Tag Archives: optimus prime

May 9 2013

Transformers Unleashed: Optimus Prime by Hasbro

In the last month or so, I’ve checked a few of Hasbro’s very cool Star Wars Unleashed statues. Hasbro had a good thing going on with this line and in an effort to make lightning strike twice, they tried the same thing with Transformers. The difference? The Star Wars statues seemed like a genuine attempt to bring attractive display pieces to collectors on a budget. The Transformers statues seemed more like a quick and dirty cash grab amidst a sea of other movie related merchandise. I should be able to wrap this one up mighty quick and we can all go on with our business.

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I don’t have the packaging for this wonderful object d’art any longer, but I seem to recall it coming in some sort of window box. I also need not confess to actually buying it, as it was a present from the former Mrs. FigureFan. I’m tempted to say it was well-intentioned, but unfortunately she turned out to be quite a vindictive headcase, so it could have just as easily been gifted out of spite. Anyway, the idea here is that in the true nature of the Transformers, this is actually two-Two-TWO statues in one! On one side, it’s Prime in his truck mode, but turn it around and there he is in his robot mode. You see? It’s like a Transfromer but it’s a statue!

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The alt mode portion of the statue depicts Prime in his movie truck form, launching himself off a cliff against a backdrop of terrible looking translucent plastic flames. The cliff looks like it’s carved out of chocolate and there’s a huge Autobot insignia sculpted into the side. Only part of the truck is actually here because it’s partly obscured in the so-called fire. I never minded Prime being an extended front cab, but I was never a fan of this coloring. There’s way too much blue, and this statue seems to add even more. Apart from that, there are some stray splotches of paint. All in all, this looks Ok, I guess, but it’s nothing spectacular. Maybe the flipside will be better?

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Nah, not really. The pose isn’t bad. Prime is bent down on one knee with a fist held out in defiance and his other arm converted into his gun. Giving Prime an arm that converts into a gun never seemed right to me. It just doesn’t fit the character. But then again, before Revenge of the Fallen I wasn’t used to seeing my childhood hero rip people’s faces off either, so I guess I need to get with the times. Either way, the statue is just being faithful to the source material, so I can’t blame it for that. In fairness, there’s a lot of sculpted detail on this guy, but it’s still not enough to effectively convey the crazy complex “bag of scissors” aesthetic of the Bayformer designs. There’s also way too much bland grey plastic here and not enough painted detail. The head is pretty unspectacular as well. The sculpt is really soft and you can’t really even see his eyes.

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It’s hard to put my finger on exactly where Hasbro went wrong with this piece. Sure, aesthetically this is far from my favorite version of Prime, but I was still able to appreciate his Leader Class movie toys. Ultimately, I think most of the blame lies in the super soft sculpt not being able to capture the intricate design. Had this been a statue of old school G1 Sunbow Prime, I think it could have been spectacular. In concept, the whole turnaround gimmick showing off both modes may not have been inherently bad, but the execution just doesn’t result in a piece that I’m all that keen on displaying. And so, Prime here resides on the tip top shelf of display case in the corner. Mostly out of sight and out of mind.

Sep 26 2012

Transformers Prime: Optimus Prime by Hasbro

There were two figures in the TF: Prime line that made me hesitant to start collecting it, we already looked at Bumblebee. The other one was Optimus Prime. The official promo pics that Hasbro and other online sites used to sell it looked terrible. He looked too simple, lacked too much detail, he was too boxy, and too unlike the on screen model. And hey, you can’t have a good Transformers line without a good Optimus Prime figure, right? (SHUT UP, I LIKED ENERGON OPTIMUS PRIME!!!) So, I was really hoping that like Bumblebee, this would be one of those figures that would win me over once I got him in hand. And at risk of killing the suspense… yes he did. I still have more than a few issues with him, but ultimately, I think the good far outweighs the bad with this figure. Let’s take a look…

Optimus comes in the same style box we saw with Starscream. Again, I love the box’s deco and the window shows off the figure nicely. Prime is packaged in his robot mode with his weapons beside him. Once again, you get a “Try Me” hole cut out in the window so you can see just how shitty the weapon is before dropping twenty bucks on the toy. I lie; you really can’t appreciate how shitty it is until you get it in hand, but more on that later. The back of the package shows photos of Prime’s robot and truck modes and these are the pictures that Hasbro should have been releasing early on, because armed with these pictures, I wouldn’t have been so hesitant to buy him. Let’s get him out of the package and start with his vehicle mode.

 

Right off the bat, I’ve got to say Prime’s truck mode looks so much better in person. There’s more sculpted detail on it, particularly the sides, where there are sculpted rivets and some panel lines. The windshield area looked blocky and featureless, whereas the actual toy has plenty of nice detail. I really like the sculpted circuitry like panels behind the clear windshields. Prime actually has full length smoke stacks, although they are a bit bendy. What doesn’t look so hot is the back of the cab, where the recessed legs are exposed.

I was pleasantly surprised by how fresh and clever Prime’s transformation works. You’ve got to hand it to Hasbro. After almost 30 years of designing Optimus Primes that turn into truck cabs, they can still come up with new ways to do it. This version gets a little fidgety where the arms and shoulders are concerned, but I was still able to do it without consulting the instructions, and once I knew what I was doing, getting him back and forth is pretty easy.

In robot mode, Prime looks pretty close to the on screen model. The biggest difference is in the chest area, where the show model’s windshields angle out of his chest and the ones on the toy are just a solid slab. The toy version actually looks more durable and practical, as the TV show model makes me wonder how Prime can get through a normal day without smashing those things to pieces. The body itself is nicely sculpted to look like the on screen model, but the kibble backpack works against it to give the figure a boxier look then it should have. In fairness, the backpack isn’t at all bulky or troublesome, but it does make the figure look more squared off, despite his sleek and sculpted torso. Originally, I didn’t think I’d be a fan of the clear plastic parts used on the forearms, but I’m warming up to them. It’s a shame that the design has the exposed screws on the front of Prime’s shoulders, rather than the back, but now I’m nit-picking. The head sculpt is great, but it feels a little too small, like it was designed for a Deluxe figure, rather than a Voyager.

Prime comes with two weapons: You get his awful Mech Tech blaster and a sword. Both weapons can be fitted to the cab hitch for storage when he’s in truck mode. I’m not going to spend a lot of time on the Blaster. Everything I said about Starscream’s Null-Ray Blaster applies here. Whether held in hand or mounted on the cab hitch, it looks like crap. The only problem here is that while I could happily toss Starscream’s weapon and not miss it, an Optimus Prime figure without a decent blaster feels like it is missing something. And yet, I’d rather have no blaster at all then display him with this horrible weapon. At least he comes with a sword, which looks good in his hand, but unless they’re Dinobots, I’m not a big fan of my Transformers wielding swords.

In the end, this figure features a lot of give and take. The robot mode is not the homerun that Starscream’s robot mode is, but then he is a better compromise between robot and vehicle mode. He’s also a nice solid figure that displays well and is surprisingly a lot of fun to play around with. In the end, he really won me over. Sure, the First Edition figure looks a lot more like the TV show’s model, but I find myself perfectly content with this guy representing Prime in this line of Transformers.

Tomorrow, we’ll keep the Voyager ball rolling with a look at Megatron.

Apr 13 2012

Transformers: Commemorative Edition: Powermaster Optimus Prime by Hasbro, Part 2

Welcome back to the second part of the amazing Powermaster Optimus Prime. We’ve looked at Prime’s cruising and ass-kicking modes, so let’s check out everything else. Before we go anywhere we have to start with the tiniest robot in the set and the key to unlocking Prime’s awesomeness. He’s Ginrai!

For those that aren’t up on their Transformers history, toward the tail end of G1, Transformers were being designed with little robot buddies that changed into their guns (Targetmasters), heads (Headmasters), or in this case engines (yep, Powermasters). The Powermasters never seemed to catch on as much over here, and I never really understood them. In theory you needed to transform these little guys into the engine and plug them into the vehicle so it could transform into its robot mode. In practice, you could still transform the toy without it, so if you lost the little bugger, you weren’t completely screwed. Anyway, Ginrai is a pretty cool little figure for how small he is. His arms rotate at the shoulders, and his legs are technically articulated, but only as part of the transforming gimmick.
Anyway, you change him into his engine mode and plug him straight into the front grill of Prime’s cab and you can change Prime into his most basic robot mode. The overall design is fairly similar to the original Optimus Prime, but the truck-front chest is actually a fake, as the cab’s real front is on Prime’s back. I like the looks of this Prime, as he has a bit more of an animated look. The stickers on the legs add some nice detail too. Granted, the articulation on this figure is pretty limited, even for a Transformer. In fact, really all he can do is bend his arms at the elbows.
The rest of Prime’s trailer transforms into a pretty cool little base. Transformers bases have been pretty hit and miss over the years, but I really think this one is one of the better ones. There’s a couple of ramps and platforms to park other Transformers. There are two turrets and three larger elevated guns on the tower. The only real eyesore here is the obvious Prime arms sticking up the top, but if they bother you, you can always fold them down out of the way. Prime can also stand in the tower to man the guns, but as a base, this is more convincing when populated by smaller Transformers. Overall, I think this is a really cool looking piece. There’s a lot of great sculpted detail and the huge stickers really make it look great.
Next up, is Prime’s slightly more powered up version. You basically ball him up into a box and plug it into a body made up from his trailer. Pop on a bunch of guns and his new head, and you’ve got the more bulked up Prime. This version actually uses the front of the cab as his chest, and you can clearly see the Powermaster engine plugged in there. You get a little more articulation here. His arms rotate at the shoulders and his legs can assume a wider stance. Yeah, its not much more, but a little better.
At this point, you can also convert the spare trailer into yet another robot called Apex Bomber. This guy isn’t really a transformation, but rather building him out of the parts you break the spare trailer down into. Normally, I consider this type of Transformer design cheating, but in this case, its like a bonus robot, so I’m not complaining. Apex Bomber looks pretty great. He’s nicely proportioned, has arms that rotate at the shoulder, he can hold Prime’s weapons if the big guy feels like sharing, and he can mount the missile launcher on his shoulder. In a lot of ways, he reminds me of G1 Top Spin. I just like this design.
Ok, so enough farting around. Its time to take everything and stick it all together into Apex Armor Optimus Prime. He’s basically the medium bulked out Prime figure with bits of Apex Bomber attached all over him. He gets bigger feet, bulkier arms, and that magnificent chromed out bling-chest that was absent from the American release, and if you ask me it really makes this figure. AAOP can still hold both his guns, he gets a pair of duel cannons on his ankles so he can kick you in the face and shoot you at the same time, and he can mount the big missile launcher on his shoulder.
Yes, Apex Armor Optimus Prime is a brick. He has the same articulation as the medium bulked out Prime, which means he can only rotate his arms at the shoulders, and assume a wide stance at the legs. But he’s still a friggen glorious looking brick. He’s also a pretty solid figure, considering how much crap he’s got stuck all over him.
And there ya have it, one if my favorite Transformers of all time (if not my favorite). I love everything about this set, from the presentation to the design of the toy, to just how good AA Optimus looks standing on my shelf. What he lacks in articulation he makes up in spades with balls-to-the-wall play value. There are just so many options and combinations in both robot and vehicle modes that fiddling about with him never gets old. I’ve never regretted ponying up for two of these back in the day, although truth be told considering how awesome it is, you can still pick one up for surprisingly cheap. Sure, MISB versions can go for over a hundred bucks, but if you’re persistant enough, you can often find open and complete ones for just $10-20 over the original MSRP. Considering how much, oh let’s say the 2009 SDCC Soundwave goes for these, days, Powermaster Optimus Prime is a steal.
Apr 12 2012

Transformers: Commemorative Edition: Powermaster Optimus Prime by Hasbro, Part 1

I’ve been meaning to get around to this one for quite a while now, but I never thought I had the time to do it right. This beauty was released back in 2003 as part of Toys R Us’ exclusive Commemorative Series, which were basically reissues of G1 Transformers. It was a great series of collectibles, and while many cases required Hasbro to ruin muck about with the molds for safety concerns, there were a few cases where Hasbro was able to improve on the originals and Powermaster Optimus here is one of them. This Commemorative release included parts that weren’t on the original US release, so outside of importing a Takara toy, this was the first time we Americans could really get this toy complete and as it was intended to be. After nearly 30 years of collecting Transformers, its hard for me to settle on a favorite figure, but if you were to put a gun to my head and make me choose, this one would probably be it. In fact, I loved this thing so much, I actually bought two so I could keep one in the package. There’s a lot to look at here, so I’m going to tackle this guy in two parts. Today we’ll look at the packaging and the vehicle modes, and then tomorrow we’ll look at the robot and base modes.

Prime comes in a huge box that just oozes G1 nostalgia. It has the same red grid pattern as the original issue toys did and the same Transformers logo. Even the side panels that show the various modes of the toy during conversion are similar to what appeared on the original box panels. The front has a flap secured with velcro that has some really awesome artwork of Apex Armor Prime. Fold it open and it reveals cutouts in the box with windows to show Prime in his truck mode, the extra Apex Armor trailer, the larger Prime head, and the Powermaster Ginrai figure.
The back of the panel features a gorgeous battle montage just like the ones that appeared in one form or another on the original G1 boxes throughout the years. There are also bio blurbs for regular flavor Prime, Apex Armor Prime, and Apex Bomber.
Open up the box and you find two sticker sheets, a large folded set of instructions, and the huge tray that slides out to reveal all the pieces of the set spread out before you. I can’t say enough great things about the packaging here. It really feels like those expensive collector sets that Takara releases for the combiners. It still baffles me that I was able to walk into a Toys R Us and buy this masterpiece off the shelf for a mere fifty bucks.
Optimus Prime’s basic truck form is fairly similar in design to his G1 version. The red cab with chromed front and silver striping should be readily familiar as is the blue and grey trailer with the stripe and Autobot emblem on the sides. There’s a little more kibble than on the original version of Prime. You can clearly see robot fists peeking out both behind the cab and on the front of the trailer, but to be fair, the designers packed so many modes into this toy, I’m amazed the basic tractor trailer mode looks as good as it does. The toy rolls along great and the cab detatches from the trailer, and as we’ll see later, transforms into a basic version of Optimus Prime, similar to the original version of Prime. This vehicle right here could have been released all by itself as a stand alone toy and it would have been just fine.
The Apex Armor trailer is a cool little battle wagon all on its own… sort of. Actually, its just a box on wheels with a big gun. The chrome front piece is made to look like a cab of sorts. And you can peg the big missile launcher onto the top. But this section really shines when its attached to the back of Prime’s trailer. Snap on all the additional weapons and parts and you get…
Optimus Prime’s Mega-Super-Destroy-You-Death-Train! That’s right, rolling along on seven sets of wheels, Prime is through taking crap and now he’s loaded for bear. This thing really strides the fine line between awesome and ridiculous, but you can hardly deny that its overkill. The cool thing about this toy is you can really customize the set up a bit by pegging the guns onto various places, but I tend to like the official version best. He’s got two angled cannons on the front of the cab, two giant guns on the front roof and one huge rotating missile launcher on the back. He’s also got a pair of wings for… well, they just look cool. You might as well be stylish while your running down Decepticons and blowing them into slag. This thing is so long, I barely have any shelves big enough to display it in all its glory.

So, that’s Powermaster Optimus Prime in all his vehicular glory. I’m going to break here and come back tomorrow to take a look at the base and various robot modes contained within this awesome toy.
Oct 24 2011

Transformers Reveal The Shield: Optimus Prime by Hasbro

We’ve come to the end of my Reveal The Shield haul, and I saved the worst for last. Ironically, I was really looking forward to picking up this G2 inspired version of Optimus Prime. Early photos made me a little suspicious of his truck mode, but I thought his robot mode would carry the day. Plus, I still wasn’t convinced Hasbro would release a finished product that looked as bad as this Prime’s truck mode did. In the end I was wrong and what we have here is overall a pretty shitty toy. Let’s take a look…

Prime is a Deluxe Class figure, so we’re back to the carded style of package. He comes carded in his truck form, which is pretty ballsy and honest of Hasbro to show you the worst of the two modes outright. Still, it may cool the jets on some Bayformer haters to learn that the modern movies weren’t the first time Prime appeared as an extended cab. Y’all can blame G2 for that. Prime also comes packaged with his energon sword beside him, although as we’ll see it actually serves a purpose in the truck mode.
And there it is, released from the bubble and exposed in all it’s wretched glory. It’s a hideous looking truck with a bizarre patchwork look to it, particularly around the doors. The orange paint on the windows looks awful, the doors themselves angle inward awkwardly, and the arms hanging off the bottom of the doors is just plain unsightly. Let’s not forget the dubious decision to go with a orange tinted clear plastic for the front grill. Even the paint job is miss-matched with the front being black and the rest blue making the toy look like an unfinished prototype. Ugh. I can’t believe any designer at Hasbro held aloft this mess and was pleased enough to release it. I guess it’s all about the robot mode, eh?
Blah. Not so much. Don’t get me wrong, Prime’s robot mode is infinitely better than his truck mode, but that doesn’t mean it’s particularly good. If you own the G2 “Laser Rods” Prime or perhaps the more recent Robots in Disguise Scourge, you can see that Hasbro really tried to replicate that design into this Deluxe Class figure. The problem is those two toys are great, this one just isn’t. What’s really strange is the attention paid to some of the little details. The wheels on his legs do this complex little flip up and seat into his legs to get them out of the way. It isn’t at all necessary and you can opt not to do it if you so desire. But why take the time to put that kind of engineering on a toy design that’s so broken everywhere else? Just like his truck mode, Prime’s robot mode looks as if it were patched together from various other Primes.
The head sculpt here is also really weird. It’s sort of like a mix up of Prime from the Bay films with some extra animated stylization thrown in. I don’t know that I completely dislike it, but it feels really out of place on this figure.
About the only thing here that I really do like is Prime’s energon sword. In truck mode it forms the cab hitch and cleverly transforms itself into this neat little sword with a crossguard. I suppose I can give it to one of my other Deluxe Primes or some other figure. It’s a sad statement, because I think Hasbro had some good intentions with this figure, but really dropped the ball on the execution. If you can find this guy at one of the cloesout stores he just might be worth your time, particularly if you are any kind of Optimus Prime completist, but he sure isn’t worth the premium some of the Reveal The Shield toys are commanding online.
Jun 14 2011

Transformers Dark of the Moon: Cyberverse Optimus Prime by Hasbro

There sure are a lot of new Transformers in the toy aisles right now, and yet I seem to be addicted to buying nothing but these Cyberverse figures. It’s pretty strange since I all but ignored the Legends Class in the past. I guess I just really dig being able to take home a couple new Transformers from my weekly grocery run to Walmart without breaking the bank. This time around I picked up the Autobots’ Big Bot himself, Optimus Prime. Let’s check him out…

Optimus Prime is a Commander figure, so he’s from the slightly larger and more complex assortment in the line. We’ve already seen this packaging before when we looked at Ironhide. I still like it a lot, although the bio blurb on the back is kind of disappointing. The figure comes mounted in his robot mode and thanks to the half cylinder style of bubble, you can easily get the figure out and back in if you want. It’s a pretty cool way to deliver a collector friendly package on a cheap cardback. I should point out here that this figure is also available in a Limited Edition and packaged with a set of 3D Glasses.

As usual, I’m going to start out in vehicle mode. This version of Prime is just the cab, although you can get what is basically the same figure with the trailer in the larger assortment set. The cab is a pretty good miniaturized version of the Prime’s truck mode as seen in the live action movies. The proportions suffer a little bit, with the hood of the cab a bit longer than it should be, but the rest looks fine. The cab holds its form nicely, but the robot kibble hanging off the undercarriage scrapes on the ground preventing the toy from rolling as well as it should. There’s a weapon pod that fits on to the back of the cab, which is made up from the parts that will form Prime’s jetpack and guns in his robot mode. It looks surprisingly good.

And then there’s the robot mode. If you’re looking for a mini version of the Prime from the Michael Bay movies, than I don’t think this is going to satisfy you. On the other hand, it’s still a really cool take on Prime. It actually looks more like the old Power Master Prime to me, although there’s a little Energon Prime in there as well, particularly in the way he wears some of his wheels as a backpack. The sculpt is really well done and the coloring is great. He has a removable jetpack, which looks great on him, but definitely makes him back heavy. Prime could have been greatly improved by a pair of heel spurs to keep him up. Still, his occasional tendency to topple over doesn’t ruin the toy. His two guns socket right into his hands. Articulation is very good for such a tiny figure. Prime has ball joints in his shoulders and hips and hinged elbows and knees.

As a Commander figure, Prime retails at just under eight bucks. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the price point on these guys. Yeah, it seems a little steep, but like Ironhide, this really is a well designed and nicely crafted little toy. It feels like too much to pay when it’s hanging on the peg, but once I’ve got them open I tend to feel as if the price is justified, even though the Deluxes are just a few dollars more. I honestly thought that Ironhide might have been a fluke, but now that I own two of these Cyberverse Commander figures, I’m still just as impressed. Shall we try for three? Next time, we’ll look at Cyberverse Powerglide and see if Hasbro can keep it going.

Oct 20 2010

Transformers Animated: Optimus Prime by Hasbro

Concluding my Trifecta of Cheap Animated Transformers from Ross is my look at Voyager Class Optimus Prime from the TF: Animated series. Even before I started buying any of these Animated figures, I was pretty sure I would wind up with Prime here sooner or later, as the one constant display in my Den is a shelf with all my Optimus Primeseses. For a while I was content with just displaying the smaller Activators Animated Prime, and until I get a bigger shelf, he’ll have to continue to represent Animated in my Prime display. I simply have no room on the shelf left for this bigger version. I made the faux pas of shredding the package before taking a shot of it, so I’ve got no In-Package picture for you. Suffice it to say, the figure comes boxed in his truck mode and looks really nice amidst the bright colors of the box. The back shows the toy in both modes and has some assorted facts about Prime’s character. Animated Prime seemed to me to be more influenced by G1 Rodimus in his overall archetype. He was a bit of a loser who didn’t want the job, but he eventually stepped up and turned out OK in the end. Let’s start with his alt mode…

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Prime’s truck mode is a bit at odds with the cartoon. He looks like a truck cab with a light bar on top and a little gun sitting on the back. In the cartoon he seemed to vacillate between being a full fledged fire truck and something more like this toy form. Then again, I’m no expert as I’ve only seen a smattering of episodes. Either way, the discrepancies don’t really bother me as I like this toy’s alt mode a lot. He has a creative and super-stylized look and the red, blue, and gray colors look great and give this new design a familiar feel. The extra yellow paint hits on the bumper and the recessed head lamps are a nice touch. Unfortunately, my figure has a tiny bit of paint chipping on the front, though.

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As with Lugnut, converting Prime requires you to remove a fairly sizable piece from his back. These become his axe and gun. Some may cry foul and parts-forming and all that jazz, but I’m cool with it because they come off to become weapons. Unfortunately, I’m just not a big fan of these weapons, but I’ll get to those in a bit. Bottom line here is that the engineering on this toy doesn’t stray too far from Prime’s toy roots. The hitching area becomes the legs, with all four wheels cleverly packing into the ankles, and the arms and head all fold out from the cab.

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Nonetheless, I’m surprised at how much I love this Prime’s robot mode. It helps that it is nowhere near as exaggerated in proportions as his animated counterpart. He’s definitely got some stylized deformation going on, but it’s not as extreme as I thought it might be. The proportions are pretty good and articulation is serviceable. The coloring is beautiful with that same classic Prime red, gray and blue that we saw in the alt mode. There’s even a little more of that yellow to make him pop. I really like the circuit etching behind his windshield, too.

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Prime’s head features a classic-style mouth shield, which can drop down to display a regular mouth, which is more in line with his animated counterpart. It’s a pretty spot on likeness for the Animated look.

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As mentioned, Prime comes with two weapons: His axe and gun. The gun is kind of dopey and doesn’t look like it’s really designed to be held. Apparently it can be filled with water and squirted to further the idea that he’s supposed to be some kind of firetruck. Meh.

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The axe is ridiculously huge, ungainly and doesn’t look too good to me. Then again, I’m guessing kids will love it.

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Despite the goofy weapons, I still really like this Optimus Prime more than I have any reason to. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I like to display the various versions of the character, and this guy certainly adds to that diversity. It’s a beautiful blend of stylized new ideas with the tried and true design that I’ve known and loved since I was a kid. And speaking of which, I’m guessing that kids who are fans of the show will probably adore this figure as he captures the character pretty well. Either way, I’m pretty glad I picked him up.

*This Feature was updated with new photos on 6/12/16.

Aug 13 2010

Transformers War for Cybertron: Optimus Prime by Hasbro

I don’t play a lot of video games these days. Well, at least not nearly as much as I used to back in my game junkie days. But I did pick up War for Cybertron and I played it like crack until I was done and then started it all over again. Besides being a great game, it really brought the characters to life and featured some downright fantastic re-designs of some of my favorite childhood characters. Needless to say, when I found out that some of these designs would be transformed into figures for the Generations line, I was mighty excited. The initial assortment features Optimus Prime and Bumblebee, and today we’re going to look at Prime.

Hasbro opted to include these in the Generations line so you get the exact same style of package as we saw with Thrust. Prime is mounted in his Cybertron truck form. Its a very appealing presentation, but I would have liked something different about the card to make the War for Cybertron figures stand out a bit more. Even a sticker on the bubble might have been nice. Then again, I just rip these things open, so what do I care?



But wait, what’s this? Optimus Prime’s a Deluxe? Yeah, that doesn’t happen too often, and I don’t think it should have happened here. Granted, in the game, Prime wasn’t much taller than his fellow Autobots, but I still think Hasbro should have made this figure a Voyager Class. Not only because Prime is usually taller, but for reasons of the figure’s complexity that we’ll get to in a minute. With the popularity and press about the game, you’d think some Voyager sized toys wouldn’t have been that big risk. I mean, even Sea Spray is a Voyager so… come on!

I love the design of Prime’s truck mode. Its got a retro look to it, what with the curving shape of the front quarter panels and the grill, and yet it still looks futuristic. Its also got no windows, which makes sense, because, afterall, in his natural Cybertron form, why would he have windows? The truck mode locks together really well and rolls along great. There’s a socket on the top that you can peg his gun into, which is great because in the game, all the Autobots packed quite a bit of firepower in their alternate forms.


Transforming Prime is a daunting task, at least the first couple of times. The package lists him as a Level 4 Advanced conversion, and they’re not kidding around. There’s a lot of moving parts on this guy and more than a few double hinged pieces that need to be moved just right to get everything else to work. I can usually work out my Transformers without instructions, especially Deluxes, but I had to glance at Prime’s a few times to get it right. Still, after a few conversions, he’s not so bad. In fact, this is one of the more clever transformations I’ve seen in a while.

In robot mode, Prime is just a fantastic looking figure. In fact, he’s one of my favorite looking Prime figures in quite a while. His head sculpt is classic Prime, but with a few more stylized features, like the longer ear antenna. I like how this design leaves in the chest “windshields” even though they aren’t part of the truck design. The various bits of the truck’s outer shell fall into line nicely to form pieces of armor for his shoulders and non-obtrusive back plating. Its a really elegant design and a really convincing concept of what a pre-Earth Prime should have looked like.

Prime has great articulation, which includes a rotating head, ball joints in the shoulders and hips and hinged elbows and knees. His joints feel pretty loose right out of the package, but he doesn’t have much trouble standing or holding his positions.


Cybertronian Optimus Prime retails for around $11.99, which is about right for Deluxes these days and actually not bad for a figure of this complexity. Actually, he’s an amazing enough figure that I would have probably paid a lot more for him if I had to. I sincerely hope he sells well, because I’d like to see a lot of figures produced from the War for Cybertron game beyond the handful that we’ve seen so far. The early pictures for Soundwave look great. Now bring on the Seekers, Warpath, Ironhide, Sideswipe, etc. etc.

 

Aug 5 2010

Transformers Titaniums: The War Within Optimus Prime by Hasbro

While I have yet to find him at retail, Hasbro’s new Generations Optimus Prime is finally starting to show up across the country and at various e-tailers. Obviously, I’m anxious to get my hands on this figure as its one of the few depictions of Optimus Prime in his Cybertron form. But until I do, I thought I’d give a look at one of those other pre-Earth versions of Prime. In this case, its the Titanium series War Within Optimus Prime.

For those of you who missed out on this short lived series, these Titaniums (not to be confused with the much smaller diecast statues) were roughly deluxe-sized transformable figures that were made of both diecast metal and plastic. They didn’t really follow any set series, as what few figures were released were inspired by every corner of the Transformers Universe. They were, however, a nice nod and wink back to the older fans who remember their Transformers having diecast parts, but the lack of continuity and some serious durability issues made this series a flash in the pan. The first assortment gave us figures inspired by the popular and canon-bending War Within comics, which gave us Megatron, Optimus Prime and Jetfire in their native Cybertronian forms.

In vehicle form, War Within prime is a vaguely familiar looking red, blue and silver truck. Its not a terrible looking vehicle, and I actually like certain elements of the design, but the simple transformation on thid figure makes it easy to recognize most of Prime’s robot kibble in his truck mode, particularly his arms, which are just hanging off the back of what would be the cab.

Prime’s robot mode is a nice recreation of the design from the comic, but the diecast used on this figure causes some cosmetic issues. The sculpting in the diecast looks somewhat primitive when compared to Prime’s plastic parts. The paint job on the diecast is also really questionable. You can see the swirls in his bodyworks and the paint will chip at the drop of a hat. There are places where this figure looks more like a custom fan project then a licensed, professionally made toy.

The biggest issue with these figures in general, and Prime specifically, is the weight displacement. The heavy diecast metal parts are at constant odds with the lighter and flimsier plastic. As a result, the figures don’t want to hold their forms very well and just trying to get Prime here into some different poses usually results in a half-transformed mess. His shoulders flop around and he’s way too top heavy for his own good.

WW Prime comes with two accessories: His blaster rifle and a personalized display stand. The same stand came with all of the Titanium figures, with a separate front piece that featured the robot’s faction symbol and name. It was a really nice extra and accentuated the fact that these figures probably should be considered more as collectibles than actual toys.

At one point I owned almost all of these Titanium figures, but my overall disatisfaction with this line led me to sell them off until I was down to just Prime, and the only reason I really kept him is because I try to collect most of the Optimus Prime toys released, even those that I’m not all that crazy about. These figures were an interesting experiment on Hasbro’s behalf, but ultimately an unsuccessful one, and the only one I really regret unloading was Soundwave, as it was easily the best G1 homage of the character Hasbro has done since. Otherwise, its hard for me to recommend these.