Combiner Wars Ultra Mangus

Ultra Magnus is pretty popular these days, isn't he?  Thanks to the fine work of James Roberts on More Than Meets The Eye, Ultra Magnus' popularity is pretty much at an all time high.  Gone are the days of "I can't deal with that right now!"  In it's stead, we have the Ultra Magnus that will cite his fellow Autobots for having a crooked insignia, the former Enforcer of the Tyrest Accord.  More importantly, we have an Ultra Magnus that is this:

TFWiki.net

Minimus freaking Ambus, baby!  The introduction of Minimus has made Ultra Magnus a much more enjoyable and intriguing character.  Coupled with Alex  Milne's design, this is by far the best version of Ultra Magnus ever.  Hasbro has certainly taken notice of what Roberts andMilne have been up to and graced us with a new mold! 

I spent some time deciding between the Hasbro of Takara versions.  The Takara version certainly had a nice deco, much better than Hasbro's, but Takara made the cardinal sin of making Ambus Alpha Trion.  Uh, no thank you.  Hasbro it is.  I actually located my Magnus at my LCS when I went to pick up my comics a month or so ago.  The owner mentioned that he finally had some Transformers, and I took that as vintage figures, but it was Magnus.  When I asked how much he wanted for Magnus, I was told $74.99!  Once I explained that I could get him from BBTS or Hasbro Toy Shop for far, far less, the price came down to an acceptable rate.  It's good to help out a local business.

Right out of the box, Ultra Magnus is pretty impressive.  The Alex Milne design is just breathtaking to behold.  I've read online where people have opened their Magni (Magnuses?) to find one of the shoulder rocket launchers missing.  Luckily, both were present in mine.  Man, we have been blessed with some nice G1 Magnus action this year, what with this and the Masterpiece version.

Combiner Wars Magnus features a bit more maneuverability than the Masterpiece version, and he's certainly a fair bit lighter.  This Magnus comes with two rifles that can combine with the shoulder rockets to form an axe, like the Animated Magnus carried.  I'll be honest - I haven't even tried that configuration.  I'm not a fan of the axe.  Axes are good for warrior dwarves and vikings, but bot for the Duly Appointed Enforcer of the Tyrest Accord.  He needs rifles to do some enforcing.

Speaking of the current Enforcer, open up his chest, and you'll find the bot currently wearing the Ultra Magnus armor!  Sadly, the way that he sits in the chest, it makes it a bit hard to show Minimus' head.  It looks more like Minimus is piloting a mecha, rather than wearing armor. 

This new iteration of Ultra Magnus features a transformation scheme that is similar to the Masterpiece version's.  It's nice to know that there was some cross-pollination in respects to engineering.  The cab does not separate from the trailer, but I'm fine with that.  The only weakness that I can find with Magnus is the cab itself.  Just looking at it, it looks, I don't know, scrunched up?  I'm not sure I'm describing it correctly.  I dare say that it looks as though the cab was in a head on collision; it just looks odd.

Did you know that Ultra Magnus can store cars in this mode?  It's true!  However, Magnus can only hold two Deluxe class figures.  To be honest, I don't know if Ultra Magnus is designed to carry Legends class figures.  Looking at him, it appears as though the Legends figures would not be very stable there.  More than likely, I could look this information up, but I'm lazy.

Before we go, let's take a look at Minimus Ambus.  He's pretty freaking great, if you ask me.  Look at that pencil mustache!  He seriously looks like he has Errol Flynn's facial hair!  Articulation in this mode is extremely limited, due to his size, but his knees do bend.  It's more for transformation, but it does help with seating him the armor. 

Transformation to vehicle mode is a bit more involved than I imagined.  What would seem like a one-step transformation is instead a two-step process.  Please forgive the horrible photo, but I was having trouble getting a clear shot for some reason. 

At the rate that we're getting Ultra Magni lately, I wouldn't be surprised if a third mold was introduced at the end of the year.  Takara and Hasbro will have to do a lot to top the two that we've already gotten in the span of six months.  Next week - more Combiner Wars!  Or maybe a Masterpiece figure.  We'll see.