Photo Review of Mastermind Creations: KNIGHT MORPHER COMMANDER KM-01

[Slave]

Hi there!

As promised, I fiddle a bit with my Mastermind Creations' KNIGHT MORPHER COMMANDER KM-01

And here's a little Photo Review for you guys :-)

I was really hype about this one since it was announced... I had incredibly high hopes about it... here it goes:

First on with the Box: I like simplicity, and this one is all about simple design... black... logo... name... thats it... no previews at all or anything. It's about the size of a Voyager TF box.

http://www.monsterup.com/upload/1270606248477.jpg

Inside the box... again very simple... I love the clam plastic shell... easy to open up, no fuss... unlike the Voyager TF with a gazillion straps and scotch tapes... takes you bloody ages to open up and afterwards the box looks like it's been to war... so clean simple box so you can store the figure back in it in seconds.
http://www.monsterup.com/upload/1270606248697.jpg

Instructions are very simple and shows pretty much all you need to know, but then again KM-01 is quite easy to transform anyway:
http://www.monsterup.com/upload/1270606249163.jpghttp://www.monsterup.com/upload/127060661722.jpg

And here's the good! The locomotive with the waggon are awesome... incredible details... it's an Homage-gasm to the G1 Optimus prime... every details are there to remind you of the classic Optimus down right to the transformation, the waggon opening up... the colours, stripes on the waggon... really... everything!
http://www.monsterup.com/upload/1270606618796.jpg
http://www.monsterup.com/upload/1270606849984.jpg

The locomotive is held pretty tightly to the waggon by 2 tabs that locks into the feet... I dont feel safe holding the waggon knowing the locomotive holds only by these 2 tabs which are slim and small... but it's a pretty impressive hold they have
http://www.monsterup.com/upload/1270606848279.jpg

Transformation is very simple... just think of G1 optimus prime... and you'll figure it out all by yourself very easily
http://www.monsterup.com/upload/1270606848444.jpg

Now as you'll notice, as you open the chest plate to have the head, you'll see a Matrix hidden in there... cute little bonus... it doesnt come off by itself, but it's still pretty cool to see they could fit it in there:

http://www.monsterup.com/upload/1270607180411.jpg

And the trailer Transformation is quite straight forward also... split it open and the panels on each extremities will fall, one is a door, the other is a shield for MK
http://www.monsterup.com/upload/1270607180538.jpg

http://www.monsterup.com/upload/1270607462444.jpg

Now here's what I like about this figure... it's highly versatile; the cannon splits into parts to form a Lance and some jet pack for MK-01:
http://www.monsterup.com/upload/1270607181394.jpg

http://www.monsterup.com/upload/1270607461213.jpg

Here's another thing that KM-01 scores some points... one thing I hate in TFs is having extra accessories that doesnt go anywhere... I love having extra accessories... but when they doesnt fit anywhere in either forms... KM-01 has extra fists to hold the Lance at an angle, and the can be stored under the waggon:

http://www.monsterup.com/upload/127060661822.jpghttp://www.monsterup.com/upload/1270607460640.jpg

...had to cut my post... too long lol
to be continued...

[Slave]

Part 2:

Ok so here's one thing I didnt like about the KM-01: along the instruction, you have a sort of Visor you need to put on yourself on his head... the visor is incredibly tiny, and here's the dealbreaker: it doesnt hold... if it finally hold, be sure that the tiniest vibration will make the bugger pop out of it's place... you need to glue the damn thing on for it to hold:

http://www.monsterup.com/upload/127060774083.jpg
http://www.monsterup.com/upload/1270607740580.jpghttp://www.monsterup.com/upload/1270607740976.jpg

Speaking of glue... I was pretty shocked here... check the photo below, on the left the exhaust pipe on the sholder, you see the white lining around it... that's dried up crazy glue... and it's not me... so whoever assembled this, used crazy glue to make the pipe hold and didnt do a pretty good job.
http://www.monsterup.com/upload/127060798215.jpg

Moving on to the build quality of KM-01: he seems very fragile... the plastic used to make it is.. hum... any of you have ever made Gundam model kits? it feel like the same type of plastic a Gundam model kits... now having made a lot of Gundam models... I know that it is a fragile plastic that stress mark easily and snaps easily... I'm terribly afraid to trasform KM-01 too often and stress it, break it. You cant see in the photos, but the arms (transformed into locomotive) holds by a TINY hook and already shows stress marks on the very first transformation because it was incredibly hard to pull out the first time... KM-01 is NOT made to play with.

As for the articulations, the knees doesnt bend too much... which limits the poses you can do with KM-01... and also one thing I dont like is the elbows, shown in the photo below, they Seem to have double joints, but the join on the forearm seems to bend only like 10 degrees... if Looks like it could go 90 degrees... but dammit it's freaking hard and I am terrified to break it... so I only move the upper joint of the arms... but it kinda limit the poses and kind of look weird, specially if you extend the arm straight.
http://www.monsterup.com/upload/1270607982352.jpg

And finally my last minus point of articulation is the shoulders. Seen in the photo below, they cant rotate (make the arm point up). Kind of disappointing. but still minor.
http://www.monsterup.com/upload/1270607983145.jpg

Otherwise than the quirks mentioned above, KM-01 is just incredible... the attention to details is Stellar... there's rivets everywhere, the paint job is professional, the homage itself to G1 Prime is worth buying this fella.

http://www.monsterup.com/upload/1270608854716.jpg
http://www.monsterup.com/upload/1270608855161.jpg
http://www.monsterup.com/upload/1270608855946.jpg

Is he Worth it? WHAT YOU DONT HAVE HIM ALREADY? Seriously... he's not cheap, but I think he's worth it. The small problems with this one is nothing when you have him standing in front of you... it's a work of art in plastic. The only thing that is turning me off about this figure, it the plastic quality... if only a better quality was chosen... I wouldn't be so scared to stress or break it from transforming it. So if you want to have this figure as display piece, GET IT! If you want to play with it... hum... I wouldnt recommend... or I would recommend you to by several figures of him, 'cuz when it'll be broken, you'll have spare ones to keep playing with haha

PROS:
+G1 Prime homage
+incredible attention to details
+no pieces left behind, the extra parts fits nicely under the waggon
+looks soooo great... an amazing looking piece to my collection

CONS:
-Plastic quality seems low and terrifies me to break it if I play with it
-the glue around the exhaust pipes... it's probably a poor QA job but still... it looks bad.
-poor arms articulations
-visor needs to be assembled and it doesnt even hold correctly into place

Mastermind Creations has made a very solid first entry in making garage kit... I really am looking forward for their upcoming work... another "heart of Iron" looking robot? something different? Cant wait!

[wheeljaxx]

acording to youtube reviews, the arms push forward into a snap, and can stay locked in place, as well as they should be able to ratchet around up and down.

question though, does the head rotate on yours, and if not, to someone who knows what they are doing, can itbe modified to rotate?

mine should be here this week, and if it's not perfect, i wanna make it better.

[Dragon Knight]

What's his size scale? Smallish voyager, large deluxe?

[Slave]

acording to youtube reviews, the arms push forward into a snap, and can stay locked in place, as well as they should be able to ratchet around up and down.

question though, does the head rotate on yours, and if not, to someone who knows what they are doing, can itbe modified to rotate?

mine should be here this week, and if it's not perfect, i wanna make it better.


Yes just after I posted this, I found out the arms clics, so I deleted the mention in the review :_) Thanks!

As for the head... yes it rotates on mine, but it's REALLY TIGHT... needs a bit of force to rotate the head... but that is all it does... rotate... it's not on a ball joint so it doesnt look up/down... just rotate.


What's his size scale? Smallish voyager, large deluxe?

He's fairly the same size a Classic optimus prime, a bit smaller than a voyager class... here's another photo comparison:
http://www.monsterup.com/upload/1270612375697.jpg
http://www.monsterup.com/upload/1270612376128.jpg
http://www.monsterup.com/upload/12706123758.jpg

[wheeljaxx]

any stress marks on your fists from storing them in the trailer?

i'm thinking the reviewer on youtube is either not very carefull, or he got a bum prime.

[Pascal]

Good review, thanks!

Where did you get it?

[Dragon Knight]

He looks like he'd fit in well with any line quite well. I'll be keeping my eye out for this during TF Con for sure.

[Slave]

any stress marks on your fists from storing them in the trailer?

i'm thinking the reviewer on youtube is either not very carefull, or he got a bum prime.

None at all... the only stress mark I have so far is on the tiny hook that holds the arms folded for the locomotive transformation... the hook is located... hum... pretty much as the arm pit, and it is very small and grips very solid on the forearm... I found the way to easily: first un-tab the elbow section of the forearm from the shoulder pad... and then push the fist section of the forearm forward (like move the fist forward even tho it doesnt really bend that way because the arm is not out of the shoulder pad) it will unhook and then you just pull the arm down normally.

Good review, thanks!

Where did you get it?

Thanks! I got it from BBTS, came out last week... came in a bit late because of easter but, finally got it :-)

[Pascal]

Wow, that was fast, the stuff I order for BBTS usually takes about 2 weeks to get here and I'm not that far from you... unless you chose the fastest shipping option?

[Slave]

not the fastest, but the second fastest.... the 20-30$ UPS... takes 3 days TOPS for delivery.

[Prowl_2009]

Wow! KM-01 looks awesome! Nice review! :cool:

[Ultra Maverick]

Thanks for the review,
I wonder if I can still order this guy.

One thing that grabbed my attention was the visor, When Prime wear the visor we kind of looks sad. :(

Otherwise a great looking piece.

[GMfan]

Looks great but that cheap plastic con turns me off this piece....

[jourdo]

Looks great but that cheap plastic con turns me off this piece....

I'd have to agree with that. It looks really nice, but the plastic quality is a bit of a turn off.

[Prowl_2009]

^^ That's the one thing keeping me from buying one of these.

[Slave]

Like I said... if its for Display only... you shouldnt pass up on this... if you plan on playing with it every day, transform him for the fun of it... that... might be a somewhat valid reason no to get it... but still.. i would get it and be very carfull haha :-)

[wheeljaxx]

i've heard it's on par with the fans projects plastic, which i find very good.

can't wait to get this monster and decal him up and add me some wethering.

[Slave]

No it certainly is not like Fansproject's plastic... well not the City commander trailer set... maybe the Superion add-on kinda feels the same... but the superion add-on kit is far less complicated and much less transformation so not too many reasons to break or stress it.

But the City commander type of plastic is much better, little to no stress marks or stress sensible... very solid...

Even the shadow warrior (rumble) seems to be made from the same solid plastic of City commander kit...

The Fansproject Defender is also in a far superior plastic...

the Knight Morpher... I can probably make a decent scratch with my fingernail... the plastic which it is made... a scratch on it will leave a White-ish mark on the plastic... if for example If scratch City commander or Defender... it will only make a line, but it wont be as obvious as the white-ish scratch it will leave on KM-01

KM-01 really is made from the very same plastic Gundam model kits are made... I made a lot of these models and i' pretty sure it's the same, and I know how easily it get stressed.

[wheeljaxx]

No it certainly is not like Fansproject's plastic... well not the City commander trailer set... maybe the Superion add-on kinda feels the same... but the superion add-on kit is far less complicated and much less transformation so not too many reasons to break or stress it.

But the City commander type of plastic is much better, little to no stress marks or stress sensible... very solid...

Even the shadow warrior (rumble) seems to be made from the same solid plastic of City commander kit...

The Fansproject Defender is also in a far superior plastic...

the Knight Morpher... I can probably make a decent scratch with my fingernail... the plastic which it is made... a scratch on it will leave a White-ish mark on the plastic... if for example If scratch City commander or Defender... it will only make a line, but it wont be as obvious as the white-ish scratch it will leave on KM-01

KM-01 really is made from the very same plastic Gundam model kits are made... I made a lot of these models and i' pretty sure it's the same, and I know how easily it get stressed.


That kinda sux then.