#<- two different ultra magnuses (magni?)

[transingthoseformers]

Thinking about TFA Minimus Ambus in a situation where, as like with canon, the Ultra Magnus we know in TFA dies, and for one reason or another the autobots' science department decides it's a better bet to pass off another mech as UM (see: Minimus) instead of making Sentinel the Magnus— and, oh boy, does this have consequences

One of which I personally think should be Minimus Ambus x Sentinel Prime :3

[botonbots]

Combiner Wars: Ultra Magnus

Hey wait, Combiner Wars was the previous Generations line! Yeah, I do what I want, leave me alone. I found him on Amazon for $50 and that seemed reasonable. There are other Combiner Wars Ultra Magnuses (Magni?) that were $80+. This is the official product so I don’t know why it was $30 cheaper, but I won’t complain!

First off, that face on the box is great, look at that D:< face, it’s beautiful.

On the back of the box it says

The legend of ULTRA MAGNUS is exceeded only by the legend of OPTIMUS PRIME. When ULTRA MAGNUS was lost, the forces of justice would not let a warrior of his caliber fall. MINIMUS AMBUS, using the power of his rare loadbearer spark, enables ULTRA MAGNUS to fight on.

Which is... mostly correct I suppose. 

He has the same basic plastic staples holding him in place as every other Hasbro transformer. The only difference was the paper tie across his chest that secured him to the cardboard insert in the box. Overall, he was easy to get out and nothing had rustled during shipping.

Magnus comes with two (2) guns, a card with no information on it, and Minimus Ambus!

Just a card. No stats. What am I supposed to do if I don’t know how much gun he has?!?!?!

A thing I found funny is that he’s packaged with only one shoulder rocket launcher thing on. Which, like, would drive him crazy. So that’s fun.

His arms seem too long, but I don’t think it’s too bad.

I get the reasons for the hollow plastic, but boy do I not like the look.

It’s a good Magnus face. Though he could afford to frown a little more. Don’t look so happy, Mags! 

You can push down on Magnus’ shoulder stacks and force him to look like Prime!Soundwave.

Magnus has hands that open and close, which is nice! But, because of this, he doesn’t have an especially strong grip on his guns.

It’s a secure fit, but not solid.

Did I mention that this guy is big and was a little bit bigger than what my shadow box would have liked?

I thought that his guns and rockets combined to make a really stupid looking gun that he couldn’t actually hold because of the gun not slotting into his hand.

Nope! They combine to make a hammer with a gun. Which is... better than the gun anyway.

His arm guards have a slot to let the hammer comfortably fit into his hand. His wrists don’t rotate, so his hand and slot will always be lined up.

He has six sets of plugs where you could put his guns and rockets. All of them are good.

Got a stride like thunder.

This is actually a good picture for me to talk about his arms. They NEED more articulation. He can bend his elbow, swing his arms, rotate his arm before the elbow, and... do whatever he’s doing with his upper arms, but that’s it. I can’t twist his elbow or his wrist. It’s very stiff. I wouldn’t complain about this on a smaller toy, but he’s so big! There was plenty of room to stick a swivel joint in somewhere! 

Anyway, the biggest draw of Magnus, for me at least, was Minimus.

Look at this Pringles man! He’s adorable! Could use more paint, but he’s tiny so I’m not complaining. 

Really could use more paint.

He has a teeny spoiler on his back and that’s great.

The main gimmick with Magnus and Minimus is that you can open up Magnus’ chest and find a pilot seat for Minimus. This is another thing where I wish there was more paint just to help define all the sculpted detail in there. It’s really cool.

Minimus sits in snuggly. He wasn’t hard to place or remove, so yay for that. If the cockpit or Minimus had more paint, he would pop out more and that would be cool. Sad about that lost opportunity.

His chest can close completely while Minimus is in there, which is a cool detail.

And you can lift up Magnus’ head so Minimus can peak out!

Or, if you don’t want to hide Minimus, you can always have him stand on Magnus’ shoulders. (He likes to feel tall)

Alt mode! Transforming him was more challenging than I expected.There was a lot of folding things up and stretching things and figuring out where tabs were. But, in the end, he does look very solid. I’ve always liked that his trailer was part of him and not separate like it is with Optimus. And because the cab and the trailer are one thing, he felt solid to drive around. No fear of the trailer unhitching while dragging the cab.

Sadly, Minimus can’t go in the cab while in vehicle mode. That’s where Magnus hides his head.

The back opens into a ramp so minibots can drive up.

Here’s Swerve using the ramp.

His bed can hold two minibots...

Two minibots and Minimus Ambus.

This is all fine but, we know the real question. Can Ultra Magnus smooch Swerve?

No. Not even close.

But can Minimus smooch Swerve?

ALMOST!!!

Also, pretty sure the heights are off. Swerve should be up to Magnus’ hip and Minimus should be up to Swerve’s shoulders I believe. Oh well

Don’t talk to me or my husband or my me ever again.

Conclusion: I really like Magnus. I am very upset by the limited arm articulation, but I do think he’s overall a good addition to my collection and I’m happy to have him. And REALLY happy to have Minimus. I do think they’re worth $50 easily, but I’m less sure about $80+.