Haslab Liokaiser Update Video and First Tier Unlocked

Why is Evan STILL NOT showing the individual bots with all of the "chest animals" off? I want to see how they'll look with the 5mm hole in the chest. Can't imagine they'd be great, but if there's enough details around to obscure the holes enough, I might bite and back it.

Sabrblade wrote:

Hero Alpha wrote:Hasbro Pulse youtube channel should be running a live stream of it 24hrs a day like Transformers and G.I. Joe it already does. That just might sell it to a few more people who never watched it.

If they did, however, you just know they would use the Shout! Factory subtitled version that changed a bunch of things in the subtitle translation to make them more inaccurate to what is actually said in the Japanese dialogue. Not just name changes but cramming in references to TFTM, the Bay movies, Aligned, and IDW1 that otherwise do not belong in any 1980s Japanese anime translation.

That sounds blasphemous, glad I didn't start with that. Or they use the Omni dub
Actually I do kinda enjoy the Headmasters Omni dub every now and again. Checking in on Billy, Sparkle, Soundwave 2 and the gang.

I was sure I saw photos or a video of the chest animal-less figures somewhere, but can't seem to find them now. Thought it was the greyscale ones.

Only 85 more backers to go before unlocking the second tier.

...and it just unlocked the Electromagnetic Nunchaku tier.

Dawn, this Haslab's on track to blow so far past every bonus that they could make up some serious after-the-fact extras. Lyzack and the Rescue Force would probably be too much to hope for, but I never thought this would happen either.

Bumblevivisector wrote:...and it just unlocked the Electromagnetic Nunchaku tier.

Dawn, this Haslab's on track to blow so far past every bonus that they could make up some serious after-the-fact extras. Lyzack and the Rescue Force would probably be too much to hope for, but I never thought this would happen either.

Lizack isn't happening because Hasbro and Takara don't own the rights to her.

Sabrblade wrote:

Bumblevivisector wrote:...and it just unlocked the Electromagnetic Nunchaku tier.

Dawn, this Haslab's on track to blow so far past every bonus that they could make up some serious after-the-fact extras. Lyzack and the Rescue Force would probably be too much to hope for, but I never thought this would happen either.

Lizack isn't happening because Hasbro and Takara don't own the rights to her.

Then they can do a toy of her newly-discovered identical triplet sister Lubuazack, who happens to look just like her, but somehow different from Leozack, and give her a bio card that encourages collectors to repurpose her, fudging the Botcon/Wings tradition just a tad.

As for Big Rescue Force's elusive arm bots, I keep picturing Deathcobra repainted into Rescue Bots Blades, somewhere in the future, in the strangest of places...

The display stands have just been unlocked!

Sabrblade wrote:The display stands have just been unlocked!

Must have just happened, it was still under 17K a few hours ago after they sent the last email about G.I.Joe pre-orders.

Emerje

If the extra-super-surprise tier continues the tradition of Victory Haslabs coming with 2 Micromasters, the first official toys of Riker and especially Clipper would be appropriate with the first official Deathcobra, since she was framed for killing the elusive Crocohind before he could merge into his rightful place. They'd be easy retools of Siege Blackjack and Hyperdrive too, much less work than Boater and Pipo.

And it just broke 20,000!

Have they still not added Japan's backers?

Bumblevivisector wrote:And it just broke 20,000!

Have they still not added Japan's backers?

Pretty sure Takara Tomy Mall orders have been rolled in regularly since Deathsaurus instead of occasional lumps like with Unicron and Victory Saber.

Emerje

Emily and Evan have posted a new video today announcing Haslab Transformers Victory LioKaiser reaching and surpassing its fully funded goal, currently at over 20,000 sets backed. That means all announced tiers have been reached with a little time left for project backing. The campaign ends at 11:59PM ET on March 24, 2025, this coming Monday.

The video also highlights changes that have been recently made to the figures still in their early stage.

Leozak - Panels added to hide his head in jet mode and the screws in LioKaisers chest.
Gaihawk and Ellbat - Their Chest Animals have been altered so the peg no longer sticks out in bot mode. Also the intakes have been changed on their shoulders to fold back instead of forward so they don't get in the way of the combined mode.
Jaruga - The combiner parts that connect to the top of him have been modified to look like missile pods.
Drillhorn and Killbison - They now have wheels hidden in their tracks so they can roll.
Deathcobra - Thigh rotation has been added and in canon mode all of the Chest Animals can be connected to him.



With just over 3 days remaining we're hitting that now or never point. Let us know in the Seibertron Energon Pub forums if any of the changes were enough to get you on board or not.

We still don't think they have put all the overseas pre-order numbers in as yet. Once they're in, especially Japan, this will blow all other HasLabs away for backings. Hyped that all three tiers are unlocked. There was never any doubt they wouldn't be.

The late edits and additions really help put this over the top. I appreciate the care that's gone into making this the best it can be. You can tell the designers and team really care about the product and the fans. Thanks!

Dino-Snarl wrote:We still don't think they have put all the overseas pre-order numbers in as yet. Once they're in, especially Japan, this will blow all other HasLabs away for backings. Hyped that all three tiers are unlocked. There was never any doubt they wouldn't be.

The Japanese ones have been added regularly already, the big jumps we've been seeing lately have come from the overseas pre-orders. There's always a big burst at the end, but I'm not expecting anything spectacular.

Incidentally, they've added nearly 500 just today.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:

Dino-Snarl wrote:We still don't think they have put all the overseas pre-order numbers in as yet. Once they're in, especially Japan, this will blow all other HasLabs away for backings. Hyped that all three tiers are unlocked. There was never any doubt they wouldn't be.

The Japanese ones have been added regularly already, the big jumps we've been seeing lately have come from the overseas pre-orders. There's always a big burst at the end, but I'm not expecting anything spectacular.

Incidentally, they've added nearly 500 just today.

Emerje

Darn.

I'm with TJOmega concerning the shoulder joints on the tank guys, though, and wish that they had fixed that bit of engineering. Hopefully it looks and functions better than what it appears like.

StrykerTyger wrote:I'm with TJOmega concerning the shoulder joints on the tank guys, though, and wish that they had fixed that bit of engineering. Hopefully it looks and functions better than what it appears like.

They said in the video that they aren't done making modifications, nothing is out of the question, especially if the finally numbers are high enough to justify bigger changes.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:

StrykerTyger wrote:I'm with TJOmega concerning the shoulder joints on the tank guys, though, and wish that they had fixed that bit of engineering. Hopefully it looks and functions better than what it appears like.

They said in the video that they aren't done making modifications, nothing is out of the question, especially if the finally numbers are high enough to justify bigger changes.

Emerje

Hopefully they are reading this thread and others for feedback. All I want is good head articulation(looking up and down) and cover up hollow spots, so far. The new changes are a big plus. I backed right after the 2nd tier opened up, although I was in after Deathcobra.

I've been waiting for this for a while, so within the first 3 days, I backed this. I love the Japanese G1 designs.

Could one of the stretch goals be to get the marketing lady to pronounce the products name correctly?

o.supreme wrote:Could one of the stretch goals be to get the marketing lady to pronounce the products name correctly?

One step at a time. Evan managed to pronounce the name correctly after previously saying it wrong back it MegaCon.

'Course, it doesn't help that half the fandom has been saying the name wrong for all these decades, too. The English dub of Victory by Omni Productions also used "Leokaiser" instead of "Liokaiser", so that probably had some influence, too. And while I haven't watched all of the TFCog fan dub of Victory, it wouldn't surprise me if the name was said wrong in that too, since that fan dub derived at least some of its scripts from the Omni dub.

It's just like how people still call Lio Convoy "Leo Convoy" as well (though, in his case, the TFCog Fan dub of BWII did pronounce his name correctly).

^ Also, the official Hasbro Voyager toy changed Lio Convoy's name to "Leo Prime", so that I get the confusion for. But on all the marketing material for this it still clearly states "Lio" Kaiser.

I haven't listened to the Omni dub in so long, aside form some humor videos on Youtube...I would hope fans aren't using that as a point of reference for accuracy.

o.supreme wrote:I haven't listened to the Omni dub in so long, aside form some humor videos on Youtube...I would hope fans aren't using that as a point of reference for accuracy.

The Development Team isn't... the best when it comes to research, that's shown time and time again. Never going past the first Google result or taking images at face value, that sorta thing. At least they're acknowledging some faults, including one with a certain Prime.

o.supreme wrote:^ Also, the official Hasbro Voyager toy changed Lio Convoy's name to "Leo Prime", so that I get the confusion for.

Yeah but people were still saying "Leo Convoy" even in the years before the Universe Leo Prime toy came about.

o.supreme wrote:But on all the packaging and adverts for this it still clearly states "Lio" Kaiser.

It might also have to do with how "i" is pronounced in Japanese as the "ee" sound instead of "eye" (with "ai" being the "eye" sound instead, whilst "ei" is the "ay" sound). So some who are aware of "i" sounding like "ee" in Japanese may see "Lio" and think "Lee-oh" instead of "Lion" because of the name's Japanese origin.

Ironically, though, the packaging of the original toy used "Liocaesar" instead, despite the Japanese spelling and in-show dialogue definitely saying "kaiser" (カイザー kaizā) rather than "caesar" (シーザー Shīzā), a la Road Caesar.

Sabrblade wrote:Ironically, though, the packaging of the original toy used "Liocaesar" instead, despite the Japanese spelling and in-show dialogue definitely saying "kaiser" (カイザー kaizā) rather than "caesar" (シーザー Shīzā), a la Road Caesar.

Sticking with the original/reconstructed Latin pronunciation. In that aspect, the original name should have Leocaesar

Pizza Pizza!

But yeah, I remember in the very early days when I was researching the Japanese TV shows (1998/1999), seeing "LioCaesar" in some places because that's how the OG toy packaging was translated, and I went with it because it matched Road Caesar. But then I got some episodes on VHS, and made the correction once it was heard.

So it finished with 23,541 backers. Not a bad showing. So far all the TF HasLabs got funded with plenty to spare. Congrats peeps!

Dino-Snarl wrote:So it finished with 23,541 backers. Not a bad showing. So far all the TF HasLabs got funded with plenty to spare. Congrats peeps!

Take another look, they added in the rest of the international orders to finish at...

34,329!!!

Damn, just casually being the best selling Haslab of all time if I'm not mistaken.

Emerje

Wow! Here I was thinking this would be the first TF Haslab not to beat its predecessor's record. Congratulations everyone! The design team must be feeling pretty confident right now. I wonder if this will lead them to make the next one truly outrageous.

Dino-Snarl wrote: We still don't think they have put all the overseas pre-order numbers in as yet. Once they're in, especially Japan, this will blow all other HasLabs away for backings. Hyped that all three tiers are unlocked. There was never any doubt they wouldn't be!

As we expected and posted Mar-21st (above), that it would blow all other HasLabs out of the water. The Transformers line is alive and well.

Unicron - $575 - 12,000+ backers
Victory Saber - $180 - 26,211 backers
Deathsaurus - $180 - 27,442 backers
Omega Prime - $250 - 28,230 backers
Liokaiser - $300 - 34,329 backers

Whifflefire wrote:I wonder if this will lead them to make the next one truly outrageous.

Which could mean...the long-awaited Primus/Cybertron to scale with HasLab Unicron!

I'd better start saving up now.

Now is the hard part; paying $300 and then waiting a year I hope they keep upgrading the figures, but I am glad I backed. Really was also hoping theyd slip in another add-on tier though. The final number did surprise me, I didn't expect much over 20k.

I desperately wanted to want this, but it just isn't a $300 lump sum figure to me. $200 sure. A spread out retail release, possibly. But a $300 commitment to a figure they're still working on? Sorry, no.

Then I saw this: https://tfsource.com/japanese-transformers/liokaiser-combiner-set-of-6-transformers-legacy/

What in the Hunter Biden are they smoking?!?! $650 and none of the extras?

Don't do drugs, kids.

Bumblevivisector wrote:

Whifflefire wrote:I wonder if this will lead them to make the next one truly outrageous.

Which could mean...the long-awaited Primus/Cybertron to scale with HasLab Unicron!

I'd better start saving up now.

Primus would be backed day 1 from us!

Brokebot wrote:I desperately wanted to want this, but it just isn't a $300 lump sum figure to me. $200 sure. A spread out retail release, possibly. But a $300 commitment to a figure they're still working on? Sorry, no.

Then I saw this: https://tfsource.com/japanese-transformers/liokaiser-combiner-set-of-6-transformers-legacy/

What in the Hunter Biden are they smoking?!?! $650 and none of the extras?

Don't do drugs, kids.

Painful to see. >100% mark up.

Brokebot wrote:I desperately wanted to want this, but it just isn't a $300 lump sum figure to me. $200 sure. A spread out retail release, possibly. But a $300 commitment to a figure they're still working on? Sorry, no.

Then I saw this: https://tfsource.com/japanese-transformers/liokaiser-combiner-set-of-6-transformers-legacy/

What in the Hunter Biden are they smoking?!?! $650 and none of the extras?

Don't do drugs, kids.

They probably didn't want to list the extras since they weren't guaranteed to be included. All of the extras from these campaigns come in the same box as the figure(s), they can't be removed or excluded.

Emerje

I could have sworn that Liokaiser had 34k orders, seen it I thought and others here posted it. Now it only has 23k. Am I missing something?

Hero Alpha wrote:I could have sworn that Liokaiser had 34k orders, seen it I thought and others here posted it. Now it only has 23k. Am I missing something?

The count dropped a day or two after. Seems someone on Hasbro's end made a goof.

Sabrblade wrote:

Hero Alpha wrote:I could have sworn that Liokaiser had 34k orders, seen it I thought and others here posted it. Now it only has 23k. Am I missing something?

The count dropped a day or two after. Seems someone on Hasbro's end made a goof.

Maybe they double counted the international orders at the end by mistake.

In that case:
34,329 - 23,553 = 10,776 (International)
Thus, 23,553 - 10,776 = 12,777 (Domestic)

Dino-Snarl wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Hero Alpha wrote:I could have sworn that Liokaiser had 34k orders, seen it I thought and others here posted it. Now it only has 23k. Am I missing something?

The count dropped a day or two after. Seems someone on Hasbro's end made a goof.

Maybe they double counted the international orders at the end by mistake.

In that case:
34,329 - 23,553 = 10,776 (International)
Thus, 23,553 - 10,776 = 12,777 (Domestic)

Thanks guys. That sounds plausible to me. I was guessing it would be around 20k.

Got charged for the set, and honestly, I felt more annoyed at the cost coming in than excitement that it was happening.

Hope they make some more improvements and the set looks better in hand, I need this set to excite me more.

Also, hoping the recent tariffs in the US do not suddenly cause some issues. already seeing active kickstarters getting cancelled, would hate if they need to do some adjustment to this set for production.

I'm not religious but it was just announced Pope Lio* XIV is the next top dog. I'm taking that as a good omen, free from QC issues that plagued past Haslabs.

(media outlets have been incorrectly spelling it Leo)