Review #61: Robotmasters Optimus Prime
and His Dollar Store Knock-Off
Here we go with another Optimus Prime review! This one is a toy that was sold, under the name of "G1 Convoy," in the Japanese-only Robotmasters toy line. I'm not an expert on that particular toy line, but it is described on the TF Wiki as, "a Takara sub-line which ran from 2004-2005 consisting mainly of redecoes of previously-released toys with several all-new molds of popular characters thrown into the mix." And, of course, as Optimus Prime is a popular character, he was one of the figures graced with a new mold. This is what we are looking at today.
This is a smaller Optimus Prime. His toy line didn't have the different scale designations we are familiar with today, but if I had to classify him, I'd say he was on the lower end of the Deluxe Class, or maybe even just on the higher end of the Scout Class. I won't sugar coat this: the truck mode is something of a failure. Not as obviously so from some angles, but it becomes most obvious when looked at directly from the side. The red cab doesn't extend down far enough, and seems to just float slightly above the rest of him. |
He has a few other problems in vehicle mode. The panels that his headlights are on are obviously recessed. Also, his head is plainly visible on the top of his cab. (Although, to give it credit, there is at least some vague suggestion of molded detail on it to help it blend in, which might have almost worked if it wasn't entirely the wrong color to do so!)
Still, for all of the flaws that the vehicle mode has, there's a certain charm it has that I find difficult to put into words. Despite the flaws, I can't help but to like it!
Still, for all of the flaws that the vehicle mode has, there's a certain charm it has that I find difficult to put into words. Despite the flaws, I can't help but to like it!
Moving onto robot mode, on appearance alone he is a really good representation of G1 Optimus Prime!
He came with a plethora of accessories, only a few of which I use regularly and thus have handy. Not featured in this review are two extra fists, and a big, weird looking gun. (The extra fists were designed for use with this other gun.) What you will see pictured are a gun looking more like what you'd expect Optimus to have, and his energy axe. The gun just slips into the hole on either one of his stock fists. To install his axe, you have to pop off one of his fists and pop the axe in in its place. His articulation is a bit hit and miss. On his upper body, it is excellent! His head swivels 360 degrees. You can also have him look up a bit with the transformation joint. His shoulders are on ball joints. He has upper arm swivels, and elbows that bend 90 degrees on a very soft ratchet. His waist has a swivel. Things are a bit less outstanding in his legs, alas. His hips have pretty good ball joints. But the lack of any sort of swivel in the legs below the hips limits how you use them. The only other articulation in the legs is that the knees can bend. You are rather limited to how you can pose his legs and still have him remain balanced so that he can stand unaided. Your main options are a spread legged "A" stance, or crouching and bending forward. |
I did manage to get him into a better pose for the posed photo in this review. (See the photo to the left above.) But that is definitely not a stable pose! This was a case of, "After ages of fiddling, I finally got him to stand! Now to get this photo taken, before there is any even minor vibrations in the room that will cause him to tumble over with haste!"
This is still a quite dynamic toy, however. Indeed, it was used with no modification (other then, for no reason I can fathom, swapping his arms around, and then swapping just the fists back so that they are on the right sides, between 1:13 - 1:36 in the video to the right) in a rather famous Robot Chicken sketch. Well, I say no modification... but obviously the real toy doesn't transform into a coffin! (The different toy used presenting the moral at the end is the Optimus reviewed here.) |
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That mostly wraps things up for this toy. But you may have noticed that the title of this article contained the words, "and His Dollar Store Knock-Off." So, what's up with that?
Well, I am normally anti-bootleg when it comes to Transformers toys. The main exception (and one I've never felt completely good about) that I've made was for some different colored Seekers to help bolster my Decepticon ranks, but for the six main Seekers I made sure to stick with versions that Hasbro produced! And also, you may recall from my review of them that I ended up not thinking very highly of these bootlegs.
So, what am I looking at here, then?
Well, I am normally anti-bootleg when it comes to Transformers toys. The main exception (and one I've never felt completely good about) that I've made was for some different colored Seekers to help bolster my Decepticon ranks, but for the six main Seekers I made sure to stick with versions that Hasbro produced! And also, you may recall from my review of them that I ended up not thinking very highly of these bootlegs.
So, what am I looking at here, then?
We're looking at this! This is the only other knock-off of an official Transformer that I own, and unlike the Seekers, I can't think poorly on the company that made this one. The Seekers were direct copies of the official molds, in some cases (ones that I didn't get) sold in decos directly copying official ones, and for similar prices and in similar packaging. They were very much in direct competition with the official product.
This, on the other hand, was at a dollar store. Not one of those "dollar and more" stores, where while still cheap overall, most things are actually in the $2.00 - $5.00 range. Nope, this was a buck. And it is cheaply made, with many parts simplified and vastly remolded to where at best the toy can be thought of as, "inspired by" the toy it is knocking off, rather then being a direct copy. |
This is what a knock-off toy should be, and for that, I for some reason love this particular example. There is no mistaking this for an official product. And there is no way that this thing is even a blip on Hasbro's radar. It is no threat to the official toys! It is a cheap piece of crap, but that gives it its own charm.
The cab itself is a giant chunk of red chromed plastic. Normally, excessive chrome turns me off. There is a place for it, like grills and bumpers. Certainly not an entire cab of a truck! But on this toy, it becomes part of its crappy charm. Shape-wise, the cab is actually rather nice, and it features some good molded in detail. Somewhat awkwardly implemented (with the obvious wires visible through the windows) this toy actually has a light up feature! Push the little black button under the grill on the front of the cab, and a light bulb inside the cab will light up. And amazingly, where as usually with cheap toys like this you can only use the feature until the battery dies and then you're SOL, here they actually made it so that you can replace the battery.
Transformation to robot mode is something of a mess. How so, you may wonder? Well, the bottom half transforms much as one would expect. But the top half... well, the top half doesn't so much transform as it does get assembled. The head and both arms are completely separate pieces, not used at all in vehicle mode, that you attach to form the robot. If this were an official toy, I'd probably take one look at how it "transforms" before I declared it the worst Transformer ever. But again, as a cheap-arse bootleg, it is kind of part of this toy's charm!
Once he is assembled, he does indeed look like Optimus Prime, albeit one who has a lot of dark grey where you might have expected blue. The faction symbol on his shoulder is a Reprolabel that was added by me. In addition to his head and arms, he comes with two accessories: his gun and an axe. Unlike as is traditional with Optimus Prime, the axe is hand held rather then coming directly out from his wrist. |
Articulation is, while more limited, not too dissimilar to the official toy. The head can swivel 360 degrees, although since it is just attached via a post rather then pivoting up from within the cab, it lacks the "looking upward" ability that the official toy sports. The shoulders are on ball joints, although ones not nearly as expressive as on the official toy. This toy lacks the upper arm swivel of the official toy. The elbow bends 90 degrees. The waist can swivel. The articulation in the legs is all but identical to the official toy, with ball joints at the hips and bending knees. Alas, they have all of the same limitations as discussed above in regards to the official toy.
At this point, I wouldn't blame you if you're thinking, "Are you sure this is a knock-off of the Robotmasters toy? They look pretty different." Yup, I'm sure. The following photos may help illustrate.
At this point, I wouldn't blame you if you're thinking, "Are you sure this is a knock-off of the Robotmasters toy? They look pretty different." Yup, I'm sure. The following photos may help illustrate.
Looking at the robots back-to-back like that, and paying attention to them below the waist, it becomes clear that the legs on the bootleg are near copies of the legs on the original toy. Some of the details are a bit different. The bootleg lacks gas cans, and instead has a wider wheel well for the rear wheels. The feet store differently for vehicle mode. But overall, the similarities are impossible to ignore. Heck, the bootleg even still has wheel wells for the front wheels, even though the wheels don't go there on this version of the toy!
The weapons are a bit of a give away, too. The ones on the bootleg are simplified a bit, have had the way they are wielded altered, and they've been upscaled a bit (especially the gun), but they are quite clearly based on the ones from the official toy.
The weapons are a bit of a give away, too. The ones on the bootleg are simplified a bit, have had the way they are wielded altered, and they've been upscaled a bit (especially the gun), but they are quite clearly based on the ones from the official toy.
Speaking of the weapons, the bootleg does use 5mm posts for them, which made for some nice compatibility with official toys. I'd been wanting a new gun for my Powermaster Optimus Prime (so that the core robot could have a gun without leaving one off of the base mode), and this bootleg provided a perfect solution! There was even a different colored version of the bootleg (if memory serves, gold chrome rather than red) that came with a darker colored gun. There was one left on the peg at the dollar store way back in the day when I went to get it... Alas, when I took it to the register, they wouldn't sell it to me! Apparently, there'd been some sort of recall on these. Fortunately, after I begged and pleaded, and probably just to get rid of me, the staff at the store eventually ripped open the package and just gave me the gun. Score!
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Still, one does wonder what the recall was about... I guess it is a good thing I don't make a habit of sticking my toys in my mouth and sucking on them! Who knows, he could be toxic!
And so we come to the end of another review. Thus, to the left you shall find my traditional size comparison photo showing these two figures along with a standard sized DVD case.
So, my final thoughts. The Robotmasters toy is a cool figure. However, there have been better and more recent Optimus Prime toys. Unless you're a rabid collector specifically of Optimus Prime (like I am) or you are a Robot Chicken fan wanting to recreate a classic skit for yourself (stranger reasons to buy a toy exist) there's no compelling reason to specifically seek this toy out. The dollar store bootleg? Well, he is an example of a bootleg done right: that is, on the cheap, clearly not an official product, and in no way is it fooling anyone into thinking otherwise. As a novelty, he could be fun to own. (Or he could be good just to mine for parts, like giving his gun to someone else.) But I've no idea where you might find one these days, and if you do you may wish to pause to consider that it was probably recalled for a reason, especially if you have children or pets that might come into contact with it. Review added 19 August 2014 by Yotsuya. Comments are welcomed! |
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