Toy Review - Kingdom Autobot Ark

[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

[Thurmus]

I am still waiting for mine from Toybot Importz.

[GoktimusPrime]

Don't pay full price

I am still waiting for mine from Toybot Importz.

Currently $199 on Amazon w/ free shipping if you have a Prime account.

[Tha_Phantom]

I am still waiting for mine from Toybot Importz.

In other news, the sky is blue.

[Thurmus]

Won't be using them any more. I have started using Popcultcha instead of running around town trying to chase down figures so if anyone else is using them I am warning you they will probably go downhill soon.

[Sinnertwin]

In other news, the sky is blue.

Water is also wet.
The Ark is also $199 on clearance at Myer.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

I was playing with it the other night and noticed that the top of his head has lost some paint due to it rubbing on the nose of the ship in vehicle mode. I can see the transfeered paint on the inside. SO I thought, Oh, you must need to twist his head around to make it fit properly, but if I do that, the bottom of his nose scrapes on the collar.

ANyone else suffer this? What's a work around? Or have I just been transforming it wrong?

[Seraphim Prime]

I was playing with it the other night and noticed that the top of his head has lost some paint due to it rubbing on the nose of the ship in vehicle mode. I can see the transfeered paint on the inside. SO I thought, Oh, you must need to twist his head around to make it fit properly, but if I do that, the bottom of his nose scrapes on the collar.

ANyone else suffer this? What's a work around? Or have I just been transforming it wrong?

The "nosecone" compresses a bit when transforming to robot mode - I think it's just about being careful that you don't compress it before it passes the head.