Review: #262
Name: Ultra Magnus w/ Minimus Ambus
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Autobot
Line: Generations - Combiner Wars
Year of Release: 2015
Size Class: Leader (Wave 3)
Variations: the TakaraTomy version has more paint such as silver on the hubcaps and has Alpha Trion instead of Minimus Ambus
VEHICLE MODE:
Ultra Magnus, true to his G1 self, transforms into a car carrier that bears more than a passing resemblance to the original toy.
It is a bane of all G1 Ultra Magnus toys but the rear of the vehicle is very obviously his robot legs and shins. Unlike the Masterpiece version, the boots doesn't even try and blend in as the rear of a truck or something.
This is a brand new mold, he is not a repaint or retool of any Optimus Prime toy. The cab looks wicked with the great angular detailing, although it looks a little bit similar to Cybertron Optimus Prime.
While Ultra Magnus is a Leader classed figure, thanks to the large scale of vehicle carriers, Ultra Magnus comes off as a bit underwhelming in terms of pure size. He is compared to Beast Hunters Optimus in the photo above. Something interesting is that Ultra Magnus is quite light since there are a lot of gaps in the figure wherever possible, to the point that Combiner Wars Long Haul is much heavier than Ultra Magnus...
Here he is with a Deluxe figure (Combiner Wars First Aid) to show how small the cab it, it is not quite Scout-sized small yet not Deluxe size either.
You can plug the robot weapons on either side. The trailer is permanently attached to the cab, but it has a very wide range of movement. All ten wheels roll too.
Ultra Magnus comes with Minimus Ambus (a section will be devoted to him later on). They are roughly in scale I guess to each other...
You can place Minimus on top of the trailer and this shows how big the vehicle mode is supposed to be. Some sculpting on the cab (above the ladder on the left side) shows that this vehicle is like seven stories tall!
Ultra Magnus comes with a character card depicting art from the mobile game Legends. It is a nice piece of art but just like the instructions, it will be stored away somewhere never to be seen again...
Now, Ultra Magnus designed to be more in scale with Commander sized figures (not the larger Scouts in previous toylines, they are too big).
Naturally, Ultra Magnus functions are a proper car carrier. The back panel can fold down to form a ramp for some vehicles to get up.
What's more, the top ramp can also swivel down for cars to get to the top level. However, just like the Masterpiece figure, the forearm piece prevents it from making a flush ramp for cars to roll up (you'll have to cheat and manually place the car on top).
Despite that, he looks fantastic with his trailer loaded up. He can fit up to four Commander sized vehicles at once. You can also fit Deluxes and RiD Warrior figures in there but they are so grossly oversized compared to the cab that it looks weird.
Overall, this is a fantastic vehicle mode. He is solidly built and has heaps of play value, as well as providing a cheaper update to the G1 character than the Masterpiece version.
MINIMUS AMBUS:
Now, time to focus on the mini figure provided with Ultra Magnus: Minimus Ambus. In the comics, as far as I'm aware, Minimus Ambus controls Ultra Magnus, who is more like power armor rather than being individually sentient himself.
Minimus transforms into a hover car, therefore he lacks wheels and he has a gap at the vehicle rear due to transformation.
True to his name, Minimus Ambus is a tiny figure. He is much smaller than a Legion classed toy such as Evac. He is closer in size to the Targetmaster partners some of the 2013 Legends figures had.
Despite that, this is a neat little figure that is actually fairly decent.
Transformation is very simple, you unfold the legs, then separate his arms from the sides of the vehicle and fold it down on his back. Annoyingly, the piece that holds his backpack can be somewhat tight and at this small size, make it a pain to fold down.
Despite his small size, he is surprisingly well painted, there are three different paint color on his face alone.
Once again, he is much smaller than Legion classed figure.
He's also amazingly poseable but at this small size, you're limited at what you can do with him.
TRANSFORMATION (ULTRA MAGNUS):
Back to Ultra Magnus, where the transformation is quite clever and interesting. It even rivals his Masterpiece incarnation. Anyway, the cab is basically hollow because you fit Minimus Ambus in there but it splits in half and folds down to form his torso but rotating and snapping into place. The way the legs form through rotation of a few panels, wrapping all the trailer pieces to form his shins is amazing. Everything pegs into place solidly and it is very surprising at how clever it all is. The only slightly disappointing part where his arms which slides, up, felt bland compared to the rest of the figure.
ROBOT MODE:
Ultra Magnus' robot mode is amazing and pretty much perfect. The proportions are spot on and he looks much more athletic than his original toy.
He loses a lot of the awkward bulkiness. Perhaps more surprisingly is his lack of kibble. Sure, his legs are fairly big but it adds to his look and doesn't get in the way. The only things is the truck bed on his back but it sits close to the torso so you don't notice it too much.
Now, one of this main gimmicks is this. As in the above show, you can fold down his chest piece to reveal the truck cab situated inside (a nice throwback to the core robot of the G1 toy).
Then you can open the halves of the cab to reveal a control center for Minimus Ambus, to which you can plug him in.
The robot head sits on top of Minimus as a helmet but it doesn't impede articulation at all. The head can still turn from side to side, and having Minimus there fills in the gap on either side of the head. A neat thing is that Minimus' hands peg into "joysticks" to make it seem like he is controlling the larger robot body.
If need be, you can always leave Minimus Ambus outside. He is not essential to the robot.
A size comparison with Voyager Motormaster and Deluxe Universe Drag Strip. Ultra Magnus is taller than both, but not by an absurd amount.
Now here he is with the Masterpiece version. Combiner Wars is much more athletic looking and more fun to play with, whereas the Masterpiece version is more of a display piece and true to the G1 original.
Articulation... Ultra Magnus has heaps of it. Despite the amount of stuff he is holding, he is not impeded at all, and this makes him that much more impressive.
Thanks to the large feet, he is also super stable. He features some ankle tilt in addition to your standard joints and hinges.
In addition to his shoulder mounted missiles, he had a pair of guns, both are different sculpts.
To hold them, Ultra Magnus' hands can open (his four fingers are jointed as one on a hinge) for you to place the guns and then close.
However, this shows into light the biggest flaw. Because the guns don't actually peg in, he only holds the guns loosely. Even moving his arms up and down causes them to fall out. This is a massive design flaw that should have been picked up. Why they couldn't have opened for guns that just pegs in and save the parts count in making the hands unarticulated I do not know.
Ultra Magnus has ratchets for his hips, knees, shoulders and elbows, that's pretty impressive.
Lastly, inspired by his Animated incarnation, the two guns coupled with his pair of shoulder mounted missiles, can combine together to form a hammer!
He manages to hold this weapon much more securely, yet he can only hold it from the middle of the shaft, so you can't really pose him in mid-swing poses.
Despite that, he is still so cool wielding this weapon. His shoulders are also able to swing out to the sides easily thanks to a separate joint to the rotating one, so his huge shoulder pads don't get in the way.
He's able to loosely hold his hammer with both hands. The slightly touch will cause it to drop though.
The amount of paint applications is nice and highlights the complex sculpting.
A great robot mode that is unbelievably poseable and full of unobtrusive gimmicks.
OVERALL:
Combiner Wars Ultra Magnus is a great Leader classed figure and one of the best we've seen in the line (yes, even better than Jetfire and Megatron, both of which were solid but weren't very interesting). Ultra Magnus has solid vehicle mode that holds more play value than most and an amazing robot mode that's equally fun with a lot of options. He is highly recommended and is one of the best toys to come out for a while.
-----------------------------------------
For other Transformers reviews, check out this page here.
