Transformers: Generations: Netflix War for Cybertron Trilogy Leader Class Ultra Magnus & Battle Master Battlefield Rung

The Netflix Siege series represents everything that is wrong with Hasbro these days. Unimaginative repaints, abysmal quality control, and deplorable distribution. The first two are self explanatory, and you can read more about them in my reviews. Walmart put these up for preorder after/during Toy Fair. They were to be released April 1st (I think, or close to that, beginning of April for sure). I ordered mine that first week. Now I realize that Covid-19 screwed up distribution of all kinds of things, but that didn’t become a big deal in the US until the middle of March. These toys should have been well on their way to distribution by then. The toys should have shipped when they were supposed to. I got e-mails right around the release date saying they would be delayed until May (Ultra Magnus) and July (the rest). I ended up finding all of them but Ultra Magnus in store long before the expected ship date. I’m sure some will blame Walmart for the distribution problems, but if Hasbro is going to announce a release date and the vendor is not going to make good on that, then they shouldn’t give them exclusives. They can sell all their exclusives through Pulse. No reason to make things exclusive to companies that won’t deliver on time.

Let’s talk about the packaging for a minute. It looks like an ammunition box, so that cool, but for some stupid reason Hasbro decided not to put Ultra Magnus’s name on the box. The contents of this set are considered a spoiler for the show, though I have no idea what sense that makes. The same day it was announced, the contents of the set were revealed. Seems to be pretty stupid for a $60 toy not to have the name on the box. Can’t imagine a lot of people who aren’t collectors will buy it.

Compound

“Compound” is a substance that is similar it feel and smell to black Playdoh. (It could be Playdoh.) I decided not to bother unearth the three energon cubes. I don’t know why Hasbro included this, but it’s a pretty poor effort. If you’re going to include something like this, you need to include an actual container to store it in. Would it have been so hard to put it in a plastic container with a removable top? I peeled the top off and then taped it back onto the tray it came in once I realized what it was.

Battlefield Rung

Previous Mold Use: Siege Battle Master Rung

Rung is now done in pink and translucent pink. I liked the original a lot more.

Ultra Magnus

Previous Mold Use: Siege Ultra Magnus, Siege Galaxy Upgrade Optimus Prime

Ultra Magnus is basically the same paint job as the original with black/dark gray paint all over him. It’s supposed to make him look battle damaged, but in actuality, he just looks dirty.

Overall: This set is a lot of hype, and very little substance. When they said the Ultra Magnus deco was a secret, knowing that there are a limited number of things you can paint him into, I kind of thought he might be in Diaclone colors. That would have at least looked cool. I’d have even been fine with Shining Urine Yellow Ultra Magnus too.

Thanks for reading!