Quote Originally Posted by Omega Metro View Post
I have a Fortress Maximus but think its a big pile of garbage because its a brick.
It's a G1 toy, what did you expect? Transformers as articulated action figures didn't come along until mid-late G2, and wasn't standardised until Beast Wars.

Quote Originally Posted by Omega Metro View Post
But I still have it in my collection because I 'need' a Cityformer. Metroplex on the other hand is my 'must have' (can't be any worse than a 30 year old brick) due to modern looks and engineering.

It's superior in my eyes cos it new and modern.
Remember that when comparing a modern toy with an older one, one needs to evaluate them in context of the time that the toy was originally created/released. I fail to see the logic of comparing old school designed toys with modern day standards.

When looking at older toys, I think it's pertinent to examine them in the context of their day. How many G1 toys did you honestly look at - at the time of their initial release - hold it in your hands and think, "Gee this is an utter failure of a toy!" I don't know about you, but when I was collecting G1 during the 1980s/90s, for the most part I would get a new toy and thought it was just excellent! By G1 standards as an action figure Fortress Maximus was pretty ordinary, I'll give you that. Of all the 1987 Headmasters, Fort Max has the most simplistic transformation into his modes. Scorponok and the Headmaster Horrorcons were much better designed triple-changing Headmasters. So compared to them, Fort Max is the least impressive in terms of transformation schemes, but not necessarily terrible per se. But of course, another big appeal of Fortress Maximus is the size -- and not just being big for big's sake; more than just an action figure, Fortress Maximus is a playset for other Transformers. And whereas 1986's Metroplex was a playset for the smaller carded toys, Fort Max was a playset for both the smaller carded toys _and_ their larger boxed cousins! Throw in the double Headmasters gimmick and pow... one BIG and impressive action figure X playset!

Will Generations Metroplex be better engineered than Fortress Maximus? Undoubtedly. But will it be better engineered in relative terms? Well... that's something that remains to be seen (and none of us can really accurately judge until the toy comes out). But IMO if we are to compare these toys, Fortress Maximus should be evaluated by 1987 standards whereas Generations Metroplex ought to be evaluated by 2013 standards. As griffin said, Gen. Metroplex has an additional twenty six years worth of advances in toy engineering behind it! We _should_ have higher standards for this toy than we would for Fortress Maximus! Fortress Maximus is the product of 3 years' worth of toy engineering success... Generations Metroplex will be the product of 30 years' worth of toy engineering success.