Thanks for the review

I'm kinda lukewarm on this one. Usually I'd be all over this, but damn..the alt modes look plain..even boring. Bot mode looks nice, but metroplex wins in every category except the cool double headmaster.
The thing that would make me want to pay for this is seeing the big city mode with blaster and prime. But even then.....I dunno.
Bot mode is nice, but this just screamso "don't even bother to transform me". Seems like some really missed oppertunity with all the remolded parts. He could have done something neat in city mode...too bad
Nice bot mode...cool headmaster stuff...that's about it.

 

Thanks Starscream Gaga! Any chance you'll try out the legs-up-psuedo-towers-fan-mode?
I'd be curious to see more photos of it, particularily from behind, where the legs will be opened and hollow.
Speaking of which: have you cracked his legs open lengthwise, ala Metroplex, yet? Is the molded detailing the same? Is it momochrome inside, or do any of the different colored plastics carry through? I've parted ways with Metroplex, and cannot recall how they'd work (parts and molding wise).

He is certainly not as fancy an update as I'd dreamed, but far bigger and more complete than I'd imagined we'd ever see.

 

There's been picture of Blaster and Soundwave linked at various toy shows. Unfortunately the angle of the ramps coming from the shoulders mean they're nearly vertical! 3P companies: ramp extensions please!

Toy Fair 2016 - Fortress Maximus Display Images - Transformer World 2005 - TFW2005.COM



The only image of the front ramp connected we've seen was at the Australian toyfair:

Toy Fair Australia 2016 Images - Transformer World 2005 - TFW2005.COM



I don't think we've seen any of Optimus connected yet and, since his ramps are under the arm towers, his base will need some adjusting to use them.

 

We might not need extensions if we get creative, like the multi-tier Blaster fan basemode.



Connecting up to Max might make these kind of fanmodes more stable through support too.

 

awwwwwwwwwwwwsssshhhhhhhiiittt....

Didnt know this stuff. dudes are making fanmode bases?!?!?

Ill prolly get this dude then. I love base modes.

 

2nd look...that almost looks TOO legit.

Its almost like you have "stand alone" base mode..and Combined mode forms something a bit different. Thats better than the stock base mode by far.

 

It's a nice thought but this one looks like the elevated platform is a little too far forward to get everything in place with Max's leg stuck out to the side.

Nobody's got both in hand yet, or even a 2 out of 3 from Max, Op & Blaster, so we'll have to wait and see.

 

Just going to echo my posts from over on OTCA:

So opened him up today, and got to say he's a bit disappointing, and not just in the ways that you can see in the pictures.

The build quality doesn't seem as high as Metroplex for starters. Getting Cerebros into his 'tower slot' for the alt modes is a bit frustrating, and both alt modes look quite incomplete without him in there, meaning opportunity to have Cerebros himself out on display is a bit limited.

The feet/toes are difficult to lock in place in alt mode, and don't sit flush with the floor - that means they spend a lot of time not properly locked into place hanging at an odd angle. For that reason alone, the fan-made G1 Fortress Mode is actually more secure once you set it up nicely.

There's also no denying that both alt modes are a robot lying down, or a robot lying down doing the splits. The shared engineering between Metroplex and Fort is also a little odd - the legs retain the ability to splay open like on Metroplex, but for no purpose whatsoever (except for the marginally more satisfying fan mode). Also, the right arm still has the ratched hinge for it to become the tower behind Metro's helicopter pad. It has no function here at all (can't even fan mode it!). Seems like a waste of materials that could have been better used to have the legs transform more.

Another annoying thing is that Fort's hands are pinned this time. Some might see that as an improvement, but it was quite useful being able to easily remove Metro's hands and therefore improve the look of City mode. At least Fort's are coloured the same as the arms and blend better.

As it is, I can only recommend Fort Max for completist CHUG fans. I wouldn't recommend it as a fun toy for kids either, which Metroplex was. Here's hoping that Hasbro does a better job on Trypticon!

So, I'm still glad I've got him - it's still an impressive, imposing piece overall - but just think that for all the retooling it's a bit of a let down. And think about it further, one of the things I liked about Metro's alt mode was it's sprawl - in city mode, he takes up a whole bunch of the man-cave, whereas Fort Max is very tight and compact. You're not feeling the same sense of awe.

Now, I'm not going to claim this as an ingenious fan mode by any stretch, but I do think this is a much cooler looking fortress mode than the standard config, and goes some way to eliminate the look of a headless fallen robot. It has the look of a very strong impenatrable fortress/maximum security prison, which works.

 

Just another couple of little shots of some things:

First up is the tank mode not mentioned in the instructions. It seems pretty obvious that this is meant to be a thing...



...except for these little annoying fins left over from the previous mold. They prevent it from sitting nice and flat and leave it on a tilt. You could cut them off of course, but it's probably why they left it out of the instructions.



It's been shown elsewhere, but just again, the leg cannons can absolutely pop out and turn into dual pistols, which Fort Max looks pretty cool using John Woo style. They're quite hard to pull out the first few times, but the handles are unmistakedly intentional. Again, not mentioned in the instructions. The only catch with this is...



...it leaves a bit of a hole in one of the legs, where Metroplex's service repair arm used to be. IMHO, it actually looks kind of cool, like a little trench for small dudes to hide in. But would it have been so hard to just leave the service repair arm in? Especially considering the next photo...



Mystery ratchet joint FTW! There's a lot of material (and sturdiness!) built into this joint from Metro's old left arm, used to produce the tower behind the helipad. It serves no real purpose here at all, and due to the remolding doesn't sit flush or straight at all, so no good for fan modes either really. I suppose it could be used in this case as a really steep launching runway for jets, but that's a stretch.

 

One last shot: by pulling the handles off of the cannons and flipping them the other way around, you get options to make the fortress mode have less static defenses and increase it's badassery:

 

Thats awesome, everytime I see city mode I picture Megatron looking at it saying "Frontal assault!! The main guns face east and west!!"

 

Something I'm curious about, not that anyone would be crazy enough to try it, is if you can disassemble Cerebro's body to get the ability to paint some clear read behind Max's eyes. I think that could help fix the dead look that both Hasbro versions have.

 

Damn, I was really hoping that the mystery chest joint and opening legs would have lent themselves to a cool fan mode, but they seem to be completely useless.

What a shame.

 

Absolutely loving Fort Max in-hand such a wealth of playability and inspiration, for example...

TANK BUSTED!



Well, it's...uh...not, er, that much worse than Warden's tank mode?

If that’s not to your taste how about a couple more iterations, inspired by fellow UK thread member Cha Chi...

Walker Droptank


TRON Recognizer homage


I also like to stick Max's shin mortars vertical in city mode as mock cooling towers for a more industrial complex look.

Max Factor(y)


Since this pic I've actually re-oriented his hands to palm down and aligned his fingers like pipes running into the ground

Also on close inspection of Max's inner legs I found both have a redundant 5mm-ish slot post in each so this happened...

Repair Bay


Positively itching to see what Reprolabels and 3Ps do for him, I'm hoping for his Photon Rifle and Twin Laser at least. Battle station looks a bit bare without 'em!

 

Seeaich, well done mate. Your are the inspired one.

Love FM

 

Beautiful!

 

I got this guy on the way, as soon as he arrives my upgraded hands and knees will go on and we'll see what he can pull off.

 

What this guy needs is ramps that connect to the Metroplex-heritage ones and fold up G1 style in bot form by "squaring off" the bottom of the existing ramps (by the hands).

 

where's megatroptimus and his G1 fort max and wst ravage comparisons?