Could you also show us if there's a way to keep the armor on when it comes to transforming Apollo from robot mode to vehicle and vice versa without taking it off to do so?

 

Negative. It's an armor that has to come off.

 

Alright! I got a chance to open this guy today! I gotta say I like him a lot. The armor stays pegged in well, and I'm able to pose him without too much trouble. The truck mode is fricking strong and tough looking.

The one thing I don't like is the gun and hammer doesn't tab into the hands or are able to stay tight in the hands.

So here's some pictures, sorry about the quality and huge amount of pics. I'm using a spoiler tag to hide the ton of pics. I also took several pictures showing how each armor piece attaches.

If you guys want an comparisons or certain figures taken with him, just let me know.  

Spoiler: Ton of Magnus pics!

You have to take the boosters off the back to use the armor.

Here's a picture of all the extra pieces.

A very poor attempt of showing all the pieces coming together to create the true Magnus!

 

Oh man, I agree. That said, his unarmored form holds the weapons just fine.

 

Yeah I noticed that! That's kinda crazy that the base form holds the armored form weapons better.

 

Had some plastic flash on that small peg on his feet when i was transforming him back and forth. Just on the right foot. Left one was quite sturdy....

Overall, He's still a good model for my taste..Just hope that flash is the last one that'll happen....

 

so are their any chances of the armor being repainted and made into an add-on set for Charon?

 

I haven't heard anything, but dang I hope so!!!

 

i'm not invested in Apollo but the armor looks amazing and i wouldn't mind adding an amored ver. to my dark counsel

 

Having messed with the armor myself, I can easily say that it would work extremely well for Charon! Especially if they gave him so evil and wicked head sculpt! 

 

After seeing Ra88's digibash I want to paint the Jupiter core blue when I get this guy.

Does anyone with color matching skills know if there is be a point color I could get that matches as closely as possible to the blue of his armor?

I would rather not have to repaint the whole thing if possible.

Cheers

 

This figure is so amazing but his UM armored face just 100% doesn't do it for me.   The helmet is awesome, and so are the eyes, its just the face detail >w<

 

Do you have any MMC or MT Cross Dimension figures that you could pose him with? Would you be able to pose him with either the Hasbro CW Ultra Magnus or MP10 so that I can get a good scale comparison? Thanks!

 

I see he has been in stock at a bunch if places
For a while now , but no other review videos??
I got to watch Bens handjob fest again, come on peoples

 

Finally got mine and I love him to pieces. Haven't seen much fervor or reviews of him, and I feel he deserves better.

The cues from UM's FOC appearance are strong in Apollo, but scrutiny suggests only the robot mode was designed around magnus-ing up Optimus' body. And Planet X did a great job starting there and following through with that concept. Armored up, nothing compromises the articulation and stays in place securely. This victory is doubly impressive because so little from the original was changed. Except for the mounting point on the pelvis, most of the gear makes smart use of connection points that either had a roll in the Jupiter transformation or were so out of the way I genuinely never noticed them.

Anyway, the box includes a little baggy of extra bits. The detachable red missiles that go in their usual place, a gray and blue matrix that can go in it's usual place, and a set of four thrusters and two triple barreled exhausts to complete Apollo's conversion to an off-white Jupiter. As implied those same bits come off Jupiter or Charon with no trouble for shared suit up fun, where I discovered Jupiter's red plays so well with the armor's red highlights, I actually wish they used a more in-game blue to perfectly blend with a Jupiter wearing it.

With that in mind stripping Apollo to his core form is ALMOST an easy task. The pauldron armor (conveniently designed to stay attached in transformation) is not pleasant to remove. The peg connection is on a stiff arm on a solid box wrapping around the core body's pauldron. Getting it off requires a very unnatural shifting that tends to introduce flex into the system. If anywhere needed more tweaks for quality of life, it's there. Aside from that pauldron malarkey, his only other faults are Planet X'isms. The instructions are ridiculously small and barely clear enough to get you through a transformation. Planet X also continues to rely on the strength of finger joints to hold weapons. They did try to make it work, the Magnus digits are very stiff and work fine for the hammer, but at best only support the gun handle, unable to produce a solid grip.

His weapon loadout isn't nearly as exhilarating as Jupiter's, but it is in line with a Magnus. He gets a short handled brick of a hammer and a moderately sized blaster. The gun barrel can split down the middle to wrap around the body, suggesting a sort of pronged cannon thing. It kinda works, and doesn't look terrible mounted on his forearm (a plus given my issues on him actually holding it). I personally get more enjoyment out of the hammer. Magnuses have been getting Thor allusions for a while now and this is most Mjolnir I've seen to date.

The transformation's is nothing special if you know Jupiter. Shift the pauldrons out the way, take everything else off, do that transformation, and shift the pauldrons into their new position. The new fun comes from armoring it up. The rear half of each foot unfurls a surprising amount to become half of the armored vehicles front end. They use pegs on the bumper (I never noticed before) to attach and swing up to solidly lock on to the pauldron (if you shifted them correctly). The other pieces and hammer do a few light motions to attach to present armor bits into a boxy drapery around the base vehicle. The final armored vehicle to turn the fist on wheels into an armored breadloaf that neatly disguises the original identity. The front is suggestive of the in-game vehicle, but for obvious reasons Planet X threw the rest out to made it work with the armored Jupiter reality, which is to the design's benefit. It looks strong, solid, and squat despite it's added volume. This is a vehicle that thinks nothing of plowing through front lines and walls. Which I'll be doing a lot of because his armament in this mode didn't carry over like Jupiter's mighty firearm. Again, the pronged cannon sort of works wherever you plug it in, but it always feels like an optional part and not made to be part of this sloped beast.

All told, if you enjoyed Jupiter, this is literally an expansion on that toy's strengths. If you don't know Jupiter, you'll learn, because he's literally that toy with an armor up gimmick on both modes. The lack of Jupiter's weapon options is a pity, but the success and engagement of the armor makes the trade off worthwhile. If Planet X decided to sell redecoed armor sets for the other versions, I would take that plunge.

 

Yeah I have a combination of all the figures you mentioned, so yes I can definitely take some pics for you. I won't be able to get them done until tomorrow though.

 

I still want to see a Delta Magnus/Powered Convoy repaint from this mold. The design cues in particular can make for a pretty cool stand in for IDW Delta Magnus.

 

Ha, looks like EmGo is listening.

 

someone digibash this in Charron colors please

 

I am liking the look of this now he's in hand. He's a wideboy partsformer who for all the world looks like Magnus from TF Prime just gave up and started eating professionally after that fella from Re-Animator did a botch job fixing his hand.

This is a good thing. Context. Essential backstory.

Plus the inner robot uses a decent amount of green accenting, more than the usual amount seen, managing to bring in just a splash of the Minimus Ambus deco to proceedings.