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Monday, 30 December 2013

Maketoys MT-03 HyperNovae - Pictorial Review

First and foremost, this review wouldn't be possible without the help of a dear friend, who's kind enough to lend me this figure, one of my favorite characters in Transformers

Pic Credit : Web
Presenting, one of the most graceful Transformers out there, Nova Prime, predecessor to Nominus Prime. Back then in Cybertron, there was another big war being fought, long before Optimus Prime/Megatron time, ended in the hand of Nova Prime. With the end of Chaos, Nova ventures to Cybertron's underground with his closest comrades and advisors, Jhiaxus, Galvatron, Cyclonus and Dai Atlas, to find the Guiding Hand.

World with no factions
Pic Credit : Web
Even with the purest of intention, Nova Prime slowly drift away, believing more than he should, on the prophecy of "All Shall Be One" , planning the Expension to enslave all lifeforms under his empire. Running out of time when Vector Sigma's flow of new sparks ceased, Nova Prime and his team boarded the Ark to start the Expension.

Nemesis Prime
Pic Credit : Web
Nova Prime discovered a portal while on their way to the Benzuli Expanse and, blinded by his greed and pride, went into the portal to the Dead Universe and never be seen again. Not as Nova Prime

Pic Credit : Web
Nova Prime was actually a concept design made for Optimus Prime by Don Figueroa but the toy never seen the light of day. However, there was a company that produced this design and if not mistaken, only 2 figures exist (1 design, 2 variants)

By Master Collectibles
Pic Credit : Web

Knowing what the fans want, Maketoys took the liberty of [mass] releasing the first Not-Nova Prime figure, dubbed MT-03 HyperNovae



In Package



The latest of the Tanker Series, HyperNovae took a different route than the previous releases, packaged in a small (but long) box rather than the usual bigger ones. On the front is a great picture of HyperNovae himself.

Back View
On the back are pictures showing HyperNovae Modes, starting from the alt mode, the basic mode, combined mode and the his full mode (will be explain later in this review). The quality of the box is considerably good compared to most 3rd Party releases


The figure comes with an instructions sheet, translucent parts (to be inserted into the wings) and an instruction on installing the translucent parts

Installation on the wings


Let me make it clear first. I skipped the battle tanker series due to various reasons (mainly the size) but seeing this figure is breathtaking.


HyperNovae comes in a mixture of mixture of vibrant white, black, yellow and blue. As can be clearly seen, HyperNovae is a combination of remolded RTS G2 Laser Prime and a remolded Battle Tanker

Back View
A fine detailing on the rims and at the back portion of of HyperNovae with no paint smudges, clean paint apps indeed.


Quality wise, the alt mode feels really solid, way better than the original Battle Tanker set (with RTS G2 Laser Prime) which surprised me. The sturdiness of the plastics reminded me of most Fansproject releases and Maketoys Giant

Top View


The cab is connected with the trailer part through a pivot joint, like that of Classics Optimus Prime and Fansproject's G3 Trailer. However, the range is quite limited due to the wings and the center of the trailer bumping with the cab

With Fansproject Shadow Scyther

Size wise, HyperNovae is a tad big longer in alt mode compared to Shadow Scyther.

Robot Mode (Basic)


There's an issue when Maketoys revealed that they'll be releasing HyperNovae with the core body based on Hasbro's G2 Laser Prime. However, having this in hand, you'll be glad to know that they've improved a lot on the figure that it makes people wonder why couldn't Hasbro release Laser Prime with at least almost the same quality.

Side View
Back View
The basic mode of HyperNovae went through a massive retooling which can be seen from the side and the back (as pictures above). These include a new head, shoulders and his back (where the front of the truck cab separated from the shoulders)


The basic mode was actually my least favorite part of the set but the apparently, he's still awesome without the add on from the trailer

Slightly different but a great head sculpt nonetheless


The base figure went through a lot of improvement (aside for the retooled parts) in terms of the joints where the weak ball joints on the thigh and weak swivel on the knees were replaced with strong ratchet joints that improved his stability and poseability.




Despite the weight of his back, the improved joints help him to withstand it, enabling him to be posed easily. HyperNovae has a ball jointed head, double jointed shoulders, ratcheting joint on his elbows and ball jointed hands. The waist is on swivel joint, ratchet and swivel joints on the thighs, ratcheting knees and ball jointed feet

With TFCC 2013 Scourge
Compared to TFCC 2013 Scourge (and his other variants), HyperNovae basic mode is slightly taller due to the retooled of the lower body parts


Robot  Mode (Combined)



For the combined mode, HyperNovae only used few parts from the trailer which are used for the lower legs, lower arms and the crotch plate. The back kibbles are reconfigured to give a different looks compared to the basic mode



In this mode, the articulations are basically the same except for the shoulders where backwards motion is a bit limited unless the shoulder kibbles (initially on his back) are reconfigured


Like Battle Tanker, HyperNovae is a bit shorter than Henkei Convoy which was actually on of the reason I skipped it

Robot Mode (Full)


This mode is truly a thing of beauty. In this mode, all the parts are used with none set asides. The transformation does require you to used the instruction manual but after getting used to it, is fairly intuitive

Side View
Despite the heavy parts, the improved joints on HyperNovae's basice mode are able to withstand all of the weight.

Reconfigured shoulder parts

The tip of the wings can be spread out a little for better presentation of HyperNovae. Attached using several parts (using ball joints, hinges and swivels), the wings is really sturdy and won't fall under its weight.



With Shadow Scyther
Compared to the basic mold, the fully combined HyperNovae still retain the articulations



Excluding the size issue (which I know a lot of people doesn't have it), HyperNovae is truly a great figure in overall. So basically if you're collecting the previous release of Battle Tanker, HyperNovae is a must have. I really had fun taking his picture as the aesthetic really suits my taste


The 'once' leader
*Counting the  day for 2014, a new year*

5 comments:

  1. now i know the reason why otai like u skipped it. me too don't like the basic mode ^^'

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. haha. if you can get passed the size, it's actually a great figure

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  2. I know this is an old review. I was thinking if I should look for this product these two days. I saw you said,
    "You'll be glad to know that they've improved a lot on the figure that it makes people wonder why couldn't Hasbro release Laser Prime with at least almost the same quality."
    Well, basically is because Hasbro didn't designed their version to wear any armors. And that figure works just fine on his own (without adding the Battle Tanker for him, that is). And also, the original Battle uses the same clip system to attach the backpack on Laser Prime. You never need to worry if you will break that clip, which in Hyper Novae's situation, you will. =]

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha, it's ok. Well, when I made that statement, the issue that I had in mind was that for Hasbro version, the joints [mostly] are extremely loose and the quality of the plastics. The hips are not able to withstand the weight of their own body, not with armor while if you compared that release with 1st wave of Classics, you'll notice a significant reduce of plastic quality

      Delete
    2. theres a needles screw somewhere on the backpac that if you remove you also remoove most chances of the clip breaking

      Delete