So, Fortress Maximus is getting reissued, and there's a lot of happy collectors around here. Justifiably so, as since I joined the community, Fort Max's name is generally spoken with some degree of respect and reverence, and many, many members have listed him as a personal grail.

Myself, I'm not too into him, not enough to justify spending $350 on a pre-order. I mean, he is a fantastic toy - no doubt about that. I've actually had my hands on one courtesy of a co-worker who shared that he had a Fort Max collecting dust (along with a Scorponok) in his attic. He was just going to give them to his son to play with when his son got old enough, and had no idea of the value. No, it wasn't complete - it was missing a few small accessories I think (both Headmasters were intact), but it seemed in pretty good condition, with minimal to no yellowing. And no, I didn't offer to buy it off him for cheap - he was pretty impressed that Fort Max was actually so valuable (his eyes really popped when he did an eBay search  ), and decided to hold on to it for a bit (imagine that!).

But what I'm wondering is, what is the draw of Fortress Maximus to collectors? Is it because it's one of the biggest toys out there? The difficulty in obtaining one? Was it a toy you wanted as a child, but never got? I'm sure there's plenty of reasons out there - I'd love to know what it is about this particular toy that engenders such excitement among the community.

 

Want + Can't have = appeal

Given that we are all Transformer fans, the toys will always appeal to us as we try and buy back our childhood as well as the ones that got away.

Fort Max, for most, is the hot girl that you couldn't take to the prom.

 

I had grown out of Transformers by the time Fortress Maximus was released. Today I would much rather spend $350 on a Green Giant Not Devestator than a reissue Fort Max. Just my opinion though. Just spent $140 on Hasbro Bruticus and AM Ironhide from BBTS. My first purchase from them!

 

Fortress Maximus is the very essence of childhood manhood when you were a kid back in the 80's.

Some kid comes up to you with a Devastator and says he has the biggest transformer, then BAM, you whip out Fortress Maximus! And he was the biggest transformer made.

But to be quite honest, it's the price. The original G1 toy costs up to $1500 now, and now a copy of the original is being offered for nearly a third of the price, with every accessory, the box, and nice clean details, no G1 wear and tear.

Plus again, he's fucking huge.

 

It's the biggest Transformer ever for one. Also incredibly expensive due party to the size, the crazy number of parts, the rarity, and the fact that it's near impossible for a it to get a US reissue.

Plus, double Headmaster and city bot. I mean really, how many more reasons do you need to love this guy?

 

Huge and gimmicky.

City former, triple changer, his Headmaster is a Headmaster, he has a smaller robot made out of various... stuff, and a lot of playability.

I'm not getting it, but damn, I see the appeal.

 

I love the city mode.... the new legends toys make that scale of city modes very appealing. Also, as a fan of the comics for along time, its great to see this figure available. I realize he's got no articulation, but the character is someone I'd like to have in my collection - an A-flight player.

 

I wanted him as a kid but never got him as he was too much according to my parents. Since then he's always been a grail of mine that I never thought I'd have because of how ridiculous secondary market prices are for him.

 

My mother bought it for my 6th or 7th; I am pretty sure it was my 6th birthday. We went to a local Toy "R" Us to buy it, then we carried it all the way to the bus stop then home. I seem to recall it was quite heavy?

I had tons of fun with it for years. He suffered a lot of battle damage; the handle of his pistol broke and got stucked in his right fist, one of the connectors for the grey cover on his chest (where the rub sign is located) broke, the Satelite Dish's connector broke, and he got dusty, old and rusty.

I eventually threw him away as part of growing up; although not mint, he was still complete; wonder which lucky kid picked him up?

Now that I can finally own him again, it means a lot to me.

 

To the OP
I don't get it either, I'm a child of the 80s and have never understood his appeal, Yes he is effing huge, but his a brick that turns into a brick that has a prison brick for a shoulder.....I'll never understand it.

That said I am greatly looking forward to the dozens upon dozens of board members who constantly post about how much they want him, buying the figure and moving on! lol

 

You pretty much nail the big 3: size, difficulty due to his high price 1K+, and not have during childhood. Of course, the 4th one is being a city bot. Those lists are pretty much a holy grail for collector. Now that he get reissued, let's see how much holy grail he'll be in the future, ehhe.

As a character, U.S. fans hardly know him. To me, FMax is famous for his toy size, huge price tag, than anything. Otherwise, he's just a blah blah character.

 

Without sounding rude, if you have to ask you won't understand. In my case, I've owned one since it came out. To this day he's one of my favorite toys. Also keep in mind he was a major character in the comics and the price tag of him kept him out of the reach of most kids/fans. When I got him, he was literally all I got for X-mas since that's all my parents could afford. As people mentioned he was huge, double head master, and a city bot. The size of him was great since you could interact with normal size toys instead of just mini bots/gestalt members. Also he is riddled with guns, so it made him look unstoppable. I can understand why people don't care for him (ie a brick) but most G1 toys were like that. If you like the G1 aesthetic you probably always wanted this guy.

 

He was in basically the last half of the comic. I would think most US fans would know him from his portrayal in the comic.

 

The answer is quite simple, to us Fortress Maximus is the ultimate status symbol. You have your rare Botcon Exclusives, your 3rd Party items, even your odd-ball one-off production runs from Takara with gold plating or what-have-you, but for a Transformers Fan. The ultimate and therefore only status symbol anyone growing up from the 80's even cares about nowadays is the most elusive of figures.

Be it price, size or status of minty freshness.

Fortress Maximus is to Transformers Fans/Collectors, what Obi-Wan's Prop Lightsaber from A New Hope is to Star Wars fans.

Plus you have to admit, all the new Kreons would look KICK-ASS with his city mode. I'm going to have to figure out a way to save up enough funds for this guy. Even if I'm no longer actively planning to collect much of G1, Fort Max is just one of those figures I feel would be perfect for my collection.

 

How many parents put up for the price tag on a Fort Max?

Exactly.

That's where the appeal is.

 

I wanted one as a kid. I love Headmasters . I still want one. I pre ordered!

 

I love his aesthetics, he's a fun and durable toy, and his size makes him an impressive centerpiece. It's pretty much as simple as that. Rarity means nothing to me, I'd feel the same about him if I could walk into Family Dollar and buy a dozen of him for a buck.

 

It's the biggest city transformer from an Era when Action Figure lines all had huge playsets. Yes he's a bit simple to transform but it is a cumbersome, durable, blocky toy that crammed as many play features as possible into that style.

Also he's a Transformers Character in himself more than just a base and kind of important in the marvel comics, If I recall correctly spike witwicky is the small head robot.

 

I think it's also in part ot he fact he is the city former that would work in scale with the autobot cars.

 

at the very least, the ridiculous prices of FM will bottom out on Ebay as this reissue will satisfy MANY collectors.