Review: #790
Name: Ultra Magnus
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Autobot
Line: Generations - Studio Series
Year of Release: 2023
Size Class: Commander
Mold Status: new
PACKAGING:
Ultra Magnus comes in a big box that's fully enclosed, given he is part of the larger Commander size class.
The packaging is quite nice given the big artwork, but it is not particularly too premium.
VEHICLE MODE:
Based upon his appearance in the 1986 movie, Ultra Magnus transforms into a car carrier with a white cab, and a blue trailer.
His design is familiar, there are not massive departures in terms of general characteristics. For example, the back is still obviously the robot shins and legs.
In terms of size, he is decent, however, being a car carrier, there are a lot of empty spaces so he can appear to be bigger than he might otherwise be.
Despite the cab being able to separate, the cab and trailer doesn't have much turning clearance.
This is one long vehicle but he is very impressive in hand.
A gimmick is that he can carry up to three Deluxes. They're mainly the smaller contemporary Deluxes but it is still a nice gimmick.
The top level can also unclip and be angled down to allow a vehicle to drive up there.
The robot weapons, which are two guns, can peg onto each side for storage in this mode.
Finally, the red tips of the missiles can detach and as depicted in the official instructions, you can peg in the flame effects instead. It looks a bit corny and cheesy though.
If you look underneath, while the trailer component is compact and dense, the cab is much more hollow as it is mostly just a panelling shell.
Nevertheless, this is a strong vehicle mode.
TRANSFORMATION:
Again, the transformation scheme doesn't depart too much from previous figures. The rear forms the arms and legs, while the cab folds into the torso. What is quite nice are the way the panels unfold and fold upon each other in order to collapse away. It's impressive without feeling fragile.
ROBOT MODE:
Robot mode is of course the star of the show and Ultra Magnus looks fabulous here.
He's got huge feet but that adds to his bulkiness, rather than making him look awkward. He barely has kibble, which is extremely impressive when even the Masterpiece version couldn't achieve that.
The head sculpt is fantastic but he doesn't have any gimmicks related to the head, no face swapping or anything like that.
Size-wise, he is as tall as one the previous bigger Leaders, but he carries much more mass, feeling heftier in your hands.
He's extremely poseable of course, with joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, fingers, waist, hips, knees and ankles.
He comes with a huge cardboard stand as part of the Studio Series line, given the box is very wide, the stand is also very wide.
Ultra Magnus has a fair few gimmicks, the first of which is that his chest is springloaded. Unclip the blue piece and the chest windows will pop open to reveal the Matrix of Leadership.
For weaponry, he comes with a pair of guns.
The guns can be held in either hand.
There is an open 5mm slot in his hands to peg the guns more securely in than just him holding it.
He comes with several fire effects pieces, but they're casted in a smoky plastic, rather than a fully transparent one.
The smoke effects can peg at the tip of the guns, and since the effects can split into multiple smaller pieces, there are a lot of options in how you can do it.
The guns peg onto his back when not in use.
He has some articulation for his fingers, which is pretty cool and fun to play around with.
A great robot mode, which to be honest, doesn't really have any flaws.
OVERALL:
Ultra Magnus has the moniker of being the first Commander in the Studio Series line and he lives up to expectations. While he is a tad bit small in vehicle mode, he makes up for it in robot mode where he has good presence. The transformation is solid, despite the engineering not containing anything too surprising. While the robot mode is fabulous.
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