Transformers: Fall of Cybertron SDCC Exclusive Bruticus Review

If you are kicking yourself for not making it to San Diego Comic-Con 2012 to get the Transformers: Fall of Cybertron Bruticus, I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is it’s a pretty awesome figure. The bad news is that it’s going for anywhere from $200 to $400 on eBay.

Here’s another good thing, though: if you’re ok with not having your set come in game accurate colors, then you’re in luck. There will be multiple releases of this set as follows:

• G2 paint style for mass release
• G2 Camoflauge paint style for a shared online retailer exclusive
• Ruination re-paint and re-tool (new head based on Xaaron). This set’s figures will be re-tooled and re-deco to look like the Wreckers consisting of Impactor, Topspin, Twintwist, Roadbuster and Whirl. (FYI “re-tool” means they have changed the physical sculpt. “Re-deco” refers to the word ‘decoration’ which is what the factory calls paint. A ‘revised decoration’ if you will.)

Enough of the technical jargon.

This figure is middle of the road. It’s big, and impressive, but there are enough small issues (most likely caused by budget constraints) that make it worth about 3 Magnificos!.

Grading so early, WTF?

Don’t get me wrong, Onslaught, Brawl, Vortex, Swindle and Blast Off are pretty cool. However, they suffer from the same simplification that Prim, Jazz and Shockwave suffer from. That, and they throw the scale of the FOC figure line off by making Swindle, of all figures, the biggest of the bunch, and bigger than FOC Optimus Prime?!?!

Some of the interesting stuff is the design of the individual ‘Bots and their alt modes. Pretty well done, but the size again is an issue. In the case of Onslaught, there’s some spindly arm issues, and Vortex may well be the weakest ‘Bot mode of the bunch.

Another cool feature is you can mix and match figures for arms and legs, changing the configuration that is shown in the images. For example, Swindle can be a foot, or swapped out as an arm, since he’s got hands tucked into the design.

Also, all of the individual weapons snap together to make one enourmous gun for Bruticus to hold.

Put them all together and what do you get? A big-ass throwback to combiner goodness that is much missed in the Transformers universe today.

Now, in the attached picture, there’s a cooler version of Bruticus. This was achieved by mixing parts of the Transfomers Energon and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Bruticus re-release, as well as the pretty pricey third party Fans Project (www.fansproject.com) upgrade figures to make it that cool. That’s a few hundred bucks of official and unofficial coolness.

Why do I bring this up? Simply because this new FOC Bruticus is the best combiner figure that Hasbro has ever put out, for a third of the price. This is the kind of thinking that, if used on the main line of Transformers figures, could usher in a new era of Transformers figures.

Imagine a Devastator that isn’t ½ the size of most of the other figures in the line. Imagine a set for Stunticons, Predacons, Technobots and even Terrorcons?

Could be pretty cool.

So, to wrap up, the set gets 3 Magnificos! with a huge possible plus as the potential kick off of a Combiner resurgence. But don’t dump your money into the SDCC Exclusive on eBay when you can get a cheaper alternative in one of the many variants.

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