Toy Review - ULTRA MAGNUS (Studio Series)

[GoktimusPrime]

ULTRA MAGNUS
Series - Generations
Sub-line - Studio Series (The Transformers: The Movie)
Size/class - Commander
New/remould/redeco - New
Wave - 1
Released here - October 2023
Approximate Retail Price - $180
Approximate Size - 24.5cm
Allegiance - Autobot
Alt-mode - Freightliner FL86 car carrier truck
Main Features/Gimmicks - trailer can hold cars, self-opening chest doors, Matrix chest cavity, weapon hard-points for blast effects, detachable cab
Main Colours - bleu, blanc, rouge
Main Accessories - laser rifle, shuttle bridge gun, x2 missile launchers, x2 missiles, blast effects, Matrix of Leadership, backdrop











































Pros

• This is a Poor Man's Masterpiece. Gives you much of the awesomeness of MP Ultra Magnus at a cheaper price.

• Much like MP Ultra Magnus, this is a cartoon-like G1 Ultra Magnus toy which sacrifices having an inner robot to be a more cartoon-like singular figure that transforms without needing to partsform or remove anything (other than weapons).

• Buttocks panel is much proportionately smaller than MP Ultra Magnus'. Whereas MP UM's butt panel drops ends about midway up the upper legs, SS86 UM's butt panel ends at the pubic basin; i.e. same as the base of the crotch. So it really just helps to form the back of the waist section and doesn't protrude beyond that. It would actually look bad if it were any shorter, so HasTak have finally been able to achieve a "Goldilocks" length here; not too short, not too long.

• The chest doors are spring-loaded, allowing them to automatically pop open and stay open when you lift up the blue sternum cover.

• The transformation is fundamentally much like MP Ultra Magnus, although with a few neat interesting twists. Note: I recommend opening the back panel first before flipping out the front wheels (you can push them out from behind).

• Truck mode is in scale, allowing the trailer to potentially hold a higher number of cars. This number will vary depending on the size of the vehicles. I've managed to squeeze in four Deluxe Class cars, and even that's a tight fit. He can more comfortably hold 2 or 3 Deluxe cars, or more Legends/Scout or Core size vehicles. Also, the sizes of Deluxe cars varies wildly... he wouldn't be able to fit more than 2 pre-2011 Deluxe cars. But still, this Ultra Magnus has a pretty big car carrying capcity, rivalled only by G1 and MP Ultra Magni.

• The light piping in the eyes works really well.

• Just like MP Ultra Magnus, the chest features transparent red windows which allows you to see the Matrix inside his chest.

• Incredibly well balanced toy. You can see in one of my photos that I've got him performing a fairly low side-kick. This is harder to achieve on a toy than high kicks, because with high kicks, the rocked back upper body acts as a counterweight to balance the kicking leg. Low kicks are harder to do because there is less counterbalancing, instead relying more on the toy's naturally centred balanced. I cannot think of any other Transformer toy that is as well balanced as this figure, because try as I might, I've never been able to achieve such a low kick on a Transformer (the reason why I always try this is because lower kicks are more realistic in actual fights).

• The silver antennae, smoke stacks and fuel tanks are now all white, and the bumper is red; all accurate to the cartoon model.

Cons

• This is a Poor Man's Ultra Magnus. If you already have MP Ultra Magnus then, and if you're already happy with either Combiner Wars and/or War for Cybertron Ultra Magnus, then there may be less incentive for you to get this toy.

• Robot mode is out of scale, being even taller than the Studio Series 86 Dinobots. This is because this toy has prioritised the scale of the truck mode, especially maximising the car-carrying capacity of the trailer. The trade-off is a larger robot mode. If robot mode scale is more important to you, then consider sticking with Combiner Wars or WFC Ultra Magnus.

• Another trade-off with the larger trailer; the shoulder width is massive. Makes this Ultra Magnus look like he's on steroids.

• I'm not a fan of the cartoon-accurate whites replacing silver/chrome; this is something that I think MP Ultra Magnus did better with. Having said that, I'm not critical about this decision as I understand that HasTak are trying to do something more different with this toy.

Overall
Recommended if you want a CHUG Ultra Magnus that is better scaled in vehicle mode. But WFC Ultra Magni are better for robot mode scale, and MP Ultra Magnus is just a better figure overall for a cartoon-like G1 Ultra Magnus figure. Visually speaking, the main improvement that SS86 UM has over MP is the smaller buttocks panel, but MP Ultra Magnus does a lot more better than this toy (as it should, given that it's a dearer toy). This toy is understandably not going to be for everyone, and it's good that HasTak have gone to make him a Commander Class figure (which are produced in lower volumes than Leaders).