Iron Factory IF EX-14 Ultimate Commander God Ginrai / Optimus Prime Review

THERE'S SOMETHING ON MY BACK!!! GET IT OFF!!!!

Welcome to a quick review of the IF EX-14 Ultimate Commander - not God Ginrai or Optimus Prime depending upon the mode - from Iron Factory.

The early release packs of the Ultimate Commander from Iron Factory came with a nice bonus: IF EX-16A Alleria, The Lady Commander - AKA Elita One (Only NOT Elita One :) ) And not to be confused with their just announced EX-016 Pink Assassin which looks sooo coool) which is a very nice bonus from Iron Factory.

Iron Factory built the IF-EX04 City Commander figure. Feedback for this NOT-Ultra Magnus was favorable because Iron Factory built him to be compatible with the Transformers Generations Metroplex.

So they went and built an Optimus Prime. 

MORE AFTER THE JUMP

There's nothing more on the Blister card of the Ultimate Commander other than that it was made in China. The IF-EX14 Ultimate Commander includes:

• Ultimate Commander, the Not Optimus Prime
• A trailer set that turns him into God Ginrai
• Two ion-cannon rifles (Similar to what God Ginrai wields)
• A pair of forearm mounted cannons that become smokestacks (Similar to what the War Within Optimus Prime uses)
• Two pistols
• A back pack with wings and a pair of cannons (similar to what Perfect Effect designed in its upgrade kit.)
• A sword and an Axe that can be combined to become a bigger sword

God Ginrai

WHAT'S TO LIKE ABOUT THE IRON FACTORY IF EX-14 ULTIMATE COMMANDER - OPTIMUS PRIME - GOD GINRAI - FIGURE?

FIRST: It's an amalgamation of some of the best traits of Optimus Primes over the years. It made us start to wonder if this was really Iron Factory's intent so that they could avoid copyright issues, but after looking at their previous works, copyright seems to be the least of their concerns.

It does seem more like the designer was tasked to create a God Ginrai, but decided to go look at his collection of Optimus Primes and said "Well I like that, that and that..."

And here we are. We'll talk more about the amalgamated parts as we go on.

YOU!!!! SHALL NOT!!! PASS!!!!

I'm the Ultimate Commander

SECOND: The base form for the IF EX-14 Ultimate Commander is the War Within Optimus Prime - surprise! Not the traditional Ginrai Transtector body. It's not one of the more popular frames of Optimus Prime (Although we absolutely love the Spark Toys Alpha Pack ST-01 War Within Optimus Prime). It's well made, solid. No open empty spaces. And he comes with an upgraded set of forearm cannons.

The Ultimate commander stands at around 4.5" high so given the blocky nature of the figure, don't expect extremely high articulation. Nevertheless it's not so bad.

We're particularly fond of the detailing that went into his facial sculpt - it's quite angry - the back-pack (Which looks like a jet-pack), and; the really beefed up forearm cannons. 

Here's a look at Optimus Prime with his forearm cannons:

But we think he looks best wielding his sword and axe:

SECOND: The IF EX-14 Ultimate Commander also transforms into a version of the Transformers War Within Optimus Prime:

It's not as "beefy" or "Get out of my way or die" impressive as the Spark Toys Alpha Pack ST-01 War Within Optimus Prime, but that changes when you attach the trailer which carries the IF EX-14's additional armor and weaponry:

When combined, then you get a menacing truck that does scream "get out of the way or die!"

THIRD: Combine the two and you have God Ginrai - with a pair of rail guns where his main cannon should be.

What we like so much about this 6" God Ginrai is that we finally have a God Ginrai that we can play with that isn't brittle (Transformers Super-God Masterforce: God Ginrai), falls apart under its own weight (Xovergen TF-02 God Armor), or is kinda scrawny (Evasion Mode Optimus Prime with the DX9 Armor Upgrade).

Except he's 6" tall. Iron Factory's God Ginrai's facial sculpt is even more exquisite than his regular head.

Articulation is even lower thanks to the bulky shoulder pauldrons, but poseability is still pretty adequate and he can dual wield his combined sword:

Taste my blade!

But the best part about the IF EX-14 Ultimate Commander's God Ginrai mode is the amount of fire-power it can bring to bear. Can you imagine just what an Alpha Strike from the Ultimate Commander can do?

We decided to add a few Autobot insignias to the Iron Factory's Ultimate Commander so as to really tease the copyright issue. Note that there are also other ways to mount his guns thanks to the plethora of mounting ports:

She's my girl

Date night

WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE ABOUT THE IRON FACTORY IF EX-14 ULTIMATE COMMANDER - OPTIMUS PRIME - GOD GINRAI - FIGURE?

FIRST: He's 6-inches tall. He looks big but he's just a few inches taller than a G.I. Joe Action Figure - and we're being generous with his height because we've added the reach of his shoulder cannons.

SECOND:  Ultimate Commander's shoulder cannons cannot elevate low enough so that they can be fired perpendicular to his shoulders. IF EX-14 has to bend over to fire his cannons forward.

THIRD: Ultimate Commander's shoulder pauldrons kept popping off during his shoot. They don't fit well and keep knocking into his wings. Some of these photos involve the pauldrons being just nudged into place i.e. they're not really mounted.

FOURTH:  The low articulation, particularly in God Ginrai mode.

FIFTH: We've had this discussion before, and with other collectors, about the feel of the plastics of 3rd party Transformers. Touch alone will tell you that the IF EX-14 is a 3rd party product.

The Iron Factory IF EX-14 Ultimate Commander is NOT available in Amazon but is available in TF Source where it retails for US$ 69.99 (Roughly PhP 3,500 plus shipping). This particular Ultimate Commander is from a private collection.

Ultimate Commander