It's time to finally cover Menasor, AKA the only complete Combiner Wars gestalt I have...yeah, I didn't get any others; either that or the only two Aerialbots I own broke somehow. Now as we covered before, each figure in the team isn't 100% perfect yet I have to give credit to some of them for having good articulation, vehicle modes that fit, or in the case of Motormaster, having a robot mode that feels more appropriate for him than it does for Optimus. Now it's time we delve into their combined form, as we can now review Menasor!
Let's go over the Stunticons as groups before we do the final combination. I like this line-up of vehicles; while the scale isn't perfect thanks to Dragstrip being bigger than Blackjack and Offroad being small, they look awesome as a team! and for those who want a representation of that little roller car that served as Menasor's bra while compensating the lack of a trailer, Blackjack is a neat addition to the team!
And as far as the robot modes are concerned, I think they're a generally strong unit. Some aren't perfect, like Breakdown's proportions and Offroad's kibble, but the team looks neat nonetheless. And hey, Blackjack is one of the neater 6th members of the team and is a decent figure despite feeling a little cheap.
Now then, as for combining them into Menasor...well the limbs work as nicely as you'd expect, though the peg used to attach Dead End's fist is loose, but Motormaster doesn't really change himself as well as Silverbolt or Hot Spot do. See, those two were able to fold themselves up nicely or change their entire shape, while Motormaster just hinges his arms away, swivels his waist, and bends the legs at 45 degrees. While some of that is accurate to the G1 toy, it's going to affect how he looks. As a result, Motormaster's proportions look weak compared to Superion, Defensor, and Bruticus. The arms are too clunky, the legs contrast the waist, the head is too small, and he is also not that stable. If you were to move the arms around, there's a change that Motormaster's forearms may detach from where they snap on the shoulders, what with the tightness of the elbows and the weight of the Deluxe limbs. Blackjack barely stays on the chest, and he also feels like he should go in further but doesn't due to weak tolerances combined with poor integration (and that's also ignoring the way the handle sticks down lower). And initial copies of Motormaster, as well as all versions of the regular Optimus Prime, have ratchet joints that prevent the figure's feet from laying flat; it's more of an issue with the regular robot mode than the combined mode, but it's still a problem nonetheless. And I'm certainly not a fan of how it looks from the back. Superion turned out alright with his kibble much better than Silverbolt ever wished he could, and Defensor, despite having a similar back to Menasor, doesn't feel as exposed as we have here with this guy. And before anyone asks, no, I don't give a fuck if the legs are reversed. You can always have the bottom of the legs exposed if you want to make him look more Geewun accurate, but that'll rob his knee articulation so good luck!
Head sculpt is a mixed bag; while it looks fine as far as paint apps are concerned (the horns I touched up myself), it's not only too small but it also looks like Unicron if he was a cow...Unicow? And it needs a little more aggression to the overall expression. He's more dull disgust than he is menacing. As for his articulation, it's good as far as the points are concerned, but having him do the poses can be a challenge. Firstly, the head is on a ball-joint and hinge, which is perfectly fine. The limbs can move front and back as well as in and out, though good luck with the forearms of Menasor not coming off. The elbows bend at two points, the wrists swivel, and the fingers have some movement while stuck together as does the thumb (which is helpful to have them be versatile). The waist does swivel, but you not only have to contend with the waist flap that obstructs it, but you'd also have to make sure Blackjack doesn't fall off. The hips move front and back, in and out as they were the same robot mode hips (though now with the waist flap in the way), the knees swivel as well as bend on ratchets (which is easier to work with for Breakdown than with Offroad due to his truck kibble). The feet can swivel but not pivot compared to the POTP versions. Combining Motormaster's weapon makes for a decently-sized sword. It's more like a toy sword being held by an adult but it looks alright.
There is an alternate combination method that allows you to have the limbs reversed, and if you want to not use Blackjack yet want to see the chest detailing, you can have Offroad and Breakdown as arms, Dead End and Dragstrip as legs, and reveal the chest. It looks alright, though once again, Offroad's kibble serves an issue for the part-clash (in this case, it's the shoulder panels), and Breakdown may cleverly have the feet and spoiler down for the arm mode, but it still looks like an even blockier arm by comparison. As for Dragstrip, his feet can hinge up so they can be a leg on a similar scale. For those wondering how Menasor looks with any upgrade kits, on the right is a picture that has the Perfect Effect upgrade kit to give Menasor new shoulder pieces, a proper waist, and a new head. Also included are purple hands and feet that serve as different weapons compared to the HFG's. They make a significant different, making the arms less clunky, the feet more noticeable, and the torso better proportioned. I'd LOVE to get that set, and we even get bonus things like an extra piece for the sword to make it longer!
As far as how other versions of this design hold up, here we have Takara's Menasor on the left and Combiner Wars G2 Menasor on the right. The former is definitely considered the more definitive just for the Geewun accuracy, but I have to admit that the brittle nature of Takara's Unite Warriors Motormaster kills all of your dreams and hopes. As for the G2 version, he definitely screams 90s yet is the weakest of the G2 repaints.
And here we have both Hasbro an Takara versions of Optimus Maximus. Each one with a different version of Optimus to use for an idea of how they were depicted in-universe. I have to admit that Unite Warriors did Optimus Maximus a better job, especially with homaging Energon Prime's Super Mode.
Now I have configured Menasor differently. The fronts of the cars on the arms are not pointing upwards, and Blackjack has transformed differently and now slots onto Menasor's chest cavity using friction and the waist piece...it looks more interesting though moving the skirt flap ruins it.Some parts of it are better here than before, though not 100% perfect. And here we have him between both Masterpiece Movie Megatron as well as Studio Series Devastator! He's shorter than both of them, and I think his weight is more or less on-par with Megatron (Devastator, on the other hand, is the heaviest of them all).
And here he is with the Autobots that would later make use of their molds. He towers over every one of them, though not to a degree where it is as the cartoon would. I'd say that they fit on pretty well as far as scale is concerned, where they're big but not too big as a unit.
So when it comes to revisiting Menasor, it's not a perfect combiner than I'd originally give credit for. The proportions are bad and the stability is weak, but if you've got some creativity or some proper upgrade kits for him, you can easily make him suitable enough for the collection despite paying even more than you need to. So overall, he is far from perfect yet has a few positives despite being a weak offering into the Combiner Wars line. And messing around with him makes me want to get the others!
Overall ranking: ⭐⭐⭐.25 out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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