{"id":23565,"date":"2013-05-31T01:01:15","date_gmt":"2013-05-31T06:01:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=23565"},"modified":"2013-05-31T09:15:59","modified_gmt":"2013-05-31T14:15:59","slug":"transformers-united-bruticus-fansproject-colossus-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=23565","title":{"rendered":"Transformers United Bruticus
& FansProject Colossus Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>One of the problems I keep running into lately is that I keep buying bigger & bigger toys. Toys too big for my \u201cstudio\u201d, toys too big for just 6-8 pictures, toys that probably should get multiple reviews. I tend to put them aside when I\u2019m choosing what to review, but not today!<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve had more money to\u2026 we\u2019ll call it spending\u2026 spend on my collection this year. We scrimped & saved a lot for our house and that success put some best practices in place that have seen me buying some more expensive toys in 2013. One addiction that has been murder on my wallet is Third Party Combiners. <\/p>\n

When I was a kid, Transformers Combiners were some of the coolest Transformers. One of the few Christmases I still remember vividly was the year my parents picked up both Defensor & Bruticus for me. My family would always get up way too early to open presents \u2013 this was usually instigated by my brother and I \u2013 and then after we exchanged gifts, has Christmas Breakfast, take lots of pictures, etc., we\u2019d all go back to bed. The year my parents spoiled me with Defensor & Bruticus (well, technically they only got me one, it was Santa who went and doubled me up) was the first year I stayed up all morning. I played with those guys for hours. I still remember the look of surprise on my Dad\u2019s face when he & mom got back up later in the morning and I was still plugging away. Those were awesome toys. <\/p>\n

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I lost all my Combiners in The Great Flood\u2122; only a few parts remain \u2013 Hot Spot & First Aid, Brawl, Nosecone, and none of the parts. I\u2019ve never gone back to pick up any vintage versions or reissues. I always kinda want to, but in most cases I\u2019d rather have modern takes. Updates like so many other great toys from my youth have received. And while Hasbro & Takara did bring Bruticus back to market this last year, it just wasn\u2019t the same. I teased the idea of buying it now and again. I did bring home a Swindle, but had to return him because bad QC prevented him from transforming. <\/p>\n

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Similarly, I had hesitated to pick up the third party FP Colossus mostly due to the price. Now Colossus isn\u2019t like Giant, Hercules, or some of the other 3P Combiners you might have seen. He\u2019s an add-on kit to an already existing Hasbro toy. Until recently, that made him difficult to pick up. The Energon Bruticus Maximus was a bit pricey. The Fansproject Add-On Kit was particularly pricey. That changed earlier this year thanks to both Takara & Fansproject reissuing everything you need to make an FP Colossus \u2013 and maybe even better than before, with everything in colors more true to the G1 Bruticus. <\/p>\n

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I paid $130 or so for Takara\u2019s Transformers United Bruticus. When it arrived, I had some of the worst purchase guilt ever. This toy, a repaint of the Energon Bruticus Maximus, is just not that great a toy. The biggest problem is that the limbs are repaints of each other: two tanks & two helicopters. Now, I will tip my hat to the designers. The beancounters at the time would only spring for so many new molds and the folks behind the line wanted to make all three Energon combiners. Making the limbs repaints got them a whole extra toy. That\u2019s smart. (I also have to give FansProject props \u2013 the instruction booklet gives an in-universe explanation for the clone limbs and how Colossus came about. That was a fun read).<\/p>\n

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But the toy still has issues. Some are just my opinion \u2013 I don\u2019t like the design for the Bruticus head, but others are just bad design choices like the strange pieces that make up the hands and feet, they don\u2019t work well or look good. The individual toys themselves are kinda fun to transform, each of the three molds have some character, but if I wanted a good update to Bruticus on my shelves and this is all there was, I\u2019d be mighty disappointed. Heck, Bruticus Maximus did get a domestic release years and years ago and I barely even noticed. The toy just needed some work. Continue to Page 2…<\/a><\/p>\n

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Enter Fansproject. Now, I\u2019m still relatively new to the Third Party scene (even though the money I\u2019ve spent is quickly piling up), and I wasn\u2019t really aware of the updates that transform Bruticus into Colossus until FP announced they would be making new versions that match Takara\u2019s reissue of Bruticus. Honestly, it almost feels like collusion (but of course it isn\u2019t) because I don\u2019t know who would drop serious coin on United Bruticus without access to the FP pieces, but I digress. I\u2019m just glad it all worked out and that I had the nearly $300 to drop on both sets. <\/p>\n

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That\u2019s pretty much because FansProject just kills it. Heck, I\u2019m just happy to see Blast-Off back to being a shuttle and Swindle back to being a Je- well, a Humvee, but it beats a helicopter. Those two new robots are sharp in both modes, easily making the Bruticus parts look a little lackluster. The nice thing is that the extra Bruticus parts help the original figures out too. We\u2019ve got missile batters for Vortex, extra cannons for Brawl, and Onslaught is basically overhauled \u2013 changing from a missile truck back into an oversized carrier (which can haul Vortex\u2019s Shuttle mode or be configured to be a launcher for that Shuttle. Pretty cool!) <\/p>\n

The FP set includes new feet, hands, a codpiece, cannons, plenty of weapons, and a new lower arm that, in addition to a new transformation for Vortex, essentially makes him an all-new limb too. Oh yeah, did I mention the new head? It does seem a little thin, maybe anime-like, but it looks tons better than the original. All of the pieces together make Colossus damn impressive on the shelf, much more alive than the Energon original. <\/p>\n

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The only complaints on the set are the right wrist and the new waist piece. The right wrist is woefully loose and that hand seems to sag no matter what\u2019s in it, even nothing. You\u2019ll notice in a few of the pics. The waist piece meanwhile is tight, but somewhat incompatible with the upper thighs on Onsalught\/Colossus. I had a heck of a time keeping that piece on when I playing with and posing Colossus. <\/p>\n

In addition to the two robots and the add-on pieces to beef up the originals, the set also includes a sword and three guns. Two of the guns break down into two smaller guns and the hands and lower arms combine to form two additional weapons. Counting the giant back-cannons, which can be held by Onslaught, that means the regular-sized robots have 8 weapons to split between them! If I was worried any of the Energon bots were going to get picked up before, I definitely don\u2019t have to now after all the excess firepower Fansproject sought to give them. <\/p>\n

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Also, since I ordered this set just a few months ago, an additional gun was included: Quake. Quake is a tiny not-Shockwave (drawing his name from the amazing third party Quakewave) that is sized for Colossus to wield. This is a nice extra, but I\u2019m not totally in love with the gun more \u2013 it kinda looks like Quake is just standing there, rigid as a board, in Onslaught\u2019s hand, but I\u2019m sure I\u2019ll find a good use for it. <\/p>\n

Overall, the price is steep \u2013 nearly $300 for both sets \u2013 but this is a great rendition of Bruticus. The FP Add-On kit really saves the set, but there is some charm to the originals and that helps too. If you have the money to drop on both sets and love Bruticus, I think you\u2019ll be happy. Some things could be better like the blockage at the hips, a better-designed replacement chest plate that gives the figure more bulk, but those are just quibbles on an otherwise great figure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \t

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