Powermasters return

Well now. This is a tribute a long time in the making. In a world where many a G2 tribute has been done for the big guy nobody went back to that very first body switch. Not untill now that is.

Something that also does not happen all that often is that this guy is actually a retool of an existing Ultra Magnus instead of the other way around. Owning this Magnus I did have some misgivings as to how well this attempt was going to pan out but I can tell you, boy did it ever!

Making a bit of a flashback to original design plans for the original version of this character this time around Prime is a headmaster, of sorts. I'll admit to personally rather liking the helmet. Without a master the empty eyesockets make him look like an empty battlesuit.

This toy really drives home just how hard the design team is working on making sure we have unique looking characters while still fullfilling their retool quota. Something we might dislike but also something that is the hard reality for keeping costs down while still giving the fans what they want at retail prices.

Being a retool also mean we can recycle a bit even giving Magnus a bit of that Maximus Ambus look he recently rocked in the comics.

The main draw for this line however is just how much interaction the figures can have with the masters and the smaller and bigger vehicles.

Not that the big guy needs it but you can power up this master quite a bit even with the line just getting started.

For the connectors of these new masters it seems the design team stole some bits from the recent Brainstorm we saw as a Headmaster.

One if the better things taken out of that design is using a balljoint on the neck of the master to articulate the head. The nicely done smooth head look though is dropped in favor for a very generic build structure between all the masters. How much a face suffers from this will vary from toy to toy but those with helmets or an originalky blocky head will obviously come out best.

The new heads are a little smaller as well making them incompatible with G1 as well as their very recent cousin.

Back to Prime though. In truck mode he pulls off a pretty solid looking truck combo look. He opens up from the back and smalker vehicles can go in easily enough.

From a nostalgia perspective the truck, like the robot mode, hits all the right buttons. For the new generation the same seems to be true as my son instantly took a major liking to this Prime proclaiming it to be his. :)

So far this guy seems pretty damn nice but there is a little less stellar mode still left. Not that the G1 base mode was a lot to look at of course. Still, this could have used a little more work.



Now visually I can forgive it some things but the fact that nothing can go up and down those ramps due to the arms sticking in the way? Do notice the nice detailibg there though.

All in all this guy is a winner through and through. 

Just as a friendly tip for those strugling with the neck attachments, use this angle: