Toy Review - Titans Return Fortress Maximus

[BigTransformerTrev]

I paid $200 for mine (through the generosity of a friend with contacts) which while expensive was a decent price all told.

I really like him and my son has loved the lights and sounds. They've done a great job of recreating a figure that resembles G1 Fort Max by reworking Generations Metroplex. That said, I think that G1 Fort Max has more cool gimmicks to him like all the blasters in the arms, waist and hands, the jail, the working lift etc. And I think Gen Metroplex makes for a cooler looking (as well as bigger looking) city.

So yeah, glad I've got him and I think he is very cool but I can't say I massively blown away. Surprised noone has postede a comparison pic in this thread yet so I'll pop one in. Will try to do a proper review during the school holidays when I have time

[Deonasis]

^I'm pretty certain bossbot was not referring to you. PM and ask.


Man, those pics from Jazz and Sutton are great.
I got my Metroplex down off the shelf for a look today because of them. I <3 fan city modes for these big dudes.

[reillyd]

These may have seemed pretty obvious to you Sutton, but I totally didn't realise that could make a tank, or that the guns were removable. It looks much better in the base mode with the cannons mounted, and it's nice to have a weapon in robot mode (until his third party sword arrives).

Thanks for putting up the photos.

[Sutton]

These may have seemed pretty obvious to you Sutton, but I totally didn't realise that could make a tank, or that the guns were removable. It looks much better in the base mode with the cannons mounted, and it's nice to have a weapon in robot mode (until his third party sword arrives).

Thanks for putting up the photos.

Sorry, I meant, pretty obvious once you've actually got it together! It didn't occur to me to do it straight away until I realised the Spike/Galen/Emissary could sit in the gun turret neatly, and I wanted to see if the leg gun could pop off because I've always thought the Fort Max leg turret looked lame.

But yep, once it's together it's like 'yeah, that's definitely a half-baked abandoned feature for sure'.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

...except for these little annoying fins left over from the previous mold. They prevent it from sitting nice and flat and leave it on a tilt. You could cut them off of course, but it's probably why they left it out of the instructions.

What's it remolded from? Genuine question.
I've been looking at pics of Metroplex and I can't see anything like it there.

[Krayt]

What's it remolded from? Genuine question.
I've been looking at pics of Metroplex and I can't see anything like it there.

Shoulder flip over gun emplacement... Well the red piece... The blue is new

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

Cheers.

[5FDP]

He does look very impressive but I just wish he had more play value, especially for the asking price. I think I'll be sticking with my G1 Fort Max.

[Mythirax]

You have him in some awesome positions Sutton. Think I'll have to pick mine up this week now

[GoktimusPrime]

NB: I've yet to test any of the electronic gimmicks at the time of writing this post.^I've tested the electronics now. See pics and comments below.

Pros

• Cerebros is very nice. I love the Western media-accurate head sculpt and it seems to be a neat idea giving it an electronic gimmick since, being a head unit, it's already has a blocky core. Waist articulation is sacrificed, but that's fine. Cerebros is ultimately an accessory for Fort Max and as such it's actually really well done. The gun emplacement which becomes Cerebros' gun looks silly (oversized) in his hand, but it's an acceptable weapon. The thrusters on the underside of the "backpack" is a really lovely touch and finally answers the question of exactly how the hell Cerebros manages to reach Fort Max's shoulders in order to become his head! I always imagined it as a super leap, but this Cerebros has jump jets!

• Emissary^Spike is tiny! (as I anticipated given the tiny cavity in TR Wheelie's vehicle mode); the basic design is much like Generations Arcana but at a smaller scale, so Cerebros now has head articulation

• Fortress Maximus carries over many of the qualities of Metroplex, such as the impressive size and poseability

• The retooling really helps to make this toy look like Fortress Maximus; it reduces to "Metroplexness" of the overall mould. This toy also has a far more happening colour scheme than Metroplex, further accentuated by a buttload of stickers!

• The battleship mode is basically the robot lying down. It's dull, but G1 accurately so! They've made better use of Cerebros who forms the top of the tower. Cerebros always felt more superfluous on the G1 mould

• The toy has several spots for Titan Masters to sit in or stand on (pegs for holes under their feet), as well as connection points for Leader Class figures like Blaster, PM Optimus Prime etc.

Cons

• The city mode, in its official configuration, isn't much of a city. There's only one ramp that touches the ground that leads to a car port (not even a garage!). The folded up legs on G1 Fort Max formed the bulk of the city component of that toy, but as this toy cannot do this, we don't get that "metropolis" feel to this mode at all. The so-called city mode is really just an attack base mode, similar to Powermaster Optimus Prime's combat deck or Countdown's rocket base etc.

• While the retooling is quite extensive with numerous additional bits, there are also a notable number of subtracted parts as well.

• Maybe it's just my figure, but I find that the feet on my Fort Max don't lock solidly into place in alt mode(s). Also the rear blue leg 'braces' is made of fairly flimsy plastic. I removed it to make it easier for me to apply the thruster stickers and on the right leg brace I created a stress mark on the tab that holds it into place. Putting the tab back into was difficult. The left leg brace also doesn't lock firmly in.

• Emissary Spike doesn't lock into place when sitting in the gun emplacement, whereas G1 Spike does lock into place when riding Gasket... kinda disappointing to see the same gimmick being done better on a toy that's 29 years older than this one

• Arms... Cerebros' arms don't seem to have any way of locking into place in alt mode. Also, Spike's arms can pop off if they get in the way when disconnecting Cerebros from Fortress Maximus. Thankfully they are on ball/socket joints which can easily pop back on, but exercise caution.

Electronic gimmick

• Meh. Pushing on Cerebros' head activates a variety of scifi noises and a really uninspiring emotionless robot voice that goes: "Cerebros." Transforming Cerebros to robot mode activates the G1 transformation noise. When binary bonded to Fortress Maximus, you can press the button on his chest to make more generic scifi noises plus a total of 3 lines:
  * "Autobot"
  * "Decepticon"
  * "Fortress Maximus"
  ...yep, just names. Not even any complete sentences like, "These Decepticons scatter like cowards," or "Metroplex heeds the call of the last Prime." And this is either an electronically generated voice, or they must've used a really amateur voice actor, cos it just sounds so generic. A far cry from the booming cadence in Fred Tatasciore's Metroplex voice. The electronic gimmick doesn't add much to the toy. I would've preferred for the eyes to be solidly coloured in and with the whole gimmick just skipped in favour of improving other aspects of the toy.

PICTURES

Cerebros (pre-sticker app)


You can see Fort Max's eyes peeking at you from that little slot. Very Ned Kelly.




Jets


He can fly!


Fortress Maximus; robot mode






Battleship Maximus mode


Allegedly-a-city mode


Spike in gun emplacement... cos that's totally what emissaries do.


Car port




Cerebros


Spike riding Wheelie


Comparison w/ G1 Fort Max


Comparison w/ G1 Cerebros


Comparison w/ G1 Spike


Comparing Cog (Gasket/Grommet) w/ Gun emplacement


Comparison w/ Generations Metroplex


Electronic lights




Overall

• When I weigh up all the pluses and minuses on this toy, I find that it's more or less on par with Metroplex, and as such it's harder to justify the increased price point. IMO this toy would be worth getting at around the $200 mark.
  Titans Return Fortress Maximus poll; I voted for "Only if (relatively) cheap"