Toy Review - Titans Return Fortress Maximus

[Krayt]

I get the reference, but it doesn't make sense to me. Imagine if Combiner Wars Swindle was called "Rollbar" as a homage to RiD, but still looked like Swindle and the rest of the Combaticons kept their G1 names. JMO

It would be like taking a heroic character failing a simple translation by warping it's classic and well known personality into your own personal fan fiction, just coz that's what a couple of badly edited comics have done in recent times

[Fungal Infection]

Anyone know where the gun he's holding on the box art, is located??

[Krayt]

Anyone know where the gun he's holding on the box art, is located??

In the mind of the artist.....

[VERT]

In the mind of the artist.....

LOL

[Megatran]

(It's Titans Return)

[Krayt]

(It's Titans Return)

Stupid running changes! You think I spent time reading the box? It got hidden from the wife in record time!

Plus I poured over the initial sdcc pics or leak or whatever it was that called it Titan wars... So that's stuck in the Ol' memory banks

[Handsprime]

Anyone know where the gun he's holding on the box art, is located??

Yeah it seems old how he's holding a gun in the art, but he doesn't include on at all.
And based on older images of him, I don't think he had a gun in the first place. Apparently you can take out the cannons in his legs, but I want a giant gun to shoot all the lil decepticons trying to dismantle him

UPDATE: Apparently there is a gun that can be used by Cerebros. It's the gun that the Titan masters can use in City mode.

[Megatran]

Is Generations (Titan class) Metroplex still the 'Biggest Autobot Ever'? That is, tallest figure? It's hard to tell from this pic.

[Handsprime]

Is Generations (Titan class) Metroplex still the 'Biggest Autobot Ever'? That is, tallest figure? It's hard to tell from this pic.

Fort max is slightly taller (from head to feet)

[Sutton]

So opened him up today, and got to say he's a bit disappointing, and not just in the ways that you can see in the pictures.

The build quality doesn't seem as high as Metroplex for starters. Getting Cerebros into his 'tower slot' for the alt modes is a bit frustrating, and both alt modes look quite incomplete without him in there, meaning opportunity to have Cerebros himself out on display is a bit limited.

The feet/toes are difficult to lock in place in alt mode, and don't sit flush with the floor - that means they spend a lot of time not properly locked into place hanging at an odd angle. For that reason alone, the fan-made G1 Fortress Mode is actually more secure once you set it up nicely.

There's also no denying that both alt modes are a robot lying down, or a robot lying down doing the splits. The shared engineering between Metroplex and Fort is also a little odd - the legs retain the ability to splay open like on Metroplex, but for no purpose whatsoever (except for the marginally more satisfying fan mode). Also, the right arm still has the ratched hinge for it to become the tower behind Metro's helicopter pad. It has no function here at all (can't even fan mode it!). Seems like a waste of materials that could have been better used to have the legs transform more.

Another annoying thing is that Fort's hands are pinned this time. Some might see that as an improvement, but it was quite useful being able to easily remove Metro's hands and therefore improve the look of City mode. At least Fort's are coloured the same as the arms and blend better.

As it is, I can only recommend Fort Max for completist CHUG fans. I wouldn't recommend it as a fun toy for kids either, which Metroplex was. Here's hoping that Hasbro does a better job on Trypticon!