As a kid, I always wondered why they couldn't get Transformers toys to be cartoon accurate. Take
Ultra Magnus for example. The G1 toy as so poor in terms of articulation it wasn't funny. He was basically a white repaint of the G1 Optimus Prime toy, with a car carrier that transformed into his rather immobile frame (read--he had no real legs whatsoever).
Enter
Fansproject, who claim to be by the fans, for the fans. And I agree! Check out their Powered Commander set for Henkei Optimus Prime!
What's this, you say? Well, it's basically power armour upgrade for your Henkei Optimus Prime that'll make him look like Ultra Magnus in the early test shots/promotional trailers for
Transformers: The Animated Movie.Check it out:
Sweet, huh?
One thing I really wanted to do with this guy after putting him togther is to take him apart, minus the Prime toy, so that those of you thinking about getting him know what you're in for. And also before I got this guy (and I always wanted to get him based on the pictures of him I've seen) I couldn't find any site that showed you exactly what you were paying for. So here it is:
Yup folks, that is one Big Frickin' Gun, more popularly known among fans as a
BFG (I know what you're
thinking, you Roald Dahl readers. ;])
But the Powered Commander is simply not just bits of armour. It also can transform into a trailer mode. But it sorta cheats. Why? Cos the pieces come apart and are clipped together with tabs and slots. I do have to say, though, that the tab/slot part of the toy is particalurly well done. That means most everything fits snugly when clipped together. :)
So if you're trying on the PC armour on your Henkei/Universe Prime for the first time, be wary that the pieces fit nicely, and if it deosn't seem to fit snugly, it probably wasn't meant to fit there.
The set also comes packed with a Henkei-like comic that doubles as instructions, as well as a sticker sheet and a bag of small round plastic bits, of which purpose I'm unsure of. Haha. Maybe they're their for kitbashing or repair purposes.
Here's how I rate this toy:
Show Acuracy: 9.5 - You can't really miss the colour scheme on this, so pretty accurate based on a commercial.
Poseability: 9.3 - He loses lots of Prime's flexibility in the arms after the armour is donned--the shoulder loses a ratchet joint to move the arm up and away from the body. And of course the forearms are now more restricted because of the clip on hands/forearms.
But the one important thing that is not lost is his leg flexibility. Heck, the guy even has adjustable foot plates that allow him to have his feet flat on the ground even when his legs are apart. And he leg flaxibiliy is so important in order to pose Magnus with his huge upper body bulk and the BFG.
Aesthetic: 9.7 - Powered Commander is just awesome to look at. From the head sculpt, to the shoulders and even the trailer mode. Why can't hasbro have made a Magnus like this before now? ;)
Overall: 9.5 - The only reason that it doesn't score higher (ok besides the upper body poseability) is that his colours sorta clash. Red, black, blue
and yellow? And really, Prime doesn't need any Power Armour. I'll just let Nemesis Prime wear it for now. ;)
Size compasison next to Universe Ultra Magnus (w/o Power Armour of course. ;])
Oh and I didn't put any stickers on PC cos I thought he'd be too "chromed up" with any more silver. He looks great as he is right out of the box. :])
