Toy Review - Siege Ultra Magnus

[GoktimusPrime]

I get where you are coming from Gok, but even Takara engineers have limits to their magic.

Not without making MP prices look like spare change anyway.
Nah, I get it. And I voted "Yes" in the poll as to this toy being worth its price.

I don't think the engineering is worse than CW Ultra Magnus, but just different because it's aiming to achieve something else. Both are great for different reasons - and I plan on keeping both and consider them separate individuals who represent the same identity; i.e. CW Ultra Magnus = Minimus Ambus, Siege UM is someone else. I actually now regard all of my Ultra Magni as as separate individuals, only my G1 UM is the original person.

[SharkyMcShark]

I am really really keen for this figure.

This looks like it's being done at a higher level than the POTP Leader class figures.

If this is to be the gimmick for the leader class for the next little while (power up armour) then long live it, I say.

The only flaw I can see going in is that the feet don't sit horizontally flush in vehicle mode.

[Bemblebuu]

The Siege line is a nice turnaround after Cyberverse. I'm really liking the G1 Cybertronian aesthetic, and most of the figures look pretty darn cool.

Ultra Magnus looks great too...price is a bit iffy though but if I see him for $80 or there abouts, I may be forced to get him.

[Tha_Phantom]

Ultra Magnus looks great too...price is a bit iffy though but if I see him for $80 or there abouts, I may be forced to get him.

Oh I know I "overpaid" at the $100 mark, but I wanted this figure as soon as I saw it, so was willing to pay a bit extra to just have him.
I'm sure you'll be able to pick one up for $90 or less. One person reported seeing the Siege leaders for $79 at Toyworld Wauchope.

[GoktimusPrime]

Overpaid? $100 is the standard rate for a Leader Class toy. Obviously cheaper is better but I don't think that $100 for a Leader Class toy is bad by AU RRP standards. And for a small independent store like HobbyCo, their prices have gone down since last year (re: their initial prices for POTP).

Plus it means you have it now instead of having to spend time (and cost of transport) hunting it down later. Or go with some cheap online store with the risk of it delivering 7 months later or never at all.

[Tha_Phantom]

Overpaid? $100 is the standard rate for a Leader Class toy.

For some reason I thought it was $90. I don't care personally anyhow, I'm just happy to have it.

[bowspearer]

This guy seems like a bit of a step down as compared to Optimus Prime. The engineering on the cab is sub par compared to even Classics Ultra Magnus, the cab has the same problem as CR God Magnus (the figure requires the trailer to hide the kibble and make the cab completely work as a cab) - though to be fair, not as bad as CR God Magnus - and it can't hold any cars in the trailer.

He's definitely one of the few let downs for me in the line atm.

[GoktimusPrime]

Okay, finally got this figure for myself and I'm enjoying a whole lot. The Siege UM that I first saw was mistransformed by its owner leaving a gap in the top deck that I thought was a flaw of the toy, but having transformed it correctly myself I can see that there is no gap. To be honest, most of the drawbacks of this toy are pretty understandable and easily forgivable.
e.g. Ultra Magnus' armour head is not concealed but rather dangles from the trailer ceiling, but honestly there's not much else you can do the cover it up. I prefer to just spin it 180° to cover the face. It's not nearly as bad as Energon Ironhide whose head sits atop the vehicle for no apparent reason and you know that they really could've easily done something to conceal it.

There's just one flaw in this toy that I think could've been avoided or done better, and that's the angle of the feet on the armoured robot mode. The feet tilt inwards which looks fine when the robot has its feet apart at just the right width, but otherwise it looks weird, especially if the robot is just standing normally with the legs together. It also makes the rear of the trailer look weird. The feet are able to tilt inwards but not outwards so it cannot be corrected. They should've either given the feet the ability to tilt outwards (enough to straighten them) or just hard mould them in a neutral straight position. The thing is, the inner cab robot has full ankle tilts. I would've preferred to see the armoured robot given better ankle tilts and sacrificed the ankle tilt on the cab robot.

I'm not a fan of the battle damage so I tried to remove it. Managed to get most of it off. Be careful with the red tummy panel as it is white plastic that's painted red. I accidentally faded a small portion of the panel (which isn't visible in robot mode and only forms part of the top deck in truck mode, so it's not devastating) despite being careful. Might be best to cover it with masking tape.

PICS

Armoured robot mode


See how silly the feet look when you don't have the legs apart at exactly the right width?


While the ankle tilt on the cab robot is nice, I could've done without if it meant giving better ankle tilts to the armour.




Truck cab


Rear view - like a Cosplayer


Truck mode - upper deck


Front view


Rear view - again, not a fan of the permanently inward tilting feet


After attempting to strip off the battle damage decos




Cleaned up cab robot


G1 comparison




Ah, the joys of the 5mm gun post