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.

MP-22 Ultra Magnus

About a week into the New Year, I received a not-so-little package delivered by UPS from BigBadToyStore.  When I opened the package, this happened:


Yes, that song really went through my head as I held Magnus in my hands for the first time.  Although, to be fair, I hadn't actually opened him yet.  When I finally did a couple of days later, I was still very impressed with him.

The first thing that caught my attention was just how heavy Ultra Magnus is.  He seems to weigh more than MP-01 Prime.  That's due to the die-cast in Ultra Magnus' massive, massive feet.  I think if he were to wear shoes, he'd be a 13EEEEE.

Ultra Magnus is fashioned after his animation model, and the attention to detail is spectacular.  The small wheels on the feet are something that I really enjoy.  Still, if you want to copy the toy version a bit more, you can flip those wheels to reveal the vehicle mode tires.

Instead of just being an Optimus Prime that's plugged into a trailer, Ultra Magnus is his own mold, as evidenced when you turn him around.

I don't see an Optimus Prime plugged into a suit, do you?  Due to all of this awesomeness and rejiggering of the MP-10 mold, waist articulation is nonexistent.  Articulation is limited to his head, shoulders, elbows, thighs, knees, feet, and fists.  Poor us, suffering with such limited articulation.

Ultra Magnus features removable fists.  By just opening up his forearms, you can remove the fists that are capable of holding his rifle and replace them with fists that are capable of holding the Matrix that comes with MP-10.

The fists are closed, and feature a slot that one end of the Matrix can fit in.  I'm not really a fan of that pose, so I didn't take any pictures of it.  I'm sure that a shot of this can be easily found on the Internet, if you really want to see one.

If you pop off Magnus' face, you can see a nice little homage to the G1 Magnus.  Also, you can replace the stoic face with an "O Face".

I love "Office Space"

This is the face one would use when utilizing the Matrix fists.  When not using one of the faces, they can store conveniently in his back.

Both faces can store here, but I'm not really why both faces would be stored at the same time.  Will Takara release a "I can't deal with this right now!" face?

Just like in the movie, Masterpiece Ultra Magnus can open his chest to store the Matrix.  And just like in the movie, Mp-22 does not come with a Matrix.  However, once your MP-10 dies, or you take his Matrix out, you can place it in Magnus.

Transformation into car carrier mode is surprisingly easy and intuitive.  I was expecting something a little harder than what we wound up with.  Seeing various pictures online before Ultra Magnus was released led to me to believe that this would a difficult task.  Once transformed, we get a look that resembles his G1 incarnation, with the missile launchers one the front of the rig.  The launchers are not detachable, but instead are attached to swivels that can move, which allows for another look.

The cab detaches, which is something that I really didn't anticipate.

Unlike MP-10, Magnus' cab is hollow.  Most of the cab just breaks apart to form his back side and head.

The red bumper is a bit jarring to look at as I was really expecting a silver one.  I'm sure that there's a story there, but I'm not sure what it could be.  Hmm...what's that in Ultra Magnus' windows?

Why it's 2005 Spike and Daniel!  What's a truck without a driver?  Let's take a closer look at them.

I absolutely love the fact that Hasbro, or Takara, or whoever designed the humans for the movie, decided that this is what we would look like in 2005.  Apparently Takara also decided that humans don't have facial features.  Daniel has what I've been told are birthing hips.  All jokes aside, I'm very happy that we've been getting humans with larger Masterpiece figures.  This marks the third instance of Spike, and the first appearance of Daniel.  Well, I suppose it depends on how you look at it.  I'm still holding that the Exo-suit that came with Bumblebee is Daniel and not Spike. 

Ultra Mangus may not feature the points of articulation that we've grown accustomed to with recent releases, but he more than makes up for it in features and accessories.  The thought process and ingenuity that went into creating him is mind boggling and the designer definitely deserves some sort of award and plenty of recognition.  A figure that I've been anticipating for the better part of a year is finally a reality, and I couldn't be happier.  Now to wait on a Powered Convoy redeco that will most likely never happen thanks to Tomy's aversion to Diaclone repaints.  And Star Saber.  Bring on Star Saber already!