Transformers Kingdom Titan Class The Ark - Pictorial Review

It's that time of the year, Titan-July!

The latest choice is kinda out of the ordinay, while previous Titans were legit Transformers characters, this time we have the Autobot Ark, the ship in which the Autobots crash landed on earth 37 years ago in 1984 (Not the timeline, the year of Transformers debut)

The Ark - Alt Mode

First and foremost, sorry I got problem to get his yellow shades right in some of the pictures.

My first impression of the Ark is that he's quite big. He has some weight to him but I can't help but notice the feeling of handling hollow plastic bulk, similar to the feeling of handling Metroplex before

There are minimal decos on the ship which really works. But I could live without the rust/atmospheric-burn(?) at the the front of the ship. 

The thrusters detailing is nicely done and really improve the overall alt mode. Basically the alt mode is richer in color at the back rather than the front.

The Ark's ramp comes with spring gimmick where you can just push the grey lever above. My issue with the Ark is that you can't get the back to tab properly, near the area of the ramp.

The turrets are molded and can't be rotated. Overall finishing is quite clean without any smudges (at least on mine)

The front half of the shell can be flipped open revealing the Ark's bridge, to be used with the miniature  Optimus Prime that comes with the Ark and the miniature figures that came with HasLab Unicron.

The Ark's bridge can be removed revealing a big compartment inside.

The Ark won't scale with any figures, Legend or WST, that's a no brainer. However for me, he'll be part of my Legend+ scale figures

Mainframe - Alt Mode

Before that, accessory wise, The Ark comes with a card (mine is Optimus Prime), 6 blast effects (just like the ones came with Rodimus Prime) and a miniature Optimus Prime (didn't bother to take him out).

The blast effects don't work on the turrets as they are double barrels.

The bridge is actually Mainframe, the Ark's companion. Mainframe is based on G1 Action Masters character of the same name.

What's good about him is that he can also transform in Teletran-1. This is actually a good decision. Releasing Ark with a Teletran-1 computer gives additional reason for people to buy him (they convinced me, at least)

The back of Teletran-1 is hollow. Aside from parts from Mainframe's body, thighs and hands, the rest are all folded panels. His accessories can be stored at the back.

Teletran-1 I think scaled quite well with my Legend+ lineup but I think he would work with other 3P  and Official legends (and core classes)

Mainframe - Robot Mode

Mainframe comes with Sky Spy (satellite-like device for various purposes) and 2 Golden Disk (Voyager & Vok, can be used by Kingdom Voyager Dinobot).

He bears some resemblance to Action Master Mainframe, mainly the head and body.

You can literally see the panels that are used to form Teletran-1.

The overall articulations and joints are good but his waist rotation is limited due to the back panel.

Also to be expected from Titan companion, hollowness, just like Trypticon's Full-Tilt.

While he is advertised as Deluxe class, he's actually a Voyager class, same (rough) height as Siege Soundwave and SS86 Scourge.

The Ark - Robot Mode

Now for the main event.

The Ark's transformation is considerably simple, even for Titan Class standard. Straight forward that you basically remember after doing it once.

I have mix feeling about him though. 

First, let's just set aside the fact he's not an existing character. Build wise, he's solid but made me think about Metroplex. Also, there are aspects of his design that made me think of TFA line. 

Size wise, he's a middle-size titan, between Fort Max and Devastator.

The head sculpt bears resemblance to The Last Autobot (intentional or coincidence?)

Empty chest cavity without Mainframe

Mainframe, in Bridge mode, can be inserted into the chest cavity but just sitting there without any pegs.

He's a stable figure and can pose better than most other Titan figures, on par with Scorponok, if not better.

Even better, the slim build gives him even better poseability. On thing I do hate is the open hands where I preferred the design of Fort Max and Metroplex's hands.

He comes with hard ratchet joints on the shoulders, waist and knees, softer ratchet on the elbows, biceps and thighs. The head and wrist are on normal friction swivel joints. He doesn't have any ankle tilt and the ankle rockers are quite limited.

The last Autobot & the last Prime

Stand Down!

The Ark in robot mode isn't as impressive as other Titans. It could be due to the fact that the design is simplistic. Or maybe he's not a legit character (however, with the head that looks like The Last Autobot, I'm gonna rewrite him as The Last Autobot)

However, having the Ark (as spaceship) is what I'm aiming for. I doubt that I'd buy a non-transforming Ark, even if it's bigger with more detailing. So getting The Ark that serves as both the spaceship and a robot is a good way to go.

Not to mention the rumor that next year titan will be the last and most likely Nemesis, Decepticon's spaceship