Transformers Fun Time: Ultra Sadness

Will this be the day Magnus becomes Ultra once more? Well of course not, judging by the title. ;)

The Problem with Magnus

For those who haven't seen Transformers Animated Season 3 and still want to catch it, spoilers ahead! :)

But who hasn't seen the final season of TFA yet, right? ;P

Ultra Magnus!

aka Prime Jr.,

aka (according to Grimlock in the comics) Little Prime

aka "I'm a soldier, not a leader"

aka the one who couldn't open The Matrix (and got blown to pieces by Galvatron)

aka (when the Autobots in the other ship are getting blown away by Galvatron) "I can't deal with that right now."

aka Rodimus Prime's second-in-command

Well, so this version of Ultra Magnus does have a lot to live up to when compared to Optimus Prime. But who doesn't? I guess he gets more flak because he looks exactly like Prime except he's white. And he resorts to wearing power armour that makes him look like this:

Hey, you would too if you looked liked Prime--the Decepticons would shoot you first and ask questions later. Then he'd be dead. Not because he's not a powerful robot, but because he really just falls short of Prime standard stats.






But while he may be considered a poor man's version of Prime in most incarnations, this Classics Universe toy of him certainly isn't.

Granted, he may just be a repaint of Universe/Henkei Prime, so there's really nothing to compare when it comes to poseability of even show/comic accuracy (if you don't count that he doesn't come with power armour). And aesthetically you may think "he's just white and a little blue." Well, that's what I thought. Until I busted him open and had a good look/play with him.

Magnus has got at least 7 different colours on him:

























There's white and blue, black for the tires, fists and shins. There's red for his Autobot symbols, as well as a touch of yellow for his head lights. His bumper and grill are silver (and a nice shiny silver they are, though not chrome) and his hub caps are gold.

And as if this weren't enough, the gave him a rub symbol as well! And OMG the hub cabs!!!













Yup, his truck mode is especially sweet. Just gotta love the colours on him in this mode.

But what especially stood out for me was the light piping in his eyes. They're a nice bright blue and show up especially well against his white head and silver mouthpiece. And this is with no additional lighting, just my room ceiling light!

His light blue windshields also allow a clear view of the seats on the inside of his chest, adding to the great detail already on him.

The one area that could be improved on is the legs. His knee guards are not painted, something which I will try my hand at remedying (sooner, rather than later, I hope. ;P) The other place to improve would be to add detail/colour to his arms. Not a lot, just enough to "liven" things up.

I also don't mind that his gun is black. But it would look much better as smokestacks if it matched with his blue and white.

Oh and if you missed it, here's how I found him at a store.

Here's how I rate him:

Show/Comic Accuracy: 9/10 - He's White. He's Prime (Jr). I dig. Just wish they'd make an official power armour for him though. Love this one but it's too expensive!

Aesthetic: 9.5 - What a beaut! It though I would love Nemesis better but I sure am loving the subtle detail Magnus has to offer. Maybe it's just that I like white better in my clothes. Or maybe cuz I'm a good guy deep down inside. :P

Poseability: 9.5 - Same as Prime and Nemesis. There's hardly a thing I want this mold to do that it can't!

Overall: 9.33 - This guy pips Nemesis Prime by being the White Knight. I simply can't help but find more things to like about Ultra Magnus the more I play with him.

Now my circle of Primes is complete. Time for some power armour upgrades. ;)

Weekend Swag!

First off, I finally managed to get my butt down to the post office to collect Batman:

Got him lose off Ebay from a seller in China. The Holy "Batman" Grail is DC Superheroes Black and Grey Bats, but this guy will do for now. ;)

So that was Thurday.

Friday night was the Toys 'R' Us midnight launch of the new Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen toy line

I only intended to go for a look see and perhaps meet some of the great guys that make up the fantastic tf.sg local Transformers community.

Then TRU had to give us each free $20 dollar coupons. Those buggers! Haha, well there was no way then I was gonna leave without getting something. So I picked up these two:

And the thing was that Melissa also was a card-holding member of TRU, so I got to use her voucher too. Props to you, Dear!

Why Sideswipe and Sideways? Well, cos I'm actually not a big fan of the movie design TFs, but these two go well together: both are silver sports cars, one's a Deceptican and the other an Autobot, and they haven't better than decent looking robot modes. :)

Oh yes, and TRU gave away a ton of free stuff, including posters, lanyards, guidebooks to the movie TFs, and these, my personal favourite:

Awwww damn. Guess who's riding in style now? :P

And Sunday of course came along, which is the traditional "Visit the toy flea markets at China Square Central" day, so I popped by thinking to get DC Superheroes Darkseid. And I did for a good price:

Fearsome figure, he is. He's huge and bulky, but if you turn the package to the side you'll see that they have him in there with his knees bent, so that he can fit into the standard-sized bubble on card. I can't wait to crack him open and see how much he'll tower over the rest of the DC Superheroes line. ;)

Then last but not least, I had to pick up another item I won on Ebay, which was one I'd been eyeing for a while now but simply put buying him off:

Animated Sunstorm (with Activator Rachet!)

Now I've got all the Seekers they've released in the Animated line: Starscream, Skywarp, Thundercracker & Dirge (who're both Activators), and finally, Sunstorm.

With the Hasbro's announcement that they'll be releasing Thundercracker as a Voyager later next year, I'll be looking to add him to the gang as well.

And as luck would have it, as I'm doing the deal with guy for Sunstorm, when Mel turns a facedown TF Universe 2-pack box lying on some boxes over, saying, "What's this?" and answering herself, "Oh, Ultra Magnus and Skywarp." (Level of enthusiasm on a scale of 10--about a 2.)

And I went, "Ultra Magnus and Skywarp?!?!?!" (Level of enthusiasm on a scale of 10--about an 11.) Well, what else could I do but snag the "Battle for Autobot City" 2-pack set? ;)

For you see, I'd been eyeing Ultra Magnus for the longest time, but he seemed like one of those figures you had to pay a premium price for even if he was loose, somewhere in the region of S$70 (US$46). And I did so here as well--except just for $14 more, I also got the very nice (and exclusive) Skywarp.

So all in all a brilliant toy hunting weekend. There was plenty of other stuff I wanted to pick up but had to hold off on, like DC Universe Classics Shazam! (Or DC's Captain Marvel), Green Lantern, and Flash. But not getting them over the weekend just makes for more thrill for the hunt for next time. And besides, with a haul like the one above, it would be such a waste if I didn't take the time to savour it.

Watch out for reviews of the haul over the next week! :)

Promises, promises.

I was actually planning to review the Transformers Animated Waspinator, but got distracted by my unopened Animated Shockwave sitting on my desk.

So I opened that for the first time. And took some photos. And forgot to bring the wire I need to upload the photos from my camera. (I'm staying at her place for tonight, see.)

I promise to get to Shockwave and Waspinator first chance I get.

Right now, though, I've been really drooling over the TFCon exclusive Powered Commander. Damn, that thing is gorgeous!

I have to confess, I'm an Ultra Magnus fan. Right from the colours, to the design, to his existence after Optimus Prime was killed in G1.

But the thing that makes Prime my favourite is that he rocks. Magnus is kinda, well, whiney. And he couldn't open The Matrix. And he was blown to bits by a single shot from Galvatron. (Why Galvie just didn't do it every single time he saw Magnus after that I'll never know.)

Anyhoo, a while back, Fansproject.com came up with City Commander, which is actually a transformable trailer for Universe Classics Ultra Magnus. It works the same way as G1 Magnus in that the trailer combines with Magnus to form Ultra Magnus. ;P



Yup, this Magnus has to be the dream toy of every G1 Magnus fan. (His legs can separate! Yay!)

Then came Shadow Commander, which is the same thing except he's the power armour version of Nemesis Prime (who's a sleek black Decepticon version of Prime, as far a looks go).



So now, they've come up with City Commander for Universe Classics/Henkei Optimus Prime:


I know, I know, the colour is the weirdest of the 3 Commanders, as gaudy as a Pepsi bottle (As Melissa told me when she first saw it.) But he does come with shoulder missiles and a case of energon that the other 2 don't have! And you can store these in his trailer! Sweet!


What's not so sweet is that only 500 of him were made and his price is like S$400+ after shipping and handling. Bleargh.

Now I'm just gonna have to look for a cheaper source somewhere (unlikely), pay through the nose (not gonna happen), or time travel to the future when/if the price drops (impossible, so I'll do it manually and wait till I get to "the future")

Gotta get 'em all...'cos that's just the thrill of the chase, isn't it? ;)

(Thanks to tfcon.ca, fansproject.com, and seibertron.com for the images, cos until at get my hands on any of the Commanders, all I have are the pics! :P)

A Prime Replacement

Well, not quite. At least not this version.



The original Ultra Magnus was the ultimate soldier as well, but he was not supreme commander material. Oh no, not him. We all know who became the "new" Prime.

Well, during the Transformers Animated Movie when Optimus Prime died, Magnus was the ready made replacement for our fave Autobot leader. Heck, Prime even gave him the Autobot Matrix of Leadership.

But it was not to be. Not even with a cool design and colour scheme, and a seriously "Ultra" name to match.

The original Magnus did go on to "guide" Rodimus Prime as a mentor-like figure. And I suppose he got his revenge on Rodimus for opening his Matrix by lecturing him many a time in the post-movie episodes.

This Magnus, though, is perhaps the most fearsome warrior in the Animated continuity (even fiercer then Megatron, I think).

I mean, check out all his guns (And I don't mean biceps):

Dual shoulder launchers with retractable lasers on top of them, coupled with twin triple shoulder machine guns (Which hide nicely in the front of his shoulders. When he wants to play nice).

And that hammer of his? Controls local weather. Yep. So he's like Thor on Earth. Except he could also make it hot and sunny if he felt like a barbecue or something.

But if he were on a planet that, oh say, rained cats and dogs literally, there'd be a whole bunch of stray animals left around after a big Decepticon servo-kinking. (The SPCA wouldn't be too thrilled either. For non-Singaporeans, SPCA = Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals)

Oh yeah. And that hammer of his also pops out to expand into a great(er) hammer when you push the head up. Nice.

One thing I like about these leader figures: They have really cool sound features. From the voice in robot mode to the laser sfx in vehicle mode. And they light up brilliantly too. But I mainly like the sfx done by the original voice actors. It really serves as a reminder of Magnus' character as well as brings you back to certain pivotal points in the series.

"Don't be a hero, Optimus, It's not in your programming."

Ouch, burn.



Gotta love how he owns Optimus, in fact all of the Autobots, in Transformers Animated. (In fact most of the Decepticons as well. Except Shockwave, perhaps.)

But I suspect his character in the series has (if you'll pardon the pun) more to him than meets the eye.

He's relatively cold and aloof, and is suppose to kick ass and take names for breakfast. Yet he's somehow ambushed and almost destroyed by Shockwave. I suspect he might end up a turncoat as well. Not like Shockwave though, but rather more in a "too righteous" sense, and it'll be up to Optimus and Sentinel to take him down together. Oh well, we'll just have to wait and see.

So here's how I rate the toy:

Show Accuracy: 10/10 - Wonderful! Right from his face sculpt to his moving brow ridge when he talks, the great Elite Guard symbol on his chest and his alt mode, his sheer bulk and his hammer(!) - holding this guy in your hand will always make you forget the shortcomings of the G1 character and think of his badass Animated self.

Poseability: 8/10 - Here's where the figure suffers--and I think all of the Leader Class figures have the same problem as well, at least the Animated ones do.

Magnus is pretty flexible, except that he's got no waist rotation. His knees also don't bend all that far, but the leg does rotate below the knee.

But then again, this is Ultra Magnus. And he looks very dignified and stoic in the series, so he doesn't really need to bend like Prowl. ;P

Aesthetic: 9/10 - I have to be honest, I kinda like more red in him, like the G1 colour scheme. But this way he does look more like he's wearing a uniform, which works out fine 'cos he is Supreme Commander of the Elite Guard. ;)

Love his shoulder molds, which form the front of his alt mode. His face too is suitably distinguished and stern looking. Very in-line with his character!

And Magnus always seems to have the best overall face design anyhow.

Overall: 9/10 - Gotta love the Magnus! And I think besides the exclusive City Commander (G1) molds, which are, well, exclusive, this is the best one out there in retail. So what if one of his famous lines (when his fellow Autobots are being blown to shreds) is not the super funny, "I can't deal with that right now..."? This version is Ultra! And has the rank of Magnus! And can eat Sentinel Prime for breakfast!

Also not forgetting to mention, I got this guy as a Valentine's Day present! :) So that makes him Ultra Special as well.