Review: #321
Name: Fortress Maximus w/ Cerebros and Emissary
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Autobot
Line: Generations - Titans Return
Year of Release: 2016
Size Class: Titan
Mold Status: new (but technically heavy remold of Generations Titan Metroplex)
PACKAGING AND CONTENTS:
Now this was a surprise when Fortress Maximus was announced as the next Transformers to receive the treatment for Titan Class. Nevertheless, this is a fantastic choice and needless to say, the hype was high for an update to the holy grail of all Transformers.
His packaging has a huge copy of the awesome artwork and the back's stock photography shows off all three modes, plus the gimmick of the Titans Return toyline, and that is the interchangeable heads.
The box is absolutely huge. Above is a picture comparing against Deluxe Rook and Leader RiD Optimus Prime. Both will be the size comparisons for this review.
Fortress Maximus, like others in the line, comes with a card showing off the artwork and some stats on the back. He also comes with a sticker sheet but I didn't manage to get a photo of it since I forgot and started stickering up the toy right after I received it.
EMISSARY:
We'll start off with Emissary, who replaces Spike as the Headmaster (now known as Titan Master) of Cerebros.
He is surprisingly smaller than the Headmaster of Brainstorm but is much better designed. He still has the uncovered robot head on his back though.
However, his arms are more free and has balljointed shoulders. His head is on a balljoint while his legs are pretty much fixed.
The head is very very small but it has a lot of sculpted details giving him quite the attitude.
And a quick size comparison with the body of Cerebros, you can't have Titan Masters without showing them off with the headless body.
TRANSFORMATION INTO CEREBROS:
Getting Emissary into the head mode for Cerebros is as simple as folding him up into a cube. Seriously, there's nothing complex about this and all Titan Masters transform the same way.
CEREBROS:
Cerebros, also known as the Super Titan Master, is a fantastic looking robot. Truth be told, Cerebros is probably the highlight of this set since he just looks so good.
The biggest negative of course is the huge backpack. Not only does Cerebros have to carry the face of Fortress Maximus on his back (but at least it is covered) but the electronics and batteries are also stored here.
Yes, this figure has electronics. Being a heavy heavy remold of Generations Metroplex (in reality, it's more that he reuses some of the parts), the electronics ended up being shifted to Cerebros, the brand new item in the figure. Plugging in Emissary causes various sounds including him yelling out "Cerebros" and a couple of weapon sounds, as well as a light on his chest.
The head is fairly generic with a visor and faceplate, it doesn't stand out as unique at all. It is on a balljoint and one thing is for sure, the connector of the Titan Master's head into the body is much better than Generation Brainstorm's, since you can detach and attach is very easily, but also secure enough to not fall out during play.
Cerebros is super poseable with articulation all over the place. He's only missing a waist swivel since that is where the batteries are placed.
The electronics doesn't feel as if it has hampered the toy much at all. Cerebros feels solid in your hands and much more satisfying than some of the Combiner Wars Deluxes.
Cerebros is taller than all of the Combiner Wars Deluxes which was a surprise there.
The aesthetics of the figure is nice, he has the straight blocky look of G1 but now with much improved articulation.
The heelspurs are the only odd thing since they are not level with the feet so in some poses, he may lean back on them.
Not documented in the instructions is that the chest gun of Fortress Maximus can detach for a weapon for Cerebros.
Cerebros can hold the gun in either hand and it is much needed weaponry since Cerebros felt so bare and like he was missing something.
It's not the best gun around but does it's job. The blend of silver, grey, black and blue works out surprisingly well.
A fun side-distraction and the way the electronics was incorporated and the speaker placement of the torso is clever.
And of course, the shot of Emissary with the other two headless bodies.
TRANSFORMATION INTO FORTRESS MAXIMUS:
Transforming Cerebros into head mode is more involved than other Titan Masters, since he is much bigger after all. It is satisfying though when if you think about it, you're basically folding the robot into a block. Transformation effects will play when you flip up or down the visor covering Fortress Maximus's face. Plugging him in will also trigger various sound effects and it is tricky at first securing the head onto the body, since it needs to peg into three different slots and you need to push very hard. The eyes light up as part of the electronics (as shown above).
FORTRESS MAXIMUS (ROBOT):
Let's be honest, the robot mode is the real reason that you bought this figure and in this aspect, Fortress Maximus looks good and quite the part.
He is fairly clean in terms of kibble with only the runways behind his shoulders and ramps as his backback. For some odd reason, those circular holes on his back and the behind of his legs have the metallic blue stickers. What a waste of the sticker detailing considering they don't show up in any modes at all in a significant way.
The headsculpt is perfect and you cannot fault it. What you can fault is Cerebros' robot hands sticking out the back of them, it would have an easy thing to put in joints to fold those hands in... What's more is that Cerebros' arms don't peg in which is more of an annoyance rather than a flaw.
In terms of electronics, plugging the head in will cause some lights and sounds. Pressing the transparent turquoise button on his torso will also activate lights and sounds from the head.
Of course, size is a major focus and Fortress Maximus as a character has reclaimed the biggest Transformer title from Generations Metroplex, if only by a small amount. He is so much bigger than a Deluxe or Leader classed figure.
Fortress Maximus absolutely towers 2015's Titan Class Devastator and makes Devastator look tiny in comparison.
As you'd expect of a figure this size, Fortress Maximus is filled with sculpted detailing, his torso has an unbelievably complex sculpt.
He reuses more than a fair few of Metroplex's parts, including the forearms, parts of the thighs, legs, hips and hands. He also retains various joints that aren't used for Fortress Maximus and it feels wasted here. For example, his legs open up in halves or the weird joint for his right arm which was originally used for Metroplexes city mode to create a tower.
The other thing is that he has this weird protrusion thing on his left leg which looks like a tank. It originally comes detached and you need to snap it onto the swivel. The designer probably envisioned it to detach and be played with but it was so hard to attach it fully in the first place, and hard to remove it, that you probably won't.
Of course, he has his trademark leg guns which can fold forward to aim and fire, and you can swivel the tank thingie forward too as more guns.
The other odd thing is that he has red plastic on the outside of his right forearm but his left forearm remains blue. It just feels odd that it's asymmetrical for no good reason.
Fortress Maximus has all the standard articulation you'd expect of a contemporary Transformers toy. These joints include waist swivel, knee hinges and swivels, shoulders, elbows and wrists. The head can also turn from side to side. All of these joints (barring the head) are ratchets but the ratchets tend to be too weak for the weight of the figure so dynamic poses are out.
Weight is the biggest thing against Fortress Maximus. Even with the usage of various hollow areas he is still very heavy and since he doesn't have ankle joints, he tends to slide and fall down when you're trying for dynamic poses.
The other interesting piece of articulation is that his fingers are individually jointed, which is pretty cool actually.
Of course, this robot mode is mostly scaled to interact with Legions, Legends and Commander sized figures.
One of the saddest things is that Fortress Maximus doesn't have his waist guns anymore, they were such a defining element of the character.
Actually on the whole, Fortress Maximus tends to lack in the weapons department, having only those shin guns and that tank thing.
Those shin guns though, are designed to detach. Although similar to the tank on the side of his legs, they are attached via swivel joints and very tightly so. Detaching them too much will definitely wear the joint down or stress the plastic. Nevertheless, it's a deliberate feature since the guns have handles.
Getting Fortress Maximus to hold those guns though is tough since the handles are just a tad bit thicker which pops his thumbs off easily. The guns have tabs in the handles to slot into the palm of his hands.
Fortress Maximus was in dire need of some handheld weaponry and this suits him just fine, too bad it leaves some ugly gaps in his shins.
The handles of the guns have 5mm posts but they're mainly for the battle and city modes, you can't tab them onto his forearms which is a bad sad.
While Fortress Maximus is imposing, there's just something off with this incarnation. He doesn't seem to have the impressive amount of gimmicks and weaponry the original had. The fact that there are so many unused remnants of Generations Metroplex due to the retool means that Fortress Maximus has too many parts that does nothing leaving the robot mode just looking good for display and no fun for play.
TRANSFORMATION INTO BATTLE STATION:
To get Fortress Maximus into battle station mode is very easy. Lie the robot on its back, fold the feet down, detach the head, unclip the waist pieces to fold up into a control tower, unfold the ramp and voila... Quite disappointing, the only interesting part was that you plug in Cerebros to complete the tower in the middle.
FORTRESS MAXIMUS (BATTLE STATION):
The battle station is basically just the robot lying down which is slightly disappointing but no different to the original figure.
He can't actually roll in this mode despite some "wheels" underneath the guns, then again, in the cartoon he basically flew in this mode anyway.
The guns can hinge up or down depending on how you want to display him. Aiming them up looks more impressive.
Of course, he remains huge in this mode.
He is scaled mainly for Legions, Legends and Commander sized figures with the runways on the back. He has a few flat areas to play other figures.
One of the gimmicks involving Titan Masters is that the guns have a slot to peg the Titan Master's legs and then their arms to make it seem like they are manning them.
Overall, an okay mode that's faithful to the original but fairly uninspired and boring.
TRANSFORMATION INTO CITY:
From battle station mode, you fold the legs to the sides, flip open the robot transparent chest compartment to reveal the gun and fold down a panel next to the ramp. Extremely disappointing at how uninvolved the transformation of Fortress Maximus is into any of its three modes. Even Metroplex was more involved.
FORTRESS MAXIMUS (CITY):
The other big draw of the figure, the city mode. This was always the big playset piece of the figure and it's not different here.
Unfortunately, the only differences between the city mode and the battle station mode is that the robot legs are in a different placement and you open two more areas... The uninvolved transformation between the modes suck.
One of the most interesting elements is that Cerebros forms the top of the control tower, and you still retain access to the electronic sounds.
The tank remains on the side, apparently if you flip it over, there's a slot to peg Titan Masters to.
There's a few more gimmicks here, including the Titan Master placement of the guns just like in battle station mode.
A new flip open panel reveals the gun (the same that is used as a handheld weapon for Cerebros) that a Titan Master can sit in.
There are also various slots to peg Titan Masters to including the top of the ramp.
And another place at the end of the runways.
The excellent sculpted detailing remains and you can tell the supposed scale of the city mode with the windows above the ramp.
You really need other smaller scaled figures in order to properly enjoy this city mode. There's a cell right next to the ramp.
There's the ramp itself.
Plus two runways for take-off and landing of aerial vehicles.
Getting enough characters here and you can really make a great diorama. It really is too bad that there still seems to be a lack of gimmicks which makes the city mode a proper playset. There's a fan mode that compacts the city mode and makes it look more impressive because right now, the city mode looks very stretched out.
It's an okay mode but once again, it's very obvious that it is basically a robot lying down.
OVERALL:
Fortress Maximus is supposed to be the toy of the year but ends up feeling lacklustre, especially with the price of the figure, being a lot more expensive compared to Metroplex but not offering more. He loses play value of the city and battle station modes but adds in Cerebros and Emissary. Considering his size, you would expect Fortress Maximus to pack in a lot more gimmicks, instead we get some gimmicks and a lot of redundant parts that does nothing since they're remnants of the Metroplex mold. The three modes aren't that different and the transformation is extremely simple. Cerebros is the saving grace of this set and Fortress Maximus is only recommended if you like the character or that you want him for display only because as a toy, he has a lot more potential than what we are given.
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