Marushin "Tomenosuke PRO" Blaster Japan

[seesinsilhouette]

Almost forgot, the front trigger now pulls with a spring mechanism too!

[phase pistol]

Great review, Silhouette.

I'd add that yes, while the PRO does strike one as really dark, it is useful to recall that the famous Worldcon photos were shot with massive overhead lighting on a convention show floor, plus camera flash. The auction catalog shots are also taken with high key lighting.

Remember that in the darkness of the film itself, the gun shows up as a mostly-black blob.





Replicas on the other hand often depict the metal as bright and the grips as orange. And bright camera flash makes the effect worse.



A pic of the hero prop at the Profiles showroom (photo by Tomenosuke)




The PRO does have different colors, but they are kind of homogenized and similar, with an even finish due to manufacturing. The bulldog frame looks like black plastic, which doesn't help. Under bright lighting the colors do show up though.





As to the green sight LEDs yeah I was disappointed too that they aren't lit. But, perhaps they are not lit due to manufacturing difficulties or cost. And too, the issue of whether the LEDs are seen lit up in the film is still debated.

Karl

[temponaut]

To the best of my knowledge, Karl's Tomenosuke Special -- a one-off, custom built for him as a sign of gratitude and respect -- is the only Tomenosuke model that includes lighting in the laser sight. I know the OG and PRO don't. I'm not sure about the AP.

When I asked Tomenosuke Shoten the reason that the OG did not include lighting in the sight, I was told that the Tomenosuke team did not believe the sight was lit in the film (although, as Karl mentions, this is still a matter of debate).

I think that the decision is also likely related to manufacturing costs and difficulties. The magazine's LEDs , circuitry, and battery are the only part of the PRO that was beyond Marushin's production expertise and physical plant, and the only part subcontracted to a manufacturer outside of Japan. As a self-contained unit, the magazines were relatively easy to assemble and integrate with the rest of the model. But if Tomenosuke had wanted the laser sight to light up, the magazine would somehow have had to connect to circuitry inside the rest of the Blaster. More expensive and a lot more work... probably not an attractive prospect for Tomenosuke, given that they felt the laser sight shouldn't light up to begin with.

I, too, wish that the sight LEDs were lit. It's a feature I really like on my RAC CS&T Worldcon. But the PRO is still a beautiful model.
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"Your old titles mean nothing here... Captain!"

[phase pistol]

To embed the wiring for the laser sight (neither of us wanted to resort to the white wire hanging off the side), Nobu-san devised a system by which both the front trigger and the ON/OFF switch are functional. Ingenious, and I am of course grateful to him for his skill and talent.



I would note that the PRO does have some features of my Special however. For example, the red LEDs do not snap on immediately when you flip the switch. They GLOW on, very dramatically, and when lit, they are not super bright. This was something Nobu did for me on the Special and I am pleased to see it implemented in the PRO.

Karl

[temponaut]

Beautiful work by Nobu! I like that he gave you so many different options for lighting and combining the LEDs.

As for the slow fade-in of the red LEDs: the OG actually incorporates this feature, too. And since the OG, PRO, and your Special all have this feature, I suspect the APs may also. It's very nice... as you wrote, dramatic!

I do love the lighted green LEDs in your laser sight, Karl. Lovely photo! Lovely Blaster!
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"Your old titles mean nothing here... Captain!"

[phase pistol]

I wasn't aware that the OG had the fade-on effect! Win all around then.

By the way I'm excited to hear that a few on the board here have the notion to rebuild the PRO with real gun parts or accurate metal parts. I can't wait to see how those turn out.

[joberg]

Great review seesinsilhouette and good luck with the add-ons/transformations.

[darkknight]

when will get this in the USA

[phase pistol]

International sales planned for later in 2011 but I have no further info about details.

Karl

[jameth]

I wonder how this thing feels. What I love about Rich's is not only does it feel, sound, and move like a real gun but when someone else like my Dad picked it up he was very impressed. Busted my Swiss army knife front trigger spring ppulling on it to hard, but was very impressed. He does not know he broke it so don't tell him. He could care less about props and likes Blade Runner but probably saw it twice in his life and he really liked it.

I don't know, it's a fine looking gun but I guess I'm just a fan of Rich's. I would be curious to here from somone on how it actually feels. Durability is as important as well. I can drop my Coyle and it will be okay. Good God I hope I never do.

BTW just shootin the breaeze and looking foward to comparison and review. No drama please.

[phase pistol]

PRO is very durable. Manufactured by Marushin so it goes together really tight. Turn it over and the lever doesn't flop open. Shake it and it doesn't rattle.

I wouldn't recommend tossing it across the room.. or letting your dad pull the triggers apparently but other than that, very solidly built IMHO.

The weight is very good too. I don't know for absolute certain if it's the same weight as the actual prop but it's darn heavy. Balance it on your finger and it balances like the original prop (Tomenosuke photo of hero prop at Profiles):



Pull the trigger and the hammer snaps and the cylinder advances.

K

[phase pistol]

[Staar]

I can NEVER get enough of seeing this mate!
I've downloaded every pic as usual.

Cheers for sharing

Kind regards

MARK
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[The Loyalizer]

Didn't the hero prop weigh like seven pounds or something?
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"We began to recognize in them a strange obsession..."

http://fcomin.cgsociety.org/gallery/

[spinner 44]

What a beauty. I has to me mine. I have the $, now I only need the hardest part: a contact in Japan

[hauptmann]

And there needs to be more blasters available to be able to buy one.

I have a very trustworthy friend who just moved there for the next year. He's poised to get one for me the moment they're available. I'm keeping him advised of the status of the next run as things develop and he'll either order one by phone or online the moment they're available, or go to the HCG or tomenosuke shops to get one for me. He's also said if I would like more than one he's happy to purchase them for me.

I've made the offer before, so I'll make it again. If anyone is interested in me acquiring one for them, I'm happy to do so, just PM me. I received one message previously.

If the PRO is sold to the US though, then you'll be able to purchase one on your own. My offer is basically only necessary if they're available in Japan again before they're available to us here in the US.

I do international shipping all the time via my online business, so I'm very familiar with customs processing and all the various shipping methods. And I'm happy to provide interested parties with all my contact details so they feel comfortable with my handling this. I'd prefer not to put my contact info on a public topic.

Just send me a PM. I'm happy to handle any number of requests.

Jeffrey

[joberg]

Thanks for the offer Jeffrey; always nice to see that the members of this board are truly a special kind

[steevy]

Blaster porn!!

[darkknight]

wow thats impressive

[phase pistol]

New update to the Tomenosuke blog

http://tenshu53.exblog.jp/11936913/

Headlines:

The second batch of PRO blasters will be delivered on February 20.

The first batch has had some quality issues, with "creases" visible in the Steyr receiver, flashing on the plastic parts and small cracks in the ABS plastic ammo clip. Tomenosuke says that some of this damage is inevitable due to the production process. However they say they will exchange the PRO if it is in bad condition.

Karl