So, we now have Commander Class figures in the Studio Series line, and it's about time we had it ever since Siege introduced the size class back in 2019. And with the approach of the WFC Trilogy and Legacy lines providing larger characters such as Jetfire and Sky Lynx as well as figures that utilize trailers with various degrees of functionality (Rodimus with the Mobile Defense Bay, Motormaster with the skeletal frame for Menasor, Armada Optimus with his super mode). Studio Series certainly had characters that deserve to be in the Commander Class size treatment, so our first option should be the long-rumored Devcon from DOTM, or maybe a new take on Scavenger's design for an ROTF Demolishor. Perhaps we'll get a larger Dinobot with Scorn in AOE? Or Infernocus from TLK could be done in one swoop so we wouldn't have to deal with getting team members that are nowhere near as cool as Devastator's Constructicons? Hell, my first pic would be from the most recent film, Rise of the Beasts, giving us a Stratosphere since he has never been made in merchandise form compared to the Autobots we saw on-screen! What? We're doing another Ultra Magnus despite already having the Kingdom one? Oh well...let's see if the third time is going to be the final charm for once with this safe bet.
It is nice to see them revert to the more traditional side of Magnus's altmode. However, steering isn't his strongest suit since he can't really turn left or right that well. Then again, neither could Earthrise Prime. And just like on the MP version, the cab is exclusively compatible for this trailer, meaning it cannot haul other trailers in the recent Generations lines.
The trailer can haul up to four deluxes, seen here with Red Alert and Sideswipe from Kingdom getting ready to be transported by the city commander. The cab on its own is hollow and mostly red from the back, just like the Masterpiece figure, though there are some sculpted details to keep it from looking "undercooked", with the rivets, panel-lines, and paint apps for the rims and red bumper. I do wish the smokestacks were painted silver in addition to staying straight better.
Here we have him next to the Kingdom version, which certainly shows an example of what happens when you go from an altmode made for that kind of engineering to one that won't look good because of how exposed the legs and hinges will be with an incomplete and not-quite-accurate trailer. It worked with Siege because of how it resembled the RID version, while the Kingdom one's attempt to look Geewunnish ends up looking bad. The traditional Magnus look is more like it when aiming for an Earth mode.
Here he is next to his teammate and leader, Rodimus Prime, from the Kingdom. It's quite interesting seeing two Leader-types have entirely different alt-modes from one another while still essentially carrying trailers of some kind. Rodimus being a Winnebago and Magnus being a traditional flat-nose with a car carrier is appropriate.
Here he is next to Motormaster from last year's Legacy line. Motormaster's trailer is much boxier yet his cab is slightly larger, befitting the so-called King of the Road we've seen him brag himself as.
And here he is next to the Armada Prime release of this year. I'm probably going to get some flack from fans for being biased, but I think Armada Prime is the better release we have here. While we've had a few Magnuses that do the whole single-unit approach of the design we've seen since the Titanium line and later with Masterpiece and Combiner Wars, getting an entirely faithful Armada Prime that is fully articulated is something I desired much more. Not to mention how much less pedestrian he is as a vehicle.
And finally, here we have him next to the Earthrise line's Prime. Yeah, Magnus is not exactly 1:1 with Prime's cab, but I don't mind since I'd rather they be designed somewhat differently from one another so Magnus wouldn't be an albino Prime, kind of like how tweaked his cab is in Beast Hunters.
Transformation is very similar to that of the MP version, though with a few differences in terms of how the cab transforms as well as how the kibble around the legs is stored. Ultimately, we get a similar yet different approach towards making this feel not quite as repetitive as what we previously got, which I am perfectly fine with if you ask me. After all, there is so many ways you could make Magnus feel interesting again and again, especially when we had this conversion twice in the 2010s. As for the robot mode, it certainly is more cartoon-accurate to the series, though I'm sure many will have issues with how wide the arms are. Granted, it's not that bad of a look, and I can certainly say it manages to be better in-hand, though your mileage may vary. While the sculpted details are not as prominent as with his older toys, they at least aren't absent like how we've seen in the past MP toys. If anything, I prefer the wheels being the proper ones on the ankles rather than using the fake ones.
His head is appropriately designed, giving him what look like shades to make his design a little more distinct from Optimus Prime's, and the face's paint is not too shiny yet not a flat white like in the cartoon, either. His antennae are appropriately white, however, making them pop more as they should on the head. His articulation is standard for a figure this big: Ball-jointed neck, shoulders ratchet front and back while they hinge in and out with ugly gaps, the biceps rotate, the elbows bend, the wrists swivel (though spacing is fairly limited), and the fingers have the same level of articulation that Kingdom Rodimus had. There is a waist joint, shoulders that move front and back, in and out, thighs swivel, knees bend, and the ankles have a bit of pivot to them. His guns can utilize a variety of optional effect parts to simulate firepower.
The rockets are removable at the tips so you can simulate them being fired from the launchers, a good compromise to the long-gone days of a non-reissued toy using missile launchers.
The Matrix of Leadership is stored in his chest, which the Titanium toy could simulate but is too small to hold any Matrix while the Masterpiece did it as perfectly as SS86; on the other hand, Combiner Wars had Minimus Ambus and the Siege/Kingdom version practically didn't have any room for a Matrix Chamber. This one is colored slightly differently from the others, and Magnus could barely hold it with his fingers if you pose it right (this means untabbing the shoulder pieces), so you could make a decent "DAMNIT OPEN" pose.
The weapons have dedicated slots so they can be on his back and his butt flap. It should be noted that out of the box, the antennae come disassembled from the head, though they also come off from the bases that connect to the head. Shrug.
For a comparison with past releases, here is Ultra Magnus next to his Kingdom counterpart. While he is taller and wider from the upper body, I like the Commander Class version quite a bit, as it feels a lot more fulfilling as a CHUG iteration of Magnus based on the philosophy of the WFC trilogy. If anything, I did think the Kingdom version was strong in bot mode more than in truck mode, but the SS86 guy takes the cake as the better version when it comes to engineering as a toy made from scratch. See, this I don't mind compared to Hasbro making a Voyager Arcee just so she can have a slightly flatter backpack. At least with Magnus, they didn't want to do a partsforming toy.
\Here he is in front of the recent trend of Legacy figures where the Voyager-sized robot becomes a larger robot. He is appropriately shorter than Motormaster and Armada Prime, though I find it at least is appropriate since he is a big guy, but he is neither a gestalt or a super mode of sorts. Granted, it could be the case if he was a white albino Prime, but not in the G1 cartoon. And next to Optimus and Rodimus, they make for quite a good trio of Leaders, even though Rodimus was more worthy of the Matrix in-universe than Magnus was, and those are a set of words that'd probably haunt even the most sour of Geewunners to this day.
One thing I like is how even though they are each designed differently from one another they utilize the Matrix chamber approach with a great level of detail that makes them feel more complete. Only Rodimus loses points for not having enough paint or sculpted details to convey this look.
For a leader class size comparison, he towers over Galvatron and Grimlock, the former making sense because he is a larger design in general, but the latter not so much since he was meant to be a head shorter than the Dinobot leader. This is because Hasbro prioritized altmode scale much more than robot mode scale, a rarity amongst the WFC/Legacy line since one would expect them to focus on the latter. It isn't the end of the world, at least.
However, one cool trick you could do with Magnus is disassemble him via the arms and the thighs to make him recreate the scene where he died for a few minutes! Ironic how he was blown to pieces by the Sweeps yet came back alive yet the Autobots who died from one gunshot and Optimus, who wasn't even blown to pieces and survived past battles, died in the film. Fucking hell, G1. Anyways, I use that big effect piece to simulate his chest exploding as Galvatron takes the Matrix. The joints are similar to, but not exactly the same, as the Combiner Wars ones, much like with Legacy Menasor's legs.
And finally, here he is next to the 1986 movie cast that was introduced to replace a buttload of mostly undeveloped characters that kids cried to when they died too easily in the movie. This is a nice group of characters, and I quite like the color variety that they each possess, whether it's a two-tone approach of a specific color or if it's complementary for a character design. It's also amusing how Springer is the only one that is still with the Siege battle damage that he was stuck with. Apparently, he will have a Leader Class toy coming soon, but honestly, repainting this would be fine if the joints were tighter. I wouldn't mind if he had a stupid Allspark Blue cockpit. But back to Magnus, he is a recommend, though I will admit that this should be the last stop for Magnus in CHUG scale for a good while. We went from CW to Siege and then Kingdom and now SS86 is in the mix, and I'll have this be my final G1 Magnus toy unless I get the original version. He is good, though my favorite Commander Class guy goes to Armada Prime.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
No comments:
Post a Comment