U.S. Name: MAGNUS (Master Piece Edition)   Jap. Name: SAME 

Cartoon First Appearance (Alt. Cab): T.F. The Movie - Aug. 8, 1986

Marvel Comic First Appearance (Alt. Cab): T.F. The Movie #1, Dec. 1986, $0.75

Dreamwave Comic First Appearance: Second Mini Series, Transformers #6, Sept. 2003, $2.95

Classic Box Number: C-69     This Line Box Number: MP-2

A quick comment:     Back to Review A-II     Back to Ultra Magnus Homepage

I was utterly excited by the news that Magnus would be next released in the Masterpiece line.  Before that, I had always envy on un-official custom MP Magnus made by fellow transfans.  I want to purchase from them but there were two reasons which prevent me to do so.  One it was too expensive and two it wasn't official.  But thanks to Takara, my wishing had become a reality especially when I'm a huge Ultra Magnus/ Magnus fan.  Each day, I waited un-patiently for MP Magnus to arrive in store.  Finally on Apr. Ii, Mmv, I got him for $CX from Image Anime.

R-0 Original Ultra Magnus' motto and tech specifications:  

Affiliate: autobots | Subgroup: none | Function: city commander | Alt. Mode: car carrier|

| STR 9 | INTL 9 | SPD 6 | ENDN 8 | RNK 8 | CRG 9 | FRPW 6 | SKL 8 |

Original G1 Ultra Magnus' Motto:

"Consistency is victory."

Original G1 Ultra Magnus' Bio:

Ultra Magnus is all soldier.  Most comfortable when carrying out Optimus Prime's orders.  Possesses magnificent fighting skills, courage, and a gift for battlefield improvisation.  Uncomfortable in the mantle of leadership, but presents strong profile as a commander.  Carries missile launchers capable of hitting a target 30 miles away.  Resolute, fair, and courageous beyond reproach.  Ever ready to sacrifice himself for the good of men and mission.

These images were all photographed and scanned by me.  If you're a Transformers fan, this will definitely bring back some reminiscences.  

NOTE: Images are clearer when viewed with Internet Explorer browser.

- Click on the Thumbnails to view them at a Larger Scale -

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R-1 Master Piece Magnus in its Original condition:

R-2 Pre-Applied Decals/ Stickers: 

The Master Piece Edition Magnus does not come with any Pre-applied sticker/ decals adhered to the toy itself like the G1 line.  Instead, the entire action figure was all painted.  The overall paint condition was done very great but not as superbly as MP Prime. 

R-3 Master Piece Magnus in Cab Mode: 

MP Magnus is basically a repaint of the MP Prime which was released in 2004 as MP-1.  For comparison between these two, scroll down to R-12.  Magnus is a Freightliner COE dual-axle truck whose measurement is approximately 9 1/4 x 3 6/16 x 5 (LxWxD in inch).  Unlike the 1986 Magnus cab, the MP Magnus is very heavy so don't drop him on the ground or on little kid.  His die cast metal is located on the chest and lower leg.  Overall, he is very beautiful throughout from design to transformation to paint application.  His only minor weakness is his shoulder connection joint which is exposed out making the cab looks as though a panel or parts of him was missing.  

R-4 Detail 1 - Cardboard Paper Trailer: 

As mentioned in R-1B, the 5 sides box that functions as a storage for MP Magnus and accessories is actually the Trailer for MP Magnus.  The left image is what the box looks like in its original stage with all 5 sides face still intacted before disassembling into parts.  It is measured approximately 8 x 13 10/16 x 4 (LxWxD in inch).  When all the pieces are broken off (right image), you should be getting 10 pieces from the 5 sides box and 1precut for the top trailer (ivory color).  The total pieces for the entire trailer is 11 so make you sure you got all of them.

NOTE-4: When separating the pieces, be sure to take your time and study the piece carefully.  Reckless acts can easily damage the finish layer glossy paper.

R-5 Cab w/ Cardboard Paper Trailer: 

Finally, the finish product of the trailer.  I have to admit but I just don't know how to describe Magnus cardboard trailer because I felt from awe to lame.  It amazed me how the creator were able to design something from a 5 sides box (R-4) and can be converted into a 3-D trailer!  Not only that, it's beautiful.  I said lame because sometime the cardboard would tend to fold back to its original stage and that was a hassle.  Thank goodness for the tape.  I love the trailer very much once it was done because you actually built from scratch.  Okay not really, but you'll know what I mean when you assemble one.  My advice before assembling the trailer is to make sure you fold every seam or grain firmly to avoid the cardboard from going back to its original stage.  Takara was kind enough by including a glossy Cardboard Paper Trailer to go with the cab.  By doing so, the cab doesn't looks so naked without a trailer.  The Cardboard Paper Trailer measures approximately 14 x 6 x 7 10/16 (LxWxH in inch) and when the cab is included, the total length is approximately 19 inch.  The two small black clips/ pegs that was taped in a bag (see R-1C image) are designed to put into the trailer so that it can be connected onto the rear hole of the cab for hauling.  As you can see, it maybe a cheap idea, but it actually looks good from a distance.  So until Takara produce the actual trailer one day, I'll take this paper trailer cardboard over than nothing.  

R-6 Loading the 1/24 Scale BT Cars: 

So how many Binal Tech (BT) car can this MP Magnus cardboard trailer hold before breakdown? Unfortunately due to the way the two blue panels at the rear were fold up to make that 5 sides box and later had to disassemble into pieces before constructing into the actual trailer, it had weaken the direction of the grain for supporting the compression weight.  So with that, MP Magnus trailer can only carry 2 BT cars.  If you try anything more than that, the rear blue panels of the trailer would collapse down and fold the rear blue panels outward.  I was able to make the trailer supported 3 cars (BT Tracks, BT Smokescreen GT, and BT Grimlock) by sticking a single strip of tape from one end of the rear blue panel to the other end in order to force the compression not to fold outward.  The reality is, the cardboard trailer does have the strength to support 4 BT cars, but it's the folding or seam on the cardboard that kill it when weight is applied.

R-7 Master Piece Magnus in Robot Mode: 

In robot mode, MP Magnus (Prime) is the most beautiful Transformers to ever create so not even the G1 Jetfire or the 1/48 Yamato Valkyrie VF-1S can compare to MP Magnus (Prime) when it come to best robot mode.  Magnus is very tall, in fact he stood 12 inch.  He is exquisitely well design thoroughly from left to right and bottom to top.  His transformation is even more fascinating than his appearance.  For those that hadn't transformed MP Magnus in person, his front cab wheel is actually hidden just below his chest cavity.  It's basically rotate and then flip up.  Also, MP Magnus smoke stack is adjustable in the vertical direction to allow the arm sideway movement.  As for his stability and joint connection, he is very stable and strong not flimsy or feature many loose parts like the 1/48 Yamato Valkyrie VF-1S.  MP Magnus has no major or minor negative drawback in this mode.  He is utterly magnificent!

R-8 Detail 2 - Gimmicks: 

Gimmicks, yes everyone love special feature.  If you're the type of person that love gimmick then the Master Piece Magnus edition has plenty of them.

A - Each of Magnus wrist came with a video communicator, left wrist has Prime and right wrist monitor show a scanning graph with Sine Curve.

B - When connecting the Energy Ax, it is important that the base of the Energy Ax is placed horizontal and plug nicely onto the little groove within Magnus socket wrist.  The Ax itself can be rotated 360 degree sideway.

C - All of Magnus fingers are articulated!

D - The Hydraulic feature.  This feature is so cool because whenever you move the arm/ feet, you'll the see the chrome hydraulic bar retracts or extends out.

E - When the button on the back of Magnus head is pressed, the mouth plate will move up and down as though Magnus is talking.  Also, the ear is movable as well.

F - When Magnus feet is pressed upward, the silver grill/ ventilation above his feet will automatic be opened.  To close the feature, repressed the feet again.  Left feet with opened grille while right feet with closed grille.

G - The silver gas tank that located on Magnus side knee acts as a lever to either compress or extend the leg out from the feet.  You have to press the bottom of the gas tank in order to slide the leg inside the feet.  Pressing the top or middle of the gas tank would usually not works.

H - All of Prime wheels cab has suspend able feature so when the wheel is pressed down it will automatically push back up since there are springs within the connection.  

I - Light able Matrix.  See R-8 for image.

NOTE-5: Magnus actually has a mouth underneath his mouth plate should you decide to remove it.  It actually looks very scary because he has a skeleton mouth or skull underneath the mouth plate.  Removing the mouth plate is a little bit complicated.

R-9 The Matrix and Magnus' Chest Cavity:

Of all the special gimmick that Magnus has, the Matrix/ Chest Cavity is the most unique of all.  The reason is that it's based on the 1986 Transformers The Movie scene.  Images from left to right include:  Magnus chest opened out revealing an inner gray panel (top left image).  This panel can be flipped out revealing the most important component of all, the Matrix.  What's unique about this Matrix and the Chest Cavity is that it has light feature (bottom left image).  To activate this light feature, you would have to press the blue button located next to Magnus neck.  The Matrix can be removed from Magnus chest cavity revealing a gray container box that hold the Matrix (top right image).  In addition, the Matrix can either be opened or closed just like the cartoon (bottom right image).  For those that are curious, the Matrix itself does not has light feature, instead the light itself is projected from the Magnus chest cavity.  Last but not least, since Magnus fingers are so large, only 1 of his fingers can be inserted onto the Matrix opening handle (large middle image).

R-10 The Ammunition:

The Master Piece edition came with 3 ammunitions for Magnus to play around, the standard Prime laser rifle, energy ax, and a Diaclone Megatron P-38 gun.  The laser rifle measurement is approximately 5 1/8 x 2 1/8 x 1 (LxWxD in inch).  Inside the laser rifle barrel, there is this green crystal plastic which I thought it was a nice touch in the aesthetic department (bottom left image) for the rifle.  The Energy Ax measures approximately 3 14/15 x 1 10/16 x 13/16.  The base is fully rotate able at 360 degree so when you made a connection be sure to plug the Energy Ax base into the Magnus' wrist groove.  This type of weapon was first seen in "More Than The Eye P2" where Prime used it to fight Megatron at Sherman Dam.  Last but not least, a U.N.C.L.E. gun figuration Diaclone Megatron measures approximately 6 1/4 x 2 1/4 x 7/16.  The silencer, the scope, and the elbow stock are removable from the base P-38 gun  (top right image) which measures 2 1/8 x 1 6/16 x 1/4.  The orange handle on Diaclone Megatron gun is extendable downward in length so Magnus can grip it better.  Also, the elbow extension stock can be bent downward should it interfere with Magnus lower arm.  

R-11 Master Piece Magnus Articulation showing off:

If you love articulation, then MP Magnus is definitely for you because there are tons of moves that you could do with this action figure.  As you can see from the left image, he can do almost everything from leg kick to a full split to raising arm.  And not to mention that all of his fingers are all articulated as well!  For more info on articulation see R-14 on Articulation.

R-12 MP-1 Prime VS. MP-2 Magnus Comparisons:

R-13 The Original Prototype of MP Prime/MP Magnus:

These were the pictures of the original MP Prime/ MP Magnus in their prototype form.  It excited transfans across the world seeing this magnificent piece of work.  Well, just in case anybody is curious what's the original prototype looks like, so here they are.

R-14 All Star Magnuses:

As of 2005, there had been "4" transformable Magnuses action figures released and "1" statue.  The two images on the left should give you some general idea regarding Magnuses scale comparison in both vehicle mode and robot mode.  From left to right: 2005 MP Magnus, 1986 Magnus, 1987 Magnus Jr., 2004 World Smallest TF Magnus, and 2004 Magnus Statue (from robot image).  Trailer included: The original 1986 Magnus comes with a transformable trailer, the 2005 MP Magnus and 1987 Magnus Jr come with a Paper Trailer, while the World Smallest TF Magnus didn't come with one.

R-15 Magnus Origin - First Appearance:

1 - 1st Appearance Magnus Robot Cab released as a Toy - 1986 Ultra Magnus Series 3.

2 - 1st Appearance Magnus Robot Cab released by itself (w/ paper trailer)  - 1987 Transformers Jr: (Ultra Magnus Jr.)

3 - 1st Appearance Magnus Robot Cab debut in Art Work - 1986 Japanese Back Box Art (Bottom right - Magnus is located between Metroplex leg and the Ultra Magnus mode.

4 - 1st Appearance Magnus Robot Cab debut in Toy Ads - 1986 Ultra Magnus (guarding Silverbolt) front of box.

5 - 1st Appearance Magnus Robot Cab debut in TV ads - Japanese Commercial of Ultra Magnus figure.

6 - 1st Appearance Magnus Robot Cab debut in Comic - Dreamwave Comic: Transformers Issue #6, 2003 (top left image).

7 - 1st Appearance Magnus Robot Cab debut in Statue Line - Palisade Magnus Statue.

If you look at the original G1 Ultra Magnus action figure, you will see that the cab robot mode is actually the real body of Ultra Magnus and the trailer is nothing more than an armor.  Unfortunately, the cab robot mode had never been incorporated into neither Cartoon nor Marvel Comic in the past.  However, it did appear in the Japanese Back Box Art and in 1987 Transformer Jr. Line.  In 2003, Dreamwave company made it a reality as the white cab robot or "Magnus" as some fans called it, made it first debut in the Transformers cannon in the Second Mini-Series Transformers Issue #6 of Sept 2003 (James "Brad Mick" McDonough/ Pat Lee).  To make it even more spicier, Dreamwave released a third rare Incentive Cover which feature Magnus bursting out of his armor (top left image) as oppose to the two regular covers which were mass released evenly (bottom left images).  As for the story goes, Ultra Magnus was heavily shot in the back by Shockwave and temporary goes into stasis lock.  Once back online, Magnus had to rip out his dead weight battled armor in order to save his brother Optimus Prime.  In the end, Magnus and Prime defeated Shockwave.  And thanks to this second mini-series, Magnus character and merchandize are gradually growing out

R-16 Not Impossible - Battled Armor Custom for Ultra Magnus by marksproject.com:

For more than 20 years, Transfans had wondered and speculated whether it was possible to make Ultra Magnus looks like his cartoon part.   We all know what the original 1986 Ultra Magnus action figure looks like which is basically a brick figure due to no articulation and he wore a red spandex pant with a white underwear above it.  With the 2004 released of MP Magnus cab above (see R-1 to R12 above) and no transformable trailer to form Ultra Magnus, many fans were pissed off by the decision.  Some felt that it would be impossible to make Magnus looks like the cartoon, others were optimistic.  Finally, the great Mark had proven to us that making a Battled Armor for Magnus Robot Cab to form Ultra Magnus and looks like the cartoon is not impossible!    So with that, I presented you Mark's MP Ultra Magnus Trailer.  

NOTE-6:  When Mark created this trailer, MP Magnus Cab was not released yet.  Instead, he had to use MP Prime for the substitution.  All images in R-16 were photograph by Mark himself.  For more pic of the Marks MP Magnus Trailer visited http://www.marksprojects.com/trailermp2.htm 

R-17 Rémy's Master Piece Magnus action figure review:

Manufacturer - Takara.

Line, Series/ Wave: Master Piece Line, Series MP-2.

Year Issue: [Mar. 2005]   

Made: [China]  

Scale: [N/A]

Box or Card Dimension In Inches: [LxWxD]  - 13 3/4 x 8 1/8 x 4 3/16 - Box.

Packaging Method: Mint In Sealed Box.  Contents were packed with the following procedure:

On the very top of the clear plastic tray are: "1" black laser rifle, "1" blue energy ax, "1" Diaclone Megatron gun, and "1" sealed bag contained "2" black clips/ pegs for connecting the paper trailer onto the cab. 

Beneath the top clear plastic tray, there's a second plastic tray:  "1" cab with Matrix (inside his chest).

Serving as an enclosure and with a semi soft plastic bag on the perimeter for the two plastic tray above are: "1" foldable paper trailer.

Back of the enclosure/ paper trailer:  "1" robot cab instruction booklet, "1" trailer instruction sheet, "1" Magnus trading card, and "1" miscellaneous text sheet.

Box Special Note: Front Box Appearance: Actual toy.  Back Box Appearance: Ads of Master Piece Magnus special feature.

Box Point or Robot Point: [10]  - This number can be found on the top right side flap/ panel of the box.  You have to open the box to see it.  It contains number and the Autobots insignia next to it.

Approximately Dimension In Inch: Height Up To The Head:  12  Maximum Height: 12  Width from shoulder to shoulder: 6 1/14  Maximum Width: 6 3/4 (from smoke pipe to smoke pipe)  Dept: 3 1/2.

Figure's Stamp/ Fine Print: None.

Figure's Stamp/ Fine Print Location: Surprisingly MP Magnus has no copyrights fine print.

Transformation Of Difficulty: [Very Hard] - Very hard to transform.

Material Durability: [-A] - Pretty durable.

Materials: Die Cast Metal:  Chest and lower leg.  Chrome Part: Smokestack, gas tank, cab front bumper, and the hydraulic connection peg .  Rubber: Wheels.  Plastic: Main material.  Clear Plastic Window: Front of cab window and a little bit on the side.

Stability: [A] - Very Stable..

Figure Toy: [+A] - Definitely a fun toy due to many functions, challenging, and a cool design.

Negative Drawback: MP Magnus had no major negative drawback.  See Special Notes below.

Articulations: Head: Can be rotated at 360 degree sideway, tile 5 degree downward and 45 degree upward.  Mouth can also be moved as well.   Shoulder: Can be swung 360 degree forward or backward.  Can also be lift 60 degree sideway when the shoulder is fully extent out.  Lower portion can be rotated 360 degree sideway.  Arm/ Elbow: Can be bent at a 90 degree. Wrist/ Hand: Can be rotated 360 degree sideway as well as be bent at 10 degree inward.  All five fingers are articulated.  Hands can be hidden by using the slab on the forearm. Hip/ Waist: Can only be rotated at 360 degree sideway.  Leg: Can be bent at a 90 degree, rotate 360 degree sideway, as well as a full split.   Knee: Can be bent at a 90 degree.  Ankle/ Feet: Can be move 3 degree sideway.  Feet can only be bent downward.

Rub Sign Logo: [N/A] - Not Applicable.

Robot's Cartoon looks alike: [+A] - Magnus cab robot had never debuted in the cartoon, only in the original toy, TF Jr line, back box art, toy commercial, and Dreamwave comic.

Vehicle's Cartoon looks alike: [-A] - Utterly the bomb!!! Very Hot.

Special Notes: Here are "8" special notes that I think you should know:

1 - If the leg doesn't retract to its short length during cab mode, you must press the TOP part of the leg oil tank.  Don't press the middle or bottom of the oil tank, that is wrong.

2 - Don't bent the feet upward beyond its capability or the feet will pop off.  Can easily be reattached.

3 - Don't bent the head upward beyond its capability or the head will pop off.  Again, can easily be reattached.

4 - The best way to take the Matrix out is to transform the chest into cab mode.  Once the front wheel is off from the chest cavity, the Matrix is easily taken out.

5 - Be careful not to drop Magnus on the floor because if it lands perpendicular with the smokestack on the bottom, it can be broke very easily due to the long smoke stack length.

6 -  The Matrix chamber cavity has light when the switch next to the head is pressed.  So check for battery and bulb defection.

7 - The mouth plate can be moved when the button on the back of head is pressed.  So check to see that this gimmick is workable.

8 - The lover or ventilation on the front lower leg of Prime will open up when the feet is pressed downward. So check to see that this gimmick is workable.

Overall Grade: [+A] - This Master Piece Edition Magnus is utterly the bomb!  It is very exceptional in term of detail, transformation style, gimmick, and the appearance is utterly a magnificent.  This figure is a must have!!!!

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