Review #13: Classics Ultra Magnus
with Fansproject City Commander Upgrade
Ultra Magnus! A character introduced in the 1986 Transformers movie as the person Optimus intended succeed him as the leader of the Autobots. (Of course, since he couldn't get the Matrix to, "Open, Damn it! Open!" Hot Rod ended up coming in and stealing his thunder, but that is another story.)
Many 1984 - 1985 Transformers were, of course, based on pre-existing Japanese toys, where as with the 1986 movie and acompanying toyline, for the first time Transformers began getting a lot of toys designed spicifically to be a part of the Transformers toyline. Ultra Magnus was an exception to this, being based on a pre-existing toy that was intended to be an upgraded version of the toy that had become Optimus Prime. Thus, they both shared the same cab section (just in different colours), and the main difference between the two toys was the trailers they towed. The toy that became Ultra Magnus featured a new car carrier trailer that could then become an armor set that would combine with the cab to form a much larger robot. |
The Ultra Magnus version of this toy was, in fiction, was diferenciated from Optimus Prime by always being depicted as the larger robot. Never in the original cartoon was Ultra Magnus ever depicted as anything other then that. He was a big blue and red robot, certainly not a white Optimus Prime clone wearing a big blue and red suit. Then, in the fall of 2003, came a comic book that indeed depicted Ultra Magnus as just that, and all of a sudden the toy makers had a sudden revelation that they could slap a bunch of white paint on any Optimus Prime and have themselves an Ultra Magnus toy to sell!
This is exactly what happened with the original Classics line of Transformers. There was, of course, the Optimus Prime that I featured as this website's first review. Then, as a Target exclusive in a two pack with the Decepticon seeker Skywarp came the inevetable white repaint of Prime as Ultra Magnus. I was fortunate enough (as will be discussed later in this review) to be very interested in this two pack and picked it up as soon as I saw it on a shelf, but it is my impression that at the time a vast majority of the fandom responded with a resounding, "Meh." |
Picture from TFWiki.net.
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Anyway, looking at Ultra Magnus we see that yes, it is the same toy as Classics Optimus. It's a truck. But this time, it's white and blue! The colours do look good on this mold and make for an atractive vehicle mode along with some accenting silver stripes. In vehicle mode, Ultra Magnus is relitively unchanged from his stock apearance, the major change I've made being some extensive silver Sharpie work on his smoke stacks, which were originally all black plastic. A minor change via Reprobabels (which will see more extensive highlighting later in this review) is made to the headlights which were originally yellow, but are now chromed silver. As with many of the original Classics line, Ultra Magnus features a rubsign which, when rubbed, will confirm his Autobot affiliation.
Moving on to robot mode... yup, he looks like a white Optimus Prime, all right! This is, I think, what lead to the aformentioned, "Meh," from the fandom. I think a lot of people wanted their Ultra Magnus to be a unique character more like how he was depicted in the original cartoon, yet all we got was a white Optimus Prime. I think that fandom was further let down by the fact that his actual deco was somewhat... well... plain looking, as opposed to some very nice looking paint that was featured in the stock photography. So it was like, "They're forcing a white Optimus Prime on us, and they can't even be bothered to paint it nice? Well then, I can't be bothered to buy it."
(What Hasbro said they were giving us [photo from TFWiki.net]
vs. what they actually did give is [photo from TFU.info].) |
Fortunately, as is often the case, Reprolabels stepped in and saved the day. Their stickers included restoring the blue face plate and forhead grill (as seen both on the Hasbro stock photography and on the deco of the original G1 toy) and some further G1 inspired detail in the form of stickers for the knee caps and the legs. (The ones for the legs are not visable in the above right photo, as they are behind the knees. They should be visable on some posed photos below, however.) Reprolabels also included faction symbols for his shoulders, but unlike many of the original Classics (which only had the rubsigns) Ultra Magnus did already have painted on faction symbols there that I thought looked just fine, so I used the faction symbol stickers instead on my Optimus Prime's shoulders. Finally, the Reprolabels set included some chromed silver stickers to put over the robot mode's chest grill, but I was content with the silver paint there and opted not to use these.
Additionally, looking at Ultra Magnus in robot mode gives us our first hint that popular third party manufacturer Fansproject may have done anything with Ultra Magnus. You see he has the same two weapons as Optimus Prime. (Although the larger gun, in my photos, has been left in the windvane configuration and remains attached to Ultra Magnus's back.) But what is that additional white gun he is wielding? It comes to us courtesy of Fansproject, is very reminicent of the gun that came with G1 Ultra Magnus, and more will be spoken of it later.
Additionally, looking at Ultra Magnus in robot mode gives us our first hint that popular third party manufacturer Fansproject may have done anything with Ultra Magnus. You see he has the same two weapons as Optimus Prime. (Although the larger gun, in my photos, has been left in the windvane configuration and remains attached to Ultra Magnus's back.) But what is that additional white gun he is wielding? It comes to us courtesy of Fansproject, is very reminicent of the gun that came with G1 Ultra Magnus, and more will be spoken of it later.
Being the same mold as Optimus Prime, Ultra Magnus of course features the same articulation, and very good articulation it is. His head rotates 360 degrees. his arms rotate 360 degrees and can also be raised at the shoulders. There's a swivel above the elbows, and then the elbows themselves bend about 90 degrees. No wrist articulation, unfortunate but a minor point. Can rotate at the waist both above and below the grill. (The above the grill one is mainly for transformation but can be used a little bit in good looking poses.) Waist articulation is a bit limited by kibble, but is usable enough for most needs. At the hips his legs can swivel forward or backwards or spread apart. Finally, his knees can bend about 90 degrees. Technically his ankles have limited posability, but this is mainly for transformation.
Overall, as put out by Hasbro, a very lazy Ultra Magnus toy. Still, I was happy to have him. (And this was before any of the stickers or the new gun, both of which came out much later.) It helped, of course, that he came in a two pack with another figure I wanted for a very good price. Of course, with what the future had in store for this figure, I fear I must wish you luck in finding one for anything resembling a good price if you are looking to add one to your collection now. Something happened that took a toy that a lot of fans didn't want and changed it to a toy that many had to have, of course making the aftermarket prices jump considerably. That something: Fansproject. |
Ultra Magnus has a trailer! Even as a vehicle, this does a lot to help him look like a distinct character rather then just a white Optimus clone. It must be said not everyone was completely satisfied with this... I have seen online some people complaining, "but it's not a car carrier!" Well... true, it isn't. But not everything in the Classics line was a complete copy of G1, and frankly I think it looks rather nice.
When I discovered this existed, I rather wanted one. Alas, by that time it had long sold out and had started going for rather high prices on eBay. I had been strongly considering paying a stupid price for it when Fansproject anounced a reissue. Not only that, but the reissue would feature some improvements! That is the version of this trailer that I have. The updated version included the large missle pods you see on either side of the trailer, the gun we previously talked about, and some extra faces for the larger robot. |
Those that had the original version didn't have to be left out as the new accessories were made available seperately for a reasonable price*. There was one small problem as the original lacked the peg holes for the missle pods. A slot on the missle pods would tab nicely onto a small tab on the trailer as an alternate atachment method, with the only slight drawback being that the peg would now stick out.
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The Ultra Magnus Reprolabels set covered both the cab and the trailer. In addition to the Autobot logos on the side of the trailer (as a third party product, it originally featured no logos) the main visable addition to the trailer in this configuration is the red stripes on the side, as well as other detailing helping to flesh out the look of this mold. Some extra stickers from the Reprolabels set for Optimus's trailer were used to make the trailer's wheels better match the ones on the cab.
Additionally, Fansproject actually included some stickers. All versions of the City Commander set came with a set of licence plate stickers to choose from. (I went for the "CTY-CMD" option.) The newer version included some detailing for the front of the BFG (Big F-ing Gun) which we will see more of when we look at robot mode, the grey detailing on the bottom of the sides of the trailer, and the grey detailing around the peg holes for the missle pods. (Amusingly, the missle pods completely hide those stickers, and they will also not be visable in robot mode. Still, their presence certainly does not detract from anything.)
Additionally, Fansproject actually included some stickers. All versions of the City Commander set came with a set of licence plate stickers to choose from. (I went for the "CTY-CMD" option.) The newer version included some detailing for the front of the BFG (Big F-ing Gun) which we will see more of when we look at robot mode, the grey detailing on the bottom of the sides of the trailer, and the grey detailing around the peg holes for the missle pods. (Amusingly, the missle pods completely hide those stickers, and they will also not be visable in robot mode. Still, their presence certainly does not detract from anything.)
The gun that came with the reissue City Commander doesn't have anyplace spicific to go in this mode, but I find that if you don't mind it being a little loose in there, you can store it inside of the rear of the trailer. It can also be pegged into one of the holes for the missle pods, but then of course you'll have an extra missle pod lying around.
So... we've seen this as a trailer, let us get it apart and attached to Ultra Magnus and see how it looks as a robot. You start by seperating it into three large chunks: the top, the bottom, and the rear. |
The rear section splits apart to become the legs and the crotch piece. (The licence plate on one foot can cleverly be hidden by spinning around the panel it is on.) The bottom reconfigures to become the BFG. The top splits apart to become the shoulders, the forarms, and the chest and head. It all attaches snugly to the robot, almost making you think the robot had to be designed with this in mind! The only parts that can be a bit scary to attach are the legs. The clearance putting them on is so tight that many worried about stressing or breaking the plastic, but I've never seen evidence of it actually happening. On my own toy I have put the legs on and taken them off many times with no ill effect other then that a bit of the red stripe stickers can be damaged if you are not careful.
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Now this is Ultra Magnus. The only other set I have reviewed thus far that had a similar upgrade, the Make Toys Battle Tanker, took a decent Optimus Prime and made it an even better Optimus Prime. Still, he was always Optimus Prime. But this guy here? Without the City Commander armor, Ultra Magnus is just naked.
He maintains almost all of the posability of the base figure, the only subtraction being that the waist, while not completely imoble, has become a bit more restricted. Added posability comes from the new head being on a ball joint rather then a swivel, and the wrists now being able to swivel. My Ultra Magnus features one of the added faces that came with the reissued version of the trailer. Alas, while I know I still have them somewhere, I can't quite recall where I put the other faces or I would have photographed them for this review. If and when they turn up, I can take a few additional photos and publish an addendium to this review. The missle pods go into peg holes on the shoulder pieces that were always present on City Commander. The original version featured them so that people could augment the robot mode by using G1 Ultra Magnus's missle launchers if they had them. The base robot's weapons can still be held in the larger robot's hands, or store on the back of the shoulder pieces. The BFG can be held in his right hand and be configured in two different ways. Alas, the weight of it often overpowers the joints of the figure, so if you want to use it careful posing is required. Finally, the new gun that came with the reissued version reconfigures to a different gun for the larger robot to hold, one uping the G1 Magnus's gun which just flipped upside down for the larger robot to wield. |
For comparison here is Ultra Magnus with the Sailor Moon DVD case. Also, Optimus Prime makes an apearance so that (colour aside) you can get a good idea of the before and after.
All in all, an average redeco of a pretty good figure made astounding by a spectacular upgrade set. Alas, even the reissued version is no longer in production and long sold out of most places, so if you want to get one of these for yourself prepare to pay a pretty penny. You'll need the base figure, long out of production and highly sought after because of the Fansproject trailer's awesomeness... then of course you'll need the trailer. Theoretically, both have been bootlegged (I think it speaks to the popularity of a third party product if it is wanted enough for there to be a knock-off version) but I have heard dubious things about the quality, and am not in general a fan of bootlegs in any event. So alas, the bottom line is that if you don't already have this you won't get it unless price is no object. |
For children, the base figure might be a good toy but it isn't really cost effective. For similar reasons, I wouldn't recomend the trailer for children, either. (Also, for younger children, the trailer might be beyond them.) For adult collectors, however... In theory, if you can find both of these pieces (the base robot and the upgrade trailer), very highly recomended for collectors with a Classics collection.
Review added 23 February 2012 by Yotsuya. Please comment!
*Footnote: The aformentioned reasonable price for the additional pieces being sold seperately? Alas, since that package, too, is out of production and sold out most everywhere, don't expect even that to be so reasonable anymore. Ah, well...
Review added 23 February 2012 by Yotsuya. Please comment!
*Footnote: The aformentioned reasonable price for the additional pieces being sold seperately? Alas, since that package, too, is out of production and sold out most everywhere, don't expect even that to be so reasonable anymore. Ah, well...