Review: Fans Hobby MB-18 Energy Commander

“Fattimus” Prime no more…

Producer: Fans Hobby

Price: Approx. $260 USD

Release Date: Feb. 2023

Item Height: Approx. 10.75″

Item Weight: N/A

Batteries: 1x CR927 cell battery

WHERE TO BUY: TFSource

Fans Hobby continues their amazing run of bringing non-G1 characters to the forefront in some of the best light possible. This time they’re showing love to the “Transformers: Energon” version of Optimus Prime with the latest in their Master Builder Series: MB-18 Energy Commander. Thanks for stopping by and reading my thoughts on this piece and afterwards please leave yours in the comments section.

Presentation: The packaging is very consistent in Fans Hobby’s sense being a throwback to the older, official “Transformers: Energon” style. Good carboard, everything is well-packed/safe in the clamshell, etc. etc..

Build: Energy Commander is a generally well-built piece. Being entirely plastic it still maintains a good amount of “heft” when picking it up and the plastics used generally have a solid feel to them. The LED light gimmick on the chest is actually very well done and the magnet activation is different in a good way (although I wish companies that do this would include a separate magnet strictly for the lights in case you want to activate them after the figure is already holding the weapon.)

My biggest gripe on this piece is weak lower body ratchets in the thighs and feet of the limb bots which couple with the lack of slip protection on the feet make for the figure wanting to “split” while posing/positioning as well as falling forward. It seems like ratchets and joint strength in general are a fairly regular issue with Fans Hobby products and it’s unfortunate because it really distracts from some excellent designs and engineering.

Accessories: Accessories per the TFSource product listing;

1 x Core Robot Figure
1 x Modular Trailer Set
4 x Transformable Drone Vehicles
1 x Blaster Cannon

The accessories are pretty much 1:1 with the original toy which fall in line with what was shown on the television show. The drones are fun, the trailer options are fun, and the blaster… looks like a blaster. Honestly, everything in the box plain works.

Articulation: The articulation in both the individual robot and combined form are fairly mediocre on this piece. I feel like it does all of the things it “has” to do but isn’t anything too special in this regard. Knees/elbows that bend to 90 degrees, 0 waist articulation outside of swivel, and limited head movement in both forms really take away from some of the play value. I also do take into account that the limbs in combined mode are the drones

Overall Score: 6.5/10 – Fans Hobby’s Energy Commander really does it’s best to revitalize one of the least beloved Optimus Prime designs and I feel that for the most part they’ve really succeeded. The aesthetic is fantastic and the customization options are great. The only thing that really brings this down for me is the strength of the ratchets in the lower body. You would think that ratchets would have been a non-issue post Power Baser especially with Naval Commander’s being incredibly strong but it looks like there’s some regressing in that regard. Also while it is leaps and bounds over the original toy aesthetically, I don’t feel that Energy Commander commands the same shelf presence as Power Baser and Naval Commander aesthetically featuring as very “cartoony” style that I feel will be a harder fit with existing Masterpiece-scaled collections regardless of the other manufacturers. Overall it’s a solid effort that I think most fans would be more than happy with as it does the things that it’s supposed to do but unfortunately just not anything extra.