A long, long time ago, when I was but a mere teenager and first exploring the actual collecting of Transformers, rather than just owning a few that I had picked up as presents or from car boot sales, I spent a lot of time on the internet researching what was out there.
Beast Wars had just started up in the US but had yet to make it to the UK, so there really was a drought of new things to buy here, which meant coupled with my weekend job and pocket money, I was able to save a fair wedge of cash simply due to lack of things to spend it on.
Now, as mentioned, I spent a lot of time on the internet researching what was out there and what looked cool. It was during one of these sessions that I discovered some Japanese exclusive stuff that never made it out in the West, Zone, and most awesomely, Victory – Yes, I know we eventually got some of these figures, but they weren’t quite right now were they, apart from Overlord.
Anyway, as I said, Victory. I was first drawn to the art style of the animation, so I ordered two VHS containing the series from eBay. They arrived after a couple of weeks and I settled down to watch, these were the Star Dubs ones, infamous for the naming used and the general quality, but still, my young mind was gripped. The characters were great, the combiners amazing, but most of all, the Decepticons had a cool new Emperor that transformed in to some weird ass dragon looking mother fucker.
I looked at all the toys, I researched where to buy them, I saved and saved. There was one problem, the only Deszaras I could find was in the US. I was a kid, I didn’t have a way to buy it. Luckily for me, I had a friend I had met through various TMUK (Transmasters UK – a fan club that had to operate through actual postal mail!) who had just started dealing some robots and for some reason was willing to get this for me. Thanks Lee!
The day arrived, there was a meet in I think Bath at the time, I got my dad to drive me there and was ready to receive my Deszaras! I opened him up there and then and he was everything I expected and more. The box was so exotic, the art great. Different robot points! The catalogue, this was a work of art, all of these glorious plastic works of art, begging to be bought!
Deszaras himself was amazing, two Brestforce (yes, really) figures, eagle and tiger, that turned into weapons, animal robots and chest pieces. A tail that turned into a shield, a frankly terrible weapon but that just about served its purpose. But his overall presence, that was something to behold. Imposing in both modes, looked like a serious threat to his nemesis, Star Saber. The transformation was relatively simple, but then, this was the late 80’s and it was a miracle he had elbows..
Of course, at the tender age of 19 I decided to sell my then collection because girls definitely would not be interested in dudes that still played with toys, but any way, that tale is for another day.
Fast forward, quite substantially to 2017, and after a pretty shitty time, I was in a position to be able to purchase some new Transformers. The first thing I did was head to Yahoo! Japan and start my search for a new Deszaras. Out of all the good figures I had amassed in my early collecting days, he was one of the ones I regretted moving on the most. It took a few months on and off to search one out. A small bidding war ensued, which thanks to Yahoo’s terrible auto-extension system I was very lucky to win and eventually, my current Deszaras was on his way to me. This figure was everything I remembered, I still love it to this day and no longer have regrets about him.
Recently, a company called Planet X released a not entirely legal, modern version of Deszaras, called Ismenios. This is also a great figure. A very faithful update to the original.
Please, enjoy some pictures of these beautiful figures.
