Review: #201
Name: Ultra Magnus (God Magnus)
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Autobot
Line: Robots in Disguise
Year of Release: 2001
Size Class: Super
Variations: there is a super rare black version; a clear version; minor repaint in the Universe and Cybertron line
VEHICLE MODE:
True to his roots, Ultra Magnus transforms into a gigantic blue and white car carrier.
To break the realism a bit, he has his massive gun on top. The back isn't too bad with the knee pads forming a plausible looking rear, complete with tail lights.
What's really impressive is the fact that he has ten rolling wheels, yes, TEN!
Each wheel has something different molded onto it. The first has "Transformers".
The second has "Cybertron".
And the third has "God Magnus". All of the wheels have chromed hubcaps and are rubber tires. Interestingly, the rubber tires on Ultra Magnus in the Hasbro version doesn't seem to suffer the same splitting fate of Optimus.
Size-wise, Ultra Magnus is gigantic and he feels really heavy in your hands.
With that being said, most of the back is empty space which is required for the gimmick.
His gimmick being that he actually functions as a car carrier in this mode. The back can unfold into a ramp for the Car Brothers.
The cars can get to the top the proper way too with the top ramp folding down, this is really cool.
If you leave the gun on, it can be a tight squeeze for the second vehicle on the top.
All up, Ultra Magnus can hold three vehicles, and it's no surprise that all three Car Brothers can fit on him at the same time (this was shown in the cartoon a few times too).
Here he is next to Optimus and they look great together.
There are some impressive detailing and you can see a hint of red which tease his combining feature.
Perhaps the most noticeable thing is the huge chromed bumper completed with a gold chromed Autobot symbol. It's his most distinctive element and looks fantastic there.
A very nice vehicle overall that holds together well and contains a decent amount of play value, assuming you have enough other Transformers to use the car carrier gimmick.
TRANSFORMATION:
Ultra Magnus cheats in his transformation, you have to detach the back portion of his vehicle and then reattach it in robot mode. The front portion (or the cab) forms his torso including his arms and head. It's not too hard and quite simple overall, his ratchet joints for his hips are really tight though.
The back portion of the car carrier mode folds into his legs, once again, it is fairly simple but the twisting of the panels is quite clever. Once done, you attach his legs to the robot mode.
ROBOT MODE:
Ultra Magnus is quite... striking in robot mode. Well, he has long long legs and that is pretty much his defining feature. To put it simply, he has proportion issues thanks to the compromise for his combining gimmick with Optimus into Omega Prime.
He has a decent amount of kibble on his back, the main one being the electronics block. Yes, he has electronics and makes sounds and phrases at the press of a button. He also has half of the cab stuck on his back.
The head sculpt is really nice and actually captures some of the jerkness from the cartoon. He has a metallic sticker-ish type of material for his eyes to reflect light so he doesn't have a lightpipe.
Even his side profile is all about his legs, extending a far as his kibble. At least his electronics block is sculpted to look like a jet pack so it isn't too horrible.
Right next to Optimus, he is slightly taller.
Now next to a Deluxe, he towers over them.
Let's touch on his articulation, he has a wide range of joints. However, in execution, you will have trouble getting him in dynamic poses since he has balance issues and the fact that he doesn't have proper (or at least, useful) heelspurs.
It doesn't help that nearly all of the weight is his torso, even without batteries, Ultra Magnus is heavy. His legs are mainly hollow so it doesn't actually keep his balance that well.
In terms of play value, all of it lies in his weapon. The weapon allows three different configurations, the first one (and also the best one) is a dual handle dual barrel gun with a targeting scope and two missile launchers.
In this mode, there are two pieces which peg into his torso while at the same time, his hands can hold onto the red handles (although it takes some fiddling).
Unfortunately, the missiles are very trigger happy and will fire off at the slightly touch. They are spring loaded missile launchers.
The next configuration is more of a convention single barrel gun, he still retains the two missiles and targeting scope however.
Using the same torso connections, this configuration can only be pegs on his right side (since the torso pegs actually have different peg holes). It also pegs onto the side of his forearm to mimic him holding it. While it does look cool, it's very fixed and doesn't allow much poseability beyond lifting up and down.
The last weapon is a gatling gun, basically it's just the other side.
As you can guess, it can only be held his left side.
You don't have to plug it into the torso, just attaching it to his forearm is good enough for him to have resting poses and whatnot.
Overall, this robot mode is fairly compromised and the giant legs really limit the poseability. His gun has a lot of play value though and he does, in general, look pretty good.
OVERALL:
For Omega Prime, Ultra Magnus is a must have. As a standalone toy, Ultra Magnus is passable but there are some noticeable compromises made. His car carrier mode is decent and there aren't any flaws there. His robot mode is another story, the extra long feet looks unnatural and throws out his proportions, not to mention it causes some weight issues as most of the weight is in the body. I do think as a figure, he is worth it but can also understand that he is not for everyone.
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