Thursday, February 12, 2015
Review: Citybot Series - Utopia
| Figure Information | |
| Manufacturer: | MakeToys |
| Character Homage: | Metroplex |
| Scale: | Non-Scale |
| Height: | Approximately 40cm tall |
| Original Price: | 400 USD |
| Packaging: |
Before I start the review and all, please bear with me as MakeToys Utopia is a ridiculously BIG figure and thus, some shots might actually include what's beyond my shooting area (like the shot above) since I wasn't prepared for something this big but other than that, I'll try to get as detailed as possible as usual~
First of all, as evident at the main Packaging photo, Utopia's box is pretty big such that it doesn't fit in my shooting studio, the box is pretty heavy as well which can add to the justification of this guy's price point.
Like other MakeToys packaging, the box design is very eye pleasing, IMO it looks really premium (cause it is) and it does get a good dose of product insight as you are shown all of his tree modes, and the chosen poses gives an impression that this Citybot is not just a giant brick.
| Details - Ship Mode: |
With Utopia being non other than Transformers' very own
Metroplex, one of this triplechanger Citybot's modes is an aircraft, or
what is easily referred by the instruction manual as the "Ship" mode. Boasted at 55cm long in this ship mode, it's more than just a big wide ship; the ship itself is completely detailed in almost every section; the molded in details are top notch and the choice of the white shade is perfect to make a lot of details pop out in full glory. And the choice of maroon is just perfect for Metroplex Utopia; there's also a part (near the ship's cabin) that has clear red plastic used on the detailing and it looks wonderful! For a slight nitpick though, I do think the yellow lining for the launch pads are a bit out of place.
What's ridiculous about the ship mode for me is that it uses guns as boosters, evident on the side guns and the attached guns of Utopia; still very good overall and yeah, this ship is HEAVY.
While I believe Utopia scales better with legends class sizes, he can have the scout class figures fit on his launch pads but yeah, scale wise, it's better for legends class figures or alternatively, Kre-o minifigures especially the microchanger ones.
| Details - Base Mode: |
The next mode is Utopia's base mode or rather the "City" mode. The base mode literally has a lot happening around it and is my favorite mode; compared to his ship mode, the base has a lot more details revealed and it looks gorgeous!
An armed and ready base, Utopia possesses some blasters that can keep off invaders on both the central piece and on the right side of the base while the left side has one of the blasters acting as a sort of antenna but that can probably be used for defensive purposes as well in case of emergencies. (and you can actually pull it down if you want)
Additionally being a base, Utopia's base mode features several launching sections all which covers a roll out ramp at the central part of the base, a helipad on the upper left section, and finally, I believe these are launch pads on the edge of both sides with shorter runaway as compared to the ship mode's. (correct me if I'm wrong though)
The rest of the base is this massive detailed piece that composes of structures and towers which make it look very appealing to me and of course, an overall impressive looking base mode!
Additionally, you can play with the side extensions of the base to display it in your desired angle instead of looking like a U-shaped base.
| Details - Robot Mode: |
And finally, the main beef of this whole review is Utopia's massive robot mode! Boasting a height of 40cm tall, Utopia is one heavy piece of art with his bulky and perfectly proportioned silhouette, this is pretty much the best looking "Metroplex" you can probably get (it seriously IS way better looking than that official Titan class one).
Starting with Utopia's head, you can clearly see a great amount of facial detail over there, it looks amazing and there's no doubt it's a Metroplex toy with his towering maroon antenna-ears, the stern face and the red eyes, there's definitely an emulated personality there on closer look.
Additionally, for those who are used to seeing a Metroplex with a visor, there's nothing to worry about as Utopia definitely has that visor option by pushing down a protruding piece from his head.
As I've said above, Utopia is perfectly proportioned as you can definitely see that he has a beefy body structure and that is achieve by giving him literal "block"-y parts that make up his silhouette; each one of these are accompanied by astounding detailing that brings out the life in his robot mode and thus, giving that completely good impression of a premium toy as most official transformers would have a nasty lot of unpainted/barely visible detail.
Additionally, if you've notice the main pic on the Robot Section, you'd see that I actually had him transformed with two towers on his back, the wonderful thing about it is the fact how the towers are displayed would be completely up to you, you can easily swivel down the towers to hide one of them to match your preference.
The wonderful thing about MakeToys Utopia is that nothing has been left out on the detailing as the lower torso are just as well detailed as that of his upper torso. It really does help in giving the figure a sense of completeness in it when you look at it from afar.
Towers aside, the back part doesn't get the hollow back treatment as they are literally filled with a juicy lot of tank threads.
Finally, in order to give you an idea, below's a photo of MakeToys Utopia standing beside my pretty much tallest "transformer" to date, Mebsuta, as well as official toys that are in the deluxe, legends and minifigure sizes.
| Articulation Points - Robot Mode: |
One might think that something this big couldn't be very poseable like that official one, right? Well, one of reasons why Utopia is a beast is because of how ridiculously articulated he is! So, starting off with the head, Utopia's head sits on a ball joint, so you can do a full 360 rotation, tilt his head and make him look upwards or downwards to a neat degree; additionally, the joint is pretty tight and sturdy so you won't have any worries of joints breaking or being loose anytime soon.
Going to Utopia's arms, you can raise it sidewards to around 45 degrees as well as fully rotate the arms via the shoulder joints. Utopia also features a TIGHT ratcheting bicep swivel that I even thought it didn't exist originally since it is pretty tight to make it budge. The elbows come use double joints so Utopia does have that delicious arm bend.
Amazingly, while the wrists use a quite limited ball joint, his fingers are individually articulated and to add to that, they are very realistic as only the thumb can make use of the ball joint in a bigger scope while other fingers can only be used for minor tilting. The fingers themselves have hinges in places where a real finger has them.
Thanks to transformation, Utopia can also use a waist swivel to enable him for more dynamic goodness.
Going to the legs, you can raise the legs forward up to 45 degrees normally but if you mistransform the tank threads behind, you can do a full 90 degree raise as well doing it it backwards; surprisingly, Utopia can also do a powerful split (up to a 90 lol) as well. Utopia also has thigh swivels and his knees bend to a full 90.
Lastly, Utopia's ankles does tilt but similar to his bicep swivels, it is ridiculously tight but again, nothing felt fragile despite having nice tight joints which is a good plus on this figure; you can also pull down his feet to do some tip toes.
| Accessories: |
While these attaches to Utopia's two alt modes, these are certainly his real accessories as they serve as his bot mode's weapons. Each blaster has two opening points which you can use to store ammo into.
Since this Utopia isn't mine, I didn't bother opening these, I believe the clear red plastic bits can be built into a "holographic" mini Utopia, the rectangular objects are the ammos I believe, while the kit remains an absolute mystery to me as the instructions failed to mention what these are for.
| Poseability: |
Now you've seen how articulated this guy is, so it's time for some poses. Now, he's really too big for my studio so there are really a few action shots for Utopia but believe me when I say, he's ridiculously articulated especially when compared to the official generations Titan class Metroplex; Utopia is definitely superior in terms of poseability.
From simple standing poses to quite dynamic ones, Utopia can definitely do them without any sweat and what's good about this figure is that he's really well balanced so have him do walking poses where one foot is tip toed won't have the figure fall down.
Utopia definitely has the powerful aura and it's great! Though since he's so big and on a different scale, I couldn't have him interact with my main TF collection but I did snag some shots with Kreons, showing how well they scale with this Citybot.
Additionally here are two shots featuring the base mode, I really love it haha!
| Final Thoughts: |
I believe my review has been overall a very positive one so yeah, definitely, this IS one of the best 3rd party figures I've seen so far; Utopia is definitely far from being fragile, has a very good sculpt with excellent detailing and a very poseable figure to boot. Do note that being a 3rd party figure, his price point is definitely no joke, a whooping 400USD is really a heavy toll, so, despite how good the toy is, I'd only recommend it if you really are willing to shell out some cash for it, but if you indeed do, the package you get definitely justifies that heavy price point, so yeah, think carefully and spend wisely!
And before I end, this review is brought to you by my friend, V2, as he's the one who lent me this beefy Citybot so that I can make this review.
I give Utopia a sturdy 10 out of 10.
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