G1 Ultra Magnus

When the G1 reissues started appearing at my local TRU, I hesitated a bit but eventually decided to get Magnus instead of Prime because I liked his character in the movie and I'd be getting a Convoy toy anyway (the cab). (But the white robot is just not Optimus Prime so I had to pick him up eventually :)

Magnus is a great G1 toy! The trailer is huge, and can carry several G1 cars and even the RiD Autobot Bros. Opening the box (a nice tribute to the original) and putting the stickers on was great fun. I wish I could always do that, but it'd get expensive :). I've seen pictures of Powerfully Powered Powered Convoy (the Diaclone toy Magnus came from) and despite what some think, I like Ultra Magnus' colours better. I'm just used to the movie now!

The cab is of course Convoy, done in white and a bit of silver and blue. The gun has two grips to fit in this robot mode's fist as well as Ultra Magnus' usual robot mode. The trailer can be put in repair mode and battle mode and some other crazy modes (like a plane launcher :). The best use is to put the trailer into the mode we know best, as Ultra Magnus' robot mode. This is a huge G1 robot; he dwarfs Prime and especially the cars like Prowl. His movie size is probably a bit more manageable (although some later seasons had funny shots where Magnus and Blurr/Kup/etc are running somewhere and they're THE SAME HEIGHT :). The arms are articulated; the lower body is not. The trailer wheels become part of the feet and I'm wondering if the original Powered Convoy was supposed to be a rolling battle platform more than a walking mecha. He does look rather scary rolling towards other G1 TFs, that's for sure!

This is another G1 favourite of mine. I like the respect Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus show each other in the movie - you can see them fighting side-by-side, Magnus being the perfect battlefield commander.