For all these years I have resisted FansProject's City Commander (not that that set isn't awesome or easy to resist), because my philosophy with these characters is always patience, and boy did my patience pay off! This figure is FANTASTIC! This really is the Classics/Gen Magnus I've been waiting all this time for.
I would love to compare and contrast the Hasbro version to this Takara one but I can only speak for the Takara. The more I looked at Hasbro's, the more I wondered if I made the right choice. That Hasbro blue, with it's metallic swirl is supper sleek, and I realize now, closer in color to the OG G1 toy. So, I was elated to find that the Takara blue also has that rockin' metallic fleck, not as predominant as Hasbro's, but oh yeah, he's got it! All the other extra painted details also really seal the deal. In particular the added apps to the feet, and the inside of his head crest. Some of the applications are a little loose around the edges, but I'm too busy transforming this guy to care.
In either version, this toy is really fun! The transformation is a ton o' fun and super intuitive. A fantastic evolution of ye olden Magnus. It is definitely a Hasbro engineered figure, but I feel they took some serious ques from the Masterpiece Magnus. I've always been a strong believer in Magnus is a Prime type truck in a suit of armor, but I'm not afraid of change. The driver gimmick is cool. Can't wait to see who else I can cram in that pilot's chair.
I love the robotic pug nose bull dog look of the truck. An homage to the Mack truck mascot, perhaps? I'm a little surprised Takara left that hinge piece rectangle on the roof red. Seems like a detail they would have been sticklers about.
This sculpt is unmistakably IDW, and I love it! Such a great robot mode. And I love that the hammer is a constant now.
Put it down Mags! Serve that justice! Enforce that accord!
For such a tiny little toy, the paint is impeccable on Alpha Trion. This fun little guy will have all kinds of silly exploits in my collection. And he's my first ever Alpha T toy.
Obligatory comparison.
There has been a lot of back and forth between UM's thighs. Red vs. white that is. I initially went for the red thighs because I thought it screamed G1 toy, but what it really boils down to is this is a really great interpretation of this character no matter the pants.
A great transformation, resulting in a really well articulated action figure that's just plain fun to play with. And BTW, I haven't had any trouble getting him to hold his weapons.