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G2 Bruticus

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18 comments posted
On its own, this Brawl (while

On its own, this Brawl (while not as good looking as the Comic-con version) looks better than the mass retail release one.

Still, G2 Bruticus is one of those thing I'm NOT nostalgic for when it comes to the 90's.

VZMK2's picture
Posted by VZMK2 on 4 December, 2012 - 16:06
He's a big, bad, battlin'

He's a big, bad, battlin' Dudicus.

Jmann's picture
Posted by Jmann on 4 December, 2012 - 18:41
Seen both versions of this

Seen both versions of this toy and I'd have to say that the game version is worlds better looking that the G2 version. The paint apps are just a big screaming wth were they thinking.

ivanko's picture
Posted by ivanko on 4 December, 2012 - 21:12
I still haven't picked any

I still haven't picked any version of this set up yet. From what I've seen so far it looks like a huge disappointment to me. Awful proportions, awful vehicle modes (except brawl), cheap looking hollow plastic, poor paint apps, Onslaught looks a mess, etc. This had so much potential and then end result feels like a wasted opportunity. I think the 25+ year old G1 version is better looking, better engineered, and definately better quality. The Fans Project upgrades to the Universe Bruticus blow this away. I was excited to see Hasbro making proper G1 style combiners again, but this just has so many flaws. Hopefully if they decide to do another they will put forth a little more effort and attention to detail.

supergonzo1980's picture
Posted by supergonzo1980 on 4 December, 2012 - 22:53
Yeah that Fansproject stuff

Yeah that Fansproject stuff that together costs roughly three whole Bruticii for two deluxe class toys plus parts.

So each individual part of the Fansproject set is almost eight times that of one genuine Bruticus limb.

And that's not factoring the cost of getting the original Hasbro Energon Bruticus to use it on.

VF5SS's picture
Posted by VF5SS on 4 December, 2012 - 23:10
I have happily paid that

I have happily paid that premium. For how many compromises were made to the individual figure modes of the FoC mold, Bruticus still looks like a barely held together mess. Maybe it's a result of the Scramble City limb action, which I would have happily sacrificed for elbows.

Prometheum5's picture
Posted by Prometheum5 on 5 December, 2012 - 06:00
I think Veef's point was that

I think Veef's point was that it's kind of silly to expect Hasbro to return the same quality as Fansproject at 12.5% of the price. It's like complaining that Classics Optimus isn't as good a toy as Masterpiece Optimus.

recognizer's picture
Posted by recognizer on 5 December, 2012 - 14:34
I don't expect Hasbro to put

I don't expect Hasbro to put out Fansproject quality. Hasbro put out some great Transformers in the Generations line not even two years ago like Scourge, Lugnut, Wheeljack, Warpath, etc. I just wish these Combaticons were of the same quality as those previous figures. I was hoping for a respectable looking Bruticus to put on the shelf and this totally missed for me.

supergonzo1980's picture
Posted by supergonzo1980 on 5 December, 2012 - 20:33
Warpath and Scourge are

Warpath and Scourge are definitely more reasonable comparisons. I agree that the Bruticus set doesn't look nearly as good as Hasbro's other recent offerings. It just seemed way over the top to say that it should be more like the Fansproject entries.

There's definitely been a decrease in some kind of budgeting per-toy at Hasbro with the Fall of Cybertron line. You can tell, just comparing them to the War for Cybertron toys, or most recently Classics-style figures... With some toys it works - I think FoC Optimus is a slick, solid toy that's simple but isn't missing anything - but with others it doesn't.

recognizer's picture
Posted by recognizer on 5 December, 2012 - 23:12
I didn't mean to come off

I didn't mean to come off like sounding like Hasbro's Bruticus should be as good as the Fansproject version. I realize that the Fansproject set is aimed at collectors. This is still primarily a kids toy but it deserved better treatment than this.

It is unfortunate that the quality of these toys has decreased while price has increased. That being said, I still can't excuse them for making ugly looking figures. If this is how its going to be then at least make them look good with what they have to work with.

supergonzo1980's picture
Posted by supergonzo1980 on 6 December, 2012 - 22:14
I think that some people may

I think that some people may be forgetting the fact that the circumstances when this toy came out are drastically different from the days of Generations, and even movie toys. There is absolutely no denying that these are smaller, more hollow, and generally lighter than previous Deluxes. However that has also been the case pretty much since the start of the Prime mainline as well. It's not like these toys are smaller than those toys. If you compare Onslaught to Shockwave, he is pretty much the exact same size.

[G2:656326]

For the standards of Deluxe releases today, the Combaticons do meet most of those standards. I will not disagree that if this toy had the opportunity to come out in Generations instead, it would have been probably much more well received. Unfortunately those are not the circumstances of this particular release, and I think that if people take these factors into consideration on TOP of the fact that these toys all need to have four transformations, the toy is much more enjoyable. 

Dkun's picture
Posted by Dkun on 6 December, 2012 - 08:35
I dunno, I think if you look

I dunno, I think if you look at these Combaticons, and put them up next to Prime Cliffjumper (the regular release, not the FE) or Ratchet or even Soundwave, there's a bit of a drop in coherency of design. The Combaticons (and FoC Jazz, for that matter) seem to have resorted to shortcuts that that Prime deluxes aren't taking.

recognizer's picture
Posted by recognizer on 6 December, 2012 - 19:43
Even with the reduced

Even with the reduced budgeting and reduced size of the figures, I feel they still could have made the combined Bruticus look better and more proportional. I just feel they settled for average instead of putting a little extra attention to detail into it. I just don't know how they could look at those arms and say thats good enough. The individual robots really aren't that bad except for Onslaught and Swindle's back. My main gripe with this set is how the combined Bruticus looks. The main reason most people want a set like this is for the combined mode. They made so many compromises to the individual robots so that they would be able to combine, and the 5 individual robots as a group still ended up looking better than the combined mode. Onslaught really needed to be Voyager size to give Bruticus a little more bulk up top, and Bruticus' arms needed to be shortened. Despite all it's flaws, I'm sure this could still be an enjoyable toy just to play around with. Great job on the review by the way. I hope you understand I am just ripping the toy and not the review.

supergonzo1980's picture
Posted by supergonzo1980 on 6 December, 2012 - 21:33
Naw, no worries man. I was

Naw, no worries man. I was expecting people to yell with pitchforks and torches over this toy. This is just healthy debate and discussion. No point in getting mad at other people about a toy on the internet, right?

Dkun's picture
Posted by Dkun on 6 December, 2012 - 23:29
Veef, do you not like the

Veef, do you not like the Fansproject figures/upgrade parts? Or do you just think they aren't worth the price? I agree it is a premium price but in my opinion the end result gives you an awesome version of Bruticus. I think each Fansproject figure was around $50 a piece when they first came out, and the Hasbro Combaticon set was around $50 at Target. So it was about $150 total for the whole figure.

supergonzo1980's picture
Posted by supergonzo1980 on 5 December, 2012 - 20:25
To be honest I do not. It

To be honest I do not. It seems very half-assed to just make two new figures and a bunch of parts that barely dress up the other three all in the name of homogenizing them as a G1 looking Bruticus.

VF5SS's picture
Posted by VF5SS on 5 December, 2012 - 22:55
Thanks for the review! I

Thanks for the review! I want this sucker but I was worried about the sturdiness of the combined forces. They all sound pretty great, save for Blast-Off's inability to raise his arms. That would usually be a deal breaker for me, but everything else just pulls the rest of the weight so well!

Plus, I TOTALLY agree with the comments at the begining of the review: I was too young for most of the original Tranformers run, so the G2 stuff is the most nostalgic for me. I had G2 Brawl myself, and my friend had G2 Onslaught. It ain't much, since Bruticus was hopping around on one leg, but it is enough to make this whole thing very nostalgic for me. I'm glad they are paying attention to G2 stuff every once in awhile (and not just for conventions). The garish colors are way more interesting to me than the usual dark 'n gritty 'n realistic stuff.

Alexx's picture
Posted by Alexx on 5 December, 2012 - 14:07
While its a cool funky

While its a cool funky robot...those arms are just hideous in my opinion. I love the head sculpt on the over all combined figure but I almost think these robots look better as individuals rather than combined. Those arms...i cant stop looking at them and thinking what could have been.

NEOGETTER's picture
Posted by NEOGETTER on 6 December, 2012 - 00:15