This is my first Newage figure, and boy am I impressed. From the box art alone (never mind the name or the ridiculous title), you know this is going to be a good release. I’m not too knowledgeable on Shattered Glass, or most comic canon for that matter, but I’ve always liked the concept of Ultra Magnus as pure evil. In TF lore, as a bureaucrat and military officer, Magnus was always portrayed as a bit of a stiff and a wet blanket, not nearly as heroic or charismatic of a leader as Prime. Like an Eisenhower vs. JFK jr, Magnus doesn’t command as much admiration as Prime. Hence, it would make sense in the SG mirrorverse for Magnus to usurp Prime. I didn’t pick this up because of the SG depiction; I got this guy as a mini-Diaclone Powered Convoy, so all the SG goodies are just the cherry on top.

As a kid, I always felt that the Hasbro rendition of Powered Convoy as Ultra Magnus, debuting with the ’86 TF movie release, felt cheap and gawdy in its teal, red, and overused white color scheme. It was unpainted plastic everywhere or poor paint apps where you needed it, such as the face. Especially when compared side-by-side with Prime in his chrome and diecast glory, Magnus was a cheap white knockoff. Later when I connected the dots on Diaclone and Microman pre-TF history, I became drawn to the original Diaclone Powered Convoy color scheme, and so I was super happy that Newage released this version in addition to their version of Ultra Magnus, which they call Octavian. MP Delta Magnus is a great figure and serves fine as proxy for owning a real Diaclone Powered Convoy, but it’s just so beefy and chonky that it doesn’t make a good deskbot like this little guy.

The truck mode is just perfect for me. It truly looks like an authentic Diaclone, scaled down. The kind of plastic used for the blue is a bit soft and therefore flexible, which is probably needed for some of the transformation, but as a result some of the feature details aren’t as sharp as you’d see in most Hasbro / Takara releases, but I think it works for the Newage aesthetic – closer to show accurate, but with details that pay homage to the original toy as well. They’ve blended the two styles together to create a look that is uniquely their own.

Transforming this guy is my one and only gripe. It’s a super awkward process, with uncomfortable bending and flap sections that scrape each other, lots of hinging and odd twisting that is very uncharacteristic of Takara-style engineering.

But that’s to be expected of 3rd party. After the much-anticipated release of the Fans Project City Commander upgrade for CHUG Magnus that started the 3rd party design craze, I took a break from collecting pretty much anything 3rd party, as wave after wave of 3rd party figures kept coming out from all these new companies and I decided they weren’t worth the price point and I decided to pare down my collection to only must-have items. For me, that’s mostly G1 and Diaclone themed releases. Prior to that, I went deep into the rabbithole of re-collecting all my original toy collection and came out of the hole with an overabundance of stuff I just don’t need or even remember all that much – plus putting a big dent into my bank account. I’m glad I’m late to the 3rd party figures, because they’ve improved so much since that Fans Project release in 2008, and now I get to pick the best of the best. It may be early for me to call it, but I think this Newage Delta Magnus will be on that list.

For one, the blue rendition of Convoy has always been a favorite of mine. They’ve managed to create a super poseable mini-Prime that has a toon-accurate face but with the Diaclone colors, he’s got a totally different vibe. The tiny removable Matrix chest gimmick is a nice bonus, and is a bitch to open, but definitely adds to the overall finished look of non-powered Powered Convoy.

It’s a real fun little figure to pose and play with on its own, even without the Powered armor. Plus, they provide a plethora of accessories to give you loads of options, including JAZZ HANDS!

This is an impressive level of detail and articulation for a 4.5″ figure that looks good in both bot and alt modes, in addition to his final form, unlike Hybrid Style G1 Optimus Prime that measures smaller at 4″ but has a horrible truck mode. Both have diecast parts and a metal spine that accordions out as part of the transformation, making me wonder if Newage’s transformation scheme was inspired by Takara’s. Both are equally wonky and un-fun enough to want to leave these in whatever mode was last played with.

As with most iterations of Ultra Magnus, it’s a puzzle former. There are six armor pieces in total that snap on, and fortunately they all have dedicate storage when in trailer mode. It’s quite satisfying to put the boots on his feet. I do wish there were a little more detail on some parts, like the thigh plates, but the final combined look feels very “complete”.

The pics from my phone don’t do it justice, but he’s a super fun little figure to pose and play with. The head has ample room to swivel, the biceps are on their own hinge, plus even the ankles hinge, lending to loads of varying angles. And of course, I had to pull out MP Delta Magnus to do a quick side-by-side.

As you can see, included are the Ultra Magnus gun in non-powered mode, the big rifle for full armor mode, and Prime’s ion rifle. The missiles have been remolded from their Octavian / Magnus-accurate release to these funky asymmetrical design that I really like. For the SG Ultra Magnus mode, you’ve got a nice transparent sword and a very interesting interpretation of the Skeletor face using the same clear plastic that can be swapped with the regular Magnus face.

I honestly prefer this to the comic book and Hasbro skullface, even if I don’t care enough to comment on SG anyway, as I’m just here for the Diaclone goodness anyway. But this is a cool look that works for me, with all the accoutrements.

In conclusion, I adore this 3rd party figure and may have to look into more Newage releases. Those Dinobots look great and much better than any of the Legends, Legacy, Studio Series, or any modern Hasbro releases. These feel to me like mini-Masterpieces that pay homage to G1 but allow you to do more than just pose them at different angles. They definitely don’t scale with mainline Hasbro / Takara figures but I don’t really care. Just to check, I pulled out some WST seekers and WST Pee Magnus (the clear ones are 3rd party / KO’s) to complete the look, and I couldn’t be more satisfied with how they look when paired together.

The KO Skywarp even came with a custom printed box in the likes of the e-Hobby Ghost Starscream release, and at that time so many “crystal” or “ghost” clear releases were all the rage. Little did we know then that transparent plastic becomes super brittle over time, but the effect is still super cool while it lasts.

I’m trying to curb my plastic addiction these days, but these kind of releases sure make it hard. It just means I have to be really picky with my purchases. You can’t take it with you when you go, so you’d better enjoy while you can!