For a few years now, I've been trying to get my hands on one of the Fans Hobby MB-06 Power Baser figures. Takara, along with quite a few third party producers, made their own Powermaster Optimus Prime (or if you're nasty, Super Ginrai) sets, and I always loved this version the most due to its blocky yet modern look.
Having failed miserably locally and at TFCon trying to find a deal, I just decided to bitt he bullet, and find something overseas. I actually could have gotten a Nucleon Quest decoed set, but I ended up getting this Fire Guts version instead, which ended up being about $20 USD cheaper, somewhat of a consolation prize as the price was lower when this set came out by more than that. It was also only sold in a set, and that appealed to the elitist in me, as well as saved me the trouble of tracking down a matching MB-11 God Armour (Apex Armour in Hasbro world, God Bomber in Japan). Buying this late in the game also meant that this would be based on the V 2.0 of the figure, which features chromed parts, articulated hands, and a few other nifty upgrades.
So three weeks later, the figure showed up, albeit slightly banged up.
The box, or at least the front of it, takes its cues from the original G1Takara gift sets, though sadly without the awesome die cut windows in the cardboard. The strange thing is I swear the box itself isn't any bigger that the Takara set, which I suspect was purposefully done - there's just significantly less dead space.
This basically means the actual toy itself is gigantic in comparison.
Compare that to the G1 set, which had the various weapons and Hi-Q/Ginrai on the actual tray itself.
The actual list of accessories in this set are kind of mind boggling, though the God Armour set does contribute significantly to that. So in addition to the obvious (Power Driver, Power Baser, God Armour) and traditional God Ginrai (or if you must.. PMOP with Apex Armour) weapons, you also get two convertible swords, three Junior Drivers (meant to represent the three Headmaster Junior characters), replacement head for the base robot, a replacement head to be used when is ultimate form, and replacement colours for the Super Mode head. The shoulder cannon for God Armour features two missiles, and the launcher itself still sticks a middle finger to childrens safety laws and features spring powered goodness.
Like with Naval Commander and basically all the other releases I suppose, the alt mode of Power Baser is both familiar yet at the same time, obviously different. This figure was actually my first Optimus Prime, so the design is particularly nostalgic for me. You don't really get a sense of how massively undersized the guns on the original toy were when you compare it against animation stills.
Rubber tires are present here, and like with Huntsman, the Power Driver is really there as an accessory, as you can transform the main cab without actually inserting the engine into its compartment. Also, from what I can tell I believe the stacks are actually metal, rather than chromed plastic.
Power Driver designs don't really vary from figure to figure, though I suspect the head might be different than the one from Huntsman. Size wise, same as Huntsman (not unexpected) and scales well with the vehicle, though sadly the cab doesn't open up for the figure to get it.
Transformation into robot mode I wouldn't call simple, but it's straight forward, and definitely more forgiving than the challenges that await you past this stage. Power Driver in Engine mode connects to the back/front of cab. I've noticed now that I have two of them that the Engines don't really stay that well in place, though I believe Huntsman was definitely a better connection.
In terms of looks, the original toy is over 30 years old by this point, so the fact it deviates quite a bit from the original toy isn't a bad thing. For starters, he's got two separate legs now. Head sculpt isn't as stylized as Naval Commander., but the overall silhouette is very much Ginrai.
If I weren't so lazy, this is where I'd pop off this head and attach the alternate head. But the weird thing is that it's blue, and really doesn't go with this body at all, so why bother?
Before I forget.. weapons. Technically, you can put anything into the hands, so long as it's got the rail on the handle... which so far appears to be anything that doesn't fit into a fixed fist. So I could have also put in the shoulder guns, or any of the gear that came with God Armour. What is worth pointing out right now is that you may notice that the guns that the robot is using at this time are... kind of weird looking. Well, it seems that Fans Hobby really likes to put their own twist on weapons, often because larger weapons just look really dumb with a smaller bot, but look awesome with a larger one.
In this case, the barrels of the twin Ion Blasters come off, and you transform the remaining bits into these.
Size wise, you can see that we're already starting off pretty big. I'm using Legacy Armada Megatron as my benchmark, and in Base mode, the robot is already significantly larger. Megatron is already taller than your typical Leader, especially if you cheat and include the shoulder pads, and even then he comes up short.
Of course, there's the obligatory "Base out of Trailer" mode. Up until Masterforce, the random looking bases were really the domain of Citybots (Fort Max, Trypticon, Scorponok, Metroplex) and all the previous Convoys had trailers that just opened up into weapons platforms. I remember thinking it looked wack back in early 90s, and I still feel that way now. But this was my first Optimus Prime, so there is a strong nostalgia factor for me.
So while this version of the base is still pretty random looking, it does share some of characteristics of the original toy, and more importantly, got rid of the most annoying aspect of it - the trailer hitch that would turn into a gun. It instead is not replaced with a trailer hitch (which is much better designed) that connects to the two barrels from the Ion Blasters.
Articulation, of course, is vastly improved over the original figure. Not exactly hard to do that, I suppose. Overall, I'd say this figure features main line articulation, though with better designed waist piece and ankles that actually allow you to make use of the range of motion in the hips, though you're not going to be able to do a true crouch like with MP Convoy 3.0,
From here we get bigger.. much bigger....
Transformation into Super mode is a bit annoying. It's mostly fine, then you run into a few really aggravating snags. The legs require the use of a sliding joint, which really aren't m favourite as over time or due to rough handling, you're gonna either end up with a loose part or something that is completely broken. There's also quite a few thin panels that serve as the housing of the core robot that require exact precision due to the tabbing system, and the QC on this figure isn't as good as Naval Commander, so there's a lot of work and prayer than the panels put up with your abuse. There's also the fact that actually getting the converted core robot into position is somewhat of a pain due to tolerance issues.
The Super mode head basically lives on an arm that gets shifted into position when needed. This is the head where you can change the eye colour, if you so wish. There's electronics inside for LEDs, but I didn't test those.
Super mode comes in a tad taller than Naval Commander, and it'll only get bigger from here for both of them, though I know how big Power Baser gets, but Fans Hobby not being tied to size classes or budgets, we may end up with a Naval Commander combination that is even bigger than Power Baser (and hopefully more stable).
So yean, bit of a spoiler alert, but the combined form isn't as stable as Naval Commander, whose biggest challenge is keeping the upper body connected. In Super Power Baser's case, the parts will stay connected, but your posing options become limited due to the strength of the joints and just general bulk and shifting of center of gravity. It's a bit ironic that this mode can't really pose that well, as it gains access to an ab crunch of sorts, with everything else pretty much at Mainline level.
I mean, I guess at this point you're not gong very much for the super dynamic poses, but the option to do so would be nice. You're able to get some dramatic looking poses, a waist twist, a few lumbering steps there. Mix in the giant ass guns and you'll have a good time, but you'll always worry that the set could topple over at any time.
Now we look at the other major component of the set, God Armour. We never got God Bomber in Hasbro land, and only learned about it when the reissue came out in 2001. What's weird is that despite Hasbro bringing over the Takara Legends Super Ginrai, they never released God Bomber, which makes me wonder why they bothered bringing over the former in the first place.
My understanding is the character/toy was actually a very last minute thing when the were developing the Masterforce series, which is why the figure was the first in a long series of characters meant to sell an accessory set. God Bomber is exactly that - a Partsformer meant to combine with the main figure.
The MB-11 is a very cool looking accessory bot, mind you, with luxurious robber tires. It does actually connect to either the Cab directly or to the back of the Trailer, but I ran out of desk space.
Unlike the G1 set, however, this comes with three Junior Drivers (aka Headmaster Jrs.) that are from the three main protagonists outside of Ginrai and I believe they serve as athe pilots for God Bomber. IT's neat how the Junior Drivers all feature little removable caps for their Head modes, which IIRC in the original toys were the seats for the figures while in vehicle mode.
Yeah, they're articulated.
The Drivers are basically put into the front end of God Armour, and it's a neat little touch. Funny thing is that even here, the pieces are not held in that securely and will still rattle around, even if the canopy is shut.
Transformation is quite straight forward (again, mostly parts forming) and you get this kind of blocky looking figure. I mean, the look is very old school and its gigantic (taller than Super Power Baser) but it does look kind of dorky. Fortunately, God Armour holds together much better than Super Power Baser does. The two swords are actually designed to grow bigger and technically have two lengths
The most frustrating part of the transformation would be the clipping of the vehicle front end to the back of the robot mode.
This mode also features Mainline levels of articulation, which is actually pretty good for a figure that just snaps together. This also includes an actual functioning waist and head. Fingers are articulated because the next mode up uses those as gauntlets, but it's funny to note that these hands actually have better wrist articulation than the base trailer.
Another step up and now look at this beast in comparison to the Legacy Megatron figure. Just.. dwarfs the thing. Conversion and application of parts to Super Power Baser to make God Power Baser is less of a headache than it was coveting TO Super Power Baser, but then again all the hard word has already done at this point. I'd say the most annoying steps of this conversion are clipping the front of God Armour to the chest of Super Power Baser is, as well as getting the wings to clip on the body.
Swords get maximized in length to use with this mode, and you pop out the hand guards.
As this mode adds even MORE bulk and weight, I couldn't even get it to do anything other than stand there and look cool. I'm grateful that the various tumbles the toy took didn't result in any permanent damage to the figure.
There is yet another head swap involved with this, something that wasn't captured on the G1 toy (and I'm not sure if the Legends set captures it either) but the God mode head is fancier than the Super mode head. No electronics in this one.
Paint wise, there isn't really that much, with painted details here and there. It's all very nice looking, but this isn't a fully painted figure like some Masterpiece Transformer figures are. Having said that, I'm happy to say that at least I didn't notice any actual issues with the paint work itself.
Build Quality wise, overall not bad, but I think the factory and designers were ironing out a few quirks, ultimately resulting in the much more stable Naval Commander. It's by no means bad, and is certainly better than your typical Hasbro figure and is on par with most of the Masterpiece line up in terms of quality.
Overall, a very impressive set. The visual style is not for everyone, but I doubt anyone will come up with a set with an aesthetic that appeals enough for me to spend real money and chase down those pieces. It's a flawed masterpiece that reminds me of why I loved these toys as a youth. No fancy alt modes, vehicles with aerodynamics so bad that the planet would burn from all the fuel they use, and most important of all, giant blocky robot fun. This is clearly not a kids toy, and it's not a small footprint either, but I feel if you love the character and want a centerpiece, this version would make a much better than any past product, or any thing in the foreseeable future.
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