This is no doubt old news to be sure. But with the loss of all the old news, and the constant influx of new blood, I thought I'de go ahead and do this.
well im sure most of you already know all about it, but for those that dont, lemme fill you in.
in 2005, MP-02 magnus wasnt the only goodie takara threw out as part of thier masterpeice line. Takara's Brave series also got the shiney MP treatment. MP-B01 through MP-B03, so far.
now again, most probably already know, but for those that dont, Brave series was Takaras other transformer series that they released in 1990. they wernt realy anything special, but there were a few cool robots that came out of it. Chances are, youve already seen them, and never knew it. You know all those bootleg transforming robots you see at flea markets, biglots, dollar stores, and occasionaly wal-mart? the ones that sometimes look like a cool tf knockoff, that might have gundam parts slapped on them? BINGO!
I dont know a whole lot about the cartoon, or the story line, except that it was released by Sunrise, and that the good guys were space police, and all had some kind of animal detailing on the robot mode. Often times, said animal detailing was a beast head that would flip out of thier chest. The other specific signifigance of Brave series is something that can be touted as a precurser to the Transformers Energon concept, as the main characters all combined in some way. In fact, most of the bootlegs i own still combine.
anyway, now to the point. One of the brave characters that i was after was King Exkaiser. Now, idk if hes supposed to be the leader or something, but he has a stark resemblance to starsaber, and his white lion motif could suggest a nod to victory leo, though there is no relation to my knowlage, diffrent universes.
King Exkaiser, if youve never seen it, was a small white car, which looked like it could have been a similar model to Hot Rod. The small car pulled a HUGE trailor, which could best be described as a land based air craft carrier. the small car transformed into a small mediocre robot, and the trailer transformed into a larger, decent robot. For a brick, the larger robot was quite nice looking, and detailed.
now of course, the larger robot is intended to be the smaller robots super mode, as he fits inside it like a suit of armor, which was quite nicely done. However, yo didnt need to have the smaller robot inside in order to have the bigger robot. The only real detraction from the bigger robot, other then the fact he was a brick, was his dinky little dagger sized sword, which on the package, and in pics of the toon, was drawn out to be a huuuuge long sword.
Well, i spent a long time trying to find this guy, cuz to me he seemed like what ultra magnus would have been if he was a repaint of hot rod instead.
So i noticed that there was a listing for him as part of takaras masterpeice line, and couldnt resist.
When compared to the likes of MP Prime, or starscream, it is a little dissapointing, because the way the figures were done are very diffrent. However on its own, it is quite impressive.
The box itself is the first diffrence, wereas the the transformers masterpeice boxes are solid boxes, with the robots image on them spot varnished, the Brave Series masterpeice are in a window box, with a flap that fold over it. As soon as I can get a new digital camera, I will upload images, and comparason pics. However, it still carries the Takara Masterpeice logo.
Now on to my review of this figure. The smaller robot, Exkaiser, is absolutly incredible. Gone is the blocky mediocre brick. In its place is a very sleek, dynamic and super posable figure like you would expect from the Masterpeice line. The front end of the car, which is also what makes up his lower legs, is die-cast metal
The sculpted detail on him is remarkable, and his head horn/fins are sexy chrome gold~
His excessories are equaly cool, though scarily small. He has what looks like 2 of robins bird-arangs, and 2 stars, that are beautifly scuplted into clear plastic, to give the figure a look like hes launching them. Its mostly for looks and posability, but they are done Beautifly and artisticly. And lastly, there is a translucient base foe the smaller robot, for all those extra dynamis poses.
He also comes with the human kid, and his dog that interacted with him in the cartoon. Oddly enough, the human kid looks like a younger version of Koji, from RiD/TF2000! hes even just about the right size to go in a display with the autobot brothers, if you care for such things. Again, once i have a new digital camera, ill upload pics to show what im talking about.
now the cons...
The smaller robot itself, is just that. Small... very very small. its a little smaller then a microman, infact its about the same sice as the microsisters. Exkaizers hands are also set up just like micromans are, interchangable hands in all the classic microman poses, 2 fists, 1 pointing, 2 relaxed, and 2 outstretched fingers for dynamis poses.
Whereas the origional versions chest flipped around to reveal the lion head, the mp version has a removeable, interchangeable chest, normal version and lion version.
His face is incredibly detailed, but because its in stark white, you realy cant make out the details, kinda like classics Starscream is.
Other then the face paint, this isnt something that bothers me much at all, which could be because of my love of Microman. However I know that for some, removeable parts is a turn off.
Now on to the bigger guy. Just as before, you dont need the smaller robot inside the armor to have the bigger robot. With the inclusion of the smaller robots base, this makes for great displaying. the bigger robots legs and inner frame are Die-cast, and very weighty. the plastic parts are also very weighty. His leval of detail and articulation is also very impressive, expecialy when you consider that his legs shoulders and chest all open up so you can put the smaller robot inside.
He has a removeable face mask, so you can see his normal face underneath, which again is stark white, but a little easier to make out the great sculpted detailes. His eyes, and lion eyes are chrome green, and the lions mane thatcovers the expanse of his chest, and over his shoulders is sexy sexy chrome gold.
Like his smaller componant, he also has an attachable giant spinning star, on a clear plastic peice, thats sculpted to look like its launching at high speeds.
His transformation is less then basic, just like the origianals was. Nothing to be thrilled about to be sure, but it has its share of nice transforming gimmicks. However this time around, they added something that was in the toon, but not in the toy. instead of just being a trailer, and jet thingy, they also added the extra weels and cockpits, so it can be a vehicle on its own. Is there a demand for Air craft carriers that move over land? Eh, sure why not.
Now, on the down side, again hes small. Well, not realy small. if anything hes bulkier then MP Prime, but hes a little shorter then MP Starscream. Also, his legs look like they attatch directly to his chest, with no midriff or waist to speak of. it doesnt look bad mind you, just gives him a little of a stumpy look. Also, while his arms are well done considering the way they have to put a smaller robots inside, I do feel like they could have been done a little better.
Lastly, his hands are a dissapointment. Again, interchangable hands. The normal ones are about the same size as alt hands, with the same open and close articulation. He comes with another hand articulated the same way, but with an extended, angled wrist for dynamic sword poses. Then of course, the standerd posed hands that change in and out with the others. This isnt that bad of a thing mind you, and I definatly dont mind it on the smaller figure, but i expect more from Takaras Masterpeice line.
Now one thing thats flawed on it, thats not part of the design, just part of Takara's legendary bad Quality control, is that a plastic peice on the inside of the larger robots legs isnt attached tight, and warped. So when i transformed it to trailer mode, the foot got stuck inside, and i near hurt myself getting it unstuck.
Finaly, his last accessories which are both realy cool, and yet dissapointing a little. The sword. He again comes with a small dinky sword just like the origional, only this time in sexy chrome, with a chrome gold cross guard. just like the origional it comes apart to attach to the trailer for storage. Only this time, it fits inside the legs. However, Takara also included a second, much larger and sexier sword, that is perfect size and look for King Exkaiser. So why is that dissapointing?
Because Takara didn't include a hand for the smaller Exkaiser to hold the smaller sword, and its the perfect size for him
anyway, thats my overveiw, again, when i have pics to upload, i will, but for now, i will scan and resize the book and card it came with, and upload them tonight after work.
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