Thanks to boards member Type-R and various Twitter accounts posting pics from TransFes2016, the same event where MP Inferno was revealed, we have some close-up images of the upcoming Unite Warriors Bruticus and the Combaticons! The display has all five Combaticons lined up in robot mode right in front of their combined mode where we get a nice, clear look at them all.
We’ve mirrored the pics from the event in the full story, so be sure to check those out and join the discussion below to share your thoughts!
stevenmh
That looks great. At the time these were released I was vintage and MP only, had previously sold all my CHUG stuff. Earthrise brought me back and I've managed to go back and pick up everything I want except these Unite Warriors combiners. I did pick up Superion since that was reissued and I assumed the current eBay prices are as good as it's going to get for awhile. Just don't know whether to pay the eBay prices for the rest or wait to see if they get reissues also.
PoweredConvoy
Great pics and great figure. So glad TakaraTomy did their own thing with the Combined Wars stuff, not only in deco but tooling. It was a dream come true to do Computron, Defensor, Bruticus, Defensor, Menasor like they did. To top it all off by returning to that same way of doing combiner's and doing King Poseidon, God Neptune, Volcanicus, and Abominus. Love it!
Autoboty
Ah, I see. I just posted it here because I couldn't find a thread for Bruticus in the review thread, just for Baldigus/Ruination. I'll keep that in mind next time.
payres
You might want to post that in the review thread, rather than the news one:
Unite Warriors UW-EX Baldigus
Autoboty
Finally got my hands on the big bad battlin' dudicus! And I gotta say, he is AMAZING. He's seriously giving Superion a run for his money as my favorite 'standard' Unite Warriors combiner! No paint or QC issues to speak of, everything's solid all over, all the joints hold well even in combined mode (no forward lean, unlike Defensor!), and he's just so much FUN to play with as both the individual Combaticons and combined as Bruticus!
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The only gripe I had with him was the standard problem that Blast Off wouldn't stay together in arm mode, but that was actually the part I cared about the least because I never liked how caramel-colored UW Blast Off was and was going to replace him with Prime Wars Trilogy Blast Off anyway. The new arm works like a charm!
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Also, since Bruticus' shoulder cannon barrels and Blast Off's shuttle thrusters are both 5mm compatible, he can accommodate War for Cybertron Trilogy effect parts. I had a lot of fun putting the blast effects from Siege Jetfire on him!
(Fun fact: the small 'nub' on Bruticus' codpiece isn't actually a 3mm post, but it's close enough that you can put a blast effect on it with some twiddling with the soft plastic of the effect part. So if you want to have someone shoot Bruticus in the crotch, go for it.)
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Lastly I took some pics with his creator, Earthrise Starscream, to close everything off.
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MIDIcons
So I acquired a unite Warriors Bruticus. I'm very impressed with the paint apps and a plastic quality is pretty good compared to Hasbro combiner Wars garbage. What kind of sucks is I bought it second-hand and it didn't come with blast off so I have to use a combiner Wars blast-off. However it still looks pretty badass. I also have the PE-09 upgrade. Here are some pictures of Starscream and his Brigade. If you dig the pics follow me on the gram @MIDIconsView attachment 27764401 View attachment 27764402 View attachment 27764403
PlanckEpoch
This is what I thought too. I simply wasn't going to wait for Hasbro to fix Defensor, which we didn't even know if they would even release Groove at the time. So getting Unite Warriors and getting Defensor right the first time was the obvious choice.
shadowfall1976
Not anytime before Takara released their set, when i chose Takara over Hasbro because I wanted nothing to do with Rook. And I know, I got one for my son's Hasbro Defensor, but it was long after the fact.
Fenrys
hasbro did put out a deluxe groove
shadowfall1976
I knew Takara would go more toon, but I didn't know they'd be doing sets, had I known, I would have held out for Menasor and Superion. I thought I'd be able to mix and match bots between the two companies. Regardless I got my G1 based Combiners, The Hasbro Superion with Slingshot was good enough. It was Menasor where In was OK with a toy based Motormaster at first, and then Wildrider came, and I repainted a second Motormaster Black. But the straw was when I saw Hasbro was not putting a Groove out, and I waited, I saw the toon Defensor colors and was like, yup…mine. And naturally I waited out Bruticus, and was glad for Computron, Hasbro's was an easy pass.
PlanckEpoch
I had gotten Superion and Menasor already once Slingshot and Wildrider got released in the States but every other Combiner I got is Takara. I had absolutely zero doubt in my mind that Takara were gonna go full G1 on Unite Warriors so I waited for the rest. Even when people we doubting Groove and Blast Off I had always believed that Takara's stance was G1 or nothing for the OG teams.
Mightion
Well, my UW-07 Bruticus arrived last night… with the same bad hip post that was on my CW Hot Spot, Onslaught, and Pyra Magna. So, that got filed down before the other four left the box.
Blast-Off however, would not stay together in arm mode if I so much as thought of him or looked at him. Some clear nail polish seems to have fixed that.
To add insult to insult, the CW Shockwave I bought for Bruticus to hold has two left shoulders, so can't be transformed properly into weapon mode. Hopefully BBTS will replace it without me having to pay the shipping back for this $15 figure….
Thundershot
I move the arms back one click and bend the elbows a little and they usually stand pretty good.
shadowfall1976
Put one leg back a ratchet click from normal then straighten it out to the point where it reaches the tooth without clicking back and he'll stand just fine.
Afterburner
A lot of them lean really. Most larger heavy figures tend to lean a bit. As long as they're stable and you can tweak them, I'm ok.
Ragnar
Mine has that gangsta lean too. PE feet have helped to balance him out a bit, but the extra weight from his add-on weapons doesn't help.
Fenrys
I must have hit the jackpot because mine doesn't even have the forward lean, granted I got the replacement shapeways ratchets as an incase, but haven't felt the need to install them
Wh33l JcK
My Blast off does have those issues. My Onslaughts fine except for that forward lean in Gestalt mode.
Fenrys
As far as I can remember (it's been awhile since I've taken him off the shelf) but my onslaught and blastoff didn't really have any issues, blastoff is a bit loose in his pegs, but holds together just fine
Mightion
After being overjoyed and overwhelmed with Unite Warriors Baldigus; I found one store that still had him in stock (TFSource) and ordered him last night.
I read back a few pages in this thread to see what the reviews are like, but did anyone get a UW Bruticus where Onslaught's left leg (Bruticus' right thigh) pegged in place properly in combined mode without having to file down that screw post like I did with Hasbro Hot Spot, Onslaught, and Pyra Magna? (I didn't actually file down PM's; her plastic is so soft I don't think shaving that post would have made any difference) Dorailer's hip locks in perfectly, but I read that was fixed back for Megatronia…
Also, reading all those reports of Blast-Off not pegging into place securely for arm-mode; was that universal, too? I still have my bottle of clear nail polish, but Shuttler locks in place right and tight for arm mode, 100 percent. His head likes to fall out, though, if I'm not careful.