When it comes to debatable points in the Transformers canon, there is no debate that has lasted as long or is as impassioned as who Ultra Magnus actually “is.” If your chief point of reference is the original G1 cartoon, then you simply have to judge a book by its cover — Magnus is the large red, white, and blue ‘bot who wasn’t the best choice to inherit the Matrix from Optimus Prime. However, if you look to the original G1 toy or peruse the comics, particularly the older Dreamwave comics and current IDW comics, then “Ultra Magnus” is a ‘bot in a suit of armor who may or may not be Optimus Prime’s “brother.” IDW’s take on Ultra Magnus has put an interesting new spin on the character by establishing that the name “Ultra Magnus” is actually a title that a long line of ‘bots have assumed by wearing the armor, the current ‘bot being an unassuming chap named “Minimus Ambus.” IDW’s take on the character is the version released by Hasbro that we’re taking a look at today — let’s see if the figure lives up to the name!
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This is a figure I could not wait to get open and play around with. Ultra Magnus has always been one of my favorite characters, and this new interpretation by IDW is by far my preferred rendition of the character in fiction, so I could not wait to see what Hasbro would do with him when translating him to plastic. The packaging itself is standard leader-class fare with a fantastic piece of art showcasing the two characters, though it is a little confusing because Ultra Magnus cannot function independently with Minimus outside the armor, so the artwork makes them look like two distinct characters. Granted, I am behind in my comic reading, so maybe that’s a thing that has happened.
The figure itself is an absolute knockout. Aside from a few color variations (white instead of red thighs, for example), this Ultra Magnus could have stepped straight off the comic page. The sculpt looks so spot-on to me that he is absolute eye-candy on my shelf. Now, he does suffer from some of the modern shortcuts Hasbro has been employing with their figures in recent years, like a degree of hollowness and chintzy wheels, but the sculpt and paint apps make up for those shortcomings.
For accessories, he comes with two rifles that don’t really fit in his hands all that securely. His hands have a clasping articulation feature, but that actually serves to make his hands less stable and less able to wield his guns effectively. Fortunately, the two guns can be combined with his shoulder-mounted rocket launchers to form a large hammer that he actually can hold somewhat securely. Magnus has a long history with wielding a hammer (outside of the G1 cartoon), so it’s pretty cool that Hasbro found a way to outfit this figure with one.
For a leader-class figure, his articulation is pretty awesome. I have a full demonstration of his range of movement in the video, but I’ll just say that his articulation scheme feels adequate, maybe even good, but he is missing a few key points of articulation. He would benefit from some ankle rockers and wrist swivels the most, but even though he is definitely lacking those, he’s still fun to pose and play around with.
In terms of size, he’s just about the same size as the original G1 figure, and he sufficiently towers over his Autobot teammates. He’s a great fit in both a G1 display and an IDW display, whichever your inclination may be.
Now, this is the part that I love the most. I had the G1 toy before I saw the ’86 movie, so to me Ultra Magnus will always be a ‘bot in a suit of armor, so when it was revealed in the comics that “Ultra Magnus” is actually a much smaller ‘bot named “Minimus Ambus” who is but the current occupier of the armor, I just went bananas and wanted to hug More Than Meets the Eye scribe James Roberts until I broke him. And Hasbro found a thoroughly ingenious way to integrate Minimus into the armor by fashioning a cockpit for him to sit in. And, like the G1 figure, Minimus seems to wear Magnus’ head like a helmet that can be raised and lowered on a joint mechanism. I absolutely love this.
The only drawback to this configuration is that it means Minimus has to be a small figure, way out of scale with any of the other figures/characters from the comic, but that’s a small price to pay for getting him at all. See, I skipped the Masterpiece Ultra Magnus figure once I learned there would be no inner ‘bot, so Minimus being here is such a vital and important feature for me, and I am more than thankful to see him included even though concessions had to be made in order for it to happen.
Minimus Ambus is definitely a small figure — only slightly larger than the the pack-in figures that were coming with the legends-class figures last year. He is minimally articulated too, with only vital points of articulation featured, and those only exist, really, due to his transformation scheme. Still, it is so awesome to have a Minimus figure, even if he is just going to be sitting in the suit of armor forever. His articulation breakdown is as follows: ball-jointed shoulders, ball-jointed hips, and hinged knees — that’s it.
Ultra Magnus’ alt mode is the familiar car carrier that looks very much like his G1 counterpart. The big difference here is that the cab cannot be detached from the trailer and it does not transform to become MInimus; it is integrated into the overall transformation in an ingenious way that is actually intuitive. Check the video for a transformation demonstration, but I can say that after working through the instructions once, his transformation became more and more intuitive the more I did it. It’s not overly complicated, but now that I’ve done it a few times, I doubt I’ll transform him much in the future because when comparing two modes, the ‘bot mode is definitely the preferred mode from both a design and engineering perspective.
Simply put, I love this figure. It is my near-ideal Ultra Magnus, so if you happen to find him available anywhere, I would buy on sight. He’s by far one of the best Transformers figures to be released this year.
You can also order him from these fins online stores:
