JP/HK Masterpiece Ultra Magnus coming to ToysRUs Australia

[Magnus]

I get my TFs from eBay - current prices are close to $300 on preorder listings, so I'd be paying close to that anyway unless there's an auction or an eBay sale. I don't know if I'd be willing to wait, but the prospect of translated documentation (by an Ozformers member, no less!) makes this release enticing.

Where's the Devastator GIF? Hell no.

You mean this one?

[Megatran]

Is the bio booklet purely a direct translation from Japanese to English? Why doesn't Hasbro just use Google translation?













only kidding

Good work Gok

[AJ_Prime]

That's awesome news, well done Gok. Must've been exciting to work with them! Yet difficult at the same time to maintain the confidentiality agreement.

Very nice to see the big guy released in Oz. Did you ever consider throwing in a reference to the Tyrest Accord?

[Joshy]

If you are just after Magnus without extras, hlj has it on pre order and will be delivered under $200, you also only pay when they have it in stock.

Awesome thanks, is the extra just the collector coin?

[GoktimusPrime]

That was fast! I was told that this toy was being released by Hasbro HK in December, but didn't expect that it would already be in TRU AU databases so soon! Thanks for all the kind comments, everyone. It was certainly a labour of love because I fell ill with a stomach bug straight after meeting up with Hasbro, but soldiered on because there was a tight deadline to stick to.

My work included:
* Translating and interpreting the booklet.
* Redoing the "History of Ultra Magnus" page. I replaced some of the Takara exclusive Ultra Magni with Hasbro ones; so it's a lot more Hasbro-centric. The first draft of the booklet didn't have my revised version though, so I'm not sure if this edit made it to the final print. I hope so.
* Redoing the bio on the booklet (sorry, they didn't get me to do the tech specs card bio; I suspect that will still be left in Japanese). The Japanese version is very Japanocentric (e.g. reference to Scramble City), which I removed and re-wrote from a more Hasbro/Anglo-centric continuity POV. I used Ultra Magnus' Marvel TF Universe profile and original G1 tech specs as my reference points.

Easter Eggs
* The 'History of Ultra Magnus' page has 'in constantia victoria' written on it, which is Latin for "Consistency is victory," Ultra Magnus' motto.
* The Hasbro reps that I spoke with mentioned that they didn't think that the Japanese name for Ultra Magnus' gun, "Super Blaster Gun," was very good. However, the Hasbro name isn't much better ("Laser Gun"). So I've given a new name. One line from the bio reads, "Wields an Ambus Class laser gun in robot mode." For the purists, I've left it as just "laser gun" in the toy contents page. I explained the reference to Hasbro and asked if it was okay, and they approved.

Do you get paid in Masterpieces for the translation?

Hasbro gave me $395 worth of toys for free and have said that I'll be getting an MP Magnus too. Although it was a verbal promise, so I'm not cancelling my Japanese preorder just yet. Also cos I'm impatient. I'm still gonna get the TakaraTOMY version first, then if Hasbro follows through and gives me the Hasbro one, I'll keep that and sell my TakTOM version.

So this will be a direct import of MP-22 Ultra Magnus except for the bio and instructions?

Yes.

Is anyone going to get theirs signed by Gok?

So long as you're willing to pay my appearance fee.

Excuse my ignorance but I still don't understand this Magnus.

It looks like a repaint of the MP-10 with snap on armor from the trailer section to make it look oversized compared to the MP-10? At least that's what I get from seeing the vehicle mode.

It's a completely new toy. Much like Titanium Series Ultra Magnus, there is no inner robot (although the truck can can detach). The entire thing transforms from an articulated car carrier into Ultra Magnus' armoured robot mode. The head does reveal the "inner robot" face underneath as a homage to the G1 toy, but the MP toy itself doesn't have an inner robot.

That's awesome news, well done Gok. Must've been exciting to work with them! Yet difficult at the same time to maintain the confidentiality agreement.

It's was DAMN hard! From the moment that I was offered this job I wanted to shout from the highest peaks and tell the world what was happening!

Very nice to see the big guy released in Oz. Did you ever consider throwing in a reference to the Tyrest Accord?

I did... and I also considered throwing in references to the G1 Marvel Comic, but I ultimately decided against both because I felt that it would've been a bit too fanboyish. I had to restrain myself and keep it within the confines of the G1 cartoon continuity, which is what the MP toy is intended as. The bio does draw heavily from the G1 tech specs and TFU profile, so that's your Marvel and toy continuity references there... but it's 'generic' enough that it doesn't conflict with the G1 cartoon.

Here's the cover art for the booklet btw.

[griffin]

* The 'History of Ultra Magnus' page has 'in constantia victoria' written on it, which is Latin for "Consistency is victory," Ultra Magnus' motto.

I thought it was supposed to be an English translation.

Wouldn't they let you use his motto "Consistency is Victory"?
It would have looked a lot better, particularly to the majority of Australians who don't know latin.

[GoktimusPrime]

It ought to be close enough to English to work out the meaning, even if it's something as rough as "in constant victory." It's just a small piece of text that appears on one corner of one page. Besides, I thought a lot of English speakers liked the look/sound of Latin, even if they don't necessarily understand the full meaning (much as a lot of Japanese speakers like the look/sound of English but don't really care about its meaning).

There's this image/ shirt that I've seen circulating around the net and I've also seen people wearing it IRL; so it seems pretty popular, despite having no English translation (and being grammatically incorrect. It should say PAX・PER・TYRANNIDEM).

[griffin]

The TFW2005 news page has listed Goktimus as the artist, instead of the writer (which is even what he said in the text he quoted).
And they are treating it as a rumour as well, since they didn't know that there is proof of it's listing at TRU here.
I sent a message to the news poster, so maybe they'll correct it.

[Paulbot]

It seems they are missing, and it's a little unclear from the first post, that this is the Japanese toy/packaging (like the first MP Mangus, Ghost Starscream, and Wheeljack) and not a new packaging/redecoed rerelease like the Hasbro MPs or the Asian Grimlock. Right?

[Sinnertwin]

Right.