Now, let us continue with the 2nd half of the release.
Victory Leo, the reformatted God Ginrai.
Part 1 of the review can be found here.
Victory Leo (Alt Mode 1)
The first alt mode for Victory Leo, the jet. The overall design is spot on. But it's not like the source material itself is complex.
Important to note, he doesn't really peg properly on the stand, just balancing on it
His iconic big gun can be attached on top, in between his 2 turrets.
Overall alt mode is clean without any extra kibble, aside from what he should have
In alt mode, he looks good side-by-side with Star Saber.
Victory Leo (Alt Mode 2)
2nd alt mode, the Leo in "Victory Leo"
Transformation wise is quite straightforward with generally untabbing and extending the legs, flipping back the lion head
Unlike KFC Simba, he doesn't have a tail, which I think is how he's supposed to be (but can't confirm)
I'm not expecting much from him in this mode. But if I have to comment, would be good to have better hind legs articulation. And the wings still look like a folded wings rather than short wings in the cartoon.
If I have to comment
Victory Leo (Robot Mode)
Now for the most disappointing (based on general consensus. To be clear, this is my least favourite mode of the set. But no where near disappointing)
Transformation is really, really easy, from both alt mode.
The face cover is quite tight during the first transformation but won't cause any paint-chipping (not on my copy at least)
One common issue is the small gap at the crotch from where he splits. This is due to the lack of tab there securing the crotch.
Clean design!
The head sculpt is not bad, the green eyes really pop.
The chrome chest is properly done but based on few online feedbacks, be careful not to scratch it.
Average range of movements with, you guessed it, no waist swivel. It's not something impossible though, I think KFC Simba has it.
So it's either Hasbro taking a shortcut or it's risky making such mechanism for a small, non-MP size figure (a rotating part that can also split into 2)
Fairly articulated and stable figure
The joints are not ratcheted but mostly are tight enough.
Some visible hollowness inside his thigh and under the turrets. Something that TF fans (official products, of course) have to make our peace with.
The big gun can also be attached to his side using 5mm port. The 2 small Gatling guns on the sides are sadly, molded. Would've expected them to at least separate pieces attached to the bot.
Now the most talked about issue. How relatively small Victory Leo compared to Victory Saber, in bot mode.
This is the, supposedly, biggest disappointment of the set, despite having a very practical reason behind it (we'll talk about that later in the review)
Victory Saber (Alt Mode)
Combined mode between Star Saber and Victory Leo is perfectly executed. The combination is solid and stays together strongly. In fact, never during this review that Victory Leo detached or falls down.
The combination is being held by sliding tabs on the sides of Victory Leo (to Star Saber) and the shield holding the 2 jets together.
The stand on itself seems sturdy enough to hold the combine mode. But excessive pressure (falling etc) will surely break it so be careful.
Victory Saber (Robot Mode)
Almost perfectly executed, I must say.
Following the animation, Victory Leo splits into 2 (except for the hands and backpack) and form the boots. The boots attached securely to Star Saber's feet unlike God Ginrai's execution years ago.
Clean with minimal kibble. The lion head can be rotated but you can't push it close to the body.
You have issue with Star Saber's proportion. But it just seems right in Victory Saber mode.
The shoulders' articulation really help in terms of holding the big gun.
There's no additional range of movements added in this mode but the ankle rockers is less effective.
Joint strength, sufficient.
The reason why I can accept Victory Leo's size is this, the combine mode. Take KFC Simba. While he's at the right size compared to MP24, in combine mode, the boots literally becomes skis.
At this size, the boot's size formed scaled properly with Star Saber.
At this size, the boot's size formed scaled properly with Star Saber.
Overall, the playability might not improved in this mode but the aesthetic and proportion sure gets better. And to be far, the playability of Star Saber alone is good enough
Almost always the case for Official VS 3P. The weight of the official products are usually less and considered a con most of the time. But with that, it made the figure more stable and playable (as opposed to standing tall looking pretty)
Again, the stand won't fail you. It seems to be strong enough to withstand Victory Saber. But, it's not nearly tall enough to enable Victory Saber to do various flying poses.
Comparison
Alt Mode VS Robot Mode
This is where they got it wrong. God Ginrai had always been as tall as Star Saber, not Victory Saber. But if you ignore the origin and the series. you can say that they're both upgraded form of a base figure. Basically Star Saber = Super Ginrai hence Victory Saber = God Ginrai.
No, I'm not trying to justify it. As I said, they got it wrong.
Handling Victory Saber is not at all the same as handling God Ginrai. Considering the time he was released, God Ginrai was made with thin plastics, tolerance issues and simplification. Something that Hasbro rectified from WFC:Siege onwards
There were few posts prior to his release of misassembled unit surfaced. It caused havoc. The same pictures was shared again and again. And after the release, more issues was shared, from big ones such as molding problems, to small nitpicks such as he's too tight, or not tight enough, fingerprints on chrome, etc.
So I want to try to be independent of all that
The size difference is a glaring issue. But for those displaying him in combine mode, you should be glad. The end result from the size difference made Victory Saber almost perfectly proportioned.
Design wise, there's quite a lot of improvement made on Star Saber compared to MP24. The added articulation, the modified transformation makes the figure fun to play with and good display piece. Still, to be fair, MP24 was released 8 years ago.
QC wise, I won't discredit the issues posted by others. But as far as my 2 units go, he's almost perfect. And from no reported issues from my close circle of collector friends. Price point wise. He is technically a set of leader and voyager sized figures, which makes the price point is quite high. But take into consideration of the accessories that came with the set and parts count for each figures. Not to mention the price increase in this recent years. You can see the same case with upcoming Haslab Deathsaurus. Lastly, Haslab price point is always higher compared to normal release figures. So is it high? Maybe. Is it acceptable? Considering all the factors, yes. Definitely worth it
8 more months till Deathsaurus
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