Review – Transformers Ultra Magnus Bust

I grabbed this Transformers Ultra Magnus Bust* last month and am quite happy to have expanded my collection of Transformers busts and statues by another excellent piece. This Diamond Select Toys work joins the others I’ve already reviewed and I suggest checking out those earlier reviews if you missed them:

• Transformers Sound Blaster Bust review
• Transformers Elita-One Bust review
• Transformers Frenzy and Ravage Bust review
• Transformers Jetfire Bust review
• Transformers Jazz Bust review

Thank You, More Than Meets the Eye!

Ultra Magnus really didn’t start to get fun (for me, at least) until IDW’s current More Than Meets the Eye comic series (Amazon.com search*). The comic has done a lot to make the character more of a “character” than he has ever been, giving us a look at Ultra Magnus as a force of law trying to deal with a crew of random, nearly-insane, and often funny Autobots (plus Cyclonus, but he’s special). This isn’t anything like we saw with Ultra Magnus back in the eighties and I’m really enjoying the comics . . . but we were supposed to be talking about a statue, right?

Sculpt

One thing that really jumps out at me about the 6-inch tall Transformers Ultra Magnus Bust* is that the edges and details are softer than you would normally expect from a robotic character design. I suspect this was sculpted by hand and not machine, but I’ve got nothing to back that up except my gut feeling as I look closely at the design. There are curves and rough spots here and there, but all of that only adds a little character to the design and doesn’t at all limit my enjoyment of the statue. The photos here, especially the closer shots of the head and shoulders, I think show what I’m talking about.

Paint

The metallic blue paint is a really nice touch and I like that Diamond Select Toys didn’t go overboard with the metallic paint apps on the piece. The silver face and gun are also nice, and combined with the flat white paint of the shoulders and hands the paint helps add a lot of depth to the design. Sure these are classic Ultra Magnus colors, but the Transformers Ultra Magnus Bust* does a great job of bringing those colors forward from 1986 to today.

Where Did the Series Fail?

I can’t say for certain why Diamond Select Toys stopped creating these Transformers busts, but I suspect that it was that the company produced too many designs far too quickly. The TFWiki lists a total of 34 busts produced by Diamond Select Toys between 2007 and 2009. Woah! That’s a lot of $50 to $75ish statues for a Transformers fan to keep up with. I know that there’s a tendency to overproduce something when sales are strong, but I feel that if Diamond Select Toys had generated roughly half that number in the same amount of time the line would still be running today. But I could be very wrong; all I know is that there’s no way I can keep ignoring that Shockwave bust.

Closing Thoughts

The Transformers Ultra Magnus Bust* isn’t the best of the Transformers statues in my collection, but it’s a fun design and looks better in the group than on its own. I’m not sure if this will ever be one of the more demanded of Diamond Select Toys’ series of Transformers busts, but I’m glad I found one now rather than in a few more years; I suspect the price on the entire line will only keep climbing as the years pass.

A nice addition to my collection and a good design from Diamond Select Toys.