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Showing posts with label Titanium. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Titanium. Show all posts

Transformers Review – War-Within The Fallen (Titanium)

Intro:
            As more and more writers became involved with the franchise, the history of the Transformers became richer and more diverse. The concept of a Creator God and the Destroyer was later introduced into the lore, in the form of Creator Primus and Chaos Bringer Unicron. Then it was subsequently revealed the concept of the first 13 Transformers, created by Primus to maintain order.
Each of these 13 Transformers have been given specific roles and duties, and they are all multiverse singularity, meaning that only one of them exist across all dimensions. Among the most well known of them are Vector Prime (the Keeper of Space and Time), Prima (The first holder of the Matrix), Alpha Trion, Nexus Prime (the first gestalt) and of course, Megatronus Prime (The Watcher of Entropy and Rebirth), just to name a few.
Megatronus Prime, would later be too consumed with the idea of entropy, and focused too deep into the idea of destruction and with the influence of Unicron, would eventually turned over into the dark side, and became one of Unicron’s first and most fearsome herald and champion. His name would later be lost in the annals of the universe’s history and would eventually be known only as – The Fallen.

Alternate Mode:
            The Fallen’s alternate mode is that of a double-barrel tank with flame-themed paintjob. The idea of it is to have The Fallen being constantly engulfed in flames, and since it’s almost impossible to do that without getting burned in the process, we have to settle with paints. 
To be honest with you, I really like the idea, but unfortunately I can’t say the same about the execution. The main drawback of this figure is obviously the back portion of the tread, which doesn’t seem able to lock on to the rest of the body properly, which resulted in the pieces literally hanging there freely. It really weakens the rest of the figure. I only wished that there were some clips or some sort of connectors that would hold the piece in place. 
            One thing I like to mention here is the unique faction insignia that he carries, which is neither Autobot nor Decepticon in allegiance. The insignia itself is as if it’s engulfed in flames, which is very neat. 
            I haven’t mentioned this in most of my reviews of the Titanium figures, but I will do just that now, because The Fallen’s one is the most unique of all. All 6” transformable Titanium action figures come with a display stay, with their faction insignia and name displayed. With The Fallen, since he is faction-less, the insignia is actually a picture of his head engulfed in flame. 
            I think that is just so damn cool!
Overall, I think the tank mode looks good, only for the unlockable pieces to spoil the whole thing.

Robot Mode:
            As depicted in the War-Within comics, The Fallen is a dark figure constantly engulfed in fiery flames. The figure is a bit back heavy and tends to tilt backwards when you stand him. 
I especially like the head sculpt. The face clearly has a “Prime” look to him that actually made sense because he is quite literally a fallen “Prime”. 
Having the tank treads depicting the flames is really a creative idea on the designer’s part. The black and yellow on the robot blends perfectly, and adds that *oomph* factor to an awesome character.     
Articulation-wise: the head rotates 360°; the shoulders rotate on ratcheting joints and swivel on another soft ratcheting joints; the elbows bend and rotate; the wrists rotate; there is also a waist movement; the hips are on a set of ratcheting universal joints; the knees are also on a set of tight ratcheting joints that rotate and bend; and finally, the foot pieces tilt downward.
So he has a full set of articulations at his disposal, and that is always neat.

Overall:
            I would rank The Fallen as being one of the best in the line. He has an excellent robot mode, as well as a cool tank. His only downfall is the unlockable back-tread piece.
            His paintjob is excellent, worthy of a character of his stature.

            Final verdict: 9/10.

Transformers Review – War-Within Megatron (Titanium)

Intro:
            Back in the original G1 animated series, Megatron’s origin was a mystery. In the Transformers comics titled Megatron: Origin, it was finally revealed that Megatron was a former prisoner of war, sent to The Pit to participate in a fight-to-the-end gladiatorial combat.
Megatron was soon proven to be an extremely competent fighter, and would subsequently form the Decepticon-faction that would eventually bring the entire Cybertron civilization into utter chaos for eons.

Alternate Mode:
            This is probably one of the weakest alternate modes ever. It clearly shows the lack of creativity of the designers. The vehicle modes is nothing more than the robot lying on his back with a little bit of twists and turns, here and there. 
I have to admit though that the alternate mode would probably go down as the sturdiest figure in this entire line.
Megatron is heavily armed in this mode, with 3 fully loaded cannons. The largest cannon of all is on a soft ratcheting joint, providing 360° range of motion.
From left: War-Within Megatron and War-Within The Fallen
Robot Mode:
The robot mode is nice, and to me, is probably one of the best and sturdiest in the entire line. 
The head sculpt and the chest designs are great, but the iconic fusion blaster is noticeably missing from the figure, which is kinda strange. In its place, Megatron wields an awkward-looking gun, a shield and also a shoulder-mounted gun.
Articulation-wise: the head has a very limited rotating range; shoulders are on tight rotational ratcheting joints; the elbows bend and rotate; the hips are on tight ratcheting universal joints; and finally, the knees bend.  
The overall articulations feel a bit limited and restricted.
From left: War-Within Optimus Prime & War-Within Megatron
Overall:
            The robot mode may look good, but the figure as whole fails to match my expectations, as well as not being able to reach the standards set by War-Within Optimus Prime in the same line. While the overall depiction of the figure matches that of the comic depictions, they really should’ve done better with the actual figure.

            Final verdict: 6/10.

Transformers Review – Soundwave (Titanium)

Intro:
            Unless you’ve been living under a rock somewhere, you would definitely recognize this guy as the classic G1 Soundwave…
Unfortunately however, that is the only cool thing that I could ever say about this figure, and also the fact that it comes with a transformable Laserbeak.

Alternate Mode:
            This is the only saving grace for this figure, and even that is arguable. Yes, it looks like the brick that it’s supposed to look like; although it has no button-gimmicks whatsoever like the original figure, the figure still doesn’t look right for me. Perhaps it’s too thick for a cassette deck? 
Perhaps.
            Open up the cassette compartment, and it will reveal a flat piece of supposedly cassette (which doesn’t look anything like it really).
Laserbeak's Cassette Mode - Back and Front
            The compartment will only fit 1 cassette, and that shouldn’t be a bother because there were no plans for Takara/ Hasbro to continue with this line, and hence, no Ravage, Rumble, Frenzy or Ratbat will ever be made.

Robot Mode:
            One word perfectly describes this figure – SUCKS!!! This is quite literally the worst ever Transformer figure ever made, on par with the Titanium Megatron (GI Joe crossover), period. Even though the legs can extend to full length, it’s just too loose and is totally devoid of any sorts of locking mechanism to avoid the thighs inserting back into the legs, once you put him on his two legs, and the weight of the figure itself certainly doesn’t help the cause. In other words, the stupid crap can’t even stand!!!
 
            Soundwave is also probably the most “sexually potent” transformers in the entire universe ever, considering the enormous groin that he has. Basically, I really hate how they executed this figure and I think that it’s really a huge let down.
            Laserbeak, although he fares slightly better than his master, he is not a masterpiece either. Overall, he looks like a flat piece of plastics with several protrusions.
Laserbeak Bird Mode
Overall:
            Honestly, I have absolutely nothing nice to say about this figure. It is quite possibly the worst ever Transformers action figure ever made, on par, if not even worse than the Titanium G1-GI Joe Crossover Megatron.
            With the amount of technology available to the human race, how the heck that this happened?
            Don’t buy him – ever!!! Unless of course you wanna use it as a weapon and breaks someone’s skull with it.
            Final verdict: 1/10. (would’ve gotten a zero if not for Laserbeak)

Transformers Review – War Within Optimus Prime (Titanium)

Intro:
            War-Within Optimus Prime, or WWOP for short, would prove to be the first ever War-Within character to be immortalized as an action figure. The powers-that-be decided to give Optimus Prime a whole new origin story that overwhelmingly differed from the original animated series.
This time around, prior to becoming a leader, instead of being a naïve warehouse boy named Orion Pax, he was known as Optronix – a small-time librarian, whom felt that he was an unworthy leader being thrust into position (Rodimus Prime anyone?).  
            Origin-aside, let’s see how well the execution of the actual actions figure is.

Alternate Mode:
Inspired by the War-Within comics scribed by the legendary Simon Furman, WWOP has, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the best alternate modes of the entire series.
This time around, Prime transforms into a futuristic truck cab. Still maintaining his traditional colors, he is recognizably Optimus Prime, even down to his trademarked transformation, and of course, no trailer available. 
His iconic ion blaster in robot mode is plugged to the back of the truck, which to be honest, looked kinda awkward and out of place. At times, the wheels don’t turn smoothly as I would’ve liked either.
One of the things that I’ve also noticed is easily paint chips can occur. As such, as with most Titanium series transformation, frequent transformations aren’t really encouraged.  
WWOP is one of those figures which are okay at best. It is not stellar, but just okay.

Robot Mode:
            Again I would say Optimus would probably go on the record as having one of the best robot modes in the entire line, along with War-Within Megatron. 
            Articulation-wise: the head rotates; the shoulders rotates; the arms hinge slightly above the bendable shoulders; the legs rotate right below the ball-jointed hips; and finally, bendable knees. 
It looks good, and its articulations are quite good, although its own weight kinda hinders you from executing some fancy poses.
It’s worth to mention that the head articulation is limited in the sense that it’s very tight. 

Overall:
WWOP is literally one of the better figures of this entire line and I would rank him as being one of the best in the line.
The downside is that the shoddy die-cast finishing, as well as frequent transformations may cause the paints to chip.
In the end, I still think that this is a good figure.
Recommended.

            Final verdict: 8/10.

Transformers Review – Ultra Magnus (Titanium)


Intro:
After the death of Optimus Prime during the Decepticons’ assault on Autobot City on Earth (during the events of the 1986 animated movie), the Autobot forces were left without the leader, and before the next true bearer of the Matrix could be found, Ultra Magnus was selected as the temporary guardian of the Matrix and the interim leader of the Autobots.
The original G1 Ultra Magnus figure was quite unique, in the sense that the cab is actually a repaint of the original Optimus Prime figure. The Ultra Magnus figure that we learned to love and adore was actually the powered up version of that figure, which is the combination between the cab and the carrier trailer. The Ultra Magnus figure itself was previously known as Powered Convoy and was never meant to be a new character. Although the end result looked like his animation counterpart, the transformation is all wrong!
            The cab figure was never shown in the original G1 animation or comics, save in the modern comics, as the series depicted the entire carrier and cab transforming into Ultra Magnus as a whole.
            The Titanium Ultra Magnus would prove to be the only incarnation that would stay true to the original depiction.

Alternate Mode:
            The carrier mode is really animation-accurate, and I have to say, the colors are perfect. Of course the cab and the trailer now do not separate and again, the wheels can’t really roll as freely as I would’ve liked.  
            One obvious issue concerning this mode is how there is a lack of locking mechanism between the hands and the legs, which forms the upper tier of the car carrier. 
            Cool alternate mode.

Robot Mode:
            The robot mode is distinguishable as the G1 Ultra Magnus, but with an extremely long pair of arms, so it kinda makes this figure looked too lanky. The cab also folds backward to reveal the head, and that kinda make the figure looks a little hunchbacked and the arms disproportionately placed. 
The missile launchers on his shoulder do not seem to stick well enough, and from time to time, it may drop off if you accidently bump into it, however lightly you do so.
            The knee joints can be a bit tight, and plus with its extraordinary huge-sized boots, posing of the legs is almost impossible. The grey color gun that came with the set can be quite difficult to attach onto the hand.  
            Articulation-wise: the head and shoulders are on ball joints; the elbows bend, but their hinge joints are on ratcheting joints; the waist is on a very tight ratcheting joint; the hips are on ratcheting universal joints; the legs rotate slightly below the hips, which are also on ratcheting joints; and finally, the knees bend, and guess what (?), yup, you guessed right, it’s on ratcheting joints too.
            The amount of ratcheting joints on this figure is absolutely tasty.
            Apart from that, this Ultra Magnus figure is an okay figure at best, the only saving grace for this figure, in my opinion, is its accuracy to its animated counterpart.

Overall:
I would normally classify the Titanium line in general as a failure. But truth be told, they were some glimpses of hope in the line and Ultra Magnus was one of them. He is in fact one of the better ones in the entire line.
The biggest draw to this figure would be how closely it mimics his on-screen depiction, both in terms of overall look and transformation.
He’s definitely one of the Titaniums worth getting.
Recommended.

            Final verdict: 8/10.