(NOTE: Because this is a repaint, this is not a full-blown review. This mainly covers any changes made to the mold and the color scheme, and merely compares it to Autobot Alliance Legends "G1" Optimus Prime. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of Autobot Alliance Legends "G1" Optimus Prime here.)
Ultra Magnus follows
the oft-used "white Optimus" redeco that is an homage to the core of his
G1
toy, which was itself a white-and-blue Optimus Prime figure. For this
exclusive release, however, the people in charge of the color scheme did
things a bit differently; instead of making the feet-- or any significant
part of him-- the rather light, sky blue shade that Magnus-to-Prime redecoes
have traditionally had, instead his entire legs are painted a rather "impure"
charcoal black (with the white wheels and vents on the legs painted ANOTHER
coat on top of that, oddly enough). I am really not a fan of this change
to the usual Magnus redeco getup at all. The blue-- even if it made the
color scheme a bit too light overall-- worked much better with the white.
Sure, this provides more contrast, but having an almost entirely black-and-white
color scheme is rather boring in the vast majority of cases. Thankfully,
Ultra Magnus does have a bit of sky blue-- namely, on his front windows
and on his face, both of which look great, but aren't enough to really
keep Ultra Magnus from looking rather dull. The silver paint on the smokestacks,
truck grill/bumper, and robot waist also looks nice, but it just doesn't
add another desperately-needed color to the mix, being another fairly "neutral"
color as-is. The red eyes really pop, though, even if that color is solely
used on said eyes.
Magnus has the same
hole in the top of the cab that is scaled to hold Cyberverse-scaled weapons,
but he doesn't come with the sword that some earlier redecos of this mold--
such as Motorbreath-- had, which is unfortunate
considering that this is a slightly more expensive release than most Legion-class
toys.
Generations legion Ultra
Magnus is a fine mold for the size class, but the removal of much of the
sky-blue from the figure and replacing it with a charcoal black is a big
step in the wrong direction in my view, as it makes the toy look considerably
more dull and monochrome. In general it's not worth the extra effort to
find this one, unless you're an Ultra Magnus completist.
Review by Beastbot