Post by Philip Ayres on Jul 6, 2010 19:24:26 GMT
War For Cybertron is a sub-line within the Generations line featuring characters from the War For Cybertron video game, a third person shooter (whatever one of those is !) using the Cybertron modes of many well known Transformers. Cybertron modes are good. When I was a younger TF fan I really wanted Cybertron modes of my favourite Transformers and I wasn't the only one. Demand created "The War Within" comic series by Dreamwave which featured Cybertron designs for many characters several of which were made as Titanium toys: Optimus Prime (and thus Ultra Magnus), Megatron, Starscream (and several other similar jets: Thundercracker, Skywarp, Thrust & Sunstorm ), Prowl, Grimlock. The Starscream design was used as the basis of the Cybertron Starscream, but that's the only War Within design to be found in a main toyline until now.
The War Within Optimus design now forms the basis of the War For Cybertron toy with many features common to both. We have the red cab and blue back familiar to most Prime designs with two wheels to the rear on each side with a larger one at the front. The cab itself is rounded and in many ways makes Prime look more like a high speed train engine than a truck. The exhaust pipes are pointing diagonally up & backwards like the War Within version and similarly the gun is mounted pointed backwards. Instructions suggest you attach the gun using the smaller post sticking out the side but if you use the larger post underneath it fits better. Pushing to one side the magazine sticking out the top will transform the weapon from a short wide gun facing backwards to a longer thinner one pointing forward. Lovely feature :-)
Transform: The first time you do this you'll be doing it in reverse as the toy comes packed in robot mode. It's a nightmare that way round - the side of the cab is made up of six separate pieces that need aligning. But here - as is traditional on Phil's reviews - is how to transform from vehicle to robot: Rotate each exhaust pipe 180 degrees to reveal the slot along the length of the pipe. The pipes are very stiff, so much so that I thought they were moulded units and my toy had been assembled wrong ! Remove the gun and fold forward the blue panel on his back, then fold the red section down the centre of the vehicle up & forward separating it from the bumper. The red panels with the grey side vents then fold forward allowing you to fold back the blue panels that are at the back of the base of the cab. The exhaust pipes then fold back and lock onto the panels. Fold back the flaps on the rear and fold them under the vehicle. Fold the blue section at the rear of the vehicle back 90 degrees, then pull on it to extend the blue section to form the lower legs. Fold the lower legs back a further 90 degrees so they're stretching out behind the vehicle. Fold the feet up at the top of the back of the vehicle. Fold the panels at the side of the lower legs back behind the vehicle then fold the rear pairs of wheels up so they point down again. Fold the panels
back up again and separate the legs. Fold back the square blocks at the back of the cab to form the lower arms then raise the entire arms upwards. Fold the front wheels back 180 degrees. Pop the wheel arches out of the bumper and fold the arms down to the sides. Fold the wheel arches down onto the arms to form the top of the shoulders. Fold the arms back. Rotate the nose & bumper round 180 degrees so the nose points up then swing the arms and the body of the robot round under the vehicle so they face backwards while leaving the middle of the top of the cab pointing forward. Fold the head up and fold the middle of the can onto the robot's back. Pull the back panel back a bit then concertina the robot's waist into the base of the body. Turn the waist 180 degrees and fold the bumper onto the waist with sides folding round the hips. Fold out the hands and turn each arm out to the sides 90 degrees. Transform the weapon by flicking the magazine out to the sides and place in Prime's hand.
The instructions suggest the wheel panels on the back should be folded out to the sides but leaving them folded back allows the arms to move without clashing against them. When the wheels on the back are folded back there's a 5mm peg hole available on each side which lets you mount the gun as a shoulder cannon. That for me makes me pretty certain they should be folded back.
The robot mode is definitely Prime: blue legs and hands, red body & arms, grey upper legs, waist & lower chest. We've got a very pointed chest here - Pat Lee would be very happy - with painted grey windows. The robot's very poseable, even though you may initially find the bumper on the waist gets in the way that'll lift up for kneeling purposes. We've a ball jointed ankle, double bending knees, a thigh swivel and ball jointing hips. The shoulders turn and swing to the sides, there's a bicep swivel, a bending elbow and rotating wrist. The head - with quite the tallest Prime "ears" I've ever seen is on a ball joint. The hands are fists with a 5mm peg hole in the middle of each which allows him to hold the gun, but there's also a 5mm peg hole on the side of each forearm to allow the weapon to be attached there.
The only real down sides to the robot I can find are that the waist piece keeps popping off and that the same waist piece completely restricts the waist. Yes the head is a little small for a deluxe and it doesn't have a lightpipe. But these are relatively minor faults compared to trying to transform Prime back to vehicle mode which was a complete nightmare with lots of counterintuitive moves which resulted in me needing to reverse everything I'd done more than once. He's no Armada Supercon Op in terms of ease of transformation but it's a decent Cybertron vehicle and a nice figure. I love the auto transforming weapon that's a real nice touch.
Future Repaints
Want to have a book on how long the Ultra Magnus and Nemesis Prime repaints will take ?
The War Within Optimus design now forms the basis of the War For Cybertron toy with many features common to both. We have the red cab and blue back familiar to most Prime designs with two wheels to the rear on each side with a larger one at the front. The cab itself is rounded and in many ways makes Prime look more like a high speed train engine than a truck. The exhaust pipes are pointing diagonally up & backwards like the War Within version and similarly the gun is mounted pointed backwards. Instructions suggest you attach the gun using the smaller post sticking out the side but if you use the larger post underneath it fits better. Pushing to one side the magazine sticking out the top will transform the weapon from a short wide gun facing backwards to a longer thinner one pointing forward. Lovely feature :-)
Transform: The first time you do this you'll be doing it in reverse as the toy comes packed in robot mode. It's a nightmare that way round - the side of the cab is made up of six separate pieces that need aligning. But here - as is traditional on Phil's reviews - is how to transform from vehicle to robot: Rotate each exhaust pipe 180 degrees to reveal the slot along the length of the pipe. The pipes are very stiff, so much so that I thought they were moulded units and my toy had been assembled wrong ! Remove the gun and fold forward the blue panel on his back, then fold the red section down the centre of the vehicle up & forward separating it from the bumper. The red panels with the grey side vents then fold forward allowing you to fold back the blue panels that are at the back of the base of the cab. The exhaust pipes then fold back and lock onto the panels. Fold back the flaps on the rear and fold them under the vehicle. Fold the blue section at the rear of the vehicle back 90 degrees, then pull on it to extend the blue section to form the lower legs. Fold the lower legs back a further 90 degrees so they're stretching out behind the vehicle. Fold the feet up at the top of the back of the vehicle. Fold the panels at the side of the lower legs back behind the vehicle then fold the rear pairs of wheels up so they point down again. Fold the panels
back up again and separate the legs. Fold back the square blocks at the back of the cab to form the lower arms then raise the entire arms upwards. Fold the front wheels back 180 degrees. Pop the wheel arches out of the bumper and fold the arms down to the sides. Fold the wheel arches down onto the arms to form the top of the shoulders. Fold the arms back. Rotate the nose & bumper round 180 degrees so the nose points up then swing the arms and the body of the robot round under the vehicle so they face backwards while leaving the middle of the top of the cab pointing forward. Fold the head up and fold the middle of the can onto the robot's back. Pull the back panel back a bit then concertina the robot's waist into the base of the body. Turn the waist 180 degrees and fold the bumper onto the waist with sides folding round the hips. Fold out the hands and turn each arm out to the sides 90 degrees. Transform the weapon by flicking the magazine out to the sides and place in Prime's hand.
The instructions suggest the wheel panels on the back should be folded out to the sides but leaving them folded back allows the arms to move without clashing against them. When the wheels on the back are folded back there's a 5mm peg hole available on each side which lets you mount the gun as a shoulder cannon. That for me makes me pretty certain they should be folded back.
The robot mode is definitely Prime: blue legs and hands, red body & arms, grey upper legs, waist & lower chest. We've got a very pointed chest here - Pat Lee would be very happy - with painted grey windows. The robot's very poseable, even though you may initially find the bumper on the waist gets in the way that'll lift up for kneeling purposes. We've a ball jointed ankle, double bending knees, a thigh swivel and ball jointing hips. The shoulders turn and swing to the sides, there's a bicep swivel, a bending elbow and rotating wrist. The head - with quite the tallest Prime "ears" I've ever seen is on a ball joint. The hands are fists with a 5mm peg hole in the middle of each which allows him to hold the gun, but there's also a 5mm peg hole on the side of each forearm to allow the weapon to be attached there.
The only real down sides to the robot I can find are that the waist piece keeps popping off and that the same waist piece completely restricts the waist. Yes the head is a little small for a deluxe and it doesn't have a lightpipe. But these are relatively minor faults compared to trying to transform Prime back to vehicle mode which was a complete nightmare with lots of counterintuitive moves which resulted in me needing to reverse everything I'd done more than once. He's no Armada Supercon Op in terms of ease of transformation but it's a decent Cybertron vehicle and a nice figure. I love the auto transforming weapon that's a real nice touch.
Future Repaints
Want to have a book on how long the Ultra Magnus and Nemesis Prime repaints will take ?