The Energon Pub

adamage1 wrote:

Emerje wrote:He's cool but suffers from the same stubby arms as Bonecrusher. I don't think the locking crotch is necessary at all, the lock just wants to pop off anyway. Looking forward to seeing what kind of solution the upgrade kits come up with for him.

Emerje

Locking crotch?

If you look at his crotch, the long rectangular part in the middle is actually attached to his torso and keeps the two halves together (it bends at a hinge on his back).



Emerje

I was at Walmart today and saw the new TF display. Studio series Constructicons galore. Having Hook and Long Haul, I wonder if they will get the 2nd run of Magnus in.

I just got UM reissue and I'm having a bit of an almost regret in my decision to buy it, not because I don't like him, he looks great! A lot better than Kingdom figure especially for a G1 aesthetic. But he's just so huge that now SS86 OP seems too small as well as both Rodimus and Springer. I don't recall there being that much height difference between UM and Rodimus whenever they shared the screen. He's also now much smaller than Prime. Which tells me Hasbro is going to have to address him soon by upping his height to match SS86 Prime's. And it doesn't end there, UM is also dwarfing Cyclonus and those two seem to be about matched in episode where they squared off. So now we seemingly need a new Cyclonus. Something told me early on not to buy and I didn't, and I lived in bliss all this time. Unfortunately I saw too many positive reviews and each time I saw him I was more drawn to the deco and design overall having much better G1 match. So I thought why not, I'll preorder the reissue I mean what could go wrong... Several months later I find out. lol
OCD is a sickness. Now i don't know whether to nip this in bud and sell SS86 UM and just forget everything I saw or try to overlook the towering height over others. Oh man did I open a can of worms with this one, Prime was as bad to incorporate into the collection but this guy stands out like a sore thumb. And i really don't want to have to replace Springer, Rodimus, Cyclonus etc.

Till-all-R1 wrote:But he's just so huge that now SS86 OP seems too small as well as both Rodimus and Springer. I don't recall there being that much height difference between UM and Rodimus whenever they shared the screen. He's also now much smaller than Prime. Which tells me Hasbro is going to have to address him soon by upping his height to match SS86 Prime's. And it doesn't end there, UM is also dwarfing Cyclonus and those two seem to be about matched in episode where they squared off. So now we seemingly need a new Cyclonus.

Yeah, this is a symptom of Ultra Magnus having been a subtle size-changer in the cartoon, with his robot mode being much less massive than his vehicle mode.

The Kingdom figure is better sized to match his height in robot mode compared to the other characters, but as a consequence his vehicle mode is undersized, making his trailer unable to carry any Autobot Cars properly.

On the other end of the spectrum is the SS86 figure, which not only more visually resembles the character's classic look but also sized his vehicle mode to be properly large enough to carry Autobot Cars in his car carrier trailer. But as a direct consequence of this, his robot mode becomes enormous, too oversized to interact with other characters without towering over them.

If the cartoon had gone with toy-accurate sizing, Magnus would have been a giant in robot mode compared to his fellow Autobots, just like his original toy was and just like the SS86 toy is. But because the cartoon shrank his robot mode while keeping his vehicle mode huge, we are stuck with Magnus options that are either just right in robot mode but too small in vehicle mode, or just right in vehicle mode but too large in robot mode, all because Hasbro and TakaraTomy are bound by the laws of physics in the real world.

This make me think about the excellent Combiner Wars leader UM.
The bot is just the right size for his fellow Generations bots, but the truck is basically scout or small deluxe sized.

Rodimus Prime wrote:I was at Walmart today and saw the new TF display. Studio series Constructicons galore. Having Hook and Long Haul, I wonder if they will get the 2nd run of Magnus in.

Wait, all the Constructicons?!

megatran wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:I was at Walmart today and saw the new TF display. Studio series Constructicons galore. Having Hook and Long Haul, I wonder if they will get the 2nd run of Magnus in.

Wait, all the Constructicons?!

Likely just the four widely available. Mixmaster and a Scavenger are rolling out in some places. I’m seeing them becoming more widely available by Labor Day. And believe me, I am actively looking and prioritizing them over SS86 Megatron.

I did run into a guy at a Target near me who saw the two pack and Scrapper. He was looking for the others as well. I pointed out Bonecrusher before telling him the other two weren’t out yet. I think he will get them but wants to do it in one big purchase of all six.

Roadbuster wrote:

megatran wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:I was at Walmart today and saw the new TF display. Studio series Constructicons galore. Having Hook and Long Haul, I wonder if they will get the 2nd run of Magnus in.

Wait, all the Constructicons?!

Likely just the four widely available.

Yes, that's what I meant. My bad on the wording.

As for Magnus, I think he's perfect for SS. It's Rodimus that's the problem. With Kingdom, they were going for a straight update of the G1 figure, but if they want accuracy to the movie, they need to go the UM route with him as well, where the whole vehicle becomes the whole robot. But unlike Magnus, Roddy needs to be Optimus height. So he would end up on the small side in vehicle mode as well. But I wouldn't care, I'd be buying him for the bot mode, just like with Magnus.

However, I believe that there were rumors or even hints from the designer that if we get a SS86 Rodimus, it's just a redeco of the Kingdom figure, which is a really bad cop out. We got brand new figures of Magnus and Optimus between Kingdom and SS86, Roddy deserves the same.

And am I the only one who thinks Hasbro is dropping the ball by not giving us Shattered Glass Magnus from the SS86 mold?

The problem is that Rodimus doesn't absorb his trailer in bot mod like UM does, he like OP abandons it to some off screen oblivion until it's needed again. What's the point in even having his trailer combine as part of him if it doesn't net a bigger bot? Ideally he only need another 2" to match Prime's height anyway so I don't see the need to overengineer everything. Heck maybe just give him a slightly longer body and maintain the existing trailer, or just release him as a Leader w/o that. I have no interest in paying Commander prices again just for another trailer I'll never use.