Review – Maxwarden (Not-Grand Maximus)

Earlier this week I posted a review of PerfectEffect’s SD not-Scorponok toy (review here) and mentioned how I hope the company makes more of these. Well, to do my part to promote this line I snapped pics of Maxwarden, a super deformed take on the Transformers Grand Maximus (see the TFWiki) that is a repaint of another PerfectEffect SD toy (Warden). I can completely accept that these toys aren’t for everyone, but if you’re at all curious please follow along as I share my thoughts on a fun toy.

Robot Mode

First up is the Maxwarden robot mode, which is another 2.75-inch tall tiny articulated robot that’s pure PVC joy. This unofficial Headmaster has a squat, blocky robot design that features swivel joints at the shoulders and hips; unlike Deathstalker (review here) there’s no waist swivel on Maxwarden. Why not? Well, Maxwarden doesn’t need a waist joint to transform so the designers didn’t add one. This is a brick that can raise its arms and swing a giant sword. Watch out, kids, it’s a brick with a sword!

Maxwarden and Warden

The next pic shows Warden (left) with Maxwarden (right), and if you’re wondering about what makes the two toys different besides the paint you can see here that one has a gun and the other a sword. Additionally, Warden has tank treads and a completely different alt mode; I should post quick pics of Warden soon so you can see just how different these two toys actually are.

Stabby!

One thing about third party toys is that they ignore most safety testing standards, and even cute little Maxwarden here isn’t quite ready for young kids because that sword is pretty pointy. It’s not as sharp and razor-blade like as some of the third party toys, but it wouldn’t take much effort at all to cause some real pain with this tiny plastic sword. Do not point at the eyes, kids! Besides, didn’t your parents tell you that it’s rude to point?

Alt Mode

By removing the head (which transforms!), rotating the arms straight up, removing the legs, attaching new parts, and laying the toy down you kinda create the Fortress Maximus/Grand Maximus battle station mode of the original 1987 toy. Kinda. Eh. Sorta. If you squint, close one eye, and spin around until you’re dizzy . . . maybe then it looks like the battle station mode.

This toy’s alt mode is far weaker than the Deathstalker alt mode (review here), but to be fair this one is better than Warden’s alt mode which does away with almost the entire robot and subs in an extra part. I really should post pics and a review of Warden very soon to show what I mean, but just trust me when I say that between Warden and Maxwarden this is the better of the two toy alt modes.

Headmaster

In my Deathstalker review battlegrip.com reader bloth asks:

Is the head about the same size as a real Headmaster?

Yes! And that’s part of what makes this series of SD Headmaster toys so much fun. The little Headmaster robots fit in great with other Headmasters, and standing a bunch of the little robots together could make for a cool display. Unfortunately the head cannot swap with ToyWorld or FansProject Headmasters — doesn’t fit — so it’s not quite as cool as it could have been.

Closing Thoughts

Maxwarden isn’t quite as neat as Deathstalker (review here), but considering that it’s hard to top an SD robot scorpion I think that this is a fine addition to the PerfectEffect line of super deformed Headmaster robots. If you get only one of the toys in this line then definitely grab Deathstalker, but if you’re insane and just snatch up all of the toys then I think you’ll have plenty of fun with this one.

BUT only if you like the look of the designs. If anything at all bothers you about the appearance of these SD robots then I’ve gotta recommend you skip this subline entirely.