Toy Review: MakeToys MTCD-01 Striker Manus

This is the “Classics” Optimus Prime that we’ve been waiting for since 2010.

Producer: MakeToys

Price: Approx. $79.99

Release Date: Sept. 2016

Item Height: Approx. 7.5″

Item Weight: Approx. .1 lbs

WHERE TO BUY: TFSource

Maketoys’ first figure in their new Cross Dimension series of figures is here in MTCD-01 Striker Manus. It’s been some time since I’ve seen an initial figure make this much of a statement about what’s in store for a Transformers-related toyline. It puts out a statement about the line’s dedication to original styling, build quality, poseability, and even presentation. When I said presentation, everything about this figure just comes off very “nice” from the box, to the instructions, to the bio card, and even the art of new comic series giving pushing the dedicated canon to this line. In fact, check out the first episode (labeled “00”) below:

(Review continued beneath it.)

(Cont.) The figure is 7.5″ tall, cementing that it’s a “Classics” scaled figure. Although that leaves some collectors of the larger, “Masterpiece” scaled products disappointed, it’s a celebration for the previously-mentioned collectors because we’ve long-since been de-prioritized as 3rd Party companies have shifted much focus to the latter. Not only do we get an homage to Optimus Prime (a character who has very oddly been much-avoided since these 3rd Party companies have come to notability,) we got one that’s AWESOME. Striker Manus not only looks cool, but it carries a level of poseability that has really only been displayed on non-transforming homages, while fully keeping the transformation gimmick.

I’ve always been very vocal about my favorite Transformers designs have always been “Cybertronian” (non-earth,) so my love for Striker Manus’ design comes with a heavy, preconceived bias. This robot mode represents a definite/blatant homage to the “Optimus Prime” character while distancing itself from the slavish G1 (original series) look. From his proportions to his detailing, this design screams “warrior” to me as much as it does “leader.” Some may scoff at the size as it’s almost an inch and a half larger than the original Classics Optimus from 2007, but realistically it represents much more accurate scaling to the Classics-deluxed classed figures than the older figure ever did. Speaking of which, the stylistic nods to the Classics-Voyager Optimus (while being a much more “grown up” style) are a great touch. It gives the figure a feeling of familiarity while feeling extremely fresh at this same time. The headsculpt is incredible, and it’s nice to see kibble work so well for a figure’s robot mode; it actually looks like rugged armor.

When it comes to the poseability of this thing; incredible. Check out the video portion and prepare for awe. One thing that should be added is that I love the engineering behind the elbows and knees. They each go far past 90 degrees without double joints, wich makes for maximum poseability without exposed joints.

His weapons are cool. Like Classics Optimus, his windvane becomes a blaster. It looks good, and he poses well with it. The more notable weapons (and his only others) are his dual axes, which actually come from his smokestacks detaching from his shoulders (no transformation to them; the stacks are the handles and the blades are on the other side.) It’s a very creative take on another “throwback” Optimus weapon. The hands on Striker Manus actually have a special groove for the weapon handles to slide into on top of being gripped by the poseabile fingers, but rest assured that he can hold the rest of your standard 5mm-pegged weapons as well.

The transformation (shown in full in the video portion) is pretty short, but satisfying. Plenty of locking points, and even though there’s a bit of twisting and turning, it does feel fluid. There are also a lot of small nuances throughout to appreciate like the legs using a double hinge to not only “mass shift” to a shorter length but cover up the exposed thighs which is a first I’ve seen for any Optimus toy. I dig the alt. mode itself a lot more than the initial prototype pictures (mainly because it no longer had the “indent” in the front which I was informed was due to a deformity in that prototype used itself.) The alt. mode is a cybertronian take in a truck cab. In fact, it does have aspects of the Classics Optimus in terms of general cab “type” but this is a much more cybertronian take.

I honestly don’t have any complaints about this piece; it’s fun as hell and looks great. However, if I were to nitpick a few things, I’d have liked longer smokestacks for the sake of the axes having longer handles, and the ability to shift the waist connection and hips forward to help cover some exposed areas while utilizing the extended poseability.

Overall Score: 9.0/10 – Striker Manus is my 3rd Party release of the year so far; not only for being a kickass toy, but for the “morale boost” it gives to collectors of Classics-scaled transformers. It’s also nice to see a line dedicated to original takes on these characters. Years ago, Fansproject’s SteelCore gave me the belief system that these companies have a lot more freedom with what their products can do when not bound to pre-existing stylizations, and Striker Manus cements it. Bring it on Cross-Dimension; I’m all in.