ULTRA MAGNUS

TRANSFORMERS GALAXY VERSION (BLOKEES)

I haven’t reviewed anything Transformers-related here on the site since way back in June, when I left off with a Ultra Magnus that didn’t transform.  I’m picking things back up today with….an Ultra Magnus that doesn’t transform.  Look, I just always come back to the Magnus, alright?  Today, I’m diving into new thing, Blokees, which, despite the fact that my mind keeps reading it as “Bloke-ees”, is actually “Blok-ees”, you know, like a “block”.  Clever, right?  I mean, I guess.  Anyway, Blokees is a company that does little small scale figure model kits, with their first major endeavor being Transformers.  There’s an Ultra Magnus to be had, and who am I to say no?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ultra Magnus is part of the Transformers Galaxy Version line’s fourth assortment, dubbed “Fractured Space-Time.”  He’s one of the standard 1 in 9 blind box figures from the set, making him an even chance compared to all the other standards.  This is the line’s second Magnus, following up on the requisite white Optimus repaint in the third series.  This one, however, is the proper fully armored Magnus that everyone really wants.  Since these are model kits, they’re unassembled right out of the box.  You get three parts trees and a bag of loose parts, which you assemble to get the figure.  Assembly isn’t bad.  It’s not too intense, but you definitely want to make sure you get things right the first time around, because it holds together really tightly, and it can be tricky to pull things back apart to fix them.  But, as I said, once assembled, the figure holds together really well, and gives him a pretty solid weight.  When assembled, the figure stands 4 1/4 inches tall and he has 18 points of articulation.  The sculpt for this guy is clearly animation based, specifically on the G1 cartoon, as are most of the Galaxy Version kits.  A lot of the core parts are shared between all of the figures in the set, and those all work well.  The Magnus-specific parts are all really nicely handled, very clean, and mesh well with the standard parts.  There’s some slight deforming to the design, but it’s pretty minor on Magnus specifically.  Magnus’s color work, which is largely achieved via the separate plastic pieces, is quite vibrant.  There’s a little bit of extra detailing on a few of the parts to fully sell the design.  Magnus’s build also gives him two sets of hands to swap out (gripping and open gesture), his rifle, an energon cube, a faction insignia, and a stand.  That’s actually quite a bit for such a small package, and covers pretty much all of your bases.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Blokees just sort of materialized out of nowhere, but they’ve been everywhere and I was very definitely curious about them, and was looking for a good jumping on point to try.  Hey, there’s a Magnus!  That sure is a nice jumping on point.  Of course, they’re blind boxed, so I couldn’t just grab one.  But, if you buy a whole case, you’re guaranteed a full set, so, you know, easiest way to get a Magnus, right?  Look, don’t fight me on this.  I actually wound up getting the whole case so that I could try them out with Matty, who’s always looking for fun things to occupy his time.  We’ve been having a great time building them together, and I got a little Magnus out of the deal.  It’s a really fun little figure, and a really fun product in general.  Just a great all around product, especially for the price.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.