Toy Review - Generations Magnificus

[GoktimusPrime]

Series - Generations
Sub-line - N/A
Size/class - Deluxe
Wave - N/A
New/remould/redeco - Redeco of Reveal the Shield/United Perceptor (http://otca.com.au/boards/showthread.php?t=9860)
Released here - only in Japan (eHobby exclusive)
Approximate Retail Price - 6025JPY ($64)
Approximate Size - 16cm
Allegiance - Decepticon
Alt-mode - Scientific expedition vehicle
Main Features/Gimmicks - flip up crosshairs, retractable cannon barrel
Main Colours - black, grey, red
Main Accessories - none. Comes w/ exclusive comic book

Vehicle mode:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/Transformers/magnificus01_zpse1706553.jpg

Robot mode:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/Transformers/magnificus02_zps6b262d4e.jpg

Comparison w/ G1:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/Transformers/comparisons/magnificus_zps56db7490.jpg

Cosmetically this toy is an excellent homage to G1 Magnificus, especially with the new head. The chrome on the chest frame and forearms dials are a nice touch (remembering that unlike Hasbro's RtS Perceptor, TakTOM's Utd Perceptor had a silver chest frame and flat grey arm dials and missile). The tampographed Decepticon logos on the inside of the chest and bonnet are nicely done, and the red and silver accents work well. There are also two thin silver lines that run along the helmet which looks great. Unfortunately nothing seems to have been done to address the shoulder/backpack issue from Perceptor, although the instructions do show how to transform it in the way that many fans have been transforming Perceptor (so apparently the "fan cheat" transformation has now gained official status :o). The rear licence plate of the vehicle reads M3610N, a reference to Mebion (http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Mebion).

The exclusive comic book is nice, featuring the Derek Yaniger-inspired G2 style art of Yoshioka Hidetsugu. The text itself is bilingual Japanese and English. On the whole the English translation is well written with only a few minor errors (which is forgivable considering that it was mostly likely written by someone who doesn't speak English as their first language; unlike errors occasionally crop up in IDW comics :rolleyes:). It comes in a nice little box that's done in the same style as the current TF Generations toys.

But this toy is by no means cheap (it's personally the most I've ever paid for a Deluxe Class Transformer), most likely to offset the cost of the new head I suppose. I got this toy because I have a childhood nostalgic connection to Microman Perceptor; otherwise I probably would've skipped this toy. So worth buying? Not unless you're a particular fan of Magnificus IMHO (in which case you've probably already ordered this toy anyway :p); so I'm going with "Only if." ;)

[Omega Metro]

I was surprised how little the box was that he came in. Nice head sculpt. Shoulder area transformation is a pain as is Perceptors. If the comic (rather pathetic I must say) is part 1, what is part 2?

[GoktimusPrime]

Eh, the comic's a freebie so I thought it was pretty kewl. :) I've always enjoyed Yoshioka's art-style, and I thought the short story was good enough for what it was (you're not gonna get much character development in so few pages). These freebie comics are always about just giving us a glimpse into the character; the Sunstorm comic was like that too, but I thought this was done gooderer. ;)

I'm surprised that this toy came in a box at all; I thought it'd be carded. But I'm not hugely surprised that the box is small... Japanese packaging is often smaller and more space saving than Western toy packaging*, and also it was never designed to sit on toy store shelves to attract the eyes of passing customers. But this is a considerable amount of effort for an eHobby exclusive box. Japanese exclusive TFs usually come in:
+ Generic looking packaging (e.g. eHobby G1s, Collector's Edition reissues)
+ Same packaging as the regular version of the toy but w/ a sticker (e.g. JafCon Convoy)
+ As above, but stripped of colour (e.g. Gentei! Gentei! TFs)
+ Colourless new packaging (e.g. GADEP)
This is the first Japanese exclusive toy I've gotten that has a wholly new and fully coloured packaging.

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*Which Japanese fans appreciate more as many of their homes are more limited in space. They also like to store their toys in their original packaging; Japanese fans tend not to display their toys loose like we do because of frequent seismic activity.

[DELTAprime]

I can't justify spending that much on such a minor character, but if he becomes a shelf warmer I might pick him up cause he looks cool.

[griffin]

I didn't even realise it was a new head... which I can see that they needed, as the Classicverse Perceptor head was cartoon-accurate, not toy-accurate.

When I got the comic, I noticed immediately that Oilmaster (the gorrilla pretender chasing him) was the unproduced prototype that was on display at one of the early BotCons.
For those wanting to know more about the unproduced "double Pretenders", check out these pages...
Photos of the three (http://www.toyarchive.com/Transformers/Prototypes/PretendersDoubleBC96Displ.html) (with two versions of the gorrilla and "spider" ones).
TFwiki's page on the Double Pretenders (http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Double_Pretender).
TFwiki's page on Oilmaster (http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Oilmaster).

I can't work out who the inner robot is based on, if at all... because the prototype shells never had any prototype inner toys. So it would be interesting to see if the robot in this comic was intentionally based on a recent figure, which we'd end up seeing from FunPub.