainmaster Autobots.

Plus, they don't actually have real names of their own, just decriptors for what kind of brains they are (Courage, Skill, Strength, Intelligence).

Yeah, this is one Masterpiece figure I gotta have. The second preorders open, I'm going in.

TF Yuki on twitter has posted a nice side by side comparison of the original with the Saber robot from the upcoming Masterpiece Star Saber. A while back TF Yuki tweeted a size comparison of the full Star Saber which stood slightly taller than his original predecessor however the Masterpiece Saber robot is quite a bit smaller. On the upside, it is a lot more detailed which is to be expected with a Masterpiece.

Looks nice!Did Saber ever appeared by himself on the cartoon?

TulioDude wrote:Looks nice!Did Saber ever appeared by himself on the cartoon?

You mean without his Star armor? On the odd occasion. There were even times when the Star armor was needed for other reasons and Saber would fight without it.

The first Masterpiece figure that's actually smaller than the original G1 figure.

Yeah, I'm only referring to Saber. I'm well aware that this figure's Star Saber form is just a smidge taller than the G1 figure's Star Saber form.


Though, Saber being this small makes him about the same height as the MP cars, such as Wheeljack, who was about the same height at Perceptor in the Victory cartoon, who was about the same height as Saber: