The Energon Pub

[Emerje]

From what I understand, HasbroToyShop.com is its own separate entity. It is not run by Hasbro.

Odd statement to make, I know, can't remember who I was talking to at Hasbro. Maybe I misunderstood what was being told to me, but if I recall correctly the relationship between HasbroToyShop.com and Hasbro isn't as straightforward as it seems and is actually managed by another company. I can't remember the specifics of the conversation from at least a few years back but I reached out to Hasbro to get some clarification again. Yes, the name is owned by Hasbro and it's supposed to look like the retail arm of Hasbro, but it is its own separate company that operates separately from Hasbro if I remember this correctly.

The easiest way to think about the relationship between HTS and Hasbro is to think of it like a franchise, take McDonalds for example. A franchisee owns the store, pays for the food, equipment, and employees out of their own pocket, but they still have to pay McDonalds for the rights to the name and do everything they say.

Best I can tell the store is still Hasbro's. They handle the website, the listings, the promotions, and all of that sort of stuff, but when it comes to order fulfillment they send it off to the outsourced warehouse for picking, packing, and shipping. By the sounds of it that place is pretty enormous and caters to more web stores than just Hasbro. Probably a lot cheaper to use a third party fulfillment center than to build their own and staff it since HTS is a relatively small shop when compared to places like BBTS or HLJ.

Emerje

[Burn]

People are enjoying their Hasbro CW Leader Ultra Magnus.

Suck it up Princess and import the bloody Hasbro version like I did.

[-Kanrabat-]

People are enjoying their Hasbro CW Leader Ultra Magnus.

Suck it up Princess and import the bloody Hasbro version like I did.

I preordered from Amiami and you know that Amiami is pretty yandere about their preoders. So, I'm not going to have the same 70$ figure twice so all I can do is wait...

[Burn]

People are enjoying their Hasbro CW Leader Ultra Magnus.

Suck it up Princess and import the bloody Hasbro version like I did.

I preordered from Amiami and you know that Amiami is pretty yandere about their preoders. So, I'm not going to have the same 70$ figure twice so all I can do is wait...

Never dealt with them actually.

[Wolfman Jake]

Like Burn, I just got my CW Leader Ultra Magnus. I can attest to the fact that, as has been reported already, the guns are difficult to get in his hands, but if you do it just right, minding where his trigger finger fits on the grip of each gun, you can secure them pretty well, as long as the pin joint for the fingers is tight enough. I was able to get Magnus to hold his guns well enough that I could articular his arms all around without dropping them, but it's hard to replicate consistently. The positioning has to be precise.

I'm loving the figure so far. If Hasbro had used a much darker blue plastic, he'd be nearly perfect. If they had also put a little more blue paint on his pelvis and put the Autobot logo on his right shoulder, he'd be absolutely perfect.

[Burn]

Like Burn, I just got my CW Leader Ultra Magnus. I can attest to the fact that, as has been reported already, the guns are difficult to get in his hands, but if you do it just right, minding where his trigger finger fits on the grip of each gun, you can secure them pretty well, as long as the pin joint for the fingers is tight enough. I was able to get Magnus to hold his guns well enough that I could articular his arms all around without dropping them, but it's hard to replicate consistently. The positioning has to be precise.

What's disappointing is if you look at the hands, the notch is there like on other figures, but there's no tabs on the weapons for them to slot into.

What's your take on the "hammer"? Never much liked it in pictures and in hand it's even more pointless.

[-Kanrabat-]

People are enjoying their Hasbro CW Leader Ultra Magnus.

Suck it up Princess and import the bloody Hasbro version like I did.

I preordered from Amiami and you know that Amiami is pretty yandere about their preoders. So, I'm not going to have the same 70$ figure twice so all I can do is wait...

Never dealt with them actually.

Sure, the preorder pilicy is more unforgivable than marriage. However, Amiami ARE the cheapest around and once the items are in stock, they are basically sold out already. So, no choice preordering if you want to enjoy the competitive prices. Furtermore, Shipping from Japan seem absurdly cheap too, compared to the hefty Canadian rates.

I have TAV Lockdown coming soon from them and it only ammounted to 36$CAN total! I have CW Magnus and Menasor coming up.

There is just one thing that I'm deeply affraid of. Will the bipolar/schizophrenic Canadian customs smell blood and pounce on my Amiami orders like they do for sure with BBTS and randomly for some other American orders? I do hope my Amiami orders will be spared. Because paying 20/35$CAN more per orders kinda ruin the deals.

[Wolfman Jake]

What's disappointing is if you look at the hands, the notch is there like on other figures, but there's no tabs on the weapons for them to slot into.

What's your take on the "hammer"? Never much liked it in pictures and in hand it's even more pointless.

I tried out the hammer just to say I did it. It doesn't look great, but it's a nice little easter egg, even if I don't want to utilize it. Magnus looks better with his missile pods on his shoulders anyway.

What's disappointing for me is that most of the joints on Ultra Magnus are pin joints. I don't have the tools, or the confidence in my skills, to kit-bash the Hasbro Magnus with the upcoming Takara Tomy version, to make my "perfect" version with darker blue plastic and white thighs. Oh well. The blue Hasbro used is still very pretty, even if noticeably lighter than Magnus' G1 screen appearance would suggest.

[Burn]

Found the left arm to be a little on the weak side when trying to hold up the "hammer" (and that is a term I use loosely), it didn't really want to do it.

Not a big deal really, but given it's a pin joint, it'll be a pain to fix if I ever need to.

How's Minimus for you? Body pin a bit too tight when trying to fold the back up and down?

[Wolfman Jake]

How's Minimus for you? Body pin a bit too tight when trying to fold the back up and down?

Yeah, it's quite tough getting that joint to swing for transformation. It's just so tight, but I guess it makes for a more stable figure ultimately. I popped one of his arms off trying to get the car food to flip down the first time. Minimus will be spending most of his time inside Ultra Magnus anyway, so I'm not fretting his transformation in the future. Love how securely he pegs in there, btw. Also, the overall transformation for Ultra Magnus is just FUN. I was able to figure it all out without the instructions, and everything snaps together pretty well. It's an amazingly well engineer figure, despite the naysayers upset about "hollow" parts, etc. This Magnus was worth waiting 9 years for.

[Burn]

Love how securely he pegs in there, btw.

Not only how well he sits in there, but also the little detailing on the inside of the chest. It's not much but it's enough to add to whole "little bot in a big suit of armour".

Also, the overall transformation for Ultra Magnus is just FUN. I was able to figure it all out without the instructions, and everything snaps together pretty well.

Same! Though when I changed him back from vehicle to robot I had one leg that didn't want to peg in properly. It eventually did and when I transformed him a second time the problem never occurred again.

It's an amazingly well engineer figure, despite the naysayers upset about "hollow" parts, etc.

Brilliantly engineered. I don't see an issue with the hollow parts, maybe it was to cut down on cost, but realistically, the legs are always going to be hollow because of the transformation.

This Magnus was worth waiting 9 years for.

Oh I'd go so far as to say 30 years!

Nothing against the original G1 figure (because it gave me so much enjoyment as a youngster) but this is the Ultra Magnus I've always wanted.

[Wolfman Jake]

Here's my question. Of the new CW Leader molds, does Ultra Magnus trump Megatron? I'm not putting the retooled Jetfire -> Seekers mold in contention, as it just doesn't compare to the other two at all, though it's still good in its own right.

[Burn]

Personal opinion is CW Ultra Magnus stomps all over CW Megatron.

I've never liked CW Megatron from the first pictures I saw of him, and having him in hand did not change my opinion.

[It Is Him]

That's good to hear. CW Megatron felt underwhelming in hand. He's pretty though.

[Agamemnon]

Hey, do any of you who own Magnus have an issue with one of the ramps/shins not pegging in tightly? I think it's my left leg. And yeah, the shoulder joint on the left of mine is very loose now. It was tight initially (I swear I felt a ratchet there) but now the hammer just flops around in that hand. I like how there are the round "guards" on the guns that work with the slot in the armor under UM's hand which helps hold the hammer at a good height in the hand. And while I was initially underwhelmed by the hammer, it is growing on me. I'm starting to pick out the details like the raised "plus" on the striking surface of the hammer. I wish the gun handles would have folded away.

But, all in all, a very decent figure.

[william-james88]

People are enjoying their Hasbro CW Leader Ultra Magnus.And I'm just here, waiting for the SEPTEMBER release of the Takara version.

I have been waiting for Takara's Superion since the end of last year.

And all my RID figures will be Takara, no point in getting the hasbro versions at that price difference (price difference being 0$). I do have to wait longer though.

Love how securely he pegs in there, btw.

Not only how well he sits in there, but also the little detailing on the inside of the chest. It's not much but it's enough to add to whole "little bot in a big suit of armour".

Also, the overall transformation for Ultra Magnus is just FUN. I was able to figure it all out without the instructions, and everything snaps together pretty well.

Same! Though when I changed him back from vehicle to robot I had one leg that didn't want to peg in properly. It eventually did and when I transformed him a second time the problem never occurred again.

It's an amazingly well engineer figure, despite the naysayers upset about "hollow" parts, etc.

Brilliantly engineered. I don't see an issue with the hollow parts, maybe it was to cut down on cost, but realistically, the legs are always going to be hollow because of the transformation.

This Magnus was worth waiting 9 years for.

Oh I'd go so far as to say 30 years!

Nothing against the original G1 figure (because it gave me so much enjoyment as a youngster) but this is the Ultra Magnus I've always wanted.

What about the MP? Which figure between the two was worth waiting 30 years for more? It costs about a quarter of the MP price. By that standard, would this be a better deal than the MP?

[-Kanrabat-]

This Magnus was worth waiting 9 years for.

Oh I'd go so far as to say 30 years!

Nothing against the original G1 figure (because it gave me so much enjoyment as a youngster) but this is the Ultra Magnus I've always wanted.

What about the MP? Which figure between the two was worth waiting 30 years for more? It costs about a quarter of the MP price. By that standard, would this be a better deal than the MP?

In my own opinion, Id say hell yeah, CW Magnust is the best overall due to the huge price difference for what we get.

I may getting some flack for this but I'm ready to consider CW Leader Starscream superior to MP-11, but not MP-03. Main reason being the price, again.

[Shockwave7]

Hey Shockwave 7, thanks for asking your questions. By our butting heads, we ended up getting some pretty good answers from the community and seibertron himself, which was a fun treat for me since I learnt a bunch of stuff. I am of course very confused still, but at least I am not as ignorant. Also, it turns out they did have Arcee:

Wow - when was that? I've been looking for months and she doesn't even turn up on a search.... (Chromia has vanished from the site as well....

[Burn]

Hey, do any of you who own Magnus have an issue with one of the ramps/shins not pegging in tightly?

I wouldn't say mine peg in tightly. They peg in enough to hold in place.

[DedicatedGhostArt]

So, who should be the next Leader figure? Huh guys?

[King Kuuga]

Sky Lynx.

[DedicatedGhostArt]

Sky Lynx.

Maybe! I am thinking Astrotrain.

[-Kanrabat-]

Sky Lynx.

Maybe! I am thinking Astrotrain.

I want an Astrotrain that can expand in vehicle mode to accomodate everyone from the 1986 TF Movie. Scale based on CW Devastator, of course.

[DedicatedGhostArt]

Sky Lynx.

Maybe! I am thinking Astrotrain.

I want an Astrotrain that can expand in vehicle mode to accomodate everyone from the 1986 TF Movie. Scale based on CW Devastator, of course.

Sorry, not gonna happen.

Maybe a Titan class Astrotrain?

[Moosey]

Sky Lynx.

Yes! I love when people give Sky-Lynx some love!