Review – KFC Mugan Amputare (Not Shockwave)

KGC Toys’ Mugan Amputare* really shows off just how far the company is willing to push their not-Perceptor design. We’ve already looked at their Mugan Vox toy (review here), but this not-Shockwave takes the Mugan Scope core just a little more away from that original release.

New Components

The Mugan Amputare* may be Mugan Scope at its core, but newly-tooled parts make all the difference:

• Head – This is Shockwave as we love him, even if the head is a little small for the body.
  
• Gun hand – It just wouldn’t be Shockwave without a gun hand.
  
• Shoulder cannon – I like how they replaced Mugan Scope’s shoulder cannon with one designed to look more like the original Shockwave in gun mode.
  
• Chest – Another signature element of the original Shockwave design.
  
• Knives – I’m not sure I understand why the toy came packed with two knives.

Microscope Mode

Mugan Amputare*, like Mugan Scope, is a microscope-like device that doesn’t hold together as well as I would like it to. Nothing really snaps together and instead the arms hang there, the legs go into some Cybertronian yoga pose, and the only parts that really hide are the hand/gun hand and the head. I actually think the original Transformers Perceptor (review here) has the better microscope design.

Tank Mode

I discussed the tank mode in my Mugan Vox review of the toy and cannot say things are any better today than they were five months ago. In fact, it almost feels like the Mugan Amputare* use of this tooling is worse than Mugan Vox since this newer toy holds together even less than the Soundwave-like usage of the mold. How is it the joints are too tight in some spots but the tank is too floppy? That doesn’t even make sense!

Robot Mode

In my opinion, it is the robot design that is the only reason to buy any of KFC’s Mugan Scope-related transforming robot toys. The transformation design of the base toy is weak and uninspired, and without any locking mechanism for the alt modes the transformation design feels more like an afterthought than a true core play component of the design.

Fortunately, the robot mode core of Mugan Amputare* looks good enough that this makes a fun addition to any Shockwave shelf. I especially like that Shockwave-inspired shoulder cannon and my only complaint with the robot mode design is the small Shockwave head. I know the head’s size was designed around the chest design, but it still stands out as the biggest flaw with the toy’s robot mode.

Closing Thoughts

My Mugan Vox review wasn’t all that glowing, but I did (and still do) think the toy worked best in robot mode as part of a display. Well, Mugan Amputare* falls into the same category where it’s not a toy you want to be your only third party take on a Transformers character, but as part of a display it works well and looks great in robot mode.

As one of seven uses of the Mugan Scope tooling this Mugan Amputare* toy is part of a family of similar robots, all of which work well in robot mode and fail in their microscope and tank alt modes. I can only recommend this to you if:

• A. You collect Shockwave toys.
  
• B. You collect this specific mold from KFC Toys.

If “A” or “B” isn’t true for you then give this a pass. There are much better third party Transformers toys out there waiting to be collected.