Toy Review - TFPrime Voyager Ultra Magnus

[griffin]

(Please post photos, comments or even a fully comprehensive review - these are just brief details to start you off)

Series - Transformers Prime
Sub-line - Robots in Disguise
Size/class - Voyager
Wave - 4
New/remould/redeco - New
Released here - not yet (globally September 2012)
Approximate Retail Price - $40-50 (US$20-25 in America)
Approximate Size - 17cm
Allegiance - Autobot
Alt-mode - Truck
Main Features/Gimmicks - light up flip weapon
Main Colours - blue, grey, black, red
Main Accessories - LED weapon/ladder, missile/gun

[BigTransformerTrev]

I found Ultra Magnus to have a much more intuitive transformation sequence than Thundertron, if a somewhat uglier alt-mode. The toy manages to make you think but is certainly doable without the instruction manual, which is the kind I like in my Transformers (too easy = boring, too hard and/or fiddly = not worth the time).

I like my Ultra Magnus toys to be some form of car carrier such as G1 and RID (a much undersold figure in my opinion), but having him as something more than a recoloured Optimus Trailer Cab is at least acceptable. It's a blockly and ungainly flat-bed truck with a bunged on armament on the back, but it's ok.

He has his token stems coming out from the tops of his shoulders, though they are very tiny and spiky. He comes with a missile that can be attached in various places, personally I put it in his shoulder aka G1, and it would have been nice if he came with a second one to complete the effect.

His hammer, while being a nice callback to Animated Ultra Magnus, looks stupid in gun mode - frankly I hate pretty much all the guns in TFP and DOTM that look like big lumps unless unfolded. Unless you want to bluetack them in place and run the little battery down, it takes away from the quality of them on display in my opinion.

Worth getting? Well, he's not a very big Voyager (remember when they used to be huge?) but if you can get him cheap (3 pack from BBTS with Thundertron & Skyquake) then he's worth a few bucks. Certainly worth getting over the Prime Beast Hunters Magnus, who may look slightly better in robot mode looks balls in vehicle mode, as a light blue version of TFP Prime.

[GoktimusPrime]

Okay, compared to other TFPRiD Voyagers, this toy is actually quite good. Compared to Voyagers from most other TF series, it's fairly mediocre. It's a pretty 'featherweight' Voyager. The transformation is much like that of the TFPRiD Vehicons - reasonably intuitive, but not terribly flash and just lacking bulk.

The transformation is pretty simple -- he effectively gets down on his hands and knees and transforms into a truck. :/ The front half of the vehicle isn't so bad, as there's a bunch of kibble to make it look nice. The transparent windows are a nice touch too. The main weakness of the vehicle mode is in the back, where there doesn't seem to be enough happening to conceal the back of the robot legs. It's not bad - there are panels that cover it up from the sides, but it's just quite visible from above. So not terrible, but not great either. The way that the weapon attaches to the vehicle is ungainly and just fails to firmly attach. At best it just kinda precariously sits there; good enough for a static display, but you gotta be heaps careful during play.

In robot mode the gun handle's thickness makes it a bit tricky to get Ultra Magnus to hold it (you kinda feel like you might break something). The hammer mode's handle's not much better either. On the plus side, the LED gimmick works reasonably well on the hammer, and furthermore it actually has a locking mechanism to keep the hammer in position! (I have no idea why they couldn't have done this back in 2011 w/ some of the Mech Tech melee weapons ).

The transparent blue parts are mostly silly looking and detract from the overall look of the toy; and like other TFPRiD/Cyberverse figures with this gimmick, utterly fails to work. e.g. there's a small transparent window on the roof that's meant to be aligned with the light bulb... but of course when you transform the weapon to switch the light on, the bulb becomes repositioned and is no longer situated above that window!! There's also a small window on the chest that's meant to work in the same way, and also fails in the same way. Seriously... do they even test these things?

The two big Autobot logos on the side as well as a small one on the chest are a nice touch. The toy is very blue and really needs more reds to break it up. They put a big red roof on the cab to try to do this, but it just looks weird instead. It would've been better if they used the reds more sparingly in different spots around the toy (and more similar to the show model).

By the looks of things, the BH Voyager - while being a retool/redeco of TFPRiD Optimus Prime - may very well be the better looking and more 'screen-accurate' version of Ultra Magnus. The main advantage of this toy is that it's a completely new and unique mould/design and not just a redeco. :/

[BigTransformerTrev]

Okay, compared to other TFPRiD Voyagers, this toy is actually quite good. Compared to Voyagers from most other TF series, it's fairly mediocre.

By the looks of things, the BH Voyager - while being a retool/redeco of TFPRiD Optimus Prime - may very well be the better looking and more 'screen-accurate' version of Ultra Magnus. The main advantage of this toy is that it's a completely new and unique mould/design and not just a redeco. :/

Yep, these two sentiments sum up the figure perfectly really