Toy Review - Kingdom Autobot Ark

[Tha_Phantom]

Series - War For Cybertron
Sub-line - Kingdom
Size/class - Titan
New/remould/redeco - New
Wave - 1
Released here - Online only, July 2021
Approximate Retail Price - $300
Approximate Size - 48cm
Allegiance - Autobot
Alt-mode - Ark / Teletraan-1 (Mainframe)
Main Features/Gimmicks - landing gear, deployable ramp
Main Colours - light orange
Main Accessories - Autobot Mainframe, Sky Spy, 2 golden discs, teeny tiny Optimus Prime, 6x blast effects

Unfortunately I didn't have time to take pics of this a couple of weeks ago as I was in the middle of a move, but now that's out of the way here we go!


The Ark mode is very impressive in person and really makes me want to just fly it around the room. I'd have loved to have had this as a kid!
There's been some controversy online about it being light yellow but that's just due to photography, similar to Earthrise Sunstreaker. In hand it is definitely closer to orange.
For the most part I think they've done wonderful here, but I'd have appreciated the battle damage to continue underneath the front of the spaceship or just not have it at all.


Whilst it's not a full-on playset as some wanted, you do get a bit of that when you lift up the front area. Mainframe turns into a "bridge" that you can plug the little Optimus Prime that comes with Ark (as well as Centurion Drone) into.
You can also plug in the Galvatron and Rodimus figures that came with Unicron too - although this makes zero sense and they don't plug in as well as the Optimus mould does.
If you remove Mainframe you can sit a core class in the available space to pilot the Ark.


Lastly, you can press a button to deploy the ramp at the back of the Ark. There's not really much you can do with it as there is no way to plug any figures into it, but it's there.


Getting it into robot mode isn't very hard at all. I do absolutely love the aesthetic here and the head sculpt.
Everything and I mean everything is nice and ratcheted. Holding poses isn't difficult at all, nor is it hard to hold up a core class in his hand. Hey, a wait minute....


Mainframe's "bridge" mode kind of reminds me of G1 Cerebros's "communications room" in how lazy it looks outside of where it plugs into, but hey it's not the main alt mode either.


I do like that it can store both Sky Spy...


...and the two golden discs so you don't have to set them to the side.


Mainframe's transformation is little bit counter-intuitive but not too bad. A lot of kibble ends up on his back and arms, limiting articulation somewhat.
Although I've found that leaving his arm kibble out to the sides helps, but then it doesn't look as nice. So pick your poison.


And here is that main alt mode, AKA Teletraan-1! It's very much meant to be viewed from the front-only as the back is all hollow, but I appreciate what they've done here combining two obscure elements from G1 into the one toy.

All up, I'm very happy with this purchase and it is definitely one of my favourite figures of 2021.
If I have to critique some other things it would be that it can be difficult to get everything to line up when transforming into Ark mode - difficult but not impossible.
Also there are two panels underneath the front of the Ark that tend to pop off easily when you lift the front section up.

[GoktimusPrime]

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PROS

• It's the Ark that transforms into the Last Autobot, with Teletraan-1 that transforms into Mainframe, with Sky Spy and the Golden Disks. And did I mention Vector freaking Sigma?

• Canopy opens to reveal the Ark's bridge... with mini Teletraan-1s inside, as well as a tiny Vector Sigma with the Key inside.

• The 1977 Sounds of Earth Golden Disk looks pretty awesome with decoes on both front and rear sides.

• Durable plastic quality.

• Mainframe/Teletraan-1 isn't essential to the formation of the Ark, so you can have him in Teletraan-1 mode to simultaneously play the inside and outside of the Ark.

NEUTRAL

• I find that Teletraan-1 scales best with Robot Masters (see pic above). I tried using a Voyager, Deluxe and Core Class Optimus Prime toys, but they were either too big or too small. A Scout/Legends Class figure works best.

• I personally like the sculpted cannon turrets on the hull, although they are technically not G1-accurate, but rather something that looks more inspired by ships from Beast Wars. This may be a pro or con depending on how fussed you are about G1-accuracy.

• For sticklers of G1-accuracy, The Last Autobot and Mainframe's colours are totally non-accurate. Obviously they're both orange to cater for the colours of the Ark and Teletraan-1. I personally think they made the right choice because the alternative is a blue Ark with a red Teletraan-1.

CONS

• Transforming it to Ark mode can be a frustratingly fiddly whack-a-mole game to get all the panels to align and connect properly.

• There are two small panels towards the bow that are prone to falling off. They are easily re-attachable, but they are also annoying.

• For some strange reason, the Vok disk has Vok symbols on one side by the Sounds of Earth record side on the other. What? Why?

• Some of the grey paint apps on mine aren't applied properly (they're pre-scratched). I expect better QC on such an expensive toy.

• The official transformation for Mainframe has his panels sitting on the back of his forearms, which interfere with his back kibble, severely restricting poseability and movement. Now there is a way to get around this by mistransforming the panels, as can be seen in tha_phantom's photos; but the official transformation (as seen in my pics) restricts arm movement.

OVERALL
Objectively speaking, I find this to be the weakest of the Titans. Metroplex, Omega Supreme and Scorponok are much better toys at this price point, and yes, I even prefer Fortress Maximus even though it's an iffy retool of Metroplex. The other Titans don't require the whack-a-mole panel aligning, nor do they have any small panels that pop off if I blink at them wrongly. Furthermore, HasTak had had far more creative liberty than with any other Titan since the robot mode isn't trying to be completely G1 accurate. Let's face it, the only thing that's G1-accurate about the Last Autobot is the head sculpt. Which is fine, I get why it's the way it is. Yeah, Fort Max has limitations, but it's because it's a reverse-engineered Metroplex trying to look like Fortress Maximus; sure, they should've just made Fort Max an original mould, but given its imposed limits, I think they did well with Fort Max. Whereas I think they've done an okay but not particularly exceptional job with the Ark.

I would recommend this toy if you want to have a massive Ark toy. Hopefully yours will have better QC than mine, but I don't think that this toy is an absolute "must have." Until I sell my spare Ark next month, in which case... BUY IT NAO!

[1AZRAEL1]

I feel the arm kibble of Mainframe sticking out the side is not too bad. Classics Prime had the same, and I still have so much love for that mold. I wonder if they'll release a Mainframe in correct AM colours as a Selects down the line, I'd buy it lol

[Deano85]

The Ark will be my first Titan class figure. I wasn't really into the city bots. Having such an iconic Transformers vehicle in the collection will be amazing

[Krayt]

.... as well as a tiny Vector Sigma with the Key inside.

Ah..... you realise it’s just a bubble from the moulding process??

[Deano85]

Got my Ark this week. He has been alot of fun so far. Managed to get him back into Ark mode, just try and remember which way the arms and legs rotate and you shouldn't have any trouble.

[Sutton]

Picked him up today and he's.....fine.

There's nothing really wrong with him, but he feels a little uninspired and like he needed a few more brainstorming sessions in the design stage. Almost all Titans (bar Omega) have 3 modes, and they all have 'playset' modes, so this guy not including one feels like a real strange missed opportunity. And it's right there in the transformation too - the way he folds out and opens up during the transformation seems like it wouldn't have been too hard to mold in some more interior detailing for at least a token playset attempt (it couldn't be worse than Fort Max...)

And it's strange marketing choice too - in a year where Hasbro has released some really decent core-class G1 characters that are a great fit for playsets and battlestations, this guy doesn't really do it besides a token boarding ramp and hidden pockets. For what he is - a Titan that turns into a pretty good Ark - I don't have any major complaints. Mine transforms and poses well, no QC issues, and the presence on the shelf in either mode is pretty good. Although Mainframe is obviously the star of the show.


But only including 2 blast effects for four engines though? Seriously...?


My only way of explaining some of the weird design choices is that they're going to extensively retool him in to the Nemesis - the basic skeleton is there to make it work - and implementing a more elaborate base mode might have prevented that.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

Picked him up today and he's.....fine.

There's nothing really wrong with him, but he feels a little uninspired and like he needed a few more brainstorming sessions in the design stage.

I finally got mine from TakTom, and I agree with Sutton's opinion on the Ark very closely.

It's not terrible, but it certainly isn't on the same level as the other titans by a long shot. It certainly has some very odd choices made through design. As mentioned by others, these little panels when you need to open the "bridge" area always popping off, why where they designed to work they way they do? It's truly baffling. The cannons and the way they are moulded look kind of like they were initially going to have some kind of articulation to them, but they don't. The head being revealed in the second step of transformation and having to essentially transform the torso from ship to robot to access the bridge area. These little things make me think that the Ark was initially a much more exciting project, but was significantly scaled back somewhere along the lines.

Unprofessional design opinion time:
If I were to make an Ark and Last Autobot figure, I would make sure the pace ship mode allowed easy access to the cockpit area for inserting the teeny tiny figures that are obviously supposed to go there. I would add more playability to the ship mode as well, places to stash little figures, more ramps, heck the rear ramp doesn't even have the old base connection tabs on it. It looks like his legs have heaps of space in them and the calf panels (and under-forearm panels) all kind of auto move with the legs, which is nice and all, but a tad excessive when compared to the rest of the robot.
When it is in Ark mode, you have the same playability as a deluxe jet character. I.e, landing gear and swooshing it around. Compare that to Sky Lynx for example, who has ramps all over the place, you can shove a micromaster in the cat's reactor linkage, and he has a base mode. Admittedly the transformation is a lot simpler, buuut, the Ark is a Titan we be talking here, the creme de la creme.

Robot mode is fine. Looks ok, head sculpt is great and the crotch has a semi autobot symbol on it too. It does siffer from ugly hips though. I(m not a big fan of skinny waists with hip joints sticking out the side like this, but I taking into account the way it transforms, I can see why. The hands are pretty terrible though. Like, the box has him holding Megatron and the toy ha this ridiculously long thumb which just looks ugly, considering the simple nature of the whole package, some better articulation on his HUGE hands would've been nice.

I like Mainframe, Teletraan 1 and the accessories. In fact, I would go as far as saying, I would not have bought the ark if they were not included. I like the way the read outs on teletraan work for the Ark mode and looking at them through the windows, they become a very different colour.

I really think the Ark was designed to be a playset, space ship and robot before and was cut back somewhere. Probably in the design stage.

It's all right, but not as exciting as any of the either Titans by any means. Which irritates me, since as a Taktom mall exclusive, it meant no discount.

Don't pay full price

[Nonalyth]

Picked this up cheap on Amazon, just $99.

Feel like I still paid to much. The QC is non-existent and the design is terrible. With a figure this size you'd think they could have invested in big, sturdy clips and tabs to hold everything together but I guess that budget went to a transforming Teltraan 1 nobody asked for, along with the accessory budget.

In robot mode the Ark has nothing to do, since it's not packaged with any weapons. The transformation feels... unfinished. Big flaps of plastic hang off the limbs and gaps are plentiful.

The main draw of the figure, the alt mode, doesn't fit together properly on my figure (which is apparently common). So far no amount of fiddling or massaging has convinced it to lock solidly. A titan with an alt-mode that isn't just some version of a robot sitting down would have been a novelty, but it can't even do that right (and again, gaps but everyone knows this by now.

Mainframe is crap. A kibbly mess that tripple changes between nostalgia, a gimped robot and nothing that barely clings together in any mode. Simply having the audacity to rotate a limb causes it to pop off its mushroom peg, and the entire thing feels like the cheapest of dollar store plastic. The only positive is it lets you store the few unwanted accessories this disaster comes with, including not one but two golden disks and a little satellite thing that's probably important to somebody.

This would be a reasonable kit if the quality was up to snuff, but as it stands I wouldn't recommend it.

[GoktimusPrime]

Picked up Dramatic Capture Series Mainframe in Shanghai. Nice to have a G1-accurate CHUG Mainframe toy, and aside from the blue feet, none of Mainframe's colours stand out in Teletraan-1 mode.




TBH, I picked the set up for Mainframe. I've already sold off the Optimus Prime and I'll be keeping Jazz (but selling off my original SS86 Jazz).
As it comes in a limited exclusive three pack, I can't say that I would recommend this set unless you're crazy enough to take the risk of selling off the unwanted bots. I think it's a more reasonable risk if, like me, Mainframe is the reason for wanting the set, as Optimus Prime and Jazz are more popular characters and should be easier to offload. Obviously, if you're happy to own all three figures then it's a no brainer.