For Fortress Maximus, even if we could put the legs up to resemble towers, they would be bigger than the tower that Cerebros forms. Whoops.

 

I thought somebody had a video of Cerebros from ToyFair that showed he had fairly sturdy sounding ratchets.

 

I always thought of him as "Downtown" Cybertronia, with other smaller buildings surrounding him. The TR version at least gets that right, being able to connect to other smaller citybots. But he just doesn't have the vertical-ness. He's more Countdown-ish in that respect...

 

Metroplex looks better than FortMax in my oppinion. The "cheap plastic" appearance appears more in darker colours. Even so, FortMax is a "must-buy"...

 

Is it just me or is his head a little big? Maybe I'm just used to how G1 Fort Max looks but the head seems a little out of proportion to me, unless they're going for the Warden head-mode look for him. Also, I know this would've required substantial remolding and/or a new mold entirely to thicken the chest up, but I wish the fold-out central tower was taller. It makes me wonder (yet again) about the possibilities of an upscaled Infinitor and how badass he would be.

 

Okay, I've been staring at pics of Metroplex and FortMax. Let me know if this is the complete catalog of re-used and re-molded parts:

1. Forearms (these appear to be straight repaints in the prototype at NYCC, but the photoshopped official photos appear to show no flip-out gun on the right wrist). The entire upper arm on FortMax is comprised of new parts with different shoulder pieces and a connector for the ramps

2. Arm hinge (the left arm on Metroplex's back appears on FM's front right arm).

3. Crotch - while flipped back/front, the same piece as well as the hip ratchets appear identical.

4. Arm ramps - the arm ramps on FortMax are identical to the fold-down leg ramps on Metroplex

5. Legs - It appears FortMax has nearly identical legs from the knees down (including the knee joint). Where there are wheels on Metroplex has been replaced with a solid blue piece that, on the left leg, includes the connector for the (detachable) extra leg gun. The inner foot appears the same, although FortMax has an extra outer piece to around the foot, though. The thigh is all new and allows full 90 degree articulation (Metroplex's wheels prevent him from going past around 60 degrees)

Extra note on the legs - FortMax also has the red shin covers/fold out guns. Although the feature wasn't shown off, he appears to possess Metroplex's ability to open the legs up (same markings along the outside of the lower legs as Metroplex), but it's not clear if the shin guns would prevent the legs from laying flat or not. It's also possible Hasbro has made changes to the lower legs to keep them from opening.

 

So, I am loving this Fort Max and it is on my must-have list for 2016. (Cerebros is spot on). So, when I say this, it is not necessarily a bad thing, or that it diminishes the toy, but...

Has anyone else noticed that the only difference between the base mode and the rolling battle-station mode is that the legs point in different directions?

Someone said above that G1 FM transformed to "look like something." I think it's because his knees folded and made the base mode more compact and move upward rather than spread out. I just wonder if there could be a way to "fan-mode" a more tall/G1-ish base mode out of this.

Also, where is the "jail" that they talked about. I've stared at the pictures till my eyes were numb, but I don't see where it is. Has anyone else found it?

 

The green door is the jail.

 

Wow, this guy is awesome! Makes me glad I passed on the Encore release!

Although, i'm wondering how big exactly is Cerebros? Judging by the size of Fort Max's head he seems around Deluxe size, but there weren't any comparison shots of him from what i can see, so.

 

Wow, this guy is awesome! Makes me glad I passed on the Encore release!

Although, i'm wondering how big exactly is Cerebros? Judging by the size of Fort Max's head he seems to be somewhere between Deluxe and Voyager scales, but there weren't any comparison shots of him from what i can see, so i can only guess.

 

Great figure! It will look amazing next the Encore version!

 

As someone who once had G1 Fort Max, I can say that his battle station mode being missing is a big letdown. His alt mode looks like he is pretty much just laying down with his arms outstretched and his hands very visible. His hot mode looks great though. His G1 self was so great in all modes, it would be really hard to top him.

 

Errr Fort Max's G1 alt modes were him laying down with his arm out and him laying down with his arms out and knees up, the TR one is no better or worse in that regard that I can see?

 

Just a thought, but I'd be interested in seeing a third party produce some new lower legs for him, with the ability to form the towers, and to have ankle tilts. What do you think?
On another note, like some photos of metroplex, his knees seem off centre - are they on a slide of some sort? And is it metroplex's knees or hips that are floppy? Hopefully that's fixed for fort max?!

 

lol keep telling yourself that.

 

That would be pretty expensive. The lower legs are reasonably thick and probably 8-10 inches tall (I can measure if this is important) That'd be a ton of plastic and be pretty bulky to ship and package.

Metroplex/FM have a sliding mechanism on the knee. The knees are not un-floppy on Metroplex. I haven't ordered them yet, but MegaMoonMan has replacement knees that should work equally well for both Titans and get well-reviewed

 

To each their own, dude. This one has a lot of things the original does not, like articulation and sound effects.

 

Good point on the size/weight of any potential 3p lower legs. I'm interested to see what 3ps think of in terms of upgrades though, I'm impressed enough with this figure to fork out for some cool extras. A cog and sprocket that could add to city mode would be cool, and a gun for fm that does the same. And I really would like ankle tilts if there was some way of doing them.
Thanks for the heads up about the megamoon man knees, that's good to know!

 

I'm the same way. I was very tempted by the Encore release but never bit and this is a relief for me. I prefer this one much more as I'm not a massive G1 collector, plus it means I don't have a huge FM with nowhere to put it, a problem I currently already have with Mega Action Scorponok.

 

How can compare toys with almost 30 years of difference? it is absurd. G1 Fortress Maximus is a great figure, but of course an almost 30 years later version MUST improve the design.

Both are wonderful toys for what they are.