First Impressions and In Hand Images of SS 86 Commander Ultra Magnus

Did you mean KINGDOM Ultra Magnus?

Also, yeah, I'll definitely get this Commander. I have Siege and SG Magnus so he'll definitely be worth getting to complete the "evolution".

Last version of this guy I'll ever be convinced to get. Although, looking back, I kinda wish I had gotten the Titanium as a "mini me". He looks really beefy next to the Kingdom one. At least this time the improvement between releases is VAST.

I'm still getting it. You all know that's my man.

However, I have to say, he's wildy - WILDLY -out of scale. I've even seen an uncharacteristic return of people to the usually ill received Kingdom figure, which I found...striking.

Probably, I will transform this one into truck mode and keep Kingdom as the robot as the size is just too out of whack for me, but ask me again when he's actually out and in hand.

sol magnus wrote:However, I have to say, he's wildy - WILDLY -out of scale. I've even seen an uncharacteristic return of people to the usually ill received Kingdom figure, which I found...striking.

I'll say, he's way too small.

This old soldier will make a fine Neo-G1 representation in my collection. I just wish he had been at the front of the line of figures released saving me from buying Kingdom buuuuut what's done is done.

AcademyofDrX wrote:

sol magnus wrote:However, I have to say, he's wildy - WILDLY -out of scale. I've even seen an uncharacteristic return of people to the usually ill received Kingdom figure, which I found...striking.

I'll say, he's way too small.

We got jokes.

Nemesis Destron wrote:This old soldier will make a fine Neo-G1 representation in my collection. I just wish he had been at the front of the line of figures released saving me from buying Kingdom buuuuut what's done is done.

I'd love to know the logic behind three releases in less than five years. Somebody at Hasbro must really like the Mag Daddy.

The size is definitely impressive. I would like to see him standing next to either Jetfire or Menasor.

However, I have and like Kingdom Magnus, so much so that he's not going anywhere if I decide to get SS86 Magnus. I do think he's a bit too tall, he should be same height as Grimlock, which the Kingdom figure is close enough.

I guess this will be an in-hand decision, assuming I ever see him in a store.

Rodimus Prime wrote:The size is definitely impressive. I would like to see him standing next to either Jetfire or Menasor.

However, I have and like Kingdom Magnus, so much so that he's not going anywhere if I decide to get SS86 Magnus. I do think he's a bit too tall, he should be same height as Grimlock, which the Kingdom figure is close enough.

I guess this will be an in-hand decision, assuming I ever see him in a store.

At the end of the movie he's shorter than Grimlock.

I like him enough, I don't mind the chonk wide shoulders, nor the size, but I don't need him because of Siege UM. I'll get him on clearance though, and I'll repaint Siege UM into Delta Magnus when that happens.

SS86 & WFC molds serve 2 distinct suppose. I like them both. One of the few that I DON'T mind displaying the same characters near each other.

Rodimus Prime wrote:The size is definitely impressive. I would like to see him standing next to either Jetfire or Menasor.

IIRC, MP Ultra Magnus is about the height of Siege Jetfire and Legacy Menasor, so the shot with the MP should give a good idea of that comparison.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:
I'd love to know the logic behind three releases in less than five years. Somebody at Hasbro must really like the Mag Daddy.

It escapes me as well. I like combiner wars magnus a lot.
I can imagine that other people really like the war for cybertron releases, or really like the masterpiece.
This figure just seems like more of the same to me.
Unlike commander rodimus, I have not yet figured out what this figure adds, that the existing figures are missing.

Sculyblast wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:
I'd love to know the logic behind three releases in less than five years. Somebody at Hasbro must really like the Mag Daddy.

It escapes me as well. I like combiner wars magnus a lot.
I can imagine that other people really like the war for cybertron releases, or really like the masterpiece.
This figure just seems like more of the same to me.
Unlike commander rodimus, I have not yet figured out what this figure adds, that the existing figures are missing.

Sheer mass. You can now put your deluxe cars in his car carrier instead of smaller ones. And it's slavishly G1 at the right scale (in vehicle mode). Maybe, like Ironhide, it's course correcting for Kingdom not being that great in alt mode. And, I guess, CW is 8 years old now so it's time for a new version . Is that enough? Someone at Hasbro thinks so.

I went off about how annoyed I was at another Magnus earlier. Don't need to repeat myself about it. But if you feel annoyed about it you're not alone. Magnus is a TF I used to feel nostalgic about now ... this is the last one I'll get. It's peak.

Those who are muttering because of multiple Ultra Magnus releases in rapid succession are forgetting: This is HASBRO we're talking about. How many versions of Bumblebee do they make - every YEAR? How many versions of Optimus Prime? How many versions of the seeker jets? How many versions of... every character? Why should it be considered in any way unusual or out of the ordinary for Hasbro to make multiple releases of yet another character in the lineup? Why do they do it? Ching, ching, ching, baby.

For my part, I plan to sell Siege UM to raise funds, and replace it with this new Commander version. It seems to me to be the more G1-style version of all the recent mainline releases.

As to the scale? If all you're going by is the old animation models, you'll go batty. Every character in that show, especially in Season 3, would radically alter its size depending on how the storyboard artists scribbled out their sketches. There was no consistency at all.

I'm allowed to be annoyed at Hasbro.

As a collector and a TF fan I want to like this release.

DeathReviews wrote:Those who are muttering because of multiple Ultra Magnus releases in rapid succession are forgetting: This is HASBRO we're talking about. How many versions of Bumblebee do they make - every YEAR? How many versions of Optimus Prime? How many versions of the seeker jets? How many versions of... every character?

Prime, Bumblebee and starscream are staple characters that show up in any Transformers show. It is not weird that they show up in the toyline as well, because every child wants a toy of these characters.

For Magnus... unfortunately we have not had a memorable appearance of him since Transformers Prime.

Sculyblast wrote:For Magnus... unfortunately we have not had a memorable appearance of him since Transformers Prime.

Oh? This laughably ludicrous goofiness wasn't memorable?



"I can't see his face! Who could he possibly be?!!"

Sculyblast wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:
I'd love to know the logic behind three releases in less than five years. Somebody at Hasbro must really like the Mag Daddy.

It escapes me as well. I like combiner wars magnus a lot.
I can imagine that other people really like the war for cybertron releases, or really like the masterpiece.
This figure just seems like more of the same to me.
Unlike commander rodimus, I have not yet figured out what this figure adds, that the existing figures are missing.

A larger more accurate figure at not Master Piece prices.

As much as I find yet another Magnus a bit unnecessary, I can't help but look at it and want to play with it. I'll be getting it, it's preordered.

And I'll be keeping my Netflix Spoiler Pack UMG, and my CW Magnus, along Classics, FoC and Prime. I really need to get Animated.

Dunno why thwy have given him WFC series forearm bends compared to the movies look that it has meant to based off

Ultra Magnus looks a lot better than the wfc toys more so than what commander class rodimus did compared to potp rodimus but i'm still out on commander class pricing. a proper scaled vehicle mode is the highlight for me. Car carrier that can carry cars, wooop.

To me this Ultra Magnus is almost perfect in the thumbnail for the article. I prolly won't buy it.... maybe...., cause I have CW Magnus w/3rd party cab and am very happy with it. Theys both look to be near the same height, which I like. I prefer Magnus to be slightly taller than Grimlock, even if usually I am a G1 Sunbow scale nerd. After reading IDW comics for so long and its Magnus, he kinda took over. With the idea of him being more a Cybertronian super-soldier, legendary warrior, I think the scale fits better. But that is just me. Surely CW Minimus Ambus can be crammed in there somehow,

I'm not quite convinced on this guy yet
Love the alt mode
But the "chonk shoulders" as mentioned above aren't doing it for me
And I got siege already

Yeah, no, this just doesn't work for me at all. I'd rather he be in the right scale in bot mode than have a working car carrier, but then they wouldn't be able to sell him as a Commander. Maybe if I can find one for 50% off just to have it, but I sure wouldn't put him in a movie display.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:Yeah, no, this just doesn't work for me at all. I'd rather he be in the right scale in bot mode than have a working car carrier, but then they wouldn't be able to sell him as a Commander. Maybe if I can find one for 50% off just to have it, but I sure wouldn't put him in a movie display.

Emerje

Or, this just gives Hasbro an excuse to make yet another Optimus, Rodimus, and Grimlock in a slightly larger size, starting the scale all over again.

Sabrblade wrote:

Emerje wrote:Yeah, no, this just doesn't work for me at all. I'd rather he be in the right scale in bot mode than have a working car carrier, but then they wouldn't be able to sell him as a Commander. Maybe if I can find one for 50% off just to have it, but I sure wouldn't put him in a movie display.

Emerje

Or, this just gives Hasbro an excuse to make yet another Optimus, Rodimus, and Grimlock in a slightly larger size, starting the scale all over again.

Being serious, they may have made figures bigger to reflect the higher prices 10 years ago, I don't see them doing that again. I think for the most part the current scale is here to stay, but if they want to put some extra money into paint I would be all for that!

Emerje

I'll be getting Commander Magnus for sure. He'll be perfect along his Siege and SG self.

My first post here in years and years just to point out...

MAXIMUS AMBUS

zodconvoy wrote:My first post here in years and years just to point out...

MAXIMUS AMBUS

I would have preferred this over what we're getting.

I will still be passing, he is chonky, but not the right kind of chonky.

BTW, the Dinobots look pretty good when placed with other Dinobots from other lines (as long as you try to keep Snarl and Slug in the back as much as out of sight as possible)

Lore Keeper wrote:

zodconvoy wrote:My first post here in years and years just to point out...

MAXIMUS AMBUS

I would have preferred this over what we're getting.

Same

zodconvoy wrote:My first post here in years and years just to point out...

MAXIMUS AMBUS

The thought HAD crossed my mind.

Until I thought a little bit more about it and realized there actually isn't a little dude inside.

What this feels like, to me, is a return to the old days. Back when we had a whole set of distinct and essentially scaled (by size class) figures and then bam, some randomly large figure in a pseudo supreme size class was dropped on us.

It is just so odd to me, that in a time where the lines have been very careful and considerate of size/scale, we get this guy.

DeathReviews wrote:As to the scale? If all you're going by is the old animation models, you'll go batty. Every character in that show, especially in Season 3, would radically alter its size depending on how the storyboard artists scribbled out their sketches. There was no consistency at all.

Indeed. It does amuse me when scale continues to be a hot topic regarding G1. Like this art piece for example, by Tsuyoshi Nonaka.



The number of perspectives in this one piece alone are maddening if you think about it too much.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

DeathReviews wrote:As to the scale? If all you're going by is the old animation models, you'll go batty. Every character in that show, especially in Season 3, would radically alter its size depending on how the storyboard artists scribbled out their sketches. There was no consistency at all.

Indeed. It does amuse me when scale continues to be a hot topic regarding G1. Like this art piece for example, by Tsuyoshi Nonaka.

The number of perspectives in this one piece alone are maddening if you think about it too much.

If you think that's bad, you should look at vintage G1 collections.

Everyone has their own priorities for collecting, and I do like having a largely coherent G1 animation collection, but scale is one of the most boring design principles available in my opinion. At least I'm not a movie collector where alt-mode size is such a huge deal.

Scale is only applicable when actual physics are involved. The CG shows for example. The animated ones can play fast and loose without the loss of any real immersion. In a given scene, you would notice Rattrap being taller than Dinobot or Prime Megatron being thinner than Soundwave. But if that happened in animation. It could be done so quickly via cutaway ala AKOM, it wouldn't be a lasting issue.

Heck, if scale really is that unimportant what's the point in different size bots then? Just make very single one of them the same height, no need for Core, Deluxe, Voyager, Leader or Commander. Being as how Animation was all over the place we don't truly know Rumble was shorter than Bumblebee or that Prime was taller than him. lol

Just make them all Voyager Class and call it good.

Till-all-R1 wrote:Heck, if scale really is that unimportant what's the point in different size bots then? Just make very single one of them the same height, no need for Core, Deluxe, Voyager, Leader or Commander. Being as how Animation was all over the place we don't truly know Rumble was shorter than Bumblebee or that Prime was taller than him. lol

Just make them all Voyager Class and call it good.

Why not? Other toy lines have done so and the world didn't end.

Scale, smkhayle, just make an average of what appeared the most in media and run with it.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

-Kanrabat- wrote:Scale, smkhayle, just make an average of what appeared the most in media and run with it.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

A bot who transforms into a City.
A team that combines into a Gestalt.

Those are the only figures that objectively need to be bigger than the rest.

Thing is, difference in size is fun. I think "ballpark" scale is the best. As in, respecting roughly who's taller than who, but not going around trying to get the sizes correct to the milimetre.

Different sizes = good
Ballpark relative sizes = fine
This animation style guide says the figure should be X cm shorter = not my bag

Here are some photos I saw on Instagram.

Despite a couple issues, I still see this as being so much better than the previous Siege/Kingdom versions.
I may be alone in this, but even though the back of the trailer is just his lower legs, I’m really liking how that looks.

I love my Siege Magnus, but I never really saw the Kingdom "Earth mode" version as Magnus's true evolution. With the SS86, not only does the Cybertronian Magnus got a REAL Earth mode, he was also got himself seriously upgraded too!

I’ve already shared my thoughts on this figure being too large, but the more I’ve seen the bot mode, the more I’ve decided it’s the overly broad shoulders that I think are the issue.
I know this shouldn’t look much different at all in person, but I’m still anxious to see him in-hand and in front of me. I’ve found that the vast majority of my figures look better in-person than in photos.

Is it me, or does the truck cab actually look a little smaller than that of the Kingdom version?

Sabrblade wrote:Is it me, or does the truck cab actually look a little smaller than that of the Kingdom version?

No, I don’t think so.
But either way, imo it looks a ton better.
For the Kingdom figure supposedly being an “earth mode”, it’s lacking in a lot of ways.

Sowndwave76 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Is it me, or does the truck cab actually look a little smaller than that of the Kingdom version?

No, I don’t think so.
But either way, imo it looks a ton better.
For the Kingdom figure supposedly being an “earth mode”, it’s lacking in a lot of ways.

Keep in mind, the Kingdom cab was a tad on the tall side, so the new one being more proportionate in its design does make it look shorter.

I just found this photo, & here he looks really pretty good.
I know he’s slightly turned, but still…
I think he’s going to be a win.

I really want to not want that Magnus so I can save money
And I like my siege one

But that car carrier mode is really messing with me haha I'd love to have Magnus carrying kup, arcee, blurr and Springer. It's such a cool play feature. That alt mode is fantastic

My biggest pet peeve about scale is the fact a Sony Walkman size tape player turns into a robot the same size as one who's alt mode is a Semi truck. Or that a tape cassette turns into a robot the same size as a VW Bug's bot mode. Those instances are lapse of logic I just cannot wrap my head around, and makes me think the people in charge of their designs were on the same LDS as Spock was accused of taking too much of.

No amount of folding or whatever excuse they want to invent can explain how a tape player can turn into a robot that tall. At most Soundwave should have been the same height as a Human child at the age of 12. And a tape cassette should have been at most the size of, well a 5" toy robot. lol

Sabrblade wrote:

Sowndwave76 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Is it me, or does the truck cab actually look a little smaller than that of the Kingdom version?

No, I don’t think so.
But either way, imo it looks a ton better.
For the Kingdom figure supposedly being an “earth mode”, it’s lacking in a lot of ways.

Keep in mind, the Kingdom cab was a tad on the tall side, so the new one being more proportionate in its design does make it look shorter.

The thing that really didn't helped the Kingdom remold are the obvious bot arms that are just hanging on the back of the truck cab, and the fact that the trailer was made shorter to not hide them. That was my main reason to not buy it. There's also not much difference with the Siege bot.
But for some reasons, all these flaws were forgivable with the SG version.

I'll wait with anticipation for SS86 Magnus to stand along his Siege and SG selves.

Till-all-R1 wrote:My biggest pet peeve about scale is the fact a Sony Walkman size tape player turns into a robot the same size as one who's alt mode is a Semi truck. Or that a tape cassette turns into a robot the same size as a VW Bug's bot mode. Those instances are lapse of logic I just cannot wrap my head around, and makes me think the people in charge of their designs were on the same LDS as Spock was accused of taking too much of.

No amount of folding or whatever excuse they want to invent can explain how a tape player can turn into a robot that tall. At most Soundwave should have been the same height as a Human child at the age of 12. And a tape cassette should have been at most the size of, well a 5" toy robot. lol

Well, it's just silly robots after all. The initial IDW comics explained it as them just shedding the mass into a pocket dimension or some similar space fantasy bullshit, but at least there was an explanation. And in-story, it meant that Transformers who mass-shifted to transform didn't do it as often, because of the huge energy expenditure involved. I think Shockwave even took advantage of that to trap Soundwave in the classic tape deck mode.

But yeah, I much prefer it when it's like the movies, where they roughly respect the relative volumes of the vehicles. And in cases like Starscream, you got bulky, wide robots to keep them the same height as the rest of the cast. I was a bit disappointed to see that the MPM Starscream didn't pull a similar trick, like being long but slick and folding in half to transform, they just made a short jet full of crap underneath.

Till-all-R1 wrote:My biggest pet peeve about scale is the fact a Sony Walkman size tape player turns into a robot the same size as one who's alt mode is a Semi truck. Or that a tape cassette turns into a robot the same size as a VW Bug's bot mode. Those instances are lapse of logic I just cannot wrap my head around, and makes me think the people in charge of their designs were on the same LDS as Spock was accused of taking too much of.

No amount of folding or whatever excuse they want to invent can explain how a tape player can turn into a robot that tall. At most Soundwave should have been the same height as a Human child at the age of 12. And a tape cassette should have been at most the size of, well a 5" toy robot. lol

Apart from the bizarre fact that the intrinsic canonical ability of these shape-shifting alien robots IE Mass displacement, continues to lose people nearly 40 years on. It's actually very simple to explain.


That isn't a tape player at all. Soundwave is an advanced, alien robot in 'tape player' cosplay. It's a costume. A disguise. Fake. The real life dimensions of the altmode bare no resemblance whatsoever to alien robot within.

The Beast Era and Bayformers are the only exemptions. By design.