Toy Review - GEN FOC Ultra Magnus

[Bidoofdude]

That custom work looks superb. I think we have got a keeper member here for sure. That Op is awesome.
Are the prices pretty commanding right now?
Anyway, Maggy looks good and I hope you enjoy him. It's good to see we're getting heaps of good members lately.

[SuspectimusPrime]

I did a little paint job on the OP, and it looks much better now!

That FOC Prime look worlds better Why can't Hasbro do something like this?

[GoktimusPrime]

Reiterating what Jim_jim said in post #1, it's amazing what a new paint job can do to improve a mould! The colours are nice and vibrant, predominantly blue and red with brilliant white accents that look way better than Optimus Prime's Hasblo Grey. And the navy blue looks a lot nicer than the lighter blue on Optimus Prime. Ultra Magnus has more paint apps than Optimus Prime -- things like the head lights, sides of the legs, tips of the shoulder cylinders, toes and tummy all have additional paint apps that Optimus Prime never did. Additionally he comes with a massive sword that is comprised of three interlocking parts and three colours - gunmetal grey, silver and red. The sword splits into three parts, with the handle becoming a pistol. Not sure what the other two panels do though... He still comes with the same gun as Optimus Prime, though the G1 fanboy in me wishes that gun were white. The new head looks really nice - blue helmet, white face and antennae and red eyes. Red for the eyes seems an unusual choice IMO. On one hand I'm kinda glad they're not blue, because the red does contrast better against the blue head (blue eyes would "blend" too much, which was the problem on Optimus Prime). But I personally would've preferred yellow eyes (much like G1 Ultra Magnus' box art ).

While this toy still obviously carries over the same limitations/flaws as the Optimus Prime mould (the most aggravating for me is how the mid section doesn't lock in tightly), Ultra Magnus does offer a much nicer looking colour scheme. Coupled with the additional sword and that Kmart is currently selling this toy for $25 (whereas Optimus Prime first appeared at Uncle Petes for $29.99 (at least here in NSW)), I'd say that Ultra Magnus offers superior value for money. Even at the same price, there's more paint apps and the extra weapon - okay, the mould itself isn't the greatest Deluxe, but it gives you a bit more bang for your buck than Optimus Prime. I felt ripped off with Optimus Prime, but not with Ultra Magnus. If this thread had a poll, I would vote "Yes".

Links to pics:
http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-...me+Robot+2.jpg
http://theplasticvault.files.wordpre...pg?w=604&h=453

That FOC Prime look worlds better Why can't Hasbro do something like this?

Because then the toy would exceed the Deluxe price point. These toys need to be affordable for kids/parents to buy as they are the primary target market for them. I know that recent toys have been getting smaller with less paint apps and parts, giving us less value for money, and I'm not defending that, but to be fair to Hasbro putting that level of paint apps on a toy would go the other way and drive the price up.

[GoktimusPrime]

Just figured out how to combine the sword with the rifle (the instructions don't mention it, but it's mentioned and pictured on the back of the card). Looks pretty awesome and actually feels more stable than I expected.

[mknell]

Reiterating what Jim_jim said in post #1, it's amazing what a new paint job can do to improve a mould! The colours are nice and vibrant, predominantly blue and red with brilliant white accents that look way better than Optimus Prime's Hasblo Grey. And the navy blue looks a lot nicer than the lighter blue on Optimus Prime. Ultra Magnus has more paint apps than Optimus Prime -- things like the head lights, sides of the legs, tips of the shoulder cylinders, toes and tummy all have additional paint apps that Optimus Prime never did. Additionally he comes with a massive sword that is comprised of three interlocking parts and three colours - gunmetal grey, silver and red. The sword splits into three parts, with the handle becoming a pistol. Not sure what the other two panels do though... He still comes with the same gun as Optimus Prime, though the G1 fanboy in me wishes that gun were white. The new head looks really nice - blue helmet, white face and antennae and red eyes. Red for the eyes seems an unusual choice IMO. On one hand I'm kinda glad they're not blue, because the red does contrast better against the blue head (blue eyes would "blend" too much, which was the problem on Optimus Prime). But I personally would've preferred yellow eyes (much like G1 Ultra Magnus' box art ).

While this toy still obviously carries over the same limitations/flaws as the Optimus Prime mould (the most aggravating for me is how the mid section doesn't lock in tightly), Ultra Magnus does offer a much nicer looking colour scheme. Coupled with the additional sword and that Kmart is currently selling this toy for $25 (whereas Optimus Prime first appeared at Uncle Petes for $29.99 (at least here in NSW)), I'd say that Ultra Magnus offers superior value for money. Even at the same price, there's more paint apps and the extra weapon - okay, the mould itself isn't the greatest Deluxe, but it gives you a bit more bang for your buck than Optimus Prime. I felt ripped off with Optimus Prime, but not with Ultra Magnus. If this thread had a poll, I would vote "Yes".

Links to pics:
http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-...me+Robot+2.jpg
http://theplasticvault.files.wordpre...pg?w=604&h=453



Because then the toy would exceed the Deluxe price point. These toys need to be affordable for kids/parents to buy as they are the primary target market for them. I know that recent toys have been getting smaller with less paint apps and parts, giving us less value for money, and I'm not defending that, but to be fair to Hasbro putting that level of paint apps on a toy would go the other way and drive the price up.

I was just aying around with him ans his G1 gun fits in his habds and the side hols in alt mode nicely

[GoktimusPrime]

I was just aying around with him ans his G1 gun fits in his habds and the side hols in alt mode nicely

^Like The joys of the 5mm post!

I tried to customise a Destroyer Build on FoC to make it look as much like the FoC toy as possible. This was as close as I could get given the limited colour options. There are darker blues, but then either his bottom or top half would be red... I just made him as blue as possible.

[Mythirax]

^Like The joys of the 5mm post!

I tried to customise a Destroyer Build on FoC to make it look as much like the FoC toy as possible. This was as close as I could get given the limited colour options. There are darker blues, but then either his bottom or top half would be red... I just made him as blue as possible.

You actually did a pretty good job there man.