what the release date for this guy, and does it make sense to even preorder it now if it’s years away?

 

Depends on if you don't want to have to worry about it later. Plus if you wait there's always a chance the pre-order deposit would be more.




For completions sake since I did the alt mode.

 

As do I, but the one I want most is a Delta version.

 

A fellow collector with excellent taste.

 

It has to come with an optional skull head too.

 

It’s not my thing, but they’d be wise to add it if they actually offer those colors. The more the merrier, as far as I’m concerned. I like it when a design is leveraged across a broader collector base.

 

So, this will be an explosion armor? Will it be like the pic, tons of small pieces? I kind of liked Takara transformation like in cartoon, one complete character. I never understood the armor as a character. Why would the sr or have a mouth but the bot did not?

 

I think the “explosion” image is just for dramatic effect.

 

The armored arms aren't even the core robot's, they're part of the trailer.

 

It partsforms, just not in so many small pieces— I think. It’s not one complete figure like the MP.

 

No one is foolish enough to think that it doesn't partsform, I was pointing out that the arms aren't armor pieces.

 

Sorry I didn’t look at the name and assumed you were the original poster. It seemed that they were in considerable doubt as to how the robot was formed.

 

I know this is armor and not an all in one like Takara or X-Transbots Stack. I just was wondering if the armor is going to have hinges and be in several pieces or like lego and be 50? The pic does look preliminary but I hope it is not too difficult to attach the armor.

For a character I think IDW did a good job explaining Ultra Magnus as armor for a small figure. I know this was originally a Diaclone piece but I just don't understand why Fans Toys is going this route. The armor does not make sense for the 1984 continuity. For diaclone this armor is an upgrade to an already controlled robot. For Transformers, Ultra magnus is his own whole bot. Why would he have a face plate and put on armor that has a mouth? It makes more sense that he has only 2 modes to be in line with G1 continuity.

This will look great as a MP Toy figure, but I'm surprised more people are not disapointed with the Parts Forming. I would like to see their Painted Prime. I would buy that if I could get a face plate with no grooves.

 

It doesn’t make sense with regards to the cartoon, but from the perspective of someone who collected the G1 toys as a kid, it’s fantastic. I didn’t like Ultra Magnus as introduced in the movie at all, nor did I have any interest in MP-22. The fact that FT is giving us what Takara didn’t is the only reason I have any interest in Margh.

I don’t even own any FT figures now— I sold them all because I don’t care for their usual toon aesthetic— and I buy far more 3P legends-scale figures than MP ones these days, but I’m very enthusiastic about this project. I’d be thrilled if they made a Powered Convoy (Delta Magnus) version, but a toy deco would be fine. The core robot looks great (I love the vented mouth plate) so if they offer an Optimus Prime, I’ll likely get that, too— especially if it gets a toy deco. I’ve found no OPs more appealing than MP-10, so it’s been a while since I could get excited about the Autobot leader.

So yes, it’s a surprising deviation from their typical M.O., but I for one couldn’t be more pleased with the direction FT is going with this. For those who prefer the Sunbow-style “unified” Magnus, there’s always XTB’s Commander Stack, which is still fresh.

 

Because FT bases their releases ln the Japanese toys. Also, because the second prototype from Dalianjj was the Ultra Magnus armor.

 

I still take issue with the assertion that an armored up white Optimus is "wrong" for the cartoon. The only reason people think that is because the show writers never came up with a scenario where they'd want him to shed his armor. If they ever had, even at the very end of the series, it would've been treated like he was in armor all along. Since they never explicitly said he wasn't in armor, we can't assume.

As for the faceplate/mouth, I agree that it's a little strange but you gotta wonder if a transformer's face really is their actual face at all? They seem to be able to see and speak just fine in alt mode and it doesn't sound like their voices are muffled as if they're coming from a mouth hidden deep inside somewhere. For a robot, a face is merely the way they interface with the world around them, so there's no reason he couldn't have a completely separate face for armored mode. For those with heads in both modes, they seem to both equally be the character's actual head. Grimlock's dino head is every bit as expressive and even blushes. On the Magnus toy, you put it over his core head like a helmet but there's no reason to think it can't be as much a part of him as any other part.

 

Maybe we'll get lucky and FM-01 ends up being a non-armored version of Ultra Magnus. I would love that.

 

My assumption is that FT went with the armored Magnus version to differentiate from Takara's MP figure more. Despite how FT fans think, FT themselves have always been hesitant when going directly against Takara. Of all the figures they have done second (after Takara) I believe Hot Rod is the only one that doesn't have a clear difference to help it stand out. And by making the white Prime figure more toy based it would allow them to make Magnus and Prime more different from each other. Since normal Magnus never appeared there is no source saying he didn't look more like the toy "in the cartoon".

I suspect the writers simply never knew it was an option. If I'm correct they got images of alt mode and the armored bot mode and that was all they had to work with in the 80s.

 

In a world of make believe and fantasy your explanation makes total sense. The fact that all the bots are humanoid like and bipedal is also ridiculous. Of coarse, they would all speak English!!!

 

A common misconception. Everybody first hears them talk in their own language, or at least you got subtitles.