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Due out in a months time in Asia (May 27th) is the next toy in the Platinum Edition series - Ultra Magnus (a reworked Weaponizer Optimus toy, with a Forge of Solus hammer).
This was first revealed at the US Toyfair at the beginning of the year, and we have some more small pics of the toy and packaging.
With it being only a month away, we should see more, better images of this figure very soon.
And remember, we will be getting it here as a Target exclusive for the mid-year toy sale in June/July.
The first pics I saw were just 'no' (because I think they were just of Optimus), these pics are much better but too small. So I guess by the time the next are released it'll be a definite.
Definitely will be getting this when it is released here, I am wondering what the price will be for it here.
So it will be a better looking version of Beast Hunters Magnus?
I may get it just for the hammer, I heard the Platinum Edition is too out of scale with BH Voyager Prime so I may have to settle with the Voyager Magnus instead...that is if Magnus does get out here and not get canceled.
Will have to pass on this one as have ordered BH Magnus and I think it's the same mold?
This looks promising. I still need a really nice ultra magnus toy. If he is a remould of the optimus prize weaponizer, he will be about Ultra size and be pretty chunky. I did see him on the shelf ages ago, the design looks to be some sort of hybrid between movie, and transformers prime. It did look really good.
Quote:
Originally Posted by crankcase76
Beast Hunter Version
http://www.seibertron.com/transforme...th-bios/26760/
Platinum (remoulded powerizer)
http://www.seibertron.com/transforme...-magnus/26690/
Target do have him listed for Toy Sale, but just in case
Up for preorder from EHB & RK. $59.90.
I don't know. Depends if I like how Magnus is depicted in the cartoon and which toy best represents him.
After seeing the platinum one in the photo, it looks like UM has had his blue pants pulled down and looks to have white underwear. I can't get this now.:o
I will wait to pass judgement until I can see a better pic. I got the PrimeRID that came out last year because it was a new mold, though I think the BH version looks better in robot mode. Will be interesting to see where this guy ends up on the scale.
Is it just me, or does anyone else miss the days when we just got one really cool (or at least original) version of each character, then they would move on to another character? I know everyone laments how many Primes and BBee's we get now but even Magnus now has 3 large TFPrime (or related to TFPrime) toys. Couldn't they give us a few more different trucks like Motor(breath)master or Clench or something? Look at the 86 catalog, 52 different Autobots, 52 Different Decepticons -
104 Toys to 104 Characters! I miss those days!
but now you get to choose the size class you think best suits the character.
and don't forget that a lot of the cheap repaints we get these days are inspired by the original toys cheap repaints.:D
Think about the quality of the toys though. Mostly bricks with very little in the way of articulation. Any moulds that weren't brand new to the series had already been sold in other toy lines so money had covered them. And moulds that were brand new were either rereleased as Targetmasters, or a few years later in new lines or as new characters in other countries. There were the occasional new moulds that were never used again, but, the toys were also more expensive too (looking at the catalogues).Quote:
Originally Posted by BigTransformerTrev
In way the current toylines are like the toylines for the Japanese only series towards the end of G1. Lots of repaints of existing moulds and slight retools.
Considering Hasbro's range and product availability 27 years ago, i'm willing to overlook lack of articulation.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gouki
You'd happily go back to the bulkier, less articulated, worse looking, more expensive toys just to have more 'unique' moulds a year?Quote:
Originally Posted by Sinnertwin
You'd happily settle for poorer quality and design for the time, less product for your money and a smaller roster? Be my guest.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gouki
The toys are really not much smaller. I don't think the quality is actively any worse overall. There's bound to be a change as they use different plastics and construction has changed a lot. The design isn't perfect on every toy but it wasn't back in the day ,either.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sinnertwin
You would really take (keeping it 1986 for the sake of the argument), G1 Kup over Generations Kup, for example? Really? Is this just a "rar rar G1" thing?
Yeah but I have always simply bought the largest version of each character as it usually provides the best in the way or detail and articulation. I have mine for display purposes rather than setting up fight scenes (if only I had the time!). The only time I make an exception to this is if the largest version is rubbish - like the new TFPrime Optimus with the Stargate on his back. I don't need 6 different sized Optimus, just one decent sized good quality one.Quote:
Originally Posted by UltraMarginal
Granted, but it was nearly 30 years ago and for the day they were awesome! It's like blaming computers for being crap back then compared to a laptop from today. Of course they weren't as good back then, the technology was/is still evolving.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gouki
Yep! Nearly every G1 Character made it to our shores (with the exception of the likes of Countdown etc). And you could find them everywhere - I bought Seaspray in a milk bar in a middle-of-nowhere town and bought Kup from the local newsagents.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sinnertwin
Why would the technology used to make these toys regress simply to make more new molds? The production process wouldn't suddenly reqind 30 years.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gouki
It's the smaller roster thing that gets me. The conflict has always meant to be two giant interstellar armies fighting over millions of years - not a gang of 5 sitting round. It doesn't make sense - why doesn't Megatron go and conquer the rest of the universe and leave Prime to sit in his little bunker on earth? Who gives a crap about earth and 5 Autobot sitting on it when you have the whole of creation to conquer? Give me giant rosters every time - it makes more sense within the Transformers universe.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sinnertwin
No, the reason I love the Generations line so much is that the toys are fantastic and kind of how you wish they had looked like back in the day. But again, it's like comparing an Atari 2600 to a PS3 - of course it is better now! I still don't think them producing different molds rather than lots of different sizes of the same character would equate to a drop in the quality of the figure. Look at TF: Cybertron, lots of different molds and characters and there were some great toys!Quote:
Originally Posted by Gouki
Also, G1 Kup was crap even by G1 standards. I remember that toy being the single worst shelfwarming in 1986. It was either Target or Grace Bros. (Myer) who reduced the price of Kups to $5 to flog 'em off (which is when I finally got one! :D), and even then they still lingered! The only downside of getting Kup so late was that I ended up with the plastic wheels/toes variant, whereas friends I knew who got the toy early on had the metal wheels/toes version. Although I did get Hot Rod early, so I always had the metal toed version of that toy (and I saw some of my friends who got the toy later get the plastic toed version). :D
Another problem with some of the 1986 figures like Kup and Blurr was that they were the first bunch of Transformers to be concurrently designed with Sunbow/Toei animators - because those figures were designed based on characters who would appear in The Transformers: The Movie. Generations Kup on the other hand isn't based on a cartoon model, so they had much greater creative freedom. As you all know, I'm really NOT a fan of toys being based on show models, because animators design Transformers as robots first, then work out how they can transform into a vehicle based purely on visual aesthetics. Toy designers make Transformers as vehicles first, then engineer them to transform to robots based on reality (i.e. where parts go, how they can fit, make the transformation intuitive and fun, keep toy within defined size/budget limit etc.). So G1 Kup would be more comparable with say a Transformers Prime toy (but not TFP Kup, as he's not a screen character). And yeah, in relative terms Kup would still fare poorly against most TFP toys. But as I said, you're scraping the bottom of the barrel using G1 Kup as an example.
When you look at G1, you really have to look at it in context of what these toys were like at the time they came out. Sure, a Famicom/NES is downright primitive compared to say a PS3, but for the 1980s it was a freakin' awesome games console! :D I can still 'sing' this background music off by heart even though I haven't touched the game in over 20 years. :p
Seriously... did you ever receive a G1 Transformer during the 1980s/90s and thought to yourself, "Man, this toy is complete crap!" -- I cannot say I ever thought that about a G1 Transformer I got during the G1 period. Even some of the worst figures like the Battlechargers, Firecons and Monster Pretenders I didn't dislike because they were cheap! IMO it's all about value for money; how often did you buy a G1 toy - at RRP or less - and felt massively ripped off? Devastator honestly isn't the best gestalt ever (he's mostly popular because he was the first; Raiden's pretty crummy too - he's just popular because he's an 'elusive' Japanese G1 toy), but the Constructicons only cost $9 each! Even as a 'primitive' 1985 toy, I'd say he's a better designed set than say TF Prime Abominus! (similar price point gestalt)
And Transformers wouldn't have been as enduringly successful as a franchise if most of those toys were awful. Remember that in 1984 Transformers made a profit of US$4 million setting the record as the most successful debut toy line [F. Schodt]. And Transformers has endured continuously for the past 29 years. Unlike some other toy franchises, Transformers has never been out of production from 1984 until now. Sure, some years were a lot slower than others, but we ALWAYS had Transformers in production since 1984.
Keep in mind that one of the reasons the Transformers toys are not that much more expensive than Gen1 toys 28 years ago is that most designs now are developed with the intention of reusing it as much as possible. Not just different characters or powerup redecos, but also store exclusive redecos. Very few TFs toys these days are released just once (if a line hasn't been axed).
Sure, we might have 6 toys from the TFPrime RID Deluxe Bumblebee mould (Hasbro regular, Hasbro Shadow, Hasbro Energon, Hasbro Hotshot, Takara Terrorcon, Takara Regular), but if they only restricted themselves to one Bumblebee (and every other mould the same) the toys would be 2-3 times higher in price, and a smaller range overall.
I can see the frustration of having multiple toys of the one character when we should be having new character toys, but I think at the moment the best we can get are modified moulds like Sandstorm and this Ultra Magnus. There will be a limit of unique moulds each series, and its up to the designers to squeeze out as many redecos and characters as they can.
As for multiple sizes of the one character - I like the advantage of having a choice if you have different budgets... and I believe that's what Hasbro is aiming at. Catering for newer fans and younger kids with simpler, cheaper figures, and then the more complex expensive ones for the older kids or established fans.
I like the way the smaller size classes is better in scale (and more playable to the kiddies), than the larger sizes. And with TFPrime, we actually have the entire main cast in those smaller size classes, without costing a fortune just to collect the cast.
Yeah, that's true. It'd totally suck if Combiner Class Devastator were the only version of ROTF Devastator! And I think people are more tolerant/accepting of redecos when they're done more thoughtfully. e.g. Prowl as Bluestreak and Smokescreen etc., as opposed to seemingly random and 'meaningless' repaints (e.g. Solar Strike Shadow Flare Lunar Mission Street Action Going to the Shops Bumblebee :p). Or put give the meaningless repaint a canonical appearance, like they did with TFP Season 3 Bumblebee (well played, Hasbro ;))
Robotkingdom appear to have received the Platinum Edition Ultra Magnus, and have released photos of the toy in its packaging.... revealing an interesting tease - "3 of 30".
Perhaps it relates to the Platinum series already being planned to have 30 figures... which might take a few years (like the Masterpiece series), at the rate of release so far.
But it might be good to have 30 toys spread out over several years, due to how expensive these are.
Just as a reminder, we are supposed to be getting this figure at Target during the mid-year toysale.
I'm not getting this. Didn't like the Weaponizer Prime and Bee either.
That's some nice packaging, and the toy seems to look better with each picture posted.
hmmm 30 toys ei. well Ive already got OMega - don't want fatimus, not interested in this one either - except for the Solus Forge. Although a 3rd party company I believe is already selling an imitation, so Nope for me on this figure, would be good for others wanting a series looking Magnus with a forge since we are getting this. We were skipped a lot on the Prime Waves so not sure if in BH they'd come out here with the Voyager version - coz it's already out I think in Philippines (saw it on facebook) and it's got the forge hammer as well, albeit this version is much bigger but not in scale to V. BH Prime, youd need the Kettle Prime version to match.
this figure is presenting me with a conundrum!!
This character really.!!
First there was the Commander class Cyberverse figure, followed by the Voyager version of the same character model/vehicle mode.
then a remold of the prime RID voyager mold with jet wings that are yet to be represented in the show, and a munted version of the forge of solus.(which I've skipped so far, but am considering as a representation of Orion pax, or the dark version as a representation of nemesis prime)
then a remold of the weaponiser prime mold, which I didn't like because the feet didn't transform and stuck out in the vehicle mode, (I've skipped this so far as I didn't really think the look or feel of it, cam close to either versions of the voyager mold). This remold has hideous lumps sticking out of the side of the vehicle mode and the back of the robot mode and the built in gun system don't really appeal. but it's the best official representation of the forge of solus available.
I'm really wishing that the first toy of magnus was the one in the show, then I'd be skipping all of these other versions easily.
as it is, I'm leaning towards getting the platinum edition when it arrives here, simply because of the Forge, but the scale against the other primes I have is probably going to bug me so much I'll have to take the forge off him and give it to one of the Voyager Magnussi.
But is it worth $60:eek: for the forge?... If i see him here local and he was on sale ill consider it...Quote:
Originally Posted by UltraMarginal
Under most circumstances I would say no, definitely not worth $60 for an accessory. but stillQuote:
Originally Posted by lancalot
If I find this guy on sale, might pick him up. Not a bad looking figure, but since I've got the TFPrid Magnus as well as Weaponizer Optimus I'm not really hungering majorly for this figure.
I passed up all other iterations of Ultra Magnus for the past few years, so I think I'll definitely be picking this up.
I... don't know about this toy.Toasteriser/Weaponiser Optimus Prime never seemed like a good mould to me, especially with the truck mode. Not sure if I should get this version when it comes out or go to the effort of importing the BH Voyager. How much is the Weaponiser Class? (I forget :o)
I think Weaponiser class was $59 RRP, but most of the time they were kept on special for $49 until they could be clearanced.Quote:
Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime
The red hands look a bit weird to me, but I like him!