Combiner Wars Menasor [uploaded]

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Skyquake87
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Combiner Wars Menasor [uploaded]

Post by Skyquake87 »

Name : Menasor
Allegiance: Decepticons
Sub Group: Stunticon
Function: Super Warrior

“Leave no Autobot uncrushed.”

Bio: A clanking, crushing terror that destroys all in his path -- the ulimate Decepticon weapon if he wasn't so confused by the opposing thoughts of the 5 Stunticons who comprise him. (Motormaster is loathed by the other four.) Tremendous strength, his punch has the force of 140 tons. Impervious to most artillery. Carries an ionizer sword with a 50,000 volt charge.

Yay! Got all the Stunticons to make the hulking disaster that is Menasor! To say I am quite excited is an understatement, after all the faffing about trying to get Motormaster and Blackjack. As I may have mentioned before, I love the Stunticons. I like the original Menasor toy, the only problem I had with it were with Motormaster's feet being tucked up behind his thighs (better than what Computron ended up with though) and that he was the smallest of the four Special Team giant robots and therefore, less super than his Super Warrior function implied.

Robot Mode: In his official configuration, Combiner Wars Menasor looks like Slaine after he's warped out. All squat, tiny torso and little bobble head and ginormous mal-formed limbs. The fat, sleek cars that comprise Menasor give him horrible bloated proportions in robot mode that don't work so well as they did on the original toy. Not helped, it has to be said by the huge hands and tiny feet, which make him look like some terrible victim of elephantits. Or a fatty wearing ill-fitting clothes. I've found fiddling about with his hips sort of helps, but he still has the problem of then looking like Lola Ferrari. Can't say as I'm fond of the gap between his head and his chest. His head sits on a rotating panel that has a good 3mm of clearance over his shoulders, giving him an uncomfortable looking gap where his neck should be. I'm in two minds about the addition of Blackjack to his chest too. The closed up truck cab actually looks a lot cleaner and tidier than the opened kitchen cupboard of his chest you get by clamping Blackjack on there. His overall look is in no way helped by the elaborate toothpick he carries about. In any other toy's hand, the sword would look totes amazeballs, but here Menasor holds it slightly apologetically, and it doesn't look a good fit for the blobby, blocky nonsense of his frame.


Marks Out Of Ten For The Following :

Transformation Design: Motormaster doesn't clip together terribly well in torso mode, with the shoulders in particular not locking as securely as they're clearly designed to do. Whether this is the same on Combiner Wars Optimus I don't know, but I suspect its the usual problem of the remould using a different mix of plastics/ materials that just don't give the same click and crunch that the first use did. There's problems with Blackjack fitting onto the pegs on the chest. For reasons best known to Hasbro, these are shaped like traffic cones, so Blackjack doesn't peg securely onto these and slowly works his way loose which utterly destroys the point of his interactivity. It makes this gimmick an annoying waste of time. Thanks, guys. Aside from these problems, the Stunticons peg securely into position so there's no problems with them, but with Motormaster being a bit too fluid for his own good, does mean there's a few too many structural problems with the gestalt than I would have liked. 6/10

Durability: Menasor is fairly hefty and durable, but he's one of those toys that will just flop into a heap of disconnected torso mess and splayed limbs if he takes a tumble. Whilst Blackjack isn't an essential part of the set, if you have him, you'll be annoyed the little guy falls off ALL THE DAMN TIME. 6/10

Articulation: Like the other Combiner Wars gestalts, Menasor has a decent level of movement that's impressive on a gestalt, unfortunately, Menasor is a bit too clumsy and ungainly to make much use of it without endless titivating. As with Combiner Wars Defensor, he's a bit front heavy, so you have to tilt him back a little at his hips to stop him looking a bit saggy. 5/10

Fun: I've enjoyed playing with Menasor, but the flaws in his combined form end up annoying me to the point I can feel myself getting frustrated with ... AND F**KING BLACKJACK HAS FALLEN OFF. AGAIN. I swear, that happens once more, I'll be flinging that little flipper out the window. 5/10

Price/Value: With the addition of Blackjack, Menasor has cost £94 in total to assemble. That's quite a lot isn't it, for something so wobbly and slightly irritating? 5/10

Overall: Menasor is a frustrating toy. I like the team and the component robots are -aesthetics notwithstanding- a generally fun bunch of fiddle toys, but the combined form is just so messy. It's so weird looking and Motormaster brings too many problems to the party to make playing with this great metal gibbon much fun. 5/10
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Skyquake87
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Post by Skyquake87 »

Pictures!
Attachments
Menasor 05 (600x800).jpg
Menasor 04 (600x800).jpg
Menasor 03 (600x800).jpg
Menasor 02 (600x800).jpg
Menasor 01 (600x800).jpg
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Denyer
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Post by Denyer »

PC-04 kit by Perfect Effect? Seems to sort out the issues with the torso.
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Skyquake87
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Post by Skyquake87 »

That actually looks pretty neat and tidies up a lot of the problems I'm seeing. Hmmm.... Thanks Denyer :)
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Knightdramon
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Post by Knightdramon »

Yikes, sorry to hear he ain't all that great. Subsequent versions [Unite Warriors, G2] have fixed a lot of the tolerances of Motormaster, so I read, so he theoretically holds together a bit better.
Few stuff in the UK to trade/sell. Measly sales thread.
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