Video Review of Transformers War for Cybertron: Siege Leader Class Ultra Magnus

Even though he's much smaller than CW Magnus, I still think he is great. Although, that ankle issue is a little weird. It's a little forced like CW Magnus, yet it still has tillage, just not fully straight. Anyway, he looks great, and I like him

Morning,

I just ordered voyager Megs off Hasbro at 6:35 am central time 12.29.18 and code buzzbuzz still working! Free shipping still too!

HTS code HASFAM18 still works and will get you a better deal ($6 off) each Voyager and free shipping instead of $4.50 from BUZZBUZZ. Ordered both Prime and Megatron for $50 and some change after tax.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:HTS code HASFAM18 still works and will get you a better deal ($6 off) each Voyager and free shipping instead of $4.50 from BUZZBUZZ. Ordered both Prime and Megatron for $50 and some change after tax.

Emerje

Thanks for the tip about the extra off, I jumped

Oh God, he’s so tiny. Barely bigger than a Voyager.

He looks good, don’t get me wrong, just short. I think I’ll be okay keeping my CW Magnus on my shelf.

Nemesis Maximo wrote:Oh God, he’s so tiny. Barely bigger than a Voyager.

He looks good, don’t get me wrong, just short. I think I’ll be okay keeping my CW Magnus on my shelf.

Yeah, this review just put Siege UM on the no thanks list for me too. Way too small.

Nemesis Maximo wrote:Oh God, he’s so tiny. Barely bigger than a Voyager.

He looks good, don’t get me wrong, just short. I think I’ll be okay keeping my CW Magnus on my shelf.

I do have CW leader Magnus. And the siege one will look FANTASTIC at his side. Both are clearly different and having the return of White Optimus with his power armor just stroke me the right way.

Nemesis Maximo wrote:Oh God, he’s so tiny. Barely bigger than a Voyager.

He looks good, don’t get me wrong, just short. I think I’ll be okay keeping my CW Magnus on my shelf.

Hasbro and takara are basing it off the official scale guide used back in the original cartoon. Leader class isn’t about height this time around. It’s giving you the closest accurately scaled figures and adding stuff like the Magnus armor and shockwaves battle upgrade. Just like how the legends class has been replaced with micromasters.

Different strokes for different people: I'm quite interested in a Magnus that is bigger than Optimus Prime but isn't humongously huge. The Leader size class has always been a tad too big for me unless it's for huge-ass Transformers like Overlord. Not only that but the TR Leaders were a bit too brick-ish for my tastes so if a smaller Leader mean more budget spent on articulation/transformation/features I'm all for downscaling a bit.

Edit: Want the perfect example of a recent Leader figure that could have been better if he had been made smaller and more intricate? Sixshot.

I've been going back and forth on this figure, and the video pretty much swung it to the 'should get' side. I already thought that the PoTP leaders were too big and clumsy, and the comparison to this figure just reinforces that. I don't care for the vehicle mode, but the Ultra Magnus mode looks great. If I see it, I will buy it.

Rodimus Prime wrote:I've been going back and forth on this figure, and the video pretty much swung it to the 'should get' side. I already thought that the PoTP leaders were too big and clumsy, and the comparison to this figure just reinforces that. I don't care for the vehicle mode, but the Ultra Magnus mode looks great. If I see it, I will buy it.

Yeah I'M pretty much on the same boat, which is why I still ended up skipping POTP Optimus Prime and Rodimus.

TF-fan kev777 wrote:Siege Voyagers are back in stock on HasbroToyShop.com and the 15% of BUZZBUZZ code is still available too. I jumped after kicking myself for a few weeks when I passed at 20% off and patiently waited for them to return. (okay, impatiently waited)

The other 2 micromaster teams have also come back in stock as of now. Now we wait for the deluxes.

I don't have an issue with Magnus and Shockwave being small for the sake of scale. It makes for a great display piece. My issue is the question of whether this is $50 worth of toy. Are we getting a similar value for our dollar? If they want to shrink down their toys, fine. Just reduce the price accordingly.

Lore Keeper wrote:I don't have an issue with Magnus and Shockwave being small for the sake of scale. It makes for a great display piece. My issue is the question of whether this is $50 worth of toy. Are we getting a similar value for our dollar? If they want to shrink down their toys, fine. Just reduce the price accordingly.

The "size" is no argument. Sure, the material do count, but prices of everything do increase and it's enough that transformers became 1/3 more expensive already. The price should not double right away. We saw that transition between ROTF and DOTM. It's happening again but not as much.

At least, the quality of the toys themselves did increase since last time. We see more engeneering and more paint than ever before. Plus now leader class mean more than just size. As seen in the SS line, it also mean parts count and mass. So despite Magnus and Shockwave being basically voyagers, they come whit a whole armor set. Thus justifying their class. And I think it's perfect this way.

Lore Keeper wrote:I don't have an issue with Magnus and Shockwave being small for the sake of scale. It makes for a great display piece. My issue is the question of whether this is $50 worth of toy. Are we getting a similar value for our dollar? If they want to shrink down their toys, fine. Just reduce the price accordingly.

Again. Stop comparing them to previous leader class figures. That’s not this line. Are they voyager size? Yes. Is that the only thing coming in the package? No. You’re getting a weaponizers gimmick as well. Magnus comes with his armor with parts that can work with others and so is Shockwave. Shockwave comes with his own complete weaponizer stuff that is completely interchangeable with everyone else in this line and can be turned into a hover craft as well.

That’s the leader class gimmick. If you’re not happy with it and choose to ignore that aspect that’s your fault and problem not the toy or company’s

Randomhero wrote:

Lore Keeper wrote:I don't have an issue with Magnus and Shockwave being small for the sake of scale. It makes for a great display piece. My issue is the question of whether this is $50 worth of toy. Are we getting a similar value for our dollar? If they want to shrink down their toys, fine. Just reduce the price accordingly.

Again. Stop comparing them to previous leader class figures. That’s not this line. Are they voyager size? Yes. Is that the only thing coming in the package? No. You’re getting a weaponizers gimmick as well. Magnus comes with his armor with parts that can work with others and so is Shockwave. Shockwave comes with his own complete weaponizer stuff that is completely interchangeable with everyone else in this line and can be turned into a hover craft as well.

That’s the leader class gimmick. If you’re not happy with it and choose to ignore that aspect that’s your fault and problem not the toy or company’s

Your hostility is misplaced. I am not complaining about the gimmick; I like the gimmick. I'm not complaining about the height; they scale better than old leaders. I am simply stating that I am suspicious that if you factor in the pros and cons of the new approach, it doesn't add up to something that should cost 50 bucks. I could very well be wrong. I don't know the ins and outs of toy design. But, at a surface level, the price tag seems superfluous.

Lore Keeper wrote:I am simply stating that I am suspicious that if you factor in the pros and cons of the new approach, it doesn't add up to something that should cost 50 bucks. I could very well be wrong. I don't know the ins and outs of toy design. But, at a surface level, the price tag seems superfluous.

That apply to current deluxes and voyagers as well. It piss me off to have to pay VOYAGER prices for deluxes and ULTRA prices for voyagers. At least the overall quality went back to the same as when I first started to collect in 2009.

This damper my collecting by a lot and I'm now ultra selective. At least the quality DID come back to what it was in 2009. And even then...
I wonder when Hasbro will go full Takara-on-MP and make deluxes cost 50$, voyagers 80$, and leaders 200$?
The TF price inflation is getting out of hand to be perfectly honest.

Randomhero wrote:

Nemesis Maximo wrote:Oh God, he’s so tiny. Barely bigger than a Voyager.

He looks good, don’t get me wrong, just short. I think I’ll be okay keeping my CW Magnus on my shelf.

Hasbro and takara are basing it off the official scale guide used back in the original cartoon. Leader class isn’t about height this time around. It’s giving you the closest accurately scaled figures and adding stuff like the Magnus armor and shockwaves battle upgrade. Just like how the legends class has been replaced with micromasters.

Right on. I’m okay with downsizing on most figures, as it gives my Transformers shelves a varied, natural look with individual characters being taller/smaller than others. When I have T30 Skids next to Universe 2.0 Prowl, I think it just adds character, the same way as Wolverine being shorter than everyone else. And in fact, because of the size of Leaders now, I’m 100% gonna pick up Shockwave, and if the Leader Class Optimus does indeed resemble Galaxy Convoy, I’ll get him too. But CW Magnus scales nicely with my OG Classics Optimus, so I don’t feel too bad.

Lore Keeper wrote:

Randomhero wrote:

Lore Keeper wrote:I don't have an issue with Magnus and Shockwave being small for the sake of scale. It makes for a great display piece. My issue is the question of whether this is $50 worth of toy. Are we getting a similar value for our dollar? If they want to shrink down their toys, fine. Just reduce the price accordingly.

Again. Stop comparing them to previous leader class figures. That’s not this line. Are they voyager size? Yes. Is that the only thing coming in the package? No. You’re getting a weaponizers gimmick as well. Magnus comes with his armor with parts that can work with others and so is Shockwave. Shockwave comes with his own complete weaponizer stuff that is completely interchangeable with everyone else in this line and can be turned into a hover craft as well.

That’s the leader class gimmick. If you’re not happy with it and choose to ignore that aspect that’s your fault and problem not the toy or company’s

Your hostility is misplaced. I am not complaining about the gimmick; I like the gimmick. I'm not complaining about the height; they scale better than old leaders. I am simply stating that I am suspicious that if you factor in the pros and cons of the new approach, it doesn't add up to something that should cost 50 bucks. I could very well be wrong. I don't know the ins and outs of toy design. But, at a surface level, the price tag seems superfluous.

Are you counting in the fact that 1. Part count is higher. 2 paint applications are higher. 3 weight.

All three of those are higher than the stand leader classes of previous lines.

-Kanrabat- wrote:That apply to current deluxes and voyagers as well. It piss me off to have to pay VOYAGER prices for deluxes and ULTRA prices for voyagers. At least the overall quality went back to the same as when I first started to collect in 2009.

This damper my collecting by a lot and I'm now ultra selective. At least the quality DID come back to what it was in 2009. And even then...
I wonder when Hasbro will go full Takara-on-MP and make deluxes cost 50$, voyagers 80$, and leaders 200$?
The TF price inflation is getting out of hand to be perfectly honest.

We tend to think about this things in terms of historical pricing within our small bubble (TF CHUG lines). Once you broaden the scope, you will see that TF lines somehow staved off the price increase for a long time. What other mass collector lines are there:

Star Wars Black Series. The 6" figures are $20 each.

Marvel Legends. $20 MSRP.

Voltron Lions. $20.

DC Multiverse figures. $18.

Power Rangers Legacy figures. $20.

This is just coming in line with every other mass collector line. Similar scales, similar articulation, but none of these have the play factor of transformers toys. As compared to these other lines I still find Siege to be a good value. I am actually pretty disappointed with the Voltron toys the most.

That said, I got my figures for cheap anyway (HTS and a target coupon I had), so maybe my tune will change when I am paying full retail.

Galvatron: Hasbro, give me this Magnus!

Ya'll want to talk sticker shock and high prices.... look at some of the other Takara lines like the Diaclone reboot. While I've slowly begun falling down that rabbit hole... you're talking $130 for a figure the size of MP Sideswipe or +$300 for something around the size of MP-10. That said the details, paint, and engineering is on point.

That's how I feel about this new siege line. Does it suck a bit that the price has "standardized" yes... but the details, paint, scale, and engineering is all solid. The new Siege Sideswipe borrowed *heavily* from it's MP mold.

Now I can sympathize that for many of us collectors starting a new scale benchmark hurts a bit. Combiner Wars trilogy had it's own scale T30/Chug/etc had it's own scale.

I do like that Siege and the actual combiners seem to feel *about* right. So there *is* that lol.

I also really hope the rumors (I think I heard) about a blast effects pack is true at some point. If anything that makes some figures like Green Light, even more tempting because of exclusive effects parts.

I just saw the video review for Shockwave and all I can say is SOLD! I saw no real flaws in the figure and I'm definitely keeping him as a voyager scale not using all the armor extras.

When in robot mode the armor parts can be used as a probe or a drone for the one eye menace. His star ship mode looked good to me. I can't wait til he hits shelves...'nuff said.

Randomhero wrote:

Nemesis Maximo wrote:Oh God, he’s so tiny. Barely bigger than a Voyager.

He looks good, don’t get me wrong, just short. I think I’ll be okay keeping my CW Magnus on my shelf.

Hasbro and takara are basing it off the official scale guide used back in the original cartoon. Leader class isn’t about height this time around. It’s giving you the closest accurately scaled figures and adding stuff like the Magnus armor and shockwaves battle upgrade. Just like how the legends class has been replaced with micromasters.

That's nice but I wanted a LEADER Shockwave to go with all my other LEADERS. I didn't want a voyager at leader prices with a ton of empty space in the box. I love Siege Shockwave's alt mode & that just makes the disappointment even worse.

Aimless Misfire wrote:

Randomhero wrote:

Nemesis Maximo wrote:Oh God, he’s so tiny. Barely bigger than a Voyager.

He looks good, don’t get me wrong, just short. I think I’ll be okay keeping my CW Magnus on my shelf.

Hasbro and takara are basing it off the official scale guide used back in the original cartoon. Leader class isn’t about height this time around. It’s giving you the closest accurately scaled figures and adding stuff like the Magnus armor and shockwaves battle upgrade. Just like how the legends class has been replaced with micromasters.

That's nice but I wanted a LEADER Shockwave to go with all my other LEADERS. I didn't want a voyager at leader prices with a ton of empty space in the box. I love Siege Shockwave's alt mode & that just makes the disappointment even worse.

"a voyager at leader prices with a ton of empty space in the box"
This is monumentally stupid.
I've said before and I'll say again that by that "logic" RiD Optimus and every Unicron Trilogy Optimus - hell, any figure that came with components not integrated/not immediately integrated into the robot mode were "voyagers (or deluxes) at leader prices with a ton of empty space in the box". It's still a Leader-class toy's worth of paint and plastic.

Leader is grossly oversize for Shockwave in the context of SIEGE. If you want a Shockwave that can stand on par height-wise with PotP Optimus, Combiner Wars Megatron, etc. just get the original (or the MP if you've got that kind of cash):


The ToyCo Astro Magnum was not a small toy!

As for Ultra Magnus, his small size in armor mode comes down to working within the mass limitations of the Leader size class while having a Voyager cab robot. The original Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus toys, which had Deluxe-size cab robots, were Leader-size as it was:



The SIEGE cab robots are Voyager size, with more height and mass, as can be seen here (SIEGE Magnus' cab robot is the same size as SIEGE Optimus):


With the cab robot scaled up to Voyager, including the blocky G1 trailer (and the large super robot it results in) without horizontal squashing would require a Supreme-class toy, which would be even more pricy. So they had to downsize the armor to make it work, and went with an RiD homage vehicle mode since that allowed them to still make the armor into a decent-size trailer (as a bonus, the RiD cab adds to the alien look).

MP if you want a leader sized shockie

I totally dig this toy line. My only gripe is the visible hands. I wonder what led to them not putting a panel to open and fold the hands in then cover them. Why put it together so well and not implement that?

SpikeyTigertron wrote:MP if you want a leader sized shockie

Or wait for the oversized KO.



Meh, this emoticon don't cut it.

https://giphy.com/explore/coffee?utm_so ... &utm_term=

There. Much better.

-Kanrabat- wrote:

SpikeyTigertron wrote:MP if you want a leader sized shockie

Or wait for the oversized KO.



Meh, this emoticon don't cut it.

https://giphy.com/explore/coffee?utm_so ... &utm_term=

There. Much better.

Sad, but true about the oversized KOs T_T

After seeing a video review I'm really curious to see what the supposed Optimus Prime retool will do with it, as it seem to be quite an interesting mold.

After seeing the video, I'm disappointed, but not surprised that he doesn't have an opening chest door to store a matrix in. It was a bit of a long shot to hope they'd include something like that, but at least there's room in the chest for it, even if it's not intentional. Also, I'm definitely picking both Shockwave and Magnus up. They both look amazing, especially Magnus

Skritz wrote:After seeing a video review I'm really curious to see what the supposed Optimus Prime retool will do with it, as it seem to be quite an interesting mold.

Judging by how/where the Ultra Magnus chest sits in trailer mode, I'll guess they're gonna rip that out and put in the dual ladder/cannon things. Where/how they'll do the wings I'm not so sure though.... since the trailer sides make up the boots. Maybe they'll find a way to split the difference?

Sentinel_Primal wrote:After seeing the video, I'm disappointed, but not surprised that he doesn't have an opening chest door to store a matrix in. It was a bit of a long shot to hope they'd include something like that, but at least there's room in the chest for it, even if it's not intentional. Also, I'm definitely picking both Shockwave and Magnus up. They both look amazing, especially Magnus

Plenty of room to retool it for Prime. But I agree it'd have been nice. Maybe with that solid T-junction of clear plastic and the grill, they decided against it. What *does* surprise me, is that they had that big clear section basically just sitting over silver painted plastic. I didn't see that coming

doublej101 also has a review up for Shockwave and I just watched it. I must say that's a damn good looking voyager figure in its own, and the extra crap that makes him a 'leader' takes away from the figure in all modes. It's a definite buy for me as a Shockwave collector, and I will be displaying him in voyager robot mode with the 'hoverboard' which is not bad, but not necessary.

Rodimus Prime wrote:doublej101 also has a review up for Shockwave and I just watched it. I must say that's a damn good looking voyager figure in its own, and the extra crap that makes him a 'leader' takes away from the figure in all modes. It's a definite buy for me as a Shockwave collector, and I will be displaying him in voyager robot mode with the 'hoverboard' which is not bad, but not necessary.

I felt it really filled out his alt mode as a capital ship (although hilariously out of scale). It was the same feeling I had from the War for Cybertron (video game) Shockwave figure.... Cool ship design just *too* small.

If it's the same video review I'm thinking of... He forgot to pop the "ears" up on the conning tower in ship mode.

The sled/hover thingy mode was surprisingly decent looking. So at least if you don't like it you can ball all the kibble up.

I am curious if some of these other armor parts are compatible with other deluxe voyagers as weaponizer systems.

They probably are, since they have the standard pegs and holes. So whichever figures can Cog be attached to, I'm sure the extra Shockwave parts can be attached to as well.

As for the ship mode, I would much rather keep him in his space cannon mode, without all the extra stuff. Looks better, IMO. But I gotta say, they nailed the base robot mode.

Rodimus Prime wrote:They probably are, since they have the standard pegs and holes. So whichever figure can Cog be attached to, I'm sure the extra Shockwave parts can be attached to as well.

just think, you can have your voyager shockwave, and a pimped out brunt.

Rodimus Prime wrote:doublej101 also has a review up for Shockwave and I just watched it. I must say that's a damn good looking voyager figure in its own, and the extra crap that makes him a 'leader' takes away from the figure in all modes. It's a definite buy for me as a Shockwave collector, and I will be displaying him in voyager robot mode with the 'hoverboard' which is not bad, but not necessary.

I think it depends on your tastes for how the extra stuff impacts his other modes. Personally, I love the anime-esque super mode. He just looks amazing to me in that mode, but I can see where others may see issues, especially with the size. He's a nice update to the G1 figure, with a nice extra bit for people like me that want some new weirdness for old characters. Though, I do admit that Shockwave is probably my favorite design of all the G1 designs, the exception probably being to some of the Japanese G1 designs, so adding something that looks like it would happen in the Japanese portion of G1 to Shockwave might be making me more biased for this design

Sentinel_Primal wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:doublej101 also has a review up for Shockwave and I just watched it. I must say that's a damn good looking voyager figure in its own, and the extra crap that makes him a 'leader' takes away from the figure in all modes. It's a definite buy for me as a Shockwave collector, and I will be displaying him in voyager robot mode with the 'hoverboard' which is not bad, but not necessary.

I think it depends on your tastes for how the extra stuff impacts his other modes. Personally, I love the anime-esque super mode. He just looks amazing to me in that mode, but I can see where others may see issues, especially with the size. He's a nice update to the G1 figure, with a nice extra bit for people like me that want some new weirdness for old characters. Though, I do admit that Shockwave is probably my favorite design of all the G1 designs, the exception probably being to some of the Japanese G1 designs, so adding something that looks like it would happen in the Japanese portion of G1 to Shockwave might be making me more biased for this design

Of course to each his own, if you like him with the extra stuff, that's great. Personally, I just wanted an updated G1 Shockwave figure, and I got it in the voyager without the extra stuff, so I'm happy. And like SpikeyTigertron said, the extra parts can be used as weapons for other figures. That hoverboard is a neat idea, though.

Found Shockwave and Magnus at a Walmart in Washington, MO, tonight. Almost bought both, but settled for one.

Shockwave is really great.

starrhero wrote:

william-james88 wrote:Not my image:

There are godmasters, then there are just gods.

and let us hope this god is benevolent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fshgWIpcPeE

for those who dont wanna click it's the Akira Mutation scene soundtrack song

Found Shockwave at Walmart in Des Moines

https://twitter.com/matty0984/status/1079779870048206848?s=21

I’m always confused how they show up in the mid west before either coast lol

Just a quick heads up, Cog and Skytread are up for purchase on the BigBadToyStore. I just got both right now.

https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Search?S ... Brand=1971

I have to say, I love the idea of battle damage on magnus' cab bumper, it really drives home the idea that he has killed 's by driving into them

Hellscream9999 wrote:I have to say, I love the idea of battle damage on magnus' cab bumper, it really drives home the idea that he has killed 's by driving into them

That part is pretty much the only negative I see in the figure. Not because of the battle damage, but because it's too big and protruding in truck mode and makes a huge backpack in robot mode. Luckily in Ultra Magnus mode it's not very noticeable. I do wish they would have done something about the space between the front wheels and the shoulders in truck mode.

Rodimus Prime wrote:

Hellscream9999 wrote:I have to say, I love the idea of battle damage on magnus' cab bumper, it really drives home the idea that he has killed 's by driving into them

That part is pretty much the only negative I see in the figure. Not because of the battle damage, but because it's too big and protruding in truck mode and makes a huge backpack in robot mode. Luckily in Ultra Magnus mode it's not very noticeable. I do wish they would have done something about the space between the front wheels and the shoulders in truck mode.

Yeah, that bumper served an ulterior motive for God Magnus's original toy, but for this Ultra Magnus, it's just there to complete the homaged look of the vehicle mode.

So, I've been checking HTS everyday hoping the deluxe Siege figures would get restocked before prices went back up but... now they're all gone. Not sold out - gone. Searching for them on HTS returns no results.

Popping in at the most recent Page, as Soundwave is a "jet" in this line, what is to become of his prior Cassettes? Are they going to be reimagined as Weaponizers now?

Personally in spite of his iconic, yet hugely outdated look, I've always felt HasTak have missed a trick by not incorporating the Cassettes into Soundwave. Either as a Gestalt or Apex Armour to the base figure.