Name: Ultra Magnus
Series: World's Smallest Transformers
Allegiance: Autobot
Alternate Mode: Truck Cab
Thanks Demonac for loaning me Ultra Magnus, making this review possible.
TRUCK MODE
Height: 2.5cm Length: 5cm Width: 2cm
An all white flatnose cab, Ultra Magnus has two blck wheels under the cab and four on the hitch section. The windows are black unlike the colourless ones on the original - but at least they're not holes like on some versions of the original. The headlights, grille, bumper and smokestacks are all painted silver. His cab sports Autobot logos on both sides.
There's a round pole on the hitch section, which allows you to attach the Optimus Prime trailer that was another toy in wave 1, and there are fuel tanks in front of the wheels, which are unpainted. The wheels roll, although not terribly well. I don't mind since some Smallest Transformers have wheels that don't roll at all. You can also attach the trailer if you have it.
It's a pretty decent little cab for the size. My only real gripe is the unpainted fuel tanks, I'm happy with everything else. There are various seams and stuff on him, but nothing that really hurts this mode. The black windows don't bother me - in fact in the absence of the colourful trailer of the original they add some needed colour.
TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE
Pretty faithful to the original, with a few details omitted. Fold down the legs and flip up the feet. Swing the sides out to form the arms and flip up the head. The legs don't split and they fold down, but he has integrated fists, an improvement over the original design. Give him his handgun.
ROBOT MODE
Height: 6cm Width: 3.5cm
At just under 6cm tall, this really is the smallest transformable Ultra Magnus toy - well he's the smallest of the plethora of Prime repaints. As with the original, he's a white robot with the front of the truck as his torso. There are red Autobot logos on the shoulders, which sport the smokestacks. His mouthplate and blue along with the crest on his head. There's a red eyestrip and the black windows are on the chest.
The poseability is fairly limited, but better than most Smallest Transformers due mainly to the transformation. The elbows are ball joints and the hips swing, and the feet can point down, although the latter isn't really that useful. You can slide his handgun over the fists loosely or over the wrists where it'll grasp quite well. Considering the original Ultra Magnus couldn't hold the handgun anyway, a gun that fits over the wrist isn't so bad.
The look of this toy is quite faithful to the original, although it's not the iconic trailer-based magazine. The unpainted fueltanks bug me and while the white is awfully prominent, that's how he should look. The black windows add some colour and unlike the cheaper version of the original the face _is_ painted. The colours are still somewhat lame, so this is a good choice to do as an exclusive.
VARIATIONS
As mentioned, this is a chase figure, and a repaint of Optimus Prime. There are no variants that I'm aware of.
OVERALL
It's a decent mould and while the paint job does as good as it can, the starting point is a barely painted figure which the cartoon and comic wisely passed over. He works as a chase figure, but the basic idea is limited, so I don't know that this repaint is worth the price you'd pay a dealer, but if you pick him up blindly, Ultra Magnus is a rewarding chase figure - 6/10
|