Takara Transformers SCFs - ACT 7 Chase figures - (i) Victory Saber upgrade (ii) 'burning' Star Saber (iii) Deszaras with eagle brest

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So now, in quick sucession, I am trying to do a few SCF posts. Move while the momentum is with me, strike while the iron is hot, make hay while the sun shines... and all that.

So here we are, ACT 7, perhaps one of the most interesting set in terms of the characters and also the Chase figures.

ACT 7 consists of Wheeljack, Perceptor, Road Caesar, Liokaiser, Deszaras and Star Saber and was marketed as the 'Victory series' ACT. Wait a minute, Victory series? So what is Wheeljack and Perceptor whom are Fight! Super Robot Lifeform bots doing in the Victory ACT? Good question and now that I think of it and trudged through my memory, I remember they both (together with Minelba) appeared in a couple of episodes - where they as scientists / doctors tried to heal God Ginrai and later re-built him into Victory Leo!

Now onto the Chase figures for ACT 7, which were:

1. Deszaras with eagle brest;
2. Star Saber with golden paint (aka burning Star Saber); and
3. Victory Saber upgrade parts in gold (to form burning Victory Saber).

I was initially very confused about which were the chase figures for this ACT, but now I think I have worked it out...

Deszaras with eagle brest is definitely one of the Chase figures (the regular release figure is Deszaras with lion brest). That leaves the question of how the burning Victory Saber came about and more importantly, how it was packed. If the whole thing were Chase and it was packed in one box, that particular box would be very heavy - collectors would know that is a Chase immediately due to its weight. So it must be packed differently, but how?

Assuming no Chase figures were packed in, the ACT 7 assortment goes like this, where each carton of 12 individual boxes would have:

* in regular colours - Wheeljack, Perceptor, Road Caesar, Liokaiser, Deszaras (lion brest) and Star Saber; and regular colour Victory Saber upgrade parts packed across each box.

* in pewter - Wheeljack, Perceptor, Road Caesar, Liokaiser, Deszaras (lion brest) and Star Saber; and regular colour Victory Saber upgrade parts packed across each box.

Gold painted Star Saber with Victory Saber upgrade parts on the floor:

The Victory Saber upgrade parts, either regular coloured or pewter, were packed 'build-a-figure' style with a figure of corresponding colour - ie: regular coloured parts with regular coloured figure; pewter parts with pewter figures. Some figures would have 2 guns, another figure a leg stand, another figure something else so on and so forth. 

I know this because this is exactly how my MISB ACT 7 was packed when I opened it back in 2002 - I was not lucky enough to get a Chase figure. It follows from the above that it is erroneous to that either the regular coloured or pewter Victory Saber upgrade parts are ACT 7 Chase 'figures'. They are not, they are just part of the regular release. 

Thus if one were to get the Deszaras Chase figure (eagle brest), it would be in place of one the regular coloured figures, randomly. However, how does one get a burning Victory Saber Chase figure?

Here is how I think it must have happened -
To get the burning Victory Saber, that particular carton must contain gold painted Star Saber, which will probably be in place of one of the pewter figures (I'm guessing) and likely in place of the pewter Star Saber. In any case, I think it would be in place of either the regular colour or the pewter Star Saber otherwise one'd have three Star Sabers in this Chase carton - regular, pewter and gold paint! It wouldn't be first time Takara royally shafted us collectors (like when they made Dirge a Chase figure and Skywarp a lucky draw), but I think its not likely.

Ok, so now we have the gold painted Star Saber. Like I said above, the rest of the Victory Saber upgrade parts to help him form burning Victory Saber could not have been packed in the same box as gold painted Star Saber (would make the box too heavy and easy to pick out). Therefore, one set of 'build-a-figure' style upgrade parts had to be gold painted instead of being regular coloured or pewter. Chances are, if gold painted Star Saber replaced a regular figure, the other gold parts would be packed with the other 5 regular figures; and if a pewter figure was replaced, then gold parts with other 5 pewter figures.

Suddenly, you would realise that to get a Chase burning Victory Saber, you not only had to a gold painted Star Saber, but you needed another 5 boxes that each came with gold painted Victory Saber upgrade parts - in other words, there has to be 6 boxes containing Chase items in this one carton! Imagine the disaster if each box in this carton were randomly parcelled out and sold to different people? Or even worse, what if each set of Chase gold painted Victory Saber upgrade part(s) were packed in different cartons as that carton's Chase 'figure'? (ie: one'd need 6 cartons, 1 containing a Chase gold Star Saber figure and another 5 separate figures each with Chase gold upgrade parts, to form burning Victory Saber!)

This is why I think that the burning Victory Saber is one of the most difficult Chase figures to put together.

- Deszaras with eagle brest Chase figure - 

Chase (left), regular release (right)

- regular coloured Star Saber with Victory Saber upgrade parts - 

(I think the belief that the regular coloured parts are Chase parts is erroneous, but nonetheless, have included pics of this piece here)

- gold painted Star Saber with gold painted Victory Saber upgrade parts aka "Burning Victory Saber" Chase figure - 

Gold painted Star Saber Chase figure

Gold painted Star Saber (Chase) with gold painted Victory Saber parts (Chase)

Combined into Victory Saber

Comparison of regular colour version vs Chase version