TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

Robot Mode:

Alternate Mode:

Additional Image:

Box Art:

Kremzeek75’s review of: R.I.D. Ultra Magnus.

Name: Ultra Magnus
Function: Autobot High Commander
Sub-Group: n/a
Quote: "Let's hit the road, Autobots. We have a planet to save!"

Ultra Magnus changes into a transport truck and can carry Autobot warriors over long distances at incredible speed. He is a professional soldier loaded with the fierce and fiery weapon, Blue Bolts. He can also fly with his turbo-charged, high-powered jet engine. He and Optimus Prime can join together to create a super-powerful force of strength and wisdom.

After months and months of waiting, I finally found R.i.D. Ultra Magnus- I never forgot the promise I made to you, the reader, when I did my review for the Optimus Prime of the same line, and when my specialty collector store got this guy in, it wasn’t even a second thought. Paid for, picked up, and now adorning my shelf. I have to say, I am very impressed with what I bought here- I mean, I just wanted to review this guy to help complete the reviews for the R.i.D. line at the Archive (and I figured I would just go through the motions) but what I found here was an incredibly enjoyable, very articulate Autobot. Dare I say it, I’m more impressed with Magnus than I am with Prime- but I tend to think I have always felt that way about Magnus, even back to the G1 days- yeah, Prime was the leader and courageous and wise, but Magnus was the guy who was out there on the front line kicking Decepti-butt and constantly proving his worth. Guess I’m a hard luck glitch for the warrior.

Alternate Mode:

In keeping with the time honored tradition of a semi-carrier, Magnus is fully loaded with ramps that can accompany 2-3 regular sized cars, or many spychanger/minicon size bots. The ramps can be lowered for easy on-off driving, and, in keeping with G1 tradition, we have a primary white/lightblue color scheme with red overtones. First I would like to point out a few things that bug me about this before I go into the positives about this particular Magnus: when in semi-carrier mode, it looks like a brick with wheels. It is very hard to distinguish between the cab and trailer modules, and I guess I prefer the older G1 styling with a visual hitch. However, don’t get me wrong- no G1 fanbois here. Heehee. I still prefer this over the G1 model- there are a ton of options, details, and articulation- unfortunately, they are all located “within” the brick instead of complimenting it. The other minor annoyance I have with the semi mode is that, if you don’t get the gray side walls fitted just right onto their respective holing on the lower portions of the blue body, the cab will totally separate from the trailer. It took me a few times to figure out the exact placement of the hinges on the gray sides. Overall, though, this is a very fine piece of detail in the Transformers Universe- the cab is very detailed with windows and one heck of a bitchin’ front fender that will knock most Decepticons on their turbo chargers. Oddly enough, I happened to notice that the actual rubber wheels are inscripted with the words “CYBERTRON” and “GOD MAGNUS”- obviously, this was a bit of a carry-over from Takara's “Car Robots” line, as Magnus was known as God Magnus in his Japanese origins. Lastly, one really cool thing about this Magnus is that he comes with a dual missile launcher that can be placed in a number of positions, both in Alternate and Robot modes.

Robot Mode:

Even though he is slightly disproportioned (VERY long legs), I am infatuated with the RID Magnus look- he’s got killer wings, fully articulated hands, and a very cool chest piece as well as intricately detailed limbs. The only thing I am not totally crazy about is the size/look of his head- the head is way too small for the body, and personally, I will always favor the G1 look of the head (specifically the cartoon) that displayed some two really distinctive helmet points on either side of the head. However, that doesn’t take away from the splendor of this great piece- Takara produced a 99.9% fully realized bot here, and I am twistin’ in my glitch transistors that I have him. Again, you have that dual missile launcher that you can place in a number of positions over his body- in his hand, coming straight out of his chest, on his forearm, etc. How many bots can claim that with their weapon? Not many. Other than what was previously mentioned, the only minor annoyances that remain for me are the small feet, which are actually just part of the cargo liner, and the openness of space between the head and top of chest/shoulder area. But do you think that’s going to stop Magnus from kicking a Decepticon’s butt all over the galaxy? I think not.

Omega Prime Mode:

For the Grandaddy of all combiners (with the possible exception of G1 Predaking), we get Omega Prime, made out of (yep, you guessed it) Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus, both from the R.i.D. line. All I can say is…….wow….I wish I had bought Magnus sooner. I remember briefly touching upon this when I did the Prime Review, and Sir Auros provided the Omega Prime pic, but I never had any idea how impressive and grand this was until I made it myself and stare at it while I type out this review. So let’s start with the detractors- there are a couple, but nothing serious. First off, there is a serious weight-proportionate problem here- if you don’t stand Omega Prime up in a very exact posture, all the top weight will pummel him over, and you just wouldn’t want that happening in battle when you go to give Megatron a kick in the afterburner. Secondly, (as with Prime himself), the vertical sliding torso on Prime himself can easily knock off the upper body portion that comes from Magnus, so that is something to watch out for when playing with him in battle. Other than that, you have one serious KICK ASS Autobot Leader here, and I will forever display these guys as such.

Transformation: 10- very difficult. You WILL need directions for Magnus the first few times around, and especially for Omega Prime.
Durability: 8- solid bot. The two point deduction is for the manipulation of the gray side rails as explained in the alternate mode section of this review.
Fun: 10- just looking at him gives me oodles of joy and entertainment.
Price: 8- not sure what he went for when originally released, but I paid 40 bucks for him at my specialty collector shop. Kinda pricey, but in the grand scheme of things, you will eventually get over it when you see Omega Prime.
Overall: 10- Wanted him, Bought him, and would never be able to live without him again.