Well, sure, The Last Knight wasn't super-special, but the toys, THE TOYS!!! Yeah. Today, we're looking at Infernocus, the demonic combiner-bot from the movie, and the toy which goes in really interesting directions.
So, Infernocus was a Combiner. In the movie, he's a big, chunky demonic-looking robot who separates into the Infernocons - six identical horned robots. He shows up as the henchman of Quintessa, the Prime of Life and the true villain. Infernocus's big scene is in the final battle, where he holds off all the heroes until, I kid you not, Optimus Prime flies in on a three-headed robot dragon, beats he tar out of Infernocus until he separates, and then decapitates all the Infernocons at once while asking, "Did you forget who I am?" So, while the movie might not be all that good, it certainly knows what kind of movie it is.
For the toy, Hasbro opted not to make identical robots turn into a bigger robot. Instead, they scupted one small robot after Infernocus's concept art (but not his final design - still, toy prodution takes time, and this is common with CGI), and the other parts are redeco of a much older version of Abominus. Although this means that Infernocus's component parts have technically appeared before, they translated extremely well to this new dark paint scheme, they look much better than identical robots would, and they've got actual variety. The set costs $35, which turns into $7 per figure. Each component figure normally goes for $6-$7 as it is (and hilariously, there's a repaint of Glug being sold as movie Grimlock right now), so that's actually fair.
The combined figure is roughly the size of a Voyager Class Transformer, so roughly 7"-8". Sound good? Then let's look at him, piece by piece!
Infernocus is a big dude with a big sword. Although his limbs aren't "new," his body and weapon are. He's got good articulation, though positioning him to stand can sometimes be a little tricky, depending on how well you have anchored his feet.
The arms connect with two sets of double posts, essentially clamping in securely. Infernocus's left arm has viible heads, but looks like a claw.
The right arm has "wings," and they can be positioned in a few ways. I like to keep them facing this way to go witht he arm's basic curve. You can hide the mini-robot head by curving it in so it acts as a hand, and letting him hold the sword.
The feet can be a little tricky to transform just right - fiddle with them for a while, and work on making a stable shape. They plug in very securely, with his left knee actually plugging so tightly that it can be hard to separate.
As long as they form "toes" and give him a wide enough stance, Infernocus should have no problem standing securely.
Infernocus's face is nicely demonic, and the way it transforms from Skulk (the central body Infernocon) is pretty creative.
Seriously, this is hilarious.
The sword is huge, and splits into two parts.
Without his limbs, Skulk forms a sizable part of the combiner. So, let's start looking at those component parts!
Skulk is the only completely new sculpt in this set, and he's fairly larger than the other pieces (though still in-scale). He is actually designed after Infernocus's original concept art, though the design changed before the movie came out. This is common, as it takes about a year to produce a toy, but CGI can change on very short notice. Infernocus in the ovie is chunkier with a less skull-like face.
His stomach face is obviously Infernocus's face, but it works pretty well in his gut.
You actually have to be careful to line up the head right, though - it's easy to misalign it and turn him into kind of a weird, hunched, scoliosis Transformer.
Infernocus's big sword splits into two weapons for Skulk, though one has a flatter edge than the other.
You can also slot them into his back like wings.
And you can just combine them and give him a gigantic executioner's sword.
He's pretty hellish, though, you've got to admit that.
I'm serious, he's pretty monstrous.
Glug's sculpt has been redone something like eight times now. As previously noted, you can even buy a Last Knight Grimlock that's a repaint of this. It's also the weakest, transformation-wise.
He does turn into a cool dino creature, albeit one with a weird back-gap. The transformation is tricky and fiddly, but slots in well when you figure it out.
Gorge makes up the other leg. He's a nice, chunky robot, though he looks a little dodgy from the wrong angle, as Transformers are wont to do.
Gorge turns into a gorilla-esque dragon, and again he looks pretty solid. You can see his robot hands attached to his feet, though it's no big deal.
Rupture is pretty clearly a pterodactyl in any form, though it's creative how his unused head folds into his torso in either mode.
Rupture's winged form is pretty cool, and his wings have a surprising amount of flexibility - though it can be somewhat tricky to fold them just right based on what you want to do.
Thrash is amusing because he has what seem like they could be a perfectly servicable pair of arms, but fold behind his torso so he can use dragon heads instead.
You can see how he didn't originate in the movie style, though the aint job makes him fit in very well.
Thrash's monster form is creative, transforms very well, and is really cool on its own. It's good that Hasbro chose to go this route rather than copying the same hellbeast over and over again.
As a group, the Infernocons are really fun toys. As a combiner, they work surprisingly well together, even with their disparate origins.
Infernocus is kind of like a cobination between Abominus and Monstructor, and works pretty well when put together.
The set also comes with a mini figure of Quintessa, which shows you how small a human would be in-scale. Although the figure is excellently sculpted, it is completely unpainted, and its translucent nature makes it hard to make out the details.
But she does light up well, so there's that.
Although a little bit of paint would have been good, it's nice to get Quintessa in some form or another.
Yeah, fighting Diablo is self-indulgent, but they do have a few similarities in design.
So yeah, he's a more-serious Robot Devil. Even though Infernocus does not match his movie appearance, he's a pretty cool figure.
Overall, this is a pretty good set for your money - great desigs, tons of play value, and it's a surprising improvement on the movie character. There are a few issues with cobining the legs, but it does not take long to get used to them. It looks great combined, but the figures also look great in pieces. Nicely done.
