Transformers Siege Ultra Magnus
The Leader class figures are finally starting to hit, so let’s get into this big time with the Autobot City Commander!
Six figures in, Transformers Siege has a clear identity: this line is a G1-inspired look at the classic conflict of Autobots vs Decepticons set on Cybertron. The bot and vehicle modes haven’t strayed far from their cartoon roots, and yet everything has taken on a gritty, weathered and alien flavor to the classic cars, trucks, tanks and planes.
So Ultra Magnus stays very much in his G1 glory. Where the last leader Magnus was very heavily inspired by the IDW comics, this one owes much more to the original toy and box art, with a few other Magnus homages here and there.
In vehicle mode, for example, he is still a large carrier. The cab in particular calls to mind his Robots in Disguise mode, but the more caged look of the trailer, the weathering, and the weapons storage make him more of a armored carrier than a vehicle one- sadly, that’s true of his function too. A small Legends car may fit inside- Brawn almost makes it- but any deluxe will have to make do on the top rung. It’s a little thing, but I have to bring it up. He comes with a formidable arsenal, with a pair of rockets, a pair of hand-cannons, and his G1-esque main rifle There’s lots of options for pegging them onto this mode, so you can alternate between an offensive and storage setup.
The cab does disconnect to make up the inner robot base, but can be used without the trailer somewhat. Other than the exposed robot fists, it does a pretty good job of mimicking the Prime cab mode, even though he is a completely different build. But the size and scaling feel really impressive. There are some interesting quirks in his otherwise simple transformation- he has a spine piece that is used to move the bumper to his back- that really showcase how much thought went into the design of each mode.
That means that this cab also makes a great “Prime” botmode, too. Again, very similar in size (other than the gorilla arms) and style to Siege Optimus, while still making up a distinct robot all his own. Dammit, you know Hasbro can totally retool this for a Diaclone or, even worse, a Ginrai/Powermaster Prime, and I’m going to be first in line. And I still really love this Siege Prime.
With the cab becoming the bot, that makes the trailer the parts for the armor. It’s a parts-former, naturally, but the whole system is clever and well integrated in both modes.
Of course, that makes the trailer the armor. Magnus is very much a parts former, and really, he ought to be. It segments into boots, forearm guards, shoulder guards, and chestplate. They peg and snap into various ports on the core robot, and they stay in place well once it’s done. The resulting armor mode is appropriately thick and intimidating, though still keeping with a good scale to the voyager bots.
As you can already tell, the scaling on this line is leagues improved over the scattershot classes of the last trilogy. His articulation is not bad armored up, just losing some knee range.
Weapon storage is equally good in this mode, though obvious preferences apply here- those rockets go on the shoulders, and I like to sling the rifle in the back port and the pistols on his shins. And of course, that means he can add weapons from other Autobots as well, though I feel Magnus is pretty covered in that category.
Overall, this is another home run in one of the best Transformers series in ages. Definitely worth picking up.
