Is there going to be a remake of Star Saber?

Starblaster · Post by **Starblaster** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 3:57 pm

Does anyone know if there is going to be a remake of the Star Saber Takara toy?

RID Scourge · Post by **RID Scourge** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 4:03 pm

There was a Robot Masters version released a few years ago. They recently made a knockoff of that one.

I don't know if they'll reissue him though. The encore line has thrown a couple of surprizes our way in the form of Skylinx and Omega Supreme. So it's possible that they might do him.

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 4:05 pm

Define "remake"...

For a newer version of the character, the Robot Masters one can still be picked up fairly cheap, I imagine. It sucks a bit, though.

For a knock-off, there was a full-size one floating around, and more recently the RM one was done as an oversized KO.

For a reissue of the original, stranger things have happened, though Takara had chastening returns from the last two big Japanese exclusives they reissued (God Ginrai, which HLJ had trouble giving away, and Star Convoy).

For some sort of Classics-esque reimagining, same as above. For all the Western interest in the Japanese characters, it seems they really aren't that popular in Japan itself, where most interest seems focused on the first series of toys and cartoons (this is why Takara keep reissuing the same dozen or so toys every couple of years). In Japan he's probably held in the same sort of esteem, say, Thunderwing is in the West - cult following among the fans, but not enough general interest to translate over.

IIRC, Wing Saber from Energon (?) was a bit of a homage, though.

Starblaster · Post by **Starblaster** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 4:33 pm

Thanks for the help.

Tetsuro · Post by **Tetsuro** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 7:25 pm

Cliffjumper wrote:For a reissue of the original, stranger things have happened, though Takara had chastening returns from the last two big Japanese exclusives they reissued (God Ginrai, which HLJ had trouble giving away, and Star Convoy).

For some sort of Classics-esque reimagining, same as above. For all the Western interest in the Japanese characters, it seems they really aren't that popular in Japan itself, where most interest seems focused on the first series of toys and cartoons (this is why Takara keep reissuing the same dozen or so toys every couple of years). In Japan he's probably held in the same sort of esteem, say, Thunderwing is in the West - cult following among the fans, but not enough general interest to translate over.

One can always wish, right?

Though God Ginrai's unpopularity might have something to do with the fact that many Japanese fans downright refuse to even acknowledge Masterforce as part of Transformers.

How well did the CSII Powermaster Prime sell, though?

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 9:03 pm

It contributed to killing the range over here. Any market for a fanboyed-up version of the most common, most crap Optimus Prime figure at twice the ebay going rate was annihilated by HLJ begging the world to take the Takara overstock of their hands.

Post by **Clay** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 10:10 pm

I doubt it. The character has some appeal in the west for being old, rare, and Japanese, but that doesn't really mean a new toy would sell well enough overall to justify one.

The little Robot Master version got by because it's so small and cheap. More could have been done with it (adding knees, for example), but it's probably the best blend of "being Star Saber" and "cheap and available" as there is likely to be.

Tetsuro · Post by **Tetsuro** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 10:19 pm

Hmmm...the problem with targeting the fans is that unlike kids who must have the toy now, adult collectors are more inclined to wait till they hit clearance - good for them, bad for distribution.

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 10:19 pm

Clay wrote:The little Robot Master version got by

I dunno, it was pretty telling that it was near the end of the series (and, IIRC, the last new mould along with Victory Platforms)... Wonder if the line had a predetermined size of ~20 figures, or whether the interest dropped off (as with most Japanese retro lines) once they'd got Prime, Megatron and Starscream done...

Bets on how much longer Encore goes on for? And for how long before they shoehorn another Prime/Convoy figure into the range?

It still makes me grin like a bastard that Western fans are all "OMFG! Dai Atlas, Overlord, Deathsaurus!" and Japanese fans are all "Prime, Megatron, Bumblebee!"...

Tetsuro · Post by **Tetsuro** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 10:30 pm

Cliffjumper wrote: It still makes me grin like a bastard that Western fans are all "OMFG! Dai Atlas, Overlord, Deathsaurus!" and Japanese fans are all "Prime, Megatron, Bumblebee!"...

I thought Japanese are more interested in the ones that weren't available there initially, like Star Saber and Dai Atlas weren't available here (Overlord at least was released in Europe)...like most of the Pretenders. We'll have to see how well the Sky Lynx and Omega Supreme reissues sell there...

Even if that's not the case, just how many times can they reissue those 1st year guys before pretty much everyone who even remotely wants them already has them?

Post by **Clay** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 3:27 am

Cliffjumper wrote:I dunno, it was pretty telling that it was near the end of the series (and, IIRC, the last new mould along with Victory Platforms)... Wonder if the line had a predetermined size of ~20 figures, or whether the interest dropped off (as with most Japanese retro lines) once they'd got Prime, Megatron and Starscream done...

Had to look at the checklist to refresh my memory, but the Lio Convoy came out a few months afterwards, and I quite favor it over the big one.

I think they definitely had a plan for all the new molds (and the G2 Megatron remold) and the initial salvo of repaints. The Laser Cycles and Cyberjet two-pack seem to be the only obvious late-line padding, as the rest predictably were repaints of the new molds.

I dunno, I think Star Saber is fine for its size. It's really not on par with the other originals from the line, but... it's faithful. You've got to give it that

Tetsuro · Post by **Tetsuro** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 2:23 pm

The RM version has longer thighs too. In many ways, it's more cartoon-accurate than the original.

Of course, Victory Leo was never cartoon-accurate, they made him a jet mode the toy doesn't have...

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 2:38 pm

Tetsuro wrote:I thought Japanese are more interested in the ones that weren't available there initially, like Star Saber and Dai Atlas weren't available here (Overlord at least was released in Europe)...like most of the Pretenders. We'll have to see how well the Sky Lynx and Omega Supreme reissues sell there...

Why would they be interested in the Pretenders? The interest in Omega no doubt comes from him being in the series, possibly the same for Sky Lynx. Japanese fans in general don't seem to be interested in anything post-movie, while the general public haven't paid attention since about 1986... AFAIK, before the film Transformers hasn't been especially popular since BW in Japan, and that was after a long blip. People go on about the damage to the franchise killing Prime did in the West, but it's nothing compared to what it did in Japan (which is why Masterforce has a doppelganger, Victory a 'Space Convoy' substitute, and then in desperation they just plain brought him back for Battlestars).

Tetsuro · Post by **Tetsuro** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 8:29 pm

Don't forget that they killed Prime again in Japan, too.

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 8:37 pm

Tetsuro wrote:Don't forget that they killed Prime again in Japan, too.

And the series died long-term.