Review #15: Dark of the Moon
Optimus Prime Megareview!
(Cyberverse, Deluxe, import Voyager, and Ultimate Optimus Primes)
Well, it had to happen eventually. I'm reviewing figures from the Michael Bay movies. Although some comments are unavoidable, I will try my best to avoid this review being a comment on the films themselves and concentrate on the toys. But to get it out of the way. I will say that while they may have had some elements I disliked and / or found extremely questionable (expecially the second one) on the whole I didn't hate the films. Yet while there were some elements I liked, I can't on the whole say I liked the films, either. In general, I guess my feelings on them are somewhat mixed, to the point where while I bought the films when they came out on video (although I still need to get Dark of the Moon) I feel a bit dirty when I watch them.
Enough about that, though. Let's talk about toys! Well... I suppose it isn't possible to talk about the toys without talking about the design decisions of the films for a bit. I didn't collect a lot of the movie toys because... well... something about the general asthetic of them seemed to not quite do it for me. Of course, being the Optimus Prime freak that I am, the desire to buy Optimi overrode any objections over asthetic. Fortunately, in the case of Optimus Prime, the asthetic choices I disliked were minimized and, especially on versions of the toy that have a faceplate rather then a mouth (which seemed to be the majority) his toy representations generally didn't come out looking bad.
Being the G1 slut that I am, I often think that Optimus looks best when his vehicle mode has a big-arse trailer to tow. The absence of a trailer with toys from the first two films didn't overly bother me, since the character in the movie didn't have a trailer. With the third movie, though, Optimus received his mighty box of power! And this translated over to some of his toys. So in this review, we're going to take a look at the four most prominant examples of trailer-towing movie-verse Oprimus Primes, starting with the smallest and working our way up to the largest.
Enough about that, though. Let's talk about toys! Well... I suppose it isn't possible to talk about the toys without talking about the design decisions of the films for a bit. I didn't collect a lot of the movie toys because... well... something about the general asthetic of them seemed to not quite do it for me. Of course, being the Optimus Prime freak that I am, the desire to buy Optimi overrode any objections over asthetic. Fortunately, in the case of Optimus Prime, the asthetic choices I disliked were minimized and, especially on versions of the toy that have a faceplate rather then a mouth (which seemed to be the majority) his toy representations generally didn't come out looking bad.
Being the G1 slut that I am, I often think that Optimus looks best when his vehicle mode has a big-arse trailer to tow. The absence of a trailer with toys from the first two films didn't overly bother me, since the character in the movie didn't have a trailer. With the third movie, though, Optimus received his mighty box of power! And this translated over to some of his toys. So in this review, we're going to take a look at the four most prominant examples of trailer-towing movie-verse Oprimus Primes, starting with the smallest and working our way up to the largest.
We start with the Cyberverse Optimus Prime. Cyberverse is a new size class that Hasbro introduced with Dark of the Moon, which seems to be either a slightly upscaled (and slightly better articulated) version of the previously used Legends class, or a vastly shrunken and simplified Scout class. (I feel they're closer to Legends class, and kind of just think of them as that in my mind.)
This is not actually the version of the toy that came with a trailer. This was the Limited Edition Preview version that came with some very different accessories. Being the very first DOTM Optimus toy, I of course snapped him up. And when there was later a version of this toy with a trailer, then of course I snapped that one up! Asthetically I liked this one better, though, so just ended up using this one with the trailer. (I didn't have the other handy for a comparison pic, alas.) |
Calling this toy a "Limited Edition Preview" release was, I admit, a bit of a joke. For one, this same exact deco later received a general retail release, the main difference being that it didn't come with a pair of 3D glasses that I didn't give a crap about, anyway. For another, it is about ten months after the release of this toy and I have still seen the Limited Edition version sitting on pegs in stores. So if you still want it, you shouldn't have too much difficulty finding it.
In an ideal world, I maybe would have liked to see a few additional paint aplications on this, mainly some additional silver in a few places. But on a toy this scale I am much more forgiving of such things and overall, both with paint and mold detail I find this to be a very nice representation of Optimus at this scale.
So, if this version of the toy didn't come with the trailer, what did he come with? He came with this little atachment that basically fills in the area behind the cab and above the trailer hitch. It certainly gives his truck mode a beefed up, more armored look to it with a pair of big-arse guns on top. And when you look at it from behind, you see some big jet boosters making this look like one fast truck. I'd say that with this accessory attached, it makes for what looks like a Mad Max version of Optimus Prime. |
I suppose, theoretically, you could fold out the wings on the atachment, but really? Flying truck is kind of silly...
But of course, the main event to me is... a trailer! Other then an unpleasent gap on each side, this is a decent looking trailer for this scale, especially when one consideres all it does (which we will see when looking at robot mode.) A slight drawback is the wheels, the front pair are dummy wheels and the back ones... well, they technically can turn, but do so very poorly.
Both the trailer and the previously looked at accessories attach to Optimus Prime via a 3mm clip point, thus the trailer does not turn at all. Again, because of the scale, this is something that while unfortunate I am willing to overlook. |
Alas, the excessories I am featuring here are mutually exclusive. This is not at surprising and not terribly bothersome, as admitedly they were sold seperately with different decos of this Optimus Prime toy, so they were not designed to work together.
Upon transformation to robot mode, we have a decent looking representation of the movie version of Optimus Prime, featuring the new abdomen design the character received in the third film. That's not to say he looks like he stepped right off of the screen, his proportions are much blockier and his legs look a bit funny from the side... but at the risk of sounding like a broken record, this is all stuff I find forgivable at this scale. He doesn't have much articulation, but what he does have is pretty good (let us all say it together, now!) at this sacle. He's got no neck articulation, ball joints in his shoulders, good hinged joints in his elbows, ball jointed hips, and hinged knees.
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The trailer gives you two options. The first is this exo-suit that really makes me want to hear Peter Cullen (Optimus Prime's voice) saying the phrase, "Get away from her, you bitch!"
It ataches to Prime via the clip point on his back, and also has a place for his feet to stand and handles for his hands to hold. The missle that is on his right side can be fired. This set up looks cool but it does severly limit his articulation, leaving him at best with some limited arm movement. But... it looks cool! |
The second option for using the trailer is this seperate battle station / weapon emplacement. I will admit that innitially I thought this mode was just something of a funny afterthought, but it quickly grew on me and I rather like it. It helps that using the trailer in this fashion leaves Optimus's back free, meaning that this is the one configuration of this toy in either mode in which I can make use of all of the accessories I have for it. Thus, I find that (unless I am in the mood to display my Optimus Primes in vehicle mode, in which case the trailer obviously wins) this is how I am most likely to display this figure.
For the sake of completeness, I'll mention that (not counting various repaints) there was one additional version of this Optimus Prime that had yet another set of accessories, two different big guns and a pair of swords, both of which could be attached in either robot or vehicle mode. I never picked that up, however, as I certainly had enough going on with what I already had. |
So that about covers the Legends, er, Cyberverse class version of Optimus Prime. My final thoughts on this figure would be that he is a decent figure for this size, with good mold details, a nice transformation, and decent articulation. He's been repainted a plethora of times. This, in my opinion, is the best looking paint scheme on this figure, but your milage may vary of course. Also, while available seperately (meaning if you want it all, you'll end up with at least three different versions of this Optimus Prime) there are three different sets of accessories for this figure, the two of which I have (and have featured here) being very nice and quite versitile. (The third version I cannot comment directly on, but at least it looks interesting in photos.) So you have a lot of options going into this toy, and a good toy it is.
Now we leave the Cyberverse class Optimus Prime and take a look at the next size up, in this case a Deluxe Class figure. I must admit that again we are looking at a cab and a trailer that are from two different releases.
The cab was from a Walmart exclusive release, the first Deluxe class version of this figure. When this figure was released in Japan, it was available in an extravagent set that included also a G1 Optimus Prime (cab only), and this trailer which was supposed to be compatable with both. Then very recently the trailer finally found its way to the United States with a version of the cab that featured darker grey plastics and a slightly less detailed paint scheme. I was glad when a U.S. version came out, as after the Voyager class toy we will be discussing next, I couldn't justify to myself another import purchase just to get a trailer! |
(Before)
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Anyway, once I had it in hand, much like with the Cyberverse figure I decided I liked the older figure's deco a bit better and thus decided to swap it out and use the older one with the trailer. Alas, there is a slight mold difference around the trailer hitch to accomidate the trailer... but this was nothing a little very careful work with a razor blade couldn't fix.
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(After)
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As far as the alleged compatability with the G1 Optimus Prime cab that the Japanese version of this trailer displayed, when I tried it out with a G1 Optimus that I had I could not see how they were supposed to connect. It certainly does not help that the G1 Prime had a peg that connected to a hole on the trailer, where as in this case there is a whole in the cab's trailer hitch that connects with a peg on the trailer. If you aren't planning to actually move the thing, you can put the trailer down on the cab, walk away, and it will look fine. I couldn't say if this is all that the Japanese version did, or if there was some difference in the Japanese version that I am unaware of.
The Dark of the Moon toyline featured a gimmick called MechTech that featured, in toys of Deluxe class and above, large (often gratutiously oversized) weapons that had their own transformations. The toys would also feature peg holes on their vehicle modes in which to plug these weapons. This Optimus features two such peg holes, both on his roof. The trailer features an additional four holes, all towards the front end, two of them on top and one each in the upper front corner of each side.
Although I do feel that in general this version of the Optimus cab did have a really nice paint deco, I did make one silver Sharpie alteration. The headache rack on the back of the cab was originally unpainted blue plastic. There is an alteration to the trailer I have not made yet, but am considering. For some reason, Hasbro only put an Autobot logo on one of the trailer's sides. I will very likely at some point fix the omission on the other side with the application of a Reprolabels sticker... and then, since the symbols wouldn't quite match, I would likely have to cover up the already existing logo with a sticker as well.
Although I do feel that in general this version of the Optimus cab did have a really nice paint deco, I did make one silver Sharpie alteration. The headache rack on the back of the cab was originally unpainted blue plastic. There is an alteration to the trailer I have not made yet, but am considering. For some reason, Hasbro only put an Autobot logo on one of the trailer's sides. I will very likely at some point fix the omission on the other side with the application of a Reprolabels sticker... and then, since the symbols wouldn't quite match, I would likely have to cover up the already existing logo with a sticker as well.
Since I only just recently picked up the version that came with the trailer, I had both versions of the cab handy. So I decided to offer a bit of a comparison when looking at the robot mode. For the most part, the paint decos look the same except that the newer one (on the right) is missing a few yellow highlights. Most of the differences apply more to truck mode, which of course I didn't photograph. The differences there include silver paint on the hubcaps of the original vs. unpainted ones on the newer version, and the nice transition from gold to red visible on the front of the cab is absent on the newer version. (You csn see these details on the side-view photo of the robots.)
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Ironically, one of the other things I said I prefered about the original version, the lighter grey plastic, seems to have tried to defy me in photographs. I do think it looks better in person, but in photographs the liter grey plastic seems a bit more... well... washed out, I suppose. By contrast, the darker grey plastic of the newer version of the figure looks really nice in the above photographs, much nicer then I think it looks in person. Funny how that works with photos, sometimes.
Another advantage of swapping figures is that the one with the trailer didn't come with a weapon! Here is the weapon that came with the original version of the figure. Optimus looks best, I think, holding it in his hand. It can also, however, peg onto either forearm (Suck it, Megatron!) or over the shoulder. (Optimus superior, Soundwave inferior.)
As mentioned above, MechTech weapons featured a transformation, and in this case Optimus's gun can deploy an axe. Alas, it does not stay deployed unless you hold it so. (This was unfortunately often the case with the weapons of the Deluxe class toys.) |
I suppose I must address that this figure does have a decent chunk of kibble on it, in that pretty much the entire front end of the truck hangs off of his back. I've certainly seen worse kibble on a Transformer, and at least while bulky it stays in place snuggly, doesn't flop around at all, doesn't hinder the figure's articulation, and generally does its best to stay out of the way. Bigger versions of the movie Optimus Prime have been guilty of the same thing in the past (mainly the first movie's Voyager class figure) so if by now we're only seeing this sort of thing on a Deluxe class figure, I cannot complain.
He is decently articulated. His head can turn, but atmitedly is a bit hindered by being recessed slightly into his body. His shoulders are ball joints. Right above his elbows are swivels, and then the elbows themselves have two hinged joints in them. No waist articulation, alas, but while it is always nice to have I don't complain too much about its absence unless talking about a toy of Voyager class or above. The hips are ball joints, there's a swivel right under them, and then the knees can bend on a hinge.
He is decently articulated. His head can turn, but atmitedly is a bit hindered by being recessed slightly into his body. His shoulders are ball joints. Right above his elbows are swivels, and then the elbows themselves have two hinged joints in them. No waist articulation, alas, but while it is always nice to have I don't complain too much about its absence unless talking about a toy of Voyager class or above. The hips are ball joints, there's a swivel right under them, and then the knees can bend on a hinge.
The trailer opens up... but in a way that I'm not quite sure what the point is. The way in which this trailer opens I have a hard time figuring out what the play value is supposed to be. At least with a trailer that opens in a more traditional fashion, even if there were no other bells and whistles, Optimus would be able to proudly stand upon it and pose dramatically, but that would not be an option in this case. I can think of no other practical use for this trailer other then for parts storage, which I suppose for kids could be handy if they have a lot of Transformers with extra parts. The adult collecter in me just tries to content itsef with, "Cool! Optimus has a trailer!" The interior of the trailer features three additional MechTech ports.
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Well, other then to offer my final thoughts on it, that about wraps it up for the Deluxe class figure. So my thoughts here? The cab, Optimus himself, offers a solid version of the figure at this scale. The version of the figure that comes by himself offers what I find to be a superior deco, and comes with a weapon. As for the version that comes with the trailer? Well, it has a slightly inferior (but not terrible) deco, and unfortunately lacks a weapon. But... it does come with a trailer! The trailer is executed rather poorly. But... it is a trailer! And it looks good as a trailer! It just is very, well, "meh?" when opened up. So if you want the best version of this Optimus Prime, get the version without the trailer. If you want the trailer, and don't care if you don't get a weapon, get the newer release with the trailer. If you're a schmuck like me, you'll buy both and play mix & match, and you'll be happy for it.
Of course, at least in this case the trailer version had a domestic, and thus affordable release. With the next toy we look at, we'll see where I really start to lose my touch with reality, ha ha.
Of course, at least in this case the trailer version had a domestic, and thus affordable release. With the next toy we look at, we'll see where I really start to lose my touch with reality, ha ha.
So here we are, the third of the four figures I am reviewing here, and the one that, objectively, was the most insane purchase. Because when you get to the Voyager class figure, the only way to get the trailer was to get an imported version from Japan. Import figures are rarely inexpensive, and in this case that was definitely the case. So, in order to get a large plastic box, I paid over $100.00 for a figure I could have walked into a local store and gotten for less then $20.00.
I can try to justify this somewhat, there are definitely some differences in the base figure as well. All American versions of the toy have had sculpted solar panel like detail on the hood and roof, grossly oversized gas tanks on the side, and some different detailing on some parts of the robot. So, frankly, this release of the toy is much better looking and more like how Prime looks in the movie. Is this difference worth such a difference in price? |
The trailer has a pair of legs underneith that hold it up when not attached to the cab. These fold back (and don't touch the ground) for when it is being towed by the cab.
The cab, in my opinion, definitely looks better overall then any American version of this toy, but unfortunately there are a vew trade-offs. While the gas tanks on this version are much more realistically proportioned, the loss of the absurdly oversized ones does leave a bit of a gap on the side through which you can make out the gray faux-wheels that will be on the robot mode's legs. Less understandable a change is the loss of an extended panel on each side of the front of the cab (just above and behind the front wheels) that covered up the slightly gappy bit around the piece that will form the robot mode's chest. I cannot quite fathom why this change was made to the mold, it helped the vehicle mode look better and the little panels in question sat on the robot mode's shoulders in a way that did not at all detract from that mode. All things considered, though, I think comparitively the positives outweigh the negatives here.
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Alas, there is one glaring negative to this figure that cannot avoid mention, and this would be applicable to any version of this toy: the back of the cab is just one giant, gappy mess. The area above the wheels is full of holes, and the rear wall of the sleeper cabin is non existant. This is really disapointing. Although this does lead to an advantage to having a trailer with this figure: with the trailer in place, this area is mostly concealed.
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The cab features a total of five MechTech ports. There is one on either side of the sleeper cabin, and these are the only two that can be used effectively when the trailer is attached. There is one on each side of his rear end, above the rear wheels. Finally, the hole for the trailer hitch is the same size as a MechTech port and can be utilized as one.
If you are big into those MechTech weapons and are disapointed at the loss of the use of three of the ports when the trailer is attached, fear not... the trailer itself will definitely overcompensate for this! The trailer has sixteen usable ports on it! The ports are somewhat filled in when not in use by little plugs within. These plugs would probably work a lot better if they were spring loaded, and for the price one pays for this toy one might have hoped that Takara could have put that slight extra effort into the trailer's engineering. Alas, they are just held in place by gravity, and they weigh little enough that often the friction of plastic against plastic is enough to prevent them from effectively falling fully into place without your having to fiddle with it.
You may notice on the side view photo above a protrusion extending up above the rear most wheel on each side of the cab. If Takara had felt a drastic need to remove a panel from somewhere on this toy, rather then the one I complained above about their removing it might have been nice to loose these. While when we get around to transforming this into a robot these protrusions do help fill in the feet a bit, they don't seem extremely essential. They do pose a problem when attaching the trailer, however, in that if you try and turn the trailer when attached, these will often get in the way. Not an end of the world thing, just slightly annoying enough that I felt it worth noting.
That should about cover the vehicle mode, shall we take a look now at this Optimus as a robot?
If you are big into those MechTech weapons and are disapointed at the loss of the use of three of the ports when the trailer is attached, fear not... the trailer itself will definitely overcompensate for this! The trailer has sixteen usable ports on it! The ports are somewhat filled in when not in use by little plugs within. These plugs would probably work a lot better if they were spring loaded, and for the price one pays for this toy one might have hoped that Takara could have put that slight extra effort into the trailer's engineering. Alas, they are just held in place by gravity, and they weigh little enough that often the friction of plastic against plastic is enough to prevent them from effectively falling fully into place without your having to fiddle with it.
You may notice on the side view photo above a protrusion extending up above the rear most wheel on each side of the cab. If Takara had felt a drastic need to remove a panel from somewhere on this toy, rather then the one I complained above about their removing it might have been nice to loose these. While when we get around to transforming this into a robot these protrusions do help fill in the feet a bit, they don't seem extremely essential. They do pose a problem when attaching the trailer, however, in that if you try and turn the trailer when attached, these will often get in the way. Not an end of the world thing, just slightly annoying enough that I felt it worth noting.
That should about cover the vehicle mode, shall we take a look now at this Optimus as a robot?
Well, I dare say that he makes a pretty darn good looking robot. I do get a bit bothered when we have to resort to fake chest windows, especially when they fold directly over the actual windows they are emulating, but objectively this does allow them to give his chest a more stylized, movie-accurate look. Really, the only drawback of this robot are his arms, which are awfully kibble covered. Most of the kibble could be bearable, only the wheels hanging on the inside of his arms really gets annoying in that they interfere with some poses. (I'd make a joke about Popeye the Sailor Robot, but I am saving that one for reasons that should be obvious later.) Other then on his arms, though, everything on this Optimus folds together very nicely, leaving nothing that really looks out of place or like it will get in your way. This is one area where the American version of the toy would, I think, suffer, where it just seems to scream, "Look at me and my giant over-the-shoulder gas tanks!"
A few other differences to the American version, which again seem to me at least to be for the betterment of this version: The back of the feet are molded differently, and the American version had extraneous molded detail on the knee caps and on the chest's faux-windows, both of which here have been smoothed out. |
The original American version of this toy came with a MechTech weapon that was a big gun with solar panels that could change into... (drumroll please) a slightly different looking big gun with solar panels. It wasn't bad, but it did look somewhat underwhelming. There've been a few repaints of the American version that came with different weapons. One came with a rifle that could turn into an axe; I don't have it myself, but that looked like it could be fun. Another came with the underwhelming choice of a reuse of DOTM Laserbeak's weapons. Except for that last one, the weapons didn't look bad. But they did lack any resembelence to anything Optimus wielded in the films. This version of the toy has no such problem. He comes with a gun that looks very similar to the sort of weapon he wielded in the films, and activating the MechTech gimmick swapped out the gun's barrel for an energy blade that bears no small resembelence to Movie Prime's swords. Unlike with Deluxe Prime, most Voyager toys had the advantage of MechTech weapons that could lock into place for their alternate configuration, so hooray!
How does the articulation on this figure fare? Head's on a ball joint. Shoulders, ball joints. A swivel in the upper arm. Double hinged elbows. Ball joint at the wrists. Waist swivel! Again, hooray! Ball jointed hips, hinged knees, and some limited but quite useful ankle movement rounds things out.
How does the articulation on this figure fare? Head's on a ball joint. Shoulders, ball joints. A swivel in the upper arm. Double hinged elbows. Ball joint at the wrists. Waist swivel! Again, hooray! Ball jointed hips, hinged knees, and some limited but quite useful ankle movement rounds things out.
The trailer opens in a way very similar to G1 Prime's trailer. You loose the use of eight of the trailer's MechTech ports as they now end up pointing out towards the ground, but you gain the use of many more then that. All told, when open the trailer provides access to a total of twenty-eight MechTech ports!
It is a bit plain looking, with it's all gray interior. Looking closer, though, one can see an astounding amount of molded in detail. Of particular note is a molded-in Autobot logo on the floor towards the front, and as what had to be a nod to the G1 days, an arrow is pointing towards the ramp at the rear of the open trailer. I hate to compare this toy to something it is not, and it is not a G1 Optimus's trailer, but given how many similaraties it already has I find it a shame that it does not have something equivelent to the G1 trailer's artillery robot. Although I live in slim hope, a part of me wishes that maybe someday some third party company may take up the challange of producing one for this trailer. Seems to me that one of the MechTech ports (the forward most center one) would make an ideal atachment point for it. |
One minor word of caution concerning the trailer: Unlike other similar trailers (usually G1 based) that have supports for the sides that fold out from underneath, there seems to be no such thing here. The only thing holding up the sides seems to be a little plastic bar on the bottom of each side of the trailer. These seem to be up to the task for when you just have the trailer sitting there, but while I haven't tried it (as I don't wish to damage my toy if I am correct) I worry that if one decided to make a dynamic scene with multiple robots posed standing in the trailer, especially if any of these robots have a little bit of weight to them, you might end up with a broken trailer. (Pretty much the only robot I've ever stood in this trailer is Prime himself, as you can see above, and if it is something I'm going to be leaving there long, I'd do my best to try and keep him centered.) I may be worrying over nothing, but for what I paid for this I don't wish to be reckless!
So, as mentioned a few times, this particuar toy wasn't cheap. Was he worth it? Honestly, unless you are insane or independantly wealthy -- or both -- I probably wouldn't recomend it. (I myself am only one of those two things, I leave it to you to guess which. Here's a hint, however: as cool as he looks and as much as I might like to have him, you probably won't see me reviewing TFC Hercules any time soon!) Yes, it is a better and more accurate Optimus Prime. But are the differences worth the huge difference in price? Probably not. Yes, you get a trailer. But is the trailer worth paying that much more for just to get what amounts to a glorified plastic box on wheels? Probably not. If you want this Optimus Prime, save yourself a ton of money, go to your closest toy retailer, and see if they still have any of one of the domestic releases of this guy on the shelf. At least around where I live, as of this writing he can still be found. (May be tricker in the near future as room continues to be made for Transformers Prime merchandise, but I suppose we'll see how that goes.)
Of course, if you're an insane nutball and trailer slut like me, chances are you could find ways to justify paying that much for this toy, and you'll be happy to have done so. But if you do fall into that category, you likely don't need me to tell you that as you probably already have one of these, don't you?
Don't you?
Well, that's three down, one to go!
So, as mentioned a few times, this particuar toy wasn't cheap. Was he worth it? Honestly, unless you are insane or independantly wealthy -- or both -- I probably wouldn't recomend it. (I myself am only one of those two things, I leave it to you to guess which. Here's a hint, however: as cool as he looks and as much as I might like to have him, you probably won't see me reviewing TFC Hercules any time soon!) Yes, it is a better and more accurate Optimus Prime. But are the differences worth the huge difference in price? Probably not. Yes, you get a trailer. But is the trailer worth paying that much more for just to get what amounts to a glorified plastic box on wheels? Probably not. If you want this Optimus Prime, save yourself a ton of money, go to your closest toy retailer, and see if they still have any of one of the domestic releases of this guy on the shelf. At least around where I live, as of this writing he can still be found. (May be tricker in the near future as room continues to be made for Transformers Prime merchandise, but I suppose we'll see how that goes.)
Of course, if you're an insane nutball and trailer slut like me, chances are you could find ways to justify paying that much for this toy, and you'll be happy to have done so. But if you do fall into that category, you likely don't need me to tell you that as you probably already have one of these, don't you?
Don't you?
Well, that's three down, one to go!
Our final foray into Optimus Primishness today comes to us via the Dark of the Moon toyline's Ultimate Optimus Prime, billed on its packaging as the, "BIGGEST Optimus Prime Toy!" If just taking the cab into consideration, this is something of an exageration, as the cab is a bit bigger then your avarage Voyager class toy, but definitely smaller then the Leader class toys from the previous two movies. Of course, there's more to this toy then just the cab. The first clue will be that, unlike the previous two toys' plastic boxes on wheels for trailers, when you pick this one up it feels distinclly heavy... There is some weight to this, and that is a good sign that this trailer will do something more then just fold open and sit there.
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That's jumping ahead a bit, though. Let's talk about this toy in vehicle mode. The cab section is very nice looking, having all of the important details and no horribly obvious gaps to speak of. Although this figure comes with no MechTech weapons himself, the cab does feature four ports if you have weapons from other figures you'd like to use, one in front of each front fender and one in the middle of each gas tank.
The trailer? Well, like the past three looked at here, it looks like Optimus's trailer. I suppose that thus far I haven't discussed the spicific details. It definitely looks like, when designing this for the film, they simply took the G1 Optimus Prime's trailer and applied a movie asthetic to it. Thus, where the G1 Prime would have had a nice painted blue stripe down the side, here we have simply a molded on stripe in the same gray colour as the rest of the trailer. A bit bland looking, but I must admit that it fits in with the look of the movies, so I cannot complain.
Getting back to this trailer spicifically, it features two MechTech ports along the stripe on each side and an additional eight along the top, for a total of twelve. This trailer has no autonomous support for when it is not being towed, and will not sit quite right unless it is attached to the cab. There is, alas, some obvious kibble showing under the trailer when looking at it from the side, but it is not an end of the world sort of thing.
The sides of the trailer tend to be a bit obvious in having multiple panels that I'm sure you can guess at some point will be coming apart to do something. Alas, this is a bit unavoidable with this trailer, so I won't gripe too much about it. The trailer could have been designed a bit better though, in that these various panels are rather fiddly to deal with, a bit of a pain to get to sit together quite right in vehicle mode, and some of them are prone to falling off when transforming the trailer into it's alternate mode. (Fortunately, if they do fall off, it is not too much trouble to just pop them back on.)
The trailer? Well, like the past three looked at here, it looks like Optimus's trailer. I suppose that thus far I haven't discussed the spicific details. It definitely looks like, when designing this for the film, they simply took the G1 Optimus Prime's trailer and applied a movie asthetic to it. Thus, where the G1 Prime would have had a nice painted blue stripe down the side, here we have simply a molded on stripe in the same gray colour as the rest of the trailer. A bit bland looking, but I must admit that it fits in with the look of the movies, so I cannot complain.
Getting back to this trailer spicifically, it features two MechTech ports along the stripe on each side and an additional eight along the top, for a total of twelve. This trailer has no autonomous support for when it is not being towed, and will not sit quite right unless it is attached to the cab. There is, alas, some obvious kibble showing under the trailer when looking at it from the side, but it is not an end of the world sort of thing.
The sides of the trailer tend to be a bit obvious in having multiple panels that I'm sure you can guess at some point will be coming apart to do something. Alas, this is a bit unavoidable with this trailer, so I won't gripe too much about it. The trailer could have been designed a bit better though, in that these various panels are rather fiddly to deal with, a bit of a pain to get to sit together quite right in vehicle mode, and some of them are prone to falling off when transforming the trailer into it's alternate mode. (Fortunately, if they do fall off, it is not too much trouble to just pop them back on.)
Let's put aside the trailer for a bit and take a look at the robot. Remember when I said I was going to save the Popeye jokes for later? Well... His strength can be called upon, 'cause he eats his energon, he's Optimus the Sailor Robot! (Toot, toot!) The Voyager class version had a lot of kibble from the front of the truck on his arms. With this one, though, the arms are literally the front of the truck split in half. They're big and they're beefy. On the bright side, since the wheels are on the outside rather then the inside, you don't have the problems with articulation that the Voyager mold has. The only other odd kibble are the little bits over his shoulders. Other then that, everything folds away pretty neatly.
For the most part this is a decent looking Optimus Prime. He's a bit tall and thinner looking then the average Prime, but not in a way that takes away from his look. And this thinness will be countermanded later when his trailer comes into play. His articulation is, alas, a bit limited which in this size is somewhat disapointing. I understand that this figure was mainly designed for an ability to combine with its trailer, but that doesn't mean they couldn't have done more for the base robot. The head can roatate 360 degrees. The shoulders can swivel forwards or backwards (only hindered a bit by the over-the-shoulder kibble) and raise outwards. There's a swivel right above the elbows, and the elbows themseves bend, but not quite even 90 degrees. The hips, like the shoulders, swivel forward and back and also can bend outward. There's a swivel right below the hips, and his knees can bend 90 degrees. Nothing in the waist or foot. |
As mentioned, this figure came with no MechTech weapons, but his hands can theoretically hold them. In one of the photos above, in fact, you'll observe him borrowing the weapons of both his Voyager and Deluxe class selves. They don't quite peg in quite as well as you might hope, as the weapons bump against the top of the truck-hood forarms, but they fit in far enough to stay put.
So, if he doesn't come with MechTech weapons, what does this Optimus Prime come with? Well, in a bit of a bookend for this review, much like the Cyberverse Prime, this Optimus Prime's trailer converts to an exo-suit for Optimus to wear. It is somewhat more complex and form fitting then the smaller version, though. Optimus fits into it and it closes around him, beefing up his abdomen and groin, and extending his limbs. |
At first glance, you might look at this and think, "Meh, bit of a shell-former, is it not? I mean, it basically just has all of the panels that form the outside of the trailer hanging off his back!" Yes, this is true. But it isn't that bad... The various pieces are articulated so that you can position them at different angles. With them all pointed mostly downwards (just flayed out a bit) it gives him a bit of a dramatic cape look. Or you can position the panels upwards for the winged, "butterfly" Prime look. This is actually a surprisingly dynamic look, but I tend to have him on my shelf with the panels down if for no other reason then with them up this Prime is freaking huge! It must be this configuration they had in mind when they made that "BIGGEST Optimus Prime" boast. Don't get me wrong, though. Even with the panels aimed downward this makes for a pretty gosh darn big Optimus Prime.
He does retain some some articulation in this configuration, but in many ways he does basically become a giant brick. His head, being unchanged, can still move. His arms aren't nearly as flexable as they once were, but retain a surprising amount of their posability. His legs are the most hindered. They can no longer move forward or backward, nor can he bend at the knee. He can still adopt a spread-legged stance, and the feet on the exo-suit can pivot on a ratcheting joint to remain flat to the ground.
He does retain some some articulation in this configuration, but in many ways he does basically become a giant brick. His head, being unchanged, can still move. His arms aren't nearly as flexable as they once were, but retain a surprising amount of their posability. His legs are the most hindered. They can no longer move forward or backward, nor can he bend at the knee. He can still adopt a spread-legged stance, and the feet on the exo-suit can pivot on a ratcheting joint to remain flat to the ground.
Hanging on Prime's back is an extremely large gun that can be swung up over his head bringing with it a mask with a targeting scope in it. He can hold the gun in front of himself, grasping it with both of his hands. The gun has three different light and sound features (one of which includes a Peter Cullen voiced, "I am Optimus Prime," for those feeling nostalgic for the ROTF Leader class toy), and has two MechTech ports on it for people who want guns on their gun.
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There may be a lot of people turned a bit off by this thing's limited posability, or all of the excess panels hanging off of the back... but here's the kicker: other then the gun (and if you don't count the panels that fall off and need to be popped back on) the trailer transforms all as one piece. I think the only way that this thing could have had any truely decent posability would be for it to have come apart into seperate pieces that attached to the base figure, such as is the case with the previously reviewed third party trailers for either Ultra Magnus or G2 Optimus Prime. But those were third party products made for adult collectors, where as this is a Hasbro product designed with children in mind, so we cannot expect the same complexety. This is a toy first, and I think it succeeds on that level.
The main disapointment for me is that, unlike the Cyberverse version, this one doesn't feature a third "base" or "battlestation" mode. Especially since other then the lack of a third mode, this Optimus really reminds me of another Optimus from the distant past, the G1 Powermaster Optimus Prime. That was our very first Optimus Prime that combined with his trailer to form a larger Optimus Prime with almost no articulation... It's hard not to feel this toy could be a direct decendant of that one. But in the end the lack of a base mode is not the end of the world, and including one would likely have made the exo-suit suffer. Still, it amuses me that in some ways the smallest version of this toy is more versatile then the largest. There certainly has never been a case like this before. Just ask ROTF Legends Devestator.
The main disapointment for me is that, unlike the Cyberverse version, this one doesn't feature a third "base" or "battlestation" mode. Especially since other then the lack of a third mode, this Optimus really reminds me of another Optimus from the distant past, the G1 Powermaster Optimus Prime. That was our very first Optimus Prime that combined with his trailer to form a larger Optimus Prime with almost no articulation... It's hard not to feel this toy could be a direct decendant of that one. But in the end the lack of a base mode is not the end of the world, and including one would likely have made the exo-suit suffer. Still, it amuses me that in some ways the smallest version of this toy is more versatile then the largest. There certainly has never been a case like this before. Just ask ROTF Legends Devestator.
Well there we have it, four Optimus Primes and four trailers. Each one has its advantages and disadvantages.
The Cyberverse version is certainly the most versatile. There's a lot of play value here (for those who, I dunno, play with their toys) and it looks good sitting on a shelf. But it is the smallest of the bunch, and it does feature a few sacrifices of accuracy to fit everything it does into this small package.
The Deluxe version probably has the best looking vehicle mode of any of these. The robot mode is decent enough. The trailer, while very nice for the vehicle mode, is kind of useless otherwise.
The Voyager version has a vehicle mode that looks great from some angles, but has a few unfortunate flaws (such as the huge gap in the rear). But, while it has a few cheats (such as the fake chest windows) to acomplish it, it does have the best looking robot of the bunch. (The wheels on the inside of the arms are a bit unfortunate, alas.) The trailer is objectively useless in robot mode, but is G1-ish enough that my nostalgia kicks in and is somewhat fond of it.
The Ultimate Optimus Prime... well, if you like big, you'll find a lot to love here. Especially when combined with the trailer. He's pretty huge! And he looks good sitting on a shelf. But he does suffer some lacking articulation.
The Cyberverse version is certainly the most versatile. There's a lot of play value here (for those who, I dunno, play with their toys) and it looks good sitting on a shelf. But it is the smallest of the bunch, and it does feature a few sacrifices of accuracy to fit everything it does into this small package.
The Deluxe version probably has the best looking vehicle mode of any of these. The robot mode is decent enough. The trailer, while very nice for the vehicle mode, is kind of useless otherwise.
The Voyager version has a vehicle mode that looks great from some angles, but has a few unfortunate flaws (such as the huge gap in the rear). But, while it has a few cheats (such as the fake chest windows) to acomplish it, it does have the best looking robot of the bunch. (The wheels on the inside of the arms are a bit unfortunate, alas.) The trailer is objectively useless in robot mode, but is G1-ish enough that my nostalgia kicks in and is somewhat fond of it.
The Ultimate Optimus Prime... well, if you like big, you'll find a lot to love here. Especially when combined with the trailer. He's pretty huge! And he looks good sitting on a shelf. But he does suffer some lacking articulation.
Overall, however, I would happily recomend to Optimus Prime fans any or all of these. I will make the disclaimer that unless you really, really love trailers, when it comes to the Deluxe and Voyager versions (especially the import-only Voyager) you could probably do well to save yourself a bit of money and get the versions without trailers. On the other hand... I love me some trailers! Woo hoo!
To the right is a comparison photo of the four of them in their robot modes, along with a Sailor Moon DVD case for scale. Review added 7 March 2012 by Yotsuya. Please comment! |
Hello, Yotsuya here again! Sorry to be poking my nose into an already finished review, but this review got an interesting response over at the Seibertron.com forums from a member named DISCHARGE. It seems that DISCHARGE is quite the enthusiast of the Cyberverse Optimus Prime, and had some additional thoughts on it, including some photos of his or her (can be difficult to discern gender online, sometimes) versions of the toy which include some of the varients I do not have.
Anyway, I invited DISCHARGE to do a somewhat more formal write up of these thoughts if (Gah, damn English for not having an apropriate gender neutral pronoun!) he or she wished, but this offer was declined. I was given permission to use the material myself, however, so I thought I would share DISCHARGE's photos and thoughts with you here.
Anyway, I invited DISCHARGE to do a somewhat more formal write up of these thoughts if (Gah, damn English for not having an apropriate gender neutral pronoun!) he or she wished, but this offer was declined. I was given permission to use the material myself, however, so I thought I would share DISCHARGE's photos and thoughts with you here.
DISCHARGE seemed sad that I hadn't gone into more detail on the varients, but of course I can only review what I actually have! Thanks to this photo we can get a look at them, though. At the top we see the "Battle in Moonlight" version with a black trailer, and with the red and blue colours on the cab swapped. Below that is the trailer I have connected to the cab that actually came with it, with slightly lighter colours and no flame details. On the bottom from left to right: a recolour of the one with the winged backpack with brighter colours, a different flame pattern, and black wings; the "Battle Steel" version that I did mention briefly, that comes with guns and swords; and finally the original version of this mold, which is the one that I did feature promanantly in my review.
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In my above comments, I mentioned the the unfortunate gap in the side of the trailer. DISCHARGE actually saw opertunity here. The gap is there to allow room inside the trailer for the handles on the missle launcher that Optimus holds onto when his trailer is in battle station mode. And wouldn't you know it, it seems that the guns from the "Battle Steel" version can attach to these handles.
(above photo from TFWiki.net)
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I had an epiphany just now. You know what DISCHARGE has created here? Hmm... black trailer, with red stripes... twin guns on the sides... We have here a movie version of G2 Optimus Prime!
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DISCHARGE (whose name I am using a lot so I can try and avoid those pronouns!) took issue with my comment that the accassories from the different versions were mutuallty exclusive. In fact, the Optimus to the left seems to be wearing accessories from four of them! It has the trailer, the weapons from the Battle Steel version, and two of the winged backpacks. DISCHARGE didn't seem to fit on the second trailer, but I think we can overlook that, ha ha. This does look mighty, mighty impressive. DISCHARGE refered to it as a Cyberverse Ultimate Prime, and I think that suits this look well.
I suppose, though, that poor little me with only one winged backpack and the trailer must still look at his accssories as mutually exclusive, as I don't have a way to attach the winged backpack there, and with only one of them it would look pretty funny off center like that... But if you, too, have all of these accessories together, then here is a mighty new look for your Prime to emulate. |
Finally, one of the things that Cyberverse brought us, being a smaller scale, was playsets that the figures could interact with. I wasn't that interested in collecting a lot of Cyberverse figures or playsets... in fact, the limit of my collection seems to be Cyberverse Optimus Prime. So I was unaware that the various playsets (which include the trailer's battle station mode) could connect together to form larger play environments for your tiny Transformers to inhabit. To the right is a photo supplied by DISCHARGE which includes the two Cyberverse Prime trailers interconnected with a plethora of other playsets to form what can only be described as an epic looking scene.
So... Cyberverse Prime. I already thought it was the Dark of the Moon Prime with the most versatility and play value. But little did I know. DISCHARGE has shown us whole new levels of enjoyment that can be taken from this excellent figure. |
Addendum added 8 March 2012, written by Yotsuya based on comments by DISCHARGE. Additional photos for the addendum supplied by DISCHARGE, used with permission. Please comment!
A quick post script: Anyone who has read my introductary note on my front page may recall mention that well before starting this website, I made a brief (and in my opinion, failed) attempt at being a video reviewer. Well, the first of the reviews I made back then was for the Voyager class Optimus Prime discussed above. If you feel like torturing yourself, you can view that video below. Good luck!