Post by Potatoprime on Jun 8, 2011 11:38:00 GMT
The third and final part of this review will focus on everything else that came in the box with Munitioner and Explorer. Starting with the boxes themselves.
Both figures come packed in very sturdy cardboard boxes that are styled on early G1 packing
on the rear of the box are images of everything from the set in use with the hasbro product blacked out for legal reasons. Putting both boxes together creates a nice image of the completed set
Inside each box are 2 nesting plastic trays which house the figures and add on kits. Also inside is a high quality glossy instruction manual.
The manual is the same for both figures and contains the instructions for both as well as the combination directions. The instructions themselves are shown in high quality clear photographs,some thing I wish Hasbro would do.
Interestingly the manuals do not black out the images of the Hasbro toys. thougfh I imagine to do so would impede the usefullness of the instructions.
The add on parts supply the three componants of Bruticus Maximus with new weapons in both their robot and alt modes.
In copter mode Vortex gains underslung grenade launchers and missile racks on the sides
The transformation has to be fudged a little to accomodate the new weapons but overall looks good in this mode. I do wish the hinges on the missile racks were a little tighter though.
In robot mode The missile racks end up on the shoulders and Vortex uses one of the grenade launchers and a multibarreled cannon. this multibarrel cannon looks a little silly as a handheld weapon.
Brawls alt mode is not altered in any significant way by the addition of his upgrade weapons. His alt mode gains a par of cannons on top of the turret and thats it. it does look a little like the cannon mounted on the back of his G1 toy
Bot mode is again not altered and merely gains 2 handheld weapons. A machine gun and another multibarreled cannon. The multi cannon doesn't look any better on this bot then it did on Vortex
Onslaught is almost completely transformed by the sheer number of new parts added to him His alt mode is transformed from this
To this behemoth
The Multilaunchers do look pretty good attached to this form. onslaught can also act as a transport for the Explorer figure in shuttle mode
In a nice mod to G1 Onslaught can now, once again assume a base mode. This acts as a launch platform for the Explorer
In robot mode the feet attach to the shoulders to become a missle pack. The double cannon and large machine gun act as handheld weapons. this creates a very bulky,heavily armed robot
The downside ? Onslaught loses pretty much all his articulation.
With these new parts the combaticons merge to become Bruticus
Bruticus is HUGE.
Thats him with an average sized DX. It comes up to his knee.
With the new shoulder extenders and feet The proportions of this gestalt is pretty much spot on. The deliberate mistransformation of the side panels on the chest and the new waist piece create a fair aproximation of Bruticus's original chest shield
The head sculpt is a gorgeous update of the G1 design
This incarnation of Bruticus is extremly heavily armed. A huge anti material rifle serves as his main weapon. this thing is bigger then most other transformers. He can also wield a pair of combat shotguns. These are rather clever in that they form by having one of the grenade launchers plug into one of the machine guns
Bruticus is also armed for melee with a combat knife. This is formed from the axe of the Explorer.
Another nice touch is that every single weapon can store on the figure. The shotguns and rifle store on the back pack and the knife can fold up and store on the left forearm
Unlike most gestalt figures Bruticus has the articulation to use his arsenal to the fullest. The completed figure boasts a whopping fortysix points of movement with ten each in the hands alone. To the best of my knowledge this is a record for a transformer let alone a gestalt figure. In an extremely clever bit of design the hip and knee joints of both Vortex and Blastoff act as double elbows for Bruticus with their waists becoming bicep swivels.The shoulder extenders grant the figure both shoulder rotation and an in and out hinge. The figure also has a waist joint ,fully functioning hip joints, knee hinges and swivels and foot tilts. The head is on a well functioning ball joint.
The weapons attach to the hands via a tab in the palm that slot into holes in the weapon handles
As you can see even the giant rifle holds without any trouble.
The hands can also grip small objects fairly well
So final thoughts ?
Its a well put together set. Sure some of the weapons are a bit goofy looking (looking at you multibarreled thingies) and Onslaught is pretty much transformed into a brick. But its a nice looking brick. Lets face it your not buying this set for a few handguns. Theres no doubt in my mind that Fansproject have perfected the gestalt. I'll restate what i said in the Explorer review. If you have any form of Bruticus maximus you NEED this upgrade set.
I give the completed Bruticus 10/10
overall set rating 9/10
Both figures come packed in very sturdy cardboard boxes that are styled on early G1 packing
on the rear of the box are images of everything from the set in use with the hasbro product blacked out for legal reasons. Putting both boxes together creates a nice image of the completed set
Inside each box are 2 nesting plastic trays which house the figures and add on kits. Also inside is a high quality glossy instruction manual.
The manual is the same for both figures and contains the instructions for both as well as the combination directions. The instructions themselves are shown in high quality clear photographs,some thing I wish Hasbro would do.
Interestingly the manuals do not black out the images of the Hasbro toys. thougfh I imagine to do so would impede the usefullness of the instructions.
The add on parts supply the three componants of Bruticus Maximus with new weapons in both their robot and alt modes.
In copter mode Vortex gains underslung grenade launchers and missile racks on the sides
The transformation has to be fudged a little to accomodate the new weapons but overall looks good in this mode. I do wish the hinges on the missile racks were a little tighter though.
In robot mode The missile racks end up on the shoulders and Vortex uses one of the grenade launchers and a multibarreled cannon. this multibarrel cannon looks a little silly as a handheld weapon.
Brawls alt mode is not altered in any significant way by the addition of his upgrade weapons. His alt mode gains a par of cannons on top of the turret and thats it. it does look a little like the cannon mounted on the back of his G1 toy
Bot mode is again not altered and merely gains 2 handheld weapons. A machine gun and another multibarreled cannon. The multi cannon doesn't look any better on this bot then it did on Vortex
Onslaught is almost completely transformed by the sheer number of new parts added to him His alt mode is transformed from this
To this behemoth
The Multilaunchers do look pretty good attached to this form. onslaught can also act as a transport for the Explorer figure in shuttle mode
In a nice mod to G1 Onslaught can now, once again assume a base mode. This acts as a launch platform for the Explorer
In robot mode the feet attach to the shoulders to become a missle pack. The double cannon and large machine gun act as handheld weapons. this creates a very bulky,heavily armed robot
The downside ? Onslaught loses pretty much all his articulation.
With these new parts the combaticons merge to become Bruticus
Bruticus is HUGE.
Thats him with an average sized DX. It comes up to his knee.
With the new shoulder extenders and feet The proportions of this gestalt is pretty much spot on. The deliberate mistransformation of the side panels on the chest and the new waist piece create a fair aproximation of Bruticus's original chest shield
The head sculpt is a gorgeous update of the G1 design
This incarnation of Bruticus is extremly heavily armed. A huge anti material rifle serves as his main weapon. this thing is bigger then most other transformers. He can also wield a pair of combat shotguns. These are rather clever in that they form by having one of the grenade launchers plug into one of the machine guns
Bruticus is also armed for melee with a combat knife. This is formed from the axe of the Explorer.
Another nice touch is that every single weapon can store on the figure. The shotguns and rifle store on the back pack and the knife can fold up and store on the left forearm
Unlike most gestalt figures Bruticus has the articulation to use his arsenal to the fullest. The completed figure boasts a whopping fortysix points of movement with ten each in the hands alone. To the best of my knowledge this is a record for a transformer let alone a gestalt figure. In an extremely clever bit of design the hip and knee joints of both Vortex and Blastoff act as double elbows for Bruticus with their waists becoming bicep swivels.The shoulder extenders grant the figure both shoulder rotation and an in and out hinge. The figure also has a waist joint ,fully functioning hip joints, knee hinges and swivels and foot tilts. The head is on a well functioning ball joint.
The weapons attach to the hands via a tab in the palm that slot into holes in the weapon handles
As you can see even the giant rifle holds without any trouble.
The hands can also grip small objects fairly well
So final thoughts ?
Its a well put together set. Sure some of the weapons are a bit goofy looking (looking at you multibarreled thingies) and Onslaught is pretty much transformed into a brick. But its a nice looking brick. Lets face it your not buying this set for a few handguns. Theres no doubt in my mind that Fansproject have perfected the gestalt. I'll restate what i said in the Explorer review. If you have any form of Bruticus maximus you NEED this upgrade set.
I give the completed Bruticus 10/10
overall set rating 9/10
