DSC_8534
The Conmmander class release for the Legacy United line is Magmatron. I'd seen pictures of the original Beast era figure, but never actually played with one. Looked pretty solid, which of course makes sense given its Japanese anime origins. Plus it's a combiner which generally wins for me. So when this new version was announced it was a pretty much no brainer pre order.
I'm not sure how this new set compares to the old one, but in addition to Landsauraus, Airsaurus, and Seasaurus, you get two red blades that connect to the wings of Airsaurus, a blade that is part of Landsaurus, and some blast effects that I basically will never use again in my life.
Packaged in robot mode, I have to admit that for a Mainline release, it's actually pretty well designed. Now, it's not a traditional Gestalt, where Hasbro has failed over and over again to deliver. The Beast era triple combiners were all pretty good, mostly due to the fact they didn't have to deal with strange size difference between the components.
Actual articulation of the robot mode isn't anything special by Commander class standards, though there is that extra hinged used for the transformation of Landsaurus that gives Magmatron a bit more articulation in the abs. You can, however, squeeze a decent Twerk and Jack'O from this figure. Weapons consist of the aforementioned red blades or a sword made up of various components, with the bottom half of Seasaurus used as a shield.
Separation into its individual Dinosaur modes is, for the most part, a decent challenge. As with the recent Beast Mainline releases, specifically the larger ones, there's a lot of Shellforming involving, but these days the shells are segmented and while more complex to transform, allow for much better articulation (and appearance) than back in the day.
Well most of them.
Landsarurus has the most useful articulation, with some decently articulated hind legs and functional front claws and tail. The head has some decent range of motion but due to design the mouth only opens a small amount.
Skysaurus is actually quite well articulated with movement in both the wings and the feet. The head doesn't turn but you still have jaw action. Seasaurus... well it can flap it's flippers and move its neck.
Now, Magmasaurus (Dino Centipede) is... interesting. I honestly thought thsi would have been my favourite mode, but now that I have it in hand it's not bad but it's... kind of underwhelming and looks exactly like what you imagine. Just the three components combined the best they could to recreate an impossible to replicate mode.
DSC_8534
The Conmmander class release for the Legacy United line is Magmatron. I'd seen pictures of the original Beast era figure, but never actually played with one. Looked pretty solid, which of course makes sense given its Japanese anime origins. Plus it's a combiner which generally wins for me. So when this new version was announced it was a pretty much no brainer pre order.
I'm not sure how this new set compares to the old one, but in addition to Landsauraus, Airsaurus, and Seasaurus, you get two red blades that connect to the wings of Airsaurus, a blade that is part of Landsaurus, and some blast effects that I basically will never use again in my life.
Packaged in robot mode, I have to admit that for a Mainline release, it's actually pretty well designed. Now, it's not a traditional Gestalt, where Hasbro has failed over and over again to deliver. The Beast era triple combiners were all pretty good, mostly due to the fact they didn't have to deal with strange size difference between the components.
Actual articulation of the robot mode isn't anything special by Commander class standards, though there is that extra hinged used for the transformation of Landsaurus that gives Magmatron a bit more articulation in the abs. You can, however, squeeze a decent Twerk and Jack'O from this figure. Weapons consist of the aforementioned red blades or a sword made up of various components, with the bottom half of Seasaurus used as a shield.
Separation into its individual Dinosaur modes is, for the most part, a decent challenge. As with the recent Beast Mainline releases, specifically the larger ones, there's a lot of Shellforming involving, but these days the shells are segmented and while more complex to transform, allow for much better articulation (and appearance) than back in the day.
Well most of them.
Landsarurus has the most useful articulation, with some decently articulated hind legs and functional front claws and tail. The head has some decent range of motion but due to design the mouth only opens a small amount.
Skysaurus is actually quite well articulated with movement in both the wings and the feet. The head doesn't turn but you still have jaw action. Seasaurus... well it can flap it's flippers and move its neck.
Now, Magmasaurus (Dino Centipede) is... interesting. I honestly thought thsi would have been my favourite mode, but now that I have it in hand it's not bad but it's... kind of underwhelming and looks exactly like what you imagine. Just the three components combined the best they could to recreate an impossible to replicate mode.