Transformers: Age of the Primes Thread: ll First Post All Listings II Update : April 12th, 2027 Bonus Wave: Repaint fun, Beast Wars, G2, Machine Wars

Got Bruticus. I'm not convinced by the frame system. The green arms ruin the look, he’s pinheaded, the arm color breakup make them look weedy and he looks stubby because of the relatively short legs. Swindle leg is also much, much less bulky than the Brawl leg.

The stubbiness is because they were intentionally trying to match his dogjive character model, but that is the same poor decision-making that led to the frame system in the first place.

The overall look has improved somewhat with the leg-color-coordinated boot platforms, but not by much. At a quick glance the weird stumpiness of the original reveal still holds.

I don't know how else Bruticus is supposed to look.

I don’t even dislike cartoon Bruticus. I just think that AOTP fails at it badly. It’s not cartoon, it’s not toy, as its own thing it isn’t great.

AOP Bruticus, isn't bad, my main complaints are:
1. Why Brawl has to have a alterative transformation so that Bruticus can have ankle tilt, they could of simply repurposed Superion's frame
2. The painted parts on his toes, they are kind of annoying to look at when the bots aren't there
3. He seems kind of short on the leg department
4. Shockwave attachment, he simply refuses to attach on my copy
5. His back cannons, they seem kind of short as well

I can't judge Swindle, yet as I've yet to get him in, he been pre-ordered but no idea what he going to dispatch, much like Liokaiser, us in the UK are still waiting for him to be sent out

Supposedly Swindle arrives today. I already have my hair dryer and silicon model oil ready for the shoulders if needed. But if it works this will be the first (and likely last) time I've ever completed a Bruticus. I assembled Defensor (CW) last night to be able to compare easily.

Oh, hm. What's the story with the shoulders? Also, I hear Onslaught has some bits to be careful with too?

It seems that the rotation for the wheels/shoulders is a very tight post down a long hole pinned at the top so there's no way to loosen it. What I've done in similar situations is warm it up, and apply some plastic safe silicon lube to the area. It's easier than heating the pin with a soldering iron so it could be removed and the post sanded.

I've been thinking when they do Defensor, he'll likely be a major retool of Onslaught and the bots who form the legs will likely share the basic frame of Swindle and Brawl

Hot Spot has the same advantage Onslaught did with this system, having a huge 'rear part' for the truck mode. But for the limbs, I imagine the frame would be somewhat more asymmetric on the legs, seeing as Groove and Streetwise make vastly different shaped legs. Swindle and Brawl have somewhat different shaped slots too but at least in their case they are both somewhat rectangular.

Platypus Prime said:

Hot Spot has the same advantage Onslaught did with this system, having a huge 'rear part' for the truck mode. But for the limbs, I imagine the frame would be somewhat more asymmetric on the legs, seeing as Groove and Streetwise make vastly different shaped legs. Swindle and Brawl have somewhat different shaped slots too but at least in their case they are both somewhat rectangular.

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Just put Rook back in, and you'll be fine

Shadewing said:

Just put Rook back in, and you'll be fine

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Don't I wish...

Found some new guys in the wild today.

Platypus Prime said:

Supposedly Swindle arrives today. I already have my hair dryer and silicon model oil ready for the shoulders if needed. But if it works this will be the first (and likely last) time I've ever completed a Bruticus. I assembled Defensor (CW) last night to be able to compare easily.

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Yeah mine has a stupidly tight shoulder transformation joint on Swindle’s left. It feels like the plastic is tearing every time i try to move it. Some RC car oil fixed it.

Also another thing that annoys me: the painted “toe” on the frame doesn’t match Swindle’s yellow

Well, Swindle arrived, and I think his name and price are the same concept. And yes, the arm twists were scary-tight and felt like I was going to snap plastic. Hairdryer and silicon oil has it now only at 'be really careful and not letting the nephew borrow this one' level tight.

Unless they do something truly amazing, I'm not replacing my Defensor, who I have both Rook and two sizes of Groove for and also gave him Powerglide. I do like how these two are still similar yet entire different now. The picture is lousy, they both look better in person.



Also got a new Cliffjumper, added a few stickers left over from old sheets, and I think it works.

My only big complaint about Bruticus is that I wish he had actual feet on the frame, so he could have actual ankles instead of a weird mid-shin bend. The paint not matching doesn't really bother me, it's such an endemic problem across the line between painted and non-painted parts that I've just gotten used to it. And I guess I just got lucky on QC roulette, my Swindle doesn't seem to have any excessively tight joints.

For minor complaints, I wish Onslaught had a weapon of his own. Bonus if the team's guns could combine into big superguns like Ruination. Mine also has a scratch in the paint on Bruticus's crotchplate, but it's barely noticeable unless I look for it.

Otherwise, for what he is, I think he's a pretty good toy. I'm not 100% into the frame system, I'm certainly still not going back to get Menasor or Superion, and future sets will have to win me over on their own merits. But he's the first Hasbro Bruticus that I've actually felt like I could pick up and pose and play with it. Combiner Wars has weak elbows and lame feet, so he can't really pose. The FoC set is a horrendously janky mess. The Energon set is just kinda meh all around, with poor articulation and repeated limbs. And G1, while iconic, is a G1 brick with a big pile of parts to lose in any mode. This one is nice and big, with good strong ratchets to keep him however I pose him. I don't know if I'd count him as a combiner, so much as Onslaught wearing accessorized power armor, but I still have no regrets.

Another note, the way I have Swindle's windshield, it seems to have caused minor stress on the corners of the frame it's pegged into. Easily fixed with a hair dryer and more oil again, but The QC lottery being what it is, unless they come out with something truly astounding, I'm not planning to get another of these sorts of combiners. I can fix stuff preemptively that needs it if I know about it, but the average kid and/or parent could have a lot of frustration over time as the breaks happened. On the other hand with him and Defensor side by side, Bruticus is much more stable even with his extreme top-heaviness. Though I may add one of those metal doll stands like people use for porcelain stuff. I do it all the time for my more humanoid stuff and for my nephew's 18 inch Voltron. It's easily supporting its own weight but if we have a shake, it could potentially pitch.

I'm considering painting the arms because goddamn I hate the green so much. I'm still trying to decide between three options:
1. Silver like the waist/leg parts - vehicle mode looks more cohesive, less work for me but keeps the color separation issue, balanced color distribution with the silver on the torso
2. Color match the armbots - probably look better, more work, vehicle mode's gonna look like ass, most accurate
3. Both arms match Vortex - balances the implied armbot contributions since Blast Off is supposed to form part of the chest, relatively less work, cohesive vehicle mode

None of these are strictly accurate but that ship's sailed with the armbots not forming the arms and Blast Off attaching the wrong direction.

I think option 1 is what would look best.