Review: #162
Name: Ultra Magnus
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Autobot
Line: Prime
Year of Release: 2012
Size Class: Commander (Wave 3)
Variations: none as of yet
VEHICLE MODE:
Ultra Magnus transforms into a blue truck and breaking tradition he is not a repaint of Optimus Prime (until the Beast Hunters subline that is).
He is very blocky and rectangular. Unfortunately, the rear of the truck mode fails, you can clearly see that there was little effort in hiding his robot feet.
In addition, there was no effort at all to hide the robot legs. You look at Ultra Magnus from above and there's half a robot in clear view. This feels extremely lazy.
Whereas if you look from the side on near-ground level, then this truck mode is decent. It somewhat sucks that they couldn't find a way to either keep all windows transparent (due to transformation), or all windows painted (due to the gimmick of shining a line through his chest in robot mode). The mismatch of clear blue front window and silver painted side windows really hurt.
The sculpted and painted detailing on the front of the truck is well done and looks amazing. He even has molded sidemirrors.
You would have noticed by now, but he stores the robot weapon on his back, as some kind of towing apparatus. It helps to partially cover the robot kibble and it looks reasonably okay there.
It features some piston sculpting which suggests it lifts up and down, like a tow-hook.
In the stock photos though, they attach in a way to give him some sort of forward facing cannon. It looks somewhat stupid.
The size is what you'd expect, he feels small since he is small and the rectangular shape doesn't help.
Either way, a decent alt mode, as long as you're looking at him from certain angles.
TRANSFORMATION:
A simple yet a well done transformation. It's fun to convert him between the modes and it does enough to make is satisfying. Slightly worrying is the fact that the balljoint sockets are made of transparent plastic, so it feels as if they will crack eventually.
ROBOT MODE:
Ultra Magnus' robot mode is not show-accurate at all since this is an original design that predates his appearance in the show (which makes him just another Optimus retool).
The shoulder pads are reminiscent of his Animated incarnation and he features some massive kibbly panels under his arms. Likewise, the sides of his legs also have truck stuff attached.
The headsculpt is good but feels a bit squished/squat. Thanks to the transformation (and a growing trend for Commander figures), the head is fixed, no articulation whatsoever.
His chest and torso have intricate sculpted detailing. Part of it is cast in transparent plastic for the light gimmick all Commander toys have. You'd notice that his torso bears some similarity to Optimus'. A neat feature.
His stature is great and the sculpting all around is amazing. He does wear half of the truck cab on his back as a big block, which is a shame. He features fake wheels on the inside of his legs, which is kinda lame when you can clearly see the other two wheels on the outside.
So, his weapon. You can fold the handle up to make it into a makeshift gun.
It doesn't look too snazzy but does the job. You can attach it either on the outside of the arm of have Ultra Magnus hold it himself.
The other configuration is of course his hammer (made famous and iconic to Ultra Magnus after his Animated incarnation).
Likewise he can hold it in his hand.
Flexible enough to hold it two-handed, which is sweet.
A peg on the back allows the hammer to be stored there when it's not in use.
Size-wise, the big shoulder pads and blockiness does him favours, making him look bigger than he feels.
The articulation is good. He's lacking some knee/thigh swivels. You can use the waist swivel but it makes him look awkward.
Thanks to his big feet, he is stable in a variety of poses.
There's some loose joints here and there, in particular, his shoulders are notorious (also true for the Voyager version).
He feels like he could use a bit more paint as there are huge areas of blue. At least you can still see the sculpting.
A good robot mode that displays and plays well.
OVERALL:
A decent figure that's actually more fun that you'd expect. Both modes are solid, the robot moreso. The colours are nice and the fact that this is not another Optimus repaint or retool is a plus. He has character and while it's very much inspired by Animated, Ultra Magnus is unique enough to be a worthy purchase.
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