This page contains affiliate links. We may earn commissions when readers interact with or purchase items through these links. For more information, see our affiliate disclosures here.
Seibertron.com member Azrail has shared a pictorial review of the highly anticipated Transformers Prime Voyager Class Ultra Magnus. Enjoy his review below.
Hello Seibertron! Here is a look at Transformers Prime: Ultra Magnus. Voyager Class.
He is the last Autobot Voyager release for 2012 and is being released with Thundertron or Skyquake case mates.
HUGE thanks to Andy at Kapow Toys - http://www.kapowtoys.co.uk in the UK! Speedy and excellent service as always and a real good price too.
The box as usual highlights how much more paint they used on the prototype compared to the final figure! This is becoming one of the real annoying areas to me. He should have some extra red on his chest and a silver waist. It would help break up all the blue.
Magnus is a great Voyager figure. Much better than RID Optimus and Bulkhead as the Powerizer gimmick is not a distraction... but it is pointless.
He has transparent blue arms, chest piece, shoulder and neck areas. Pointless as there's no way his weapon or any others I think will make his arms light up. His chest area goes all the way though to a window on his back so you can shine a light through him. His chest is made up of false side doors.
His back is primarily his cab roof. Magnus doesn't suffer from the hollow leg or arm areas many of the RID figures have. I didn't transform his leg wheels correctly in this view but it's still acceptable.
He has very nice articulation. I find the shoulder ball joints too loose though. Ball joint shoulders and legs, waist, arm swivel, elbows, wrists, swivel thighs, knees and feet.
He has yellow eyes painted over the light piping. It still works and I prefer the eyes this way personally. The head is on a ball joint with good movement. It's actually stuck a panel on the back of his head.
Magnus has 3 missiles on each shoulder. I don't believe they are removable. They maybe but I don't want to break them.
He comes with a missile and a Light-Up Battle Hammer Mechtech Blaster. It's really too large. The Hammer piece makes it look odd and the weight of it brings the arms down.
The Hammer mode is the gun flipped out and lights up green. It does have a tab to lock it into place though. His missile can fit on his arms, shoulders or the gun itself.
I can't say I am a massive fan of Magnus with a Hammer anyway and prefer other weapons.
The transformation is really simple and fun. His wheels wrap around his legs or you could leave them like the Cyberverse has them.
He converts into a mobile gun truck and this is where the Powerizer weapon really fails!
This is how it is supposed to attach, but it doesn't. The pegs just don't fit into the holes and the hammer gets in the way. You can flip it over and it looks better but a bit wobbly due to the weight.
You can max him out with weapons like the City Commander ones which really help. Some say he should have a white cab. I'm not too sure but this is TFP Magnus not G1 so it doesn't have to.
Again Hasbro really went tight on paint compared to the box! No silver smokestacks looks terrible and there are rear areas missing too. I will be painting these myself soon.
All in all Ultra Magnus is a nice figure and worth buying. A good scale and a lot of poses you can do with him. Add some paint, replace the weapon and it's much improved.
I shall be posting some comparison pics below. I hope you liked this review, please ask quesions and leave feedback on ways I can improve my next review. Have fun!
Some comparison pictures.
The 2 versions. The Cyberverse one shows the different way the legs look.
The Cyberverse alt mode has a different colour scheme on the cab and more silver. I think the weapon works better too.
FE Prime is a little taller than Magnus but the RID version almost the same size.
Magnus scales pretty well in alt mode. A little longer than Prime but not as tall which he should be in real life.
Group shot with some Autobots.
Magnus all beefed up for war! He's as long as GDO Hot Spot but not as high.
Events in this Annual follow the events of what happened in ‘More Than Meets The Eye ANNUAL 2012’. While one particular character and plot point is shared, ‘Robots In Disguise ANNUAL 2012’ can be enjoyed independently or vice versa, but really would you be reading one and not the other? I thought not.
Expect some spoilers to be shared here, but ultimately, you should still be able to go and enjoy your copy and still have some surprises. Grab it at your comic store this Wednesday.
I don’t think that a reader can make much of a case that IDW writers, illustrators, and creative teams are not pushing limits, thinking things through, picking up loose plot points, and honoring what came before. They pick old unfinished references and build on them more than the brain-twisting LOST did with its every episode a few years back (what you don’t remember LOST?). The intrigue and details are there for a reader to not only read and enjoy, but pay attention to all the subtle nuances, the dropped hints, and character building.
This issue drops us in with some fantastic retro art courtesy of Guido Guidi. Meant to do more than just remind a reader of ‘TRANSFORMERS ISSUE #1 in a 4 Issue Limited Series’, Guido actually talks about some of his choices in a section at the end of the annual, and his creative intentions with these ‘pages from the past’. The drawings, the shading, and the color choices all harken to early days of comicdom, and yet still differs itself enough from Wildman’s work in REGENERATION so as not to be confusing (they are both very noticeably homaging two different styles and periods in MARVEL’s original Transformers).
The contrasting styles between the art in the flashbacks, and the art in the present (or flash forwards if you prefer) in this issue makes for a nice eye-catching visual effect. But it’s purpose for the story is clear too. One never has to guess, or even wonder if he is currently reading about events in the past or the present, it is very clear thanks to the choices made with the art.
What we have story-wise is what THIS reader has been wanting more of; more information involving Cybertron’s history, Nova Prime, and the original Ark’s crew. One new interesting piece of plot we did not know until now was that Dai Atlas was amongst those who were closely aligned with Nova Prime before the destined space journey. But how did Dai Atlas end up being where he was with Crystal City when Drift found him and his followers? Why didn’t he suffer the same fate as the others from Nova Prime’s journey? You’ll have to read to find out. What’s really fun though is seeing Dai Atlas in all his ZONE glory including facial hair!
But wait good fellows, the Nova Prime story is not all that’s going on here. On present day Cybertron, as the Autobots and Decepticons are searching for Ironhide and the Dinobots, Blurr comes across a fantastic discovery, and of course, it’s one that Prowl wants to keep covered up to keep everyone safe--and to keep it out of Con hands. But Starscream, being Starscream, won’t allow that to happen. And like the teaser already gave away, Starscream ends up the better for his nosy intrusion.
The inclusion of and new history for the city-formers is very welcome as well. Who they are and why becomes more convincing than the previous histories that we had on them. Their size is not their only strength now, their importance, not merely being a base/city. The fact that they are ancient and hold many secrets adds a depth to the under-used Metros: Plex and Titan that previously really only existed in the imaginations of hungry fans.
While the Prowl and Starscream subplot doesn’t pay off much in this issue, it’s most certainly going to see ramifications in the near future in the RID regular series. One wonders if Megatron were a possibility, if Prowl would somehow coerce him to take Starscream out for good (not that Megs really needs to be coerced). Maybe it’s time for Prowl to get Arcee on Starscream’s case.
The really exciting piece of this story is the flashback pieces that include so many big players from Simon Furman’s run... It’s where the action is at as Omega Supreme battles monsters to once again protect Crystal City and its secrets. Nova Prime talks so benignly, and then appears to be less benign and more fanatical. It was quite weird or awkward to see group shots of Galvatron, Nova Prime, Cyclonus, Dai Atlas, and Jhiaxus. It’s ‘Legion of Doom’ like. And I have to say, I still dislike Jhiaxus movie inspired robot mode (although, I almost have my self convinced he modified himself based on seeing visions of another universe).
The fact that this and the previously released MTMTE annual take a big (huge) step in giving us more Transformers history to sink our teeth into really makes them worth owning. The story arc related to the present bots is annoyingly unexciting in the RID annual, and I hope it pays off in a bigger way down the road -- or in the next issue. RID seems a bit stuck right now, although the exploration outside of Iacon has helped to make things a little more interesting, but ultimately, something more needs to happen. The election needs to get under way, and Starscream needs to be ‘voted’ in. The cons need to use what they know about Prowl, and Prowl needs to spring his trap- or whatever he has planned. While little things have happened, we have not gotten really any large revelations from RID yet, and it needs a bit of a pay off to keep up with MTMTE (in my opinion of course).
I hope you’ll find this story to be as enjoyable as I did. The history pieces with Nova Prime, Dai Atlas, and Omega Supreme, and the tie-ins to previous material make it very, very interesting to read. The story happening in the present with the Titan, Prowl, Metalhawk, and Starscream is much less so. It’s just more of the same.
Kudos to IDW for not being afraid to out the ‘big guns’ in a big way. I hope we get to see more Metroplex and Alpha Trion soon to tap into the excitement generated by these two annuals.
"Does anybody else feel like FOC designs are being forced on us...or is it legit?"
Site sponsor Kapow! Toys brings us a video review of the highly anticipated Transformers Prime wave 4 Voyager Ultra Magnus. Check out the video embedded below:
Seibertron.com sponsor Kapow! Toys has posted via Youtube a video review of the Asia exclusive Henkei Ultra Magnus. Check out this late entry into the Henkei line and all of its "chromey goodness" embedded below.
Seibertron.com member mitchsantona has posted a video review of Takara Tomy's Transformers Prime Arms Micron Voyager AM-17 Swerve, an Autobot repaint/retool of Voyager Breakdown. Check out his review embedded below.
Seibertron.com member baltmatrix has posted a video review of the mass retail version of the Transformers Generations: Fall of Cybertron Combaticons. This set of Onslaught, Vortex, Blast Off, Swindle, and Brawl features a much brighter deco than the previously released SDCC 2012 exclusive box set. Check out his review embedded below.
This review takes a look at the Onslaught, Brawl, Swindle, Blast Off and Vortex figures from the Fall of Cybertron TF Generations toy line. Please note that I did not include any of the fan modes or changes. That will be a separate video.
Seibertron.com member Azrail has shared a pictorial review of the recently released Transformers Prime Voyager Dreadwing. Check out this review below.
Hello again. This is the last of the new TF Prime releases I received last week.
So here is a look at Transformers Prime: Dreadwing. Voyager Class.
As always thanks again to Andy at Kapow Toys - http://www.kapowtoys.co.uk in the UK! There looks like no chance he will see a UK release in 2012 or at all! So I'm glad they got him in or I would have missed out.
This was a standard USA box release. For some reason Hasbro decided to add a yellow Powerizer area to his nose on the picture. Which is dumb as the toy doesn't have that!
The jet mode is excellent! A real nice deep blue and a good fun size to hold. Not too big, he transforms down quite compactly. There will be scale pictures later.
The cockpit is not designed to be open and you can shine a light through the back to make it.. um glow?
So on to the biggest issue to some with Dreadwing. He has a rubber fetish! Some bigwig at Hasbro health and safety must have seen him. He has a black rubber nose cone, shoulder and tail fins, knees and.. head!
All the pointy areas have been made rubber. Some may find issues with theirs if it's been badly packed etc mine seems fine. The rear fins are the thinnest and bendy ones but mine have held there shape and look ok. The nose cone has a gap where it transforms which is annoying but it may have had that even in plastic.
He has visible hand syndrome but not head. It would be better if the fists were closed. The jet mode is so cool you won't notice after a while.
You can peg the Powerizer gimmick gun on his roof or some other immensely better weapon.
He has 2 ports under his wings which can hold his sword or a weapon. PRID Arcee's long gun looks good with Dreadwing.
There is a fold out front landing gear and 2 permanent rear ones. None of them roll.
The waist area folds out and does make a messy bit of kibble to break up his sleekness. You could always think of it as a bomb pod. There are a lot of pegs holding the areas tightly to his body which is good.
His transformation is a little tricky at first. A lot of joints and sliding areas. Rather like Bulkhead it's clever how it hides everything in a smaller form.
The hands are extended making it look a little silly holding weapons. Closed fists would have been better. There are 2 micron ports on his arms. There are 2 pegs on his waist to do with the transformation you maybe able to use for tiny port items.
His Sword can be held on his back as the same top port folds around to the back.
There are some hollow areas in the legs but compared to most deluxes he's pretty solid!
You can have the wings up high as it comes out of the box or down lower as it's meant to be. Personal choice but the way it's boxed is not the instruction way.
A good level of articulation. Ball joint shoulders and legs, swivel biceps, rotating hands, cut elbows, knees and feet. Some cool poses but the hands still bug me.
The other issue is the shoulders don't lock into place. Afaik. So they are always pulling down a bit looking odd.
A nice head sculpt but weirdly it's rubber! It seems to be pegged onto a yellow plastic piece for the light piping. Which is minimal but works. His eyes are painted but the rubber allows enough light through there only luckily. Kinda the best of both options.
The head is on a ball joint but very tight! Hard to move and having to hold a rubber head doesn't help. There's also a small gap before his neck and chest.
It comes with a light up Powerizer gun like Optimus Prime and a Sword. I've removed the light and put it back together and it looks a lot better.
The gun cannot be held underneath as it would need a longer peg which is a shame. I have seen mods online already people have done. I prefer other weapons, c'mon Dr Wu!
The sword is well detailed and I think reasonably accurate. Longer than RID Primes. This is hard plastic which is crazy considering every other area is rubber!
I prefer the nice new Dr Wu Matrix Swords! There is a purple evil crystal version too.
Apart from a few in my opinion minor issues I think Dreadwing is excellent! Decepticon Voyagers seem to get the better versions. He is really a great representation from the show.
Compared to PRID Prime the gimmick does not detract. He's closer to Megatron where the yellow blends in and looks ok. And unlike some *cough* Rumble *cough* he doesn't need Reprolabels. He's started to appear in the USA already so go and get him!
Comparison scale pics coming in the next post. Please remember it's designed to be in scale with other Transformers Prime robots. Not the older Generations!
I hope you liked this review and will leave feedback or ask questions.
Comparison shots of Dreadwing with others.
He goes nicely with the deluxe jets being suitably larger to be the Leader.
Alongside the Cyberverse Commander version.
Alongside the Cyberverse Commander robot mode. Both cool figures.
With Generations Sky Shadow. A large Jet I would say and looks great together!
I may stick the gun together but right now it still folds.
Scales perfectly with the Voyager RID Optimus Prime.
Alongside Megatron and Breakdown Voyager versions.
RID Bulkhead and Voyager First Edition versions
Takara deluxe Jeticon and Skywarp. Both have tall back kibble and Skywarp is tall. Dreadwing could be taller but I think it's not bad myself.
Generations Sky Shadow looks like he could work with Dreadwing! The older Generations were taller but that's gone now and we have to accept it.
Hope you enjoy all the pics and if you want to see any comparisons then ask and I will see what I can do
SPOILER FREE
(CONTAINING SPOILERS FROM PREVIOUS RID ISSUES, HOWEVER)
With summer fun in the books, the IDW ongoing Transformers series starts September off with Robots In Disguise #9. Issue #8 left us with a rather vague cliffhanger involving Ironhide and the Dinobots. Barber continues the RID series with a rather abstract issue in #9. Initially I felt that the Cybertronians stuck on their motherplanet had a slew of villains to deal with - I find it rather perplex and unfortunate that those 'villains' have yet to come and there's animosity among the ranks!
And she's climbing her spaceship to heaven
The characterization of the Dinobots continue, and they are certainly following their leader who's stuck in the MTMTE-verse. They manage to acknowledge their lack of intelligence by oddly bringing themselves together as a group. That's not very good news for Ironhide. Reading through the issue I get the sense that's there's something wrong with the water outside of the major city. A virus? A plague? Jedi mindtricks? We'll find out in the next few issues or two.
Hey I just met you
Moving back to the main group, as readers we are focused into the mind of Bumblebee. While Bumblebee's political status in the Cybertronian hierarchy has increased tenfold in the previous Ongoing series and RID, I feel that Bumblebee's leadership qualities and personality have gone backwards. Once capable of bringing his fellow Autobots out of turmoil on Earth, he seems to be pulling a G1 Rodimus Prime, filling himself with doubt and stress, as his list of things to do keep piling on. Bumblebee's true resolve will be tested in due time.
Got 99 issues, but Prowl ain't one!
We also get guest appearances from Arcee, Blurr and Reflector. The Reflector trio is hilarious as always. Being a bartender has turned Blurr into a moody fellow, and Arcee smiling is one of the creepiest sights I have seen in awhile.
'Reflectors' at their best
overall, #9 sets up the Cybertronian faction with an incoming hurricane of events, however individually I felt that the issue lacked a 'wow' factor, even with the typical end page reveals. I also felt that the issue was forced to conclude itself in regards to Bumblebee, resulting in some confusion. Hoping our next issues and the upcoming RID Annual make this flight a little more enjoyable.
Time is not in lines, time is in circles. That's why clocks are round
How do you write a spoiler free review? It’s not easy, but I’ll give it a whirl, so you can enjoy the issue for yourself when it hits comic store shelves tomorrow.
In the very last issue, Megatron made himself and his actions more than known to the Wreckers. Kup captured by the Lobotocons and in Megatron’s clutches, the Wreckers at the mercy of Circuit Smasher after being chased relentlessly by Megatron’s resurrected army and barely getting away a distress call to Cybertron...
"You kids get off my front lawn!"
In this issue it’s no surprise that Megatron goes forward with his plan to face Optimus Prime...again. Using the Wreckers and Kup as bait he’s hoping to lure Optimus to Earth for another final duel --a more final duel than any video game, or space bridge, or crashed starship, or alien controller could hope to achieve--. On Cybertron the message is finally received. But will Optimus answer the call from his deadly nemesis? Will he possibly forego the peace that has been established to once again take up the mantle to fight for freedom that he has been most known for?
On to other new issue news: Circuit Smasher is revealed to be Spike Witwicky -- didn’t see that coming did you--. But how did he become this newly enhanced being with glorious flowing locks? The last thing we all knew, including the Autobots, Spike was binary-bonded with Fortress Maximus. Where was this giant of a warrior, this hero of so many Cybertronian battles? Circuit Smasher Spike’s origins are revealed and the story also uncovers another familiar former human ally of the Autobots. No surprise really, it seemed this major Marvel contributor had to come along at some point with his relationship to the new powers that Spike is showing, and his relationship with the Transformers in general from the previous 80 issues. Maybe he can help the Wreckers to create something as deadly as ‘The Car Wash Of Doom’ to defeat Megatron and the Decepticons.
"I can look thoughtful and glow at the same time."
"Bet you didn't know I was so smart, huh?"
Unfortunately, this story still leaves us with no answer related to Grimlock’s capture from last issue when he went back to the planet Nebulos to get help with his affliction. Instead, we get another plot lead to what might be the end of Cybertron’s peace, and a whole lot more responsibility for the young Autobot cavalier under Prime’s tutelage.
‘Resistance is futile.’ Like the Borg, the rogue, off-planet Decepticons have been working to assimilate other robotic planets to help rebuild their strength, but their real desire, a certain home planet of a certain transforming robot species amy be attainable. If only the Autobot forces there were weakened, or spread thinly enough that a Decepticon uprising and assimilation would work. Hmmm.
Teaser image to a teaser image.
For me, this issue went way too fast and left way too much for next time. Circuit Smasher took up a lot of the story, and we all know that there are copyrights in the way to bringing back Circuit Smasher’s predecessor. It had to be, we had to get this out of the way so that Spike could be used again, even if he looks more like Josie, and less like Spike than I remember. Why he couldn’t remain the Fortress in Fortress Maximus, and Buster couldn’t become Circuit Smasher, I’m not sure? That answer may never come. I honestly wish that Circuit Smasher was not going to become a major character, but I believe he will since Furman has worked so hard to reintroduce Spike and his new powers, back into the plot, and has written out the old Spike. I wonder if we had not stopped with issue #80 way back when, if Furman would have continued to use Circuit Breaker, and found another fate better suited for Spike and Fortress Maximus?
Finally, Optimus Prime is no longer annoying me as much as he did in the first few issues of Regeneration. Furman has crafted him nicely, purposefully making us all feel frustrated like Kup toward Optimus’ in-action. We find out a lot about Optimus’ reasons for acting (not acting) as he has and it was enough at this point for me to forgive him.
"Duh."
I hope Kup lives long enough for him to be able to apologize and forgive Optimus as well. Poor Kup has contracted a pretty bad disease thanks to Megatron, and we’ll need Spike’s human ally to help him to overcome it. At least, that’s what they did when they faced this before.
There’s plenty for the previous Marvel Transformers and Marvel UK readers to find and recognize. But honestly, sometimes it feels like we are being hit over the head and forced to notice these details, rather than having them smoothly worked into the story for us to connect with. Sometimes they seem to be really syrup-y heavy, and not just light, and flavorful, as I feel they should be.
"Torkulon. Torkulon. Why does that sound familiar?"
Wildman’s art is still steadily decent, harkening back to simpler times in Transformers, but some of the panels, and some of the characters really do look very, very simple, with some odd looking facial expression, details, and simplified forms. Scale suffers, as it always seems to with Transformers. Geoff Senors alternate covers also make for some excellent nostalgic feel. Wonder if he’ll ever pencil the interiors?
"Don't look at my hand. It's hideous. I mean my other hand."
Of course, these are just my feelings toward the experience of issue #83. By no means do I not enjoy it, I really do, I love the restart of the old comic series. I often times feel as if it were the early nineties again, and I’m reading this series like it didn’t stop for twenty some years. And that I believe, is a major point of it all. Keep it up guys! And thanks to Seibertron for allowing me to share my ideas out loud with the rest of you all.
A few stars out of some amount of stars.
Goto Page: <<1, 2, 3, 4 ... 11, 12, 13>> 125 total news articles in this section, 10 per page.
* Price and quantities subject to change. Shipping costs, taxes and other fees not included in cost shown. Refer to listing for current price and availability.
Some bigwig at Hasbro health and safety must have seen him. He has a black rubber nose cone, shoulder and tail fins, knees and.. head!
![[Valid RSS]](/images/rss/valid-rss.png "Validate Seibertron.com's RSS feed"){kind=small}
