The Proto-Saber Evolution (Japanese: プロトセイバー エボリューション, Puroto Seibā Eboryūshon) is a Mechanical Mini 4WD car released by Tamiya in December 1996. It was also released as a Fully Cowled Mini 4WD car on July 30, 2016 with AR Chassis.
It was featured in the manga and anime Bakusou Kyoudai Let's & Go! and Bakusou Kyoudai Let's & Go! WGP as J's second machine. It was later upgraded into Proto-Saber Evolution Stage-3 in Bakusou Kyoudai Let's & Go! Return Racers!.
General info
Although it bears the name 'Proto-Saber', the Proto-Saber Evolution's body design is no longer resembles to that of Proto-Saber JB's (and Avante Jr.'s for that matter). Bearing the dolphin motif, the bodyshell was designed to be both sharp, and smooth. It has a pair of fins on the rear of the front fender. There are holes that expose parts of its mechanical chassis, such as the micro-chip prop. On the mechanical version, the cockpit can be opened as it is separated from the main bodyshell. There's also flame-style flairs, and the 'J' decal on it. It is mainly in purple with red highlights.
There are some key differences between the original Proto-Saber Evolution's bodyshell and the Premium variant's bodyshell. The original's bodyshell was molded in clear plastic (which in turn required painting), while the Premium variant's was molded in purple. Furthermore, the holes that were presented on the original body has been filled in order to increase the strength of the bodyshell.
The Premium variant comes with silver, small-diameter Y-spoke wheels with low-profile tires. The chassis frame and A parts were molded in metallic gray and purple respectively.
In the manga and anime
Spoiler alert!
This section of the article may contains details concerning the progression of the plot. If you do not want it to be spoiled for you, skip this section! |
In the original manga, the Proto-Saber Evolution was developed alongside Spin Cobra in order to fight against Ogami's group. However, due to time-constraints, J placed development priority on the Spin Cobra. The Evolution was only completed after an incident in Ogami's lab. It uses the same mechanical chassis as Spin Cobra.
The backstory was changed in the anime: in order to make a return to the Mini 4WD racing scene, J designed the Proto-Saber Evolution with his friend Go Seiba, who convinced J to return and take part in the Great Japan Cup Big Challenge race. The car has the same chassis as Go's Cyclone Magnum, complete with rollers (unlike in the manga and the Mechanical product) In WGP, It received a upgrade in a form of the Dolphin System, which includes a pair of self-adjusting fins (similar to present-day F1 drag reduction systems), changing the body aerodynamics to stabilize the car.
Before the final race against the Savanna Soldiers, J, who is under pressure, accepted his former friend Rei Hijikata's offer and received a program disc that Rei claims that it will allow the Proto-Saber to create a wind barrier around the car. Being impatient due to Retsu's absence and the team's position in the standings, J installed the program into his car, resulting in the activation of the Shark Effect, which turns the car into a battle racer capable of destroying opponents and even the race course. The program was removed after Go persuaded J, but remnants of the Shark system data remained in his car after the disc was removed and the Dolphin System has evolved into the Hyper Dolphin System, in which its 'Dolphin Effect' barrier protects the Proto-Saber as well as other TRF Victorys' cars.
It was later revealed in Return Racers! that J has upgraded the Proto-Saber into the Stage-2 state. However, further improvements on the Proto-Saber was postponed when J was (half forcefully) scouted by a talent agency, thus he doesn't have time to work on his car as he was busy working as a celebrity host. After the Proto-Saber lost in a race to Go and his self-proclaimed son Tsubasa's Z Wing Magnum via course out due to Go's reckless way (in which Go intentionally caused the circuit to shake by having the Z Wing Magnum hit the fences very hard, causing the Proto-Saber's sensors to not work properly.), J upgraded his Proto-Saber into the Stage-3 state.
Technical info
| Variant | Body | Chassis | Wheels | Tires | Motor | Dimensions | Gear |
Display Model |
Color: Clear |
Type: Display Model |
Size: Small |
Size: Small |
N/A |
Length: 131 |
N/A |
Display Model |
Color: Clear Black |
Type: Display Model |
Size: Small |
Size: Small |
N/A |
Length: 131 |
N/A |
Display Model |
Color: Clear Purple |
Type: Display Model |
Size: Small |
Size: Small |
N/A |
Length: 131 |
N/A |
Premium |
Color: Purple |
Type: AR |
Size: Small |
Size: Small |
Standard |
Length: 155 |
3.5:1 |
Gallery
Trivia
- The bodyshell of the Premium variant can be attached to the MA Chassis, Zero Chassis, Super-1 Chassis, Super-II Chassis and VS Chassis without any modifications.
See also
External links
Tamiya Japan
- Proto-Saber Evolution on Tamiya official website (Japanese)
- Proto-Saber Evolution Premium on Tamiya official website
Tamiya America
| Mechanical Mini 4WD series | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Spin Cobra · Proto-Saber Evolution · Buck Blader · Spin-Viper · Vise-Intruder · Diomars-Nero | |
| Fully Cowled Mini 4WD series | ||
|---|---|---|
| Super-1 | Magnum Saber* · Sonic Saber* · Tridagger X* · Black Saber · Spin-Axe · Proto-Saber JB · Victory Magnum* · Vanguard Sonic* · Beak Spider* · Neo-Tridagger ZMC* · Fighter Magnum VFX* · Ray Stinger* · Shining Scorpion* · Bergkaiser* | |
| Super-FM | Brocken Gigant* · Gun Bluster XTO* | |
| Super TZ | Cyclone Magnum* · Hurricane Sonic* · Cyclone Magnum TRF · Diospada* · Beat-Magnum* · Buster-Sonic* · Beat-Magnum TRF · Fire Stinger | |
| VS | Spin-Viper† · Diomars-Nero† | |
| Super-II | Spin Cobra† | |
| AR | Z Wing Magnum · Great BlastSonic · Beak Stinger G · Proto-Saber Evolution† · Tridagger WX | |
| FM-A | Great Magnum R · Cosmosonic | |
| * denotes Premium version available; † denotes racing chassis re-release of a Mechanical Mini 4WD car | ||