Review: #228
Name: Motormaster
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Decepticon
Line: Generations - Combiner Wars
Year of Release: 2015
Size Class: Voyager (Wave 2)
Variations: a retool of Combiner Wars Optimus Prime
VEHICLE MODE:
Motormaster transforms into a black and grey truck, although gone are the distinctive second set of windows on top of the cab, he also loses his trailer.
Despite that, Motormaster still looks fairly good, if a bit drab from the lack of paint. His sword and gun peg onto the back of the truck.
Motormaster comes with a collector's card featuring artwork from the Legends mobile game.
While he may be a retool of Optimus Prime, it's not just a simple case of a new head and chest detailing. The whole truck is reshelled with slightly different sculpting. Unfortunately, the side windows still remain unpainted which is just lazy, especially when the second side window is half painted.
The grill suffers from some color clashes, being a sweet silver with unpainted grey and unpainted black. It's distracting and tacky.
Motormaster is big and bulky in this mode, while also being quite compact.
Apart from his six rolling wheels, there are no gimmicks in this mode.
A truck mode with excellent sculpting, it's just a shame there isn't many paint applications to highlight them.
TRANSFORMATION:
Motormaster's transformation is really simple. The legs transform the way you would expect, no surprises there and fairly bland to be honest. The arms are slightly better but they are basically the halves of the cab. This does make him fun to convert though and it is a necessity that he isn't too complex for fear of being unstable in combined mode.
ROBOT MODE:
Motormaster's robot mode is the winner here, whereas the body proportions and sculpting looked weird for Optimus, it is perfect for Motormaster. It really seems like the mold was designed for Motormaster first, and Optimus was the retool.
Motormaster wears some kibble on his back, they are the combiner parts, including the waist plate and the chest details. Overall though, it sits flush against his back so it doesn't get in the way.
The head sculpt is really nice although it can be too organic. His head is not some oversized box anymore, it's really well proportioned and it sits on a balljoint, so has the full range of movement.
Voyagers return to their pre-2013 size, being bigger, sturdier and heftier. Motormaster not only looks bulky, he also feels bulky and sizable.
The other obvious retool is the chest, which is inspired by his cartoon self. The black paint used is very shiny and nice.
Motormaster loses his iconic truck cab for feet but on the flip side, at least he is much better proportioned this time around. The purple highlights are great and suit his Decepticon allegiance.
Poseability is good. His arms may be bulky but the range is not hampered at all. Unfortunately, his hip ratchets are too far apart, so even one click outwards is too far and makes him spray his legs.
Motormaster has two weapons, a gun and a sword, both doused in silver paint and looking very nice.
It goes without saying that he can hold the sword in either hand. However, since his hands sit lower than his forearm, the sword handle isn't long enough so Motormaster only manages to hold onto the tip, and the sword can be easily dislodged. Seemed like a design oversight.
His large feet allows him to be stable in a variety of poses. Motormaster even packs a waist swivel.
His gun fares better, Motormaster is able to hold it very securely in his hands.
Motormaster can feel a bit dreary with all the unpainted grey plastic, some more silver highlights wouldn't have gone astray.
An excellent update to Motormaster and honestly, one of the best updates to the character since the G1 figure.
OVERALL:
Even ignoring the combining aspect, Motormaster is a great standalone toy. His truck mode is decent and the robot mode is fantastic, both modes only held back by a lack of paint to spice up the color scheme. Motormaster is solid and the simple transformation makes him very fun to play with. I definitely recommend him over the Optimus Prime version of the mold.
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Obviously, Motormaster can combine with four other Combiner Wars Deluxes (preferably the Stunticons) to form Menasor. Menasor will be covered by a separate post, but let's have a quick look at Motormaster's torso mode right now.
The torso mode is fairly squat and can look disjointed with the two halves of the cab on either side.
The chest can open up to reveal two posts and enough space to place Combiner Wars Commander Blackjack in there (as a homage to the roller car of the G1 figure).
Placing the limbs, you can see that Menasor will have some proportion issues, his torso is too short to look good.
What's really ingenious is the fact that Motormaster's weapons can combine to form a bigger sword for Menasor to hold.
The combiner fists contain a 5mm port to hold the weapon.
There is decent poseability but the main drawback is balancing the figure. That's it for now but this blog will be covering Menasor in a proper review in the near future. Thanks for reading!