One thing is for certain about this figure, it is stunning to look at. As soon as you take him out the box you'll probably be amazed at the site before you.

Included are the base figure, a large tread backpack, a small rifle, a stupidly large rifle, a few missile pods, some chest armor, a small black part I'm not sure what is for just yet and a rather large base to place your Warden on.



The most impressive thing about Warden I find is that the robot mode is so good like me you probably won't want to transform him right away as you'll be too busy just looking at the guy and testing out his posability. It's rare that I could say a figure is worthwhile solely for their robot mode but this is certainly the case with Warden.



Everything from his molded details to his gorgeous metalic plastic and paint, their is just so much value in his appearance alone it certainly will make this guy stand out amongst any collection. I would almost call him a piece of art in this respect but that'd sound awfully pretentious.  

Instead of comparing him to Transformers I find his appearance is more along the lines of a very high end anime mecha, the sort you'd typically pay 150 to 200 dollars for.

Posability wise he is no slouch either, not simply on par with the best we've come to expect but downright superior. Better than masterpieces? yep.


A single one of his toes can take the entirety of his weight and not budge a millimeter, with or without his large backpack on.



His shoulders especially have a very nice range of motion, though this is lessoned once you attach the chest armor.

Speaking of which:



I would think these pics speak for themself, dood is bad ass without his extra parts, but with them he's just terrifyingly so.

He can of course wield the enormous bfg he comes with as a "rifle":

If you'd rather have it wielded more like an over shoulder gun that's possible as well:


But time for some alt modes, which sadly is where things get a little more negative for this guy.

First off the scout tank:

Simple but nifty, just the backpack on its own with a little screen flipped up and the chest armor attached so you can put his head mini bot in it. Who himself is quite nice:


Seems he takes a que from FP's headmasters and manages to cover up the bigger face somewhat.

Where the disappoint sets in is when you get to Wardens main alt mode, for starters you basically just fold up his arms and legs. That's it, no more transformation beyond that and are left with this:

And the rest is all partsforming. Which is pretty standard if you're familar with Perfect Effects stuff but I can't help but think in terms of "transforming" warden is a step back from PE's bike bot ladies who at least did a little more folding themselves before you started attaching pieces to them.

This itself doesn't bother me that much but I'd have preferred a little more, something, when going to this mode.

Still once you do start putting those bits on:


You eventually get to this:

Which man, not the most truck-like of trucks or tank-like of tanks still Wardens full vehicle alt mode looks really cool. A little goofy I guess with just how crazy big the cannon is but still nice. It actually reminds me of some vehicles I've seen in the Warhammer 40k universe if anyone is familiar with that property. Like a cross between a space marine tank and an ork looted tank.

Now what's wrong with this alt mode? For starters, no articulation on the cannon itself at all. And attaching the cannon is quite annoying.

The problem is that it is primarily held together using two of the rear missile pods and then an incredibly tiny tab holds it in place on top of the base vehicle.


The tab in question: the tiny black part attached to the big faces forehead.

This tab is so small and incapable of doing much of anything that should you pick him up in artillery mode chances are your cannon is going to fall off. The instructions clearly show that its suppose to click in to the chest but I just could not get that to happen so it simply sits on top, mostly staying put due to gravity.

This makes me believe that a vehicle alt mode for this figure was completely secondary, perhaps even a very late production addition that was never initially intended as it really kind of feels like a tacked on fanmode more than a proper one due to how flimsily the cannon doesn't stay in place.

Now the head mode actually managed to frustrate me even more. I made multiple attempts at trying to fold and tab it all together and it just wasn't happening.


This is as far as I got before trying to get his cheeks to lock to the face drove me mad and I figured it was better to stop trying or risk breaking something. Ironically the figure does seem to have been engineered primarily with this alt mode in mind and not the vehicle alt mode as a lot more involved transformation goes on to get to this one.

It's impressive engineering, but very tricky to get folded and tabbed just right. I'm sure I'll make some more attempts and figure it out eventually but considering I've no interest in the head mode itself outside basic curisoty I'm saddened that the vehicle mode isn't better to make up for it.

Overall I'm a little torn on this figure, Warden is stunning as a robot without question, dare I say perfect as a robot but although his alt modes look nice they aren't very fun. I don't mind partsforming but I do get annoyed when things don't solidly hold together and this is my main reason for being so let down by the main vehicle alt mode, if the cannon at least stayed firmly in place it would be just fine, but it doesn't and the missile pods being what keeps the cannon assembly held together just seems like a silly design where a simple stronger connector between the cannon and Wardens chest would have solved this issue.

Should you get him? heck yes absolutely.
But is he flawless? nope. Are those flaws grounds for potentially not getting him? I'd personally say no they aren't. But for some folks the vehicle alt mode not being quite as well realized as it should have been will probably be enough reason to pass on him.

 

Are the treads plastic or rubber and do they move when rolled on?

 

Rubber, they all rotate though the friction is tough enough it can be a little hard to get them going smoothly.

Here's some size comparison pics:

 

Thanks.

Hmmm. I do like the robot mode but the two alt modes leaves a lot to be desired. I may cancel my preorder as $150 for liking only one mode seems kinda iffy for me.

 

Very good review man. The frustrating transformation is expected, given my experience with PE's Arcee. The partsforming is standard PE fare as well. Still, IMO the positives far outweigh the negatives. Sadly, I won't get mine till tomorrow, or maybe even later.

 

Indeed I certainly think he's worthwhile but they definitely could have made some better alt modes. Problem I believe they ran in to is they made a figure that was designed to turn in to a head and then the vehicle mode came afterwards and was compromised as a result when I'm pretty sure most people would have preferred no head mode and instead a much better realized vehicle mode.

 

Awesome review! Thanks and cheers all the same!

 

And here's my last pic for today, figured people might wanna know if a certain someone can hold Warden's bfg.


And yes, yes he can  

 

Great review. This really looks like a must buy just for the robot mode.

 

Nice review Lazy. Can't decide on him or Hyper Novae. I like Hyper better as a total package but think Warden is a better deal as he's really big and well put-together. Hmmmm....

Any suggests or comments on which way you'd go it you had to choose only one?

 

Any pics of him next to Toyworlds Hardbone and Orion?

 

Awesome review! The alt mode pics sold me even further actually.

Personally I think it looks great. Very Kirby-esque.

 

Judging by the shot of him next to MP-10 I'd say he's about the same height as Orion  

 

Tough call. I mostly avoided Novae as one of my usual "hard cuts" I make for my collection in order to save some money and space. If I could justify buying him I'd probably buy him. I'd say their are too many differences between him and Warden for any kind of real direct comparison as both are very worthwhile figures.

But if I had to choose I'd probably still go with Warden but that's very personal tastes in design where I just like IDW FortMax's design more than any version of Nova really.

I intend to get MMC's Seraph as well hough so that's possibly why I am so easily able to not feel a need to grab Novae, I only really want one Nova and I think MMC's will be better.

Don't own either sorry. But he's basically a big heavy voyager who can become an even bigger heavier voyager.

 

Can you explain a little about the parts-forming that goes on here? The treads and missile pods I get but is there more going on when you transform him from robot to giant head mode? Mainly I'm curious about how the face of the giant head mode is transformed or if its like a separate piece that you attach?

 

One important question:
Can this Warden really be used as the Fortess maximus's new head?

It might be too big from the pics that the head mode compare with the new Metroplex, and according to your review, the head mode plus the small clip worry me too.

Up to now, I didn't see any latest pics has head mode on Fortess maximus' body. If it sucks, I won't buy it.

 

Wow. Would you really only buy a $150 figure as an updated Fort Max head? What's the point?

Warden looks like an excellent figure as a standalone.

 

I don't own G1 Fort Max. Is this guy worth the price as a standalone?

Thinking about waiting until I see a video review to see the transformation in motion before I plunk down the cash for him. The paint job is spectacular though and he looks amazing.

 

The robot mode is amazing for sure. The tank mode I think definitely needs the cannon to stay put for no other reason then to hide the visible face. That's really ugly. I am really conflicted on this.

 

Aza,

Fantastic pics, awesome review. He just looks amazing via pics alone. I cannot wait to get this fig in hand! Heck, I'm even jealous you got this badass before I did (bastich!  )

Thank you for setting up this pictorial review. It solidifies this fig as a must have for 2014.