Toy review - The Last Knight voyager Nitro

[griffin]

I wonder why it has a giant "1" on it right knee... as it isn't on a part of the plane mode that needs it as an identifier (like on the the wing or tail).

Curiously, the head is detachable, and the neck serves as a Titan Master port. It is generally believed (but not, to my knowledge, confirmed by Hasbro or anyone involved with the film's production) that there was intended to be a scene in The Last Knight where Nitro Zeus is decapitated and Cogman transforms into a new head to control Nitro Zeus's body,

Michael Bay was the one who told us this, at the UK premiere screening... noting that it was something he wanted to do, but ran out of time (or money, or something).

But this I didn't know...

The box art depicts a four-eyed head in line with the original KSI drone, while on-screen, Nitro Zeus had a head that greatly resembled Shockwave's. The toy seems to be a half-way point between the two, with the general shape of the KSI drone and a single eye and antennae on either side of the head.

Not surprising I guess, as there has been the occasional bit of recycling of CG bots and designs in the Transformers movies, from the second movie with a Blackout clone and a Bonecrusher clone running around to make up numbers, to the pink "Bumblebee" as Laserbeak in DOTM (with no explanation there for that choice), to Onslaught in TLK being a reuse of the LongHaul render, to even having Evac on the Transformers ride be a recoloured copy of Roadbuster (the toys were completely different, but the character art was recycled).

I suppose it means you can finally have a decent amount of Decepticons on your AOE toyshelf, if you buy a few Nitros as KSI minions for your Galvatron toy.

[GoktimusPrime]

This might interest you - Nitro transforms into an Saab JAS 39 Gripen, and "gripen" is Swedish for "the griffin."

I wonder why it has a giant "1" on it right knee... as it isn't on a part of the plane mode that needs it as an identifier (like on the the wing or tail).

Heh, I thought it was the Japanese Katakana character レ (re).

[Magnus]

Thanks for the info, Gok. I've updated the main review and opening details accordingly.

It's a little odd that Hasbro/Takara didn't try to make the toy a plane that approximated the Gripen. I could see that the toy's body looked like a stylised F-16, but I had to do some searches to try and figure out what the front of the plane was inspired by.

I haven't done it on mine, but apparently the problem tabs you pointed out can be loosened with a screwdriver so the leg goes in and out more easily.

Michael Bay was the one who told us this, at the UK premiere screening... noting that it was something he wanted to do, but ran out of time (or money, or something).

Is there a source for this? I was trying to find one so I could cite it for the review. It just seemed to be a thing that everyone was saying.

[griffin]

Is there a source for this? I was trying to find one so I could cite it for the review. It just seemed to be a thing that everyone was saying.

That live Q&A they did the day after the UK premiere... in case the direct links in the second post of this topic no longer work.

[UltraMarginal]

The jet mode is a Saab JAS 39 Gripen, only without the canards.

The Gripen doesn't have rear horizontal stabilisers either. and the intakes aren't represented on the toy. There are quite a lot of little differences.

One of the many podcasts I listen to had an interview with John Warden (I think), where he discussed not basing the design off any specific jet but more that he based it off more of a GI-Joe Aesthetic. I have no idea how successful he was with that. I'd suggest that any similarity to real world aircraft would be a coincidence due to the older GI-Joe aircraft being based off real world jets.

EDIT: wow when I typed this the previous 10 odd posts hadn't shown up. I guess now I'm just repeating Seraphim Prime

[Seraphim Prime]

EDIT: wow when I typed this the previous 10 odd posts hadn't shown up. I guess now I'm just repeating Seraphim Prime

Something about great minds and fools...

[UltraMarginal]

Something about great minds and fools...

Great Minds! Great minds! Never let people think otherwise fool!

[Deonasis]

Every since we saw Nitro's alt mode i've wanted this guy to try and paint it.. https://m.youtube.com/user/idaemon (spoilers: this is just a link to model painting not a link to Nitro painting).

[Seraphim Prime]

The jet mode is a Saab JAS 39 Gripen, only without the canards.

Thanks for the info, Gok. I've updated the main review and opening details accordingly.

It's a little odd that Hasbro/Takara didn't try to make the toy a plane that approximated the Gripen. I could see that the toy's body looked like a stylised F-16, but I had to do some searches to try and figure out what the front of the plane was inspired by.

John Warden has said that it wasn't directly inspired by any particular jet plane, but was a unique design similar to what he used to do within the GI Joe brand. Any similarity to real jets are purely coincidental.

This might interest you - Nitro transforms into an Saab JAS 39 Gripen, and "gripen" is Swedish for "the griffin."

This is still a cool fact though!

[SharkyMcShark]

I'm annoyed that this isn't getting a local release.

The figure looks great, and I do love a complex transformation.