Comprehensive Video Review for Haslab Transformers Deathsaurus

Unfortunately, my box was damaged during shipping. Something went through both cardboard boxes and the actual packaging. Very frustrating. I was planning on displaying the box. May not now, I'm not sure.

He looks nice, but not worth £320 RRP. That's more than any Titan or most Masterpieces (aside from Primes) for someone infinitely more obscure.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:He looks nice, but not worth £320 RRP. That's more than any Titan or most Masterpieces (aside from Primes) for someone infinitely more obscure.

Yeah, HasLab is specifically FOR obscure fanservice figures.

First-Aid wrote:Yeah, HasLab is specifically FOR obscure fanservice figures.

I imagine this figure is good news for Deathsaurus fans(and those of the obscure). Yet meanwhile still no official MP Galvatron....

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

First-Aid wrote:Yeah, HasLab is specifically FOR obscure fanservice figures.

I imagine this figure is good news for Deathsaurus fans(and those of the obscure). Yet meanwhile still no official MP Galvatron....

Why would MP Galvatron come from Hasbro (the team behind HasLab) when MP G1 is solely Takara's baby?

Sabrblade wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

First-Aid wrote:Yeah, HasLab is specifically FOR obscure fanservice figures.

I imagine this figure is good news for Deathsaurus fans(and those of the obscure). Yet meanwhile still no official MP Galvatron....

Why would MP Galvatron come from Hasbro (the team behind HasLab) when MP G1 is solely Takara's baby?

It has been Twelve Years since MP Rodimus Prime. I'm not picky which side of HasTak does it. Merely that the release should have been done by now!

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:He looks nice, but not worth £320 RRP. That's more than any Titan or most Masterpieces (aside from Primes) for someone infinitely more obscure.

One number being bigger than another is not a reason for something being worth it or not (also the BW mps have been pretty damn expensive too)

In terms of what you get with this figure, I'd say you get your money's worth.
I mean it took me a whole hour to get through all this figure has to offer in my review

I don't care about the packaging because it's not even collector friendly once it's taken out of the box. Unless you take the time to carefully remove each little plastic tie without breaking them. I cut up the box anyway for the art and threw the rest away. As for the figure, I only got it because I have Star Saber. For a "premium" figure, it's not worth the Haslab price. They can literally charge anything to MAKE it premium and they still found ways to cut corners and make it feel cheap. There should be no visible swivel joints, cleaner storage for ALL accessories, a better way for the chest pieces to clip on and into the torso, and a more refined way to eject the piece other than sticking a finger through the back. They should have charged EXACTLY what it would have cost to make it a premium collector level piece.

william-james88 wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:He looks nice, but not worth £320 RRP. That's more than any Titan or most Masterpieces (aside from Primes) for someone infinitely more obscure.

One number being bigger than another is not a reason for something being worth it or not (also the BW mps have been pretty damn expensive too)

In terms of what you get with this figure, I'd say you get your money's worth.
I mean it took me a whole hour to get through all this figure has to offer in my review

Ok, I'll rephrase. I paid £99 for Generations Trypticon. Who is currently a display piece for 15 other figures. So I got a lot of value out of that price tag. Is this figure (also not a City Bot) worth over three times that? Or better value than a Combiner Team??

Solrac333 wrote:They should have charged EXACTLY what it would have cost to make it a premium collector level piece.

Unfortunately, just like MP-44 they will charge whatever they think they can get away with. Some will fall for it and to them (HasTak), it will represent price confirmation bias. As such, all prices go up.

Solrac333 wrote:They should have charged EXACTLY what it would have cost to make it a premium collector level piece.

Lol, charging cost means 0 profit. Tough luck finding a toy company doing pro bono work.

william-james88 wrote:

Solrac333 wrote:They should have charged EXACTLY what it would have cost to make it a premium collector level piece.

Lol, charging cost means 0 profit. Tough luck finding a toy company doing pro bono work.

Obviously they would never do that. But it would be interesting to see the difference between net and gross.

The price of any crowdfund is based on the minimum needed to go ahead with the campaign (minimum order quantity, MOQ) and that number is usually based on production, logistics and profits (and sometimes advertising). Stretch goals are supposed to add more value to the project since profit per unit goes up once they get past the MOQ, but it also costs more to ship in 27K units on a freighter than 10K so it's not like Hasbro is making pure profit off all those units and can afford to drop the price.

Emerje

Which brings into question why crowd funding is needed at all, if not for excess profit? A Commander/Leader Class Deathsaurus wouldn't be £320. If they were going to attempt a Masterpiece, which potentially could have been released with such a price tag. They would have likely have done so to coincide with MP-24. Although at the time - 2015 - the prices were not yet that high.

Dunno why we are whining about prices now, and why the UK is so out of wack, Deathsaurus is priced $20 cheaper than a titan, is commander sized, and with the amount of accessories, articulation, detail, and paint work plus the fact he is a crowdfunder, that price ended up being very reasonable.

Plus, he is far better than Victory Saber, who was the same cost.

And if it hadn't been a crowdfunded release, the Deathsaurus we would have gotten instead would have merely been a retool of Studio Series 86 Leader class Grimlock, not his own new mold. And which would have been much lamer since Deathsaurus looks nothing like Grimlock.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Which brings into question why crowd funding is needed at all, if not for excess profit? A Commander/Leader Class Deathsaurus wouldn't be £320. If they were going to attempt a Masterpiece, which potentially could have been released with such a price tag. They would have likely have done so to coincide with MP-24. Although at the time - 2015 - the prices were not yet that high.

This version needed funding. Hasbro (corporate) was fine with releasing Deatgsaurus as a retool of leader 86 Grimlock (and make over 100,000 of them, which is how much they produce mainline toys). The designers argued against it and their version of the figure was only approved as a Haslab figure to negate the risk.

Heavy retools have worked in the past (I look to my Shark and Wolf Bot variants from Beast Wars). So we'll never know how it would have looked.

D-Maximal_Primal wrote: and why the UK is so out of wack,

It's always been like that for us. There is no exchange rate saving. If, for example, a video game cost $50. Arriving here, it will cost £50. We just have to live with it.

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:Deathsaurus is priced $20 cheaper than a titan

I dunno about that. Granted I bought TR Fort Max and Generations Trypticon on sale for £99 each. But my Metroplex (reissue) only cost £220. Scorponok cost £120 new in 2020. I've even seen the Guardian Robot go for £219 RRP too. I reiterate the City Bots also double as play sets for smaller figures.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:Deathsaurus is priced $20 cheaper than a titan

I dunno about that. Granted I bought TR Fort Max and Generations Trypticon on sale for £99 each. But my Metroplex (reissue) only cost £220. Scorponok cost £120 new in 2020. I've even seen the Guardian Robot go for £219 RRP too. I reiterate the City Bots also double as play sets for smaller figures.

Deathsaurus was $180. A Titan is $200. $20 cheaper.

So Hasbro Pulse was a bit interesting this morning. When sorting for all transformers and viewing by newest, Haslab Victory Saber and Unicron both were showing as coming soon and both appeared to be slightly different than the original Haslab listings. Later in the day, they just said sold out and were the original listings. I am wondering if they will be offering a second run on either of them and not sure how I feel about that.

It will be interesting to see if that was a glitch or if they are about to reveal a second chance at either or both sometime soon.

If they do, I already have VS and Unicron is still a hard pass for me. That is too much for a single figure for me.

TF-fan kev777 wrote:So Hasbro Pulse was a bit interesting this morning. When sorting for all transformers and viewing by newest, Haslab Victory Saber and Unicron both were showing as coming soon and both appeared to be slightly different than the original Haslab listings. Later in the day, they just said sold out and were the original listings. I am wondering if they will be offering a second run on either of them and not sure how I feel about that.

It will be interesting to see if that was a glitch or if they are about to reveal a second chance at either or both sometime soon.

If they do, I already have VS and Unicron is still a hard pass for me. That is too much for a single figure for me.

See this post by Emerje for the explanation about that.

I have a lot of messing around with him to do, but he is so much better than Victory Saber right out of the box. He is so good looking, I love this.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Which brings into question why crowd funding is needed at all, if not for excess profit? A Commander/Leader Class Deathsaurus wouldn't be £320. If they were going to attempt a Masterpiece, which potentially could have been released with such a price tag. They would have likely have done so to coincide with MP-24. Although at the time - 2015 - the prices were not yet that high.

The one and only reason we got MP Star Saber was because he won a poll in Japan. He was never in Takara Tomy's plans, they couldn't even be bothered to make Victory Leo. Deathsaurus never stood a chance then and stands even less of a chance now. And really, the only difference between what we got and an MP is possibly more chrome, more articulation in the beasts and maybe some height.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:And really, the only difference between what we got and an MP is possibly more chrome, more articulation in the beasts and maybe some height.

And diecast.

But yeah, this figure even sizes better with MP Star Saber than with HasLab Star Saber, since Star Saber is supposed to be roughly the same height at Deathsaurus, not shorter. While Victory Saber is supposed to be taller than Deathsaurus, not equal in height to him. The only Deathsaurus that HasLab Star Saber sizes up to is BotCon 2005 Deathsaurus.

I found it's funny people are arguing about value on this figure. The price tag right now for a leader class who is tiny. Even worse for a voyager class price tag for a even tinier figure. Oh, IMO even the new commander class Ultra Magnus is tiny judging by how much they charged him. Not talking about titan class is getting smaller too. Never take the "oh its because of engineering" that kind of excuse and I'm still using ROTF leader class Optimus Prime as "standard". So haven't bought any new figures for nearly a year except Deathsaurus. And I probably shouldn't talk about this anymore........

Still have him in the coffin, but I really like what I see in the box. Cannot wait for some pictorial reviews here as well. Been too busy lately so probably have to wait until holiday time to get him out.

Watched Emgo’s review of him, and darn, if he doesn't look really cool and large.

Interestingly, he completes the Rescue Patrol Team Micromasters.

Next Haslab Project will need to have the Microtrailer and rocket base as funding goals to really complete the set.

Overcracker wrote:rocket base

Been there, done that.

Sabrblade wrote:

Overcracker wrote:rocket base

Been there, done that.

Really suprised with how dead this forum is. Is there really not much hype for him anymore?

Anyways, Victory Saber and Deathsuarus really do look great together. He feels a lot better that victory in every way. Love the way his chrome catches the light in the picture too.

I'm excited to see what the next haslab is! Fingers cross for Cybertron Primus!

I believe there's been some tech issues on this site the past few days. But aside from that, Id say most reviews I've seen, and comments online are overwhelmingly positive. I have DS, and am perfectly happy with it. The only minor flaw being that Tiger Chest doesn't always stay in place. But that's been mentioned by several in videos and in posts. I don't think there's anything else unique I could add.

Even some people who have issues with the legs staying in place, mine happen to work great and stay tabbed in all the time. I'm definitely glad I backed both Victory Saber and Deathsaurus. I'm interested to see what the Haslab Transformer will be in 2024 for the 40th anniversary. My best guess is Primus/Cybertron, which will be awesome, but (like Unicron) definitely out of my realm of affordability and space.

LinaNui wrote:Really suprised with how dead this forum is. Is there really not much hype for him anymore?

Anyways, Victory Saber and Deathsuarus really do look great together. He feels a lot better that victory in every way. Love the way his chrome catches the light in the picture too.

I'm excited to see what the next haslab is! Fingers cross for Cybertron Primus!

Well, they guys from the Hasbro Streams, Evan and Bmac posted a photo, with a glass cabinet behind them that featured Haslab Unicron, robot and planet modes. 2 G1 Unicron prototypes again robot and planet modes, and tucked away in a corner inconspicuously, Cybertron Primus in his spiked beachball mode.

Make of that what you will.

LinaNui wrote:Really suprised with how dead this forum is. Is there really not much hype for him anymore?

Anyways, Victory Saber and Deathsuarus really do look great together. He feels a lot better that victory in every way. Love the way his chrome catches the light in the picture too.

I'm excited to see what the next haslab is! Fingers cross for Cybertron Primus!

I haven't been able to touch mine since all of United Wave 01 except Tiger Hawk and the EarthSpark Cyber-Combiners shipped early from Amazon. With SS WFC Starscream coming on Sunday I doubt I'll have time for Deathsaurus until after Christmas.

Deathsaurus is great. With him in hand I can kinda see how you could make him out of Grimlock, but it definitely wouldn't have been as successful. Never mind missing any of the accessories or the size; I just don't think it would work nearly as well.

Maybe there's not much activity because there's not much to say outside of how well built and solid he is? Unlike Unciron there isn't a debate about size or kibble. And if there isn't something to argue about there isn't much to go over, I guess.

I saw the earlier "is it worth it" debate, but it's like ... these are toys. Inherently, the same question can be asked of any of them. If it's not to you, then it's not.

Possible Haslab Primus? I dunno. It may be too big and pricy for me. I got Unicron because he's iconic. A Primus at the same price just doesn't hit the same. And I don't even have the space.

That was an awesome Tease by the Hasbro Design team. Concerning Planet Cybertron/Primus as the Haslab for 2024, it makes more sense the more I think about it.

While the initial clue was "Omega" (a reference to the Omega Lock in TF Cybertron) I feel if they did a Haslab Primus, the planet mode would more resemble Cybertron as seen in the original series, and Primus himself would be a bit more fitting for that universe, although definitely having some TF:Cybertron inspiration.

Considering Primus was first mentioned in comics in 1989, I know for a fact, we as kids on the playground talked imagined"what if Cybertron Transformed to fight Unicron?" as early as when we saw the movie back in 1986. The first concept of seeing Primus as a Robotic version of Cybertron appeared in the DK TF Ultimate Guide published in 2004 (The 20th anniversary of the Brand), and while in 2006, Hasbro/TT did make a toy for the current Galaxy Force/Cybertron cartoon that was the same size as Armada/Energon Unicron, a modern Haslab to compliment Haslab Unicron seems very fitting for the 40th anniversary of the brand.

o.supreme wrote:Considering Primus was first mentioned in comics in 1989, I know for a fact, we as kids on the playground talked imagined"what if Cybertron Transformed to fight Unicron?" as early as when we saw the movie back in 1986. The first concept of seeing Primus as a Robotic version of Cybertron appeared in the DK TF Ultimate Guide published in 2004 (The 20th anniversary of the Brand), and while in 2006, Hasbro/TT did make a toy for the current Galaxy Force/Cybertron cartoon that was the same size as Armada/Energon Unicron, a modern Haslab to compliment Haslab Unicron seems very fitting for the 40th anniversary of the brand.

Back when Takara did those G1-redecoed versions of Armada Unicron and Cybertron Primus, I did feel it was a missed opportunity for Takara to give Primus a deco based more on that color scheme from The Ultimate Guide, instead of just keeping basically the same deco as the Cybertron version for his robot mode.

Although, let's also not forget that the first version of Primus was like a gold and red Rodimus Prime, so they could also pull design elements from that as well.

Sabrblade wrote:Back when Takara did those G1-redecoed versions of Armada Unicron and Cybertron Primus, I did feel it was a missed opportunity for Takara to give Primus a deco based more on that color scheme from The Ultimate Guide, instead of just keeping basically the same deco as the Cybertron version for his robot mode.

Although, let's also not forget that the first version of Primus was like a gold and red Rodimus Prime, so they could also pull design elements from that as well.

Agreed. Although, maybe if the price wasn't too costly, they could include some sort of smaller non-transforming toys (not the micros that came with Unicron), but just something that would represent both Primus & Unicron in their Ethereal forms as first seen in that comic. Actually , now that I think about it, the RED line would have been a perfect format to release both Primus & Unicron Ethereal forms, or perhaps Super 7 Ultimates ?

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

LinaNui wrote:Really suprised with how dead this forum is. Is there really not much hype for him anymore?

Anyways, Victory Saber and Deathsuarus really do look great together. He feels a lot better that victory in every way. Love the way his chrome catches the light in the picture too.

I'm excited to see what the next haslab is! Fingers cross for Cybertron Primus!

I haven't been able to touch mine since all of United Wave 01 except Tiger Hawk and the EarthSpark Cyber-Combiners shipped early from Amazon. With SS WFC Starscream coming on Sunday I doubt I'll have time for Deathsaurus until after Christmas.

I have had the same issue as Chuck, I got the Legacy united right after Deathsaurus, and they are easier to handle so therefore easier to grab in terms of size, plus with work and the holiday I have been away from home a good bit, so no more pictures yet.

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

LinaNui wrote:Really suprised with how dead this forum is. Is there really not much hype for him anymore?

Anyways, Victory Saber and Deathsuarus really do look great together. He feels a lot better that victory in every way. Love the way his chrome catches the light in the picture too.

I'm excited to see what the next haslab is! Fingers cross for Cybertron Primus!

I haven't been able to touch mine since all of United Wave 01 except Tiger Hawk and the EarthSpark Cyber-Combiners shipped early from Amazon. With SS WFC Starscream coming on Sunday I doubt I'll have time for Deathsaurus until after Christmas.

I have had the same issue as Chuck, I got the Legacy united right after Deathsaurus, and they are easier to handle so therefore easier to grab in terms of size, plus with work and the holiday I have been away from home a good bit, so no more pictures yet.

Lots of great toys to enjoy, a great problem to have.

The Emperor of Destruction

Messing around with my Deathsaurus some more, I have found a transformation for the legs that i much prefer to the official configuration. I dunno why they did the original like they did, it feels limiting and stunted (original first, then reconfiguration)

I really am digging Deathsaurus still. They did this package right. He is so very good. Victory Saber, look at this, this is how you do a Haslab.

just a reminder Deathsaurus is still the best TF Haslab backed so far