Most of the original characters introduced in The Transformers: The Movie were actively created for the movie, and indeed had their robot modes mapped out even before toys had been designed for them (very much the opposite of the usual process at the time). Ultra Magnus, who seemed to serve a "red herring" role in the movie as the heir apparent to the role of leader of the Autobots after Optimus Prime was killed, was the exception, in that he was created to be attached to a pre-existing mold, which itself was created for the Diaclone line (as was the case for many of the first couple of years' worth of Transformers toys) as the "Powered Convoy," released in Japan two years before the Transformers themselves began to come out. While the Diaclone "Battle Convoy" came to America as "Optimus Prime," the "Powered Convoy" (which shared the same basic truck cab as "Battle Convoy"... only in white... but came with a new trailer which could combine with it to form a larger robot) became the original "Ultra Magnus" toy.This feature is not about that original toy, which I haven't owned in many years.*
Around 2005 or so (perhaps taking their cue from a comic book a couple of years earlier, which featured G1 Ultra Magnus' "white Optimus Prime" mode for the first time ever in fiction), it became common practice for Hasbro and/or Takara to simply redeco an existing Optimus Prime toy, call it "Ultra Magnus," and release it (without even giving the new toy a nifty new trailer like the original had, let alone a distinct robot mode). Such is (mostly) the case with this toy, created to coincide with the Fall of Cybertron video game. Ironically, Ultra Magnus doesn't really feature in that game, appearing only as a downloadable extra, and that version didn't look like this toy at all! Unlike most Magnus-as-Prime repaints, this Ultra Magnus isn't all-white, but rather uses the blues and reds of G1 Ultra Magnus' better known large robot mode. Also, they at least took the trouble to give this version of Ultra Magnus an all-new head mold, as well as a few extra weapons, which were designed to combine together alongside the one borrowed from Fall of Cybertron Optimus Prime to create the sword you see here, although this particular combination doesn't appear in the instructions.
Being a repaint of the previously-existing Optimus Prime mold (and a smaller one, at that), Ultra Magnus transforms into the same truck-like vehicle Prime does, with no trailer at all (presumably intended to be a Cybertronian form, as the video game its ostensibly tied to takes place shortly before the Autobots leave Cybertron... and well before they arrive on Earth to take on Earth-based forms). It retains the blues and reds of Ultra Magnus' robot mode, which (in my opinion) makes for a much more attractive look than a plain white vehicle would have done (to say nothing of being less obviously susceptible to plastic yellowing, which has attacked far too many of my toys over the years). While this will certainly never be my "main" Ultra Magnus toy, it captures an interesting moment in the franchise's history.*I've never owned the whole of G1 Ultra Magnus, but I did manage to buy the trailer portion many years ago quite cheaply at a yard sale. This was early in my days as a seminary student, and I sold that trailer within a couple of years when I needed money. Any regrets I have about that are more or less tempered by the fact that I have much better (and more complete!) representations of Ultra Magnus' G1 form these days, such as the Masterpiece version.
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