Transformers Reviews

Cybertron Mode Optimus Prime

May 24, 2008 12:25 am Ryan Animated, Deluxe, Toy Reviews

Now for the guy that’s been guarding my monitor for weeks, and is from what is fast becoming one of my favourite toylines yet - Cybertron Mode Optimus Prime from Transformers Animated.

This figure is from the first wave of Animated toys to hit the shelves here, along with Bumblebee, Lockdown, and Prowl. I hear most of the US has to wait. Too bad. It’s a nice toy. Sure, there’ll be bigger, badder versions coming out soon, but that’s no excuse to skip this toy (or any of the Animated toys, for that matter!). I can’t comment on whether or not Prime looks like a real Cybertronic semi, what with not having many around for comparison, but it’s a decent looking vehicle mode. Naturally, it’s mostly in red and blue, with a surprising amount of translucent blue plastic forming the front and top of the cab. It’s designed to look fast, and captures the style of Animated pretty decently. The gaps in the pieces are a bit worrisome, particularly the rear section and under the windshield. Otherwise, it’s a pretty nice truck. But who buys Optimus Prime to look at a truck?

Transformation from Truck to Robot

If you’ve got it stored on the back of the truck, remove the axe.
Pull the back end of the truck out, extending the legs. Flip the feet up at the back end.
Rotate both legs at the knee (if you can’t do this, you haven’t extended the legs far enough).
Flip up the blue painted pieces on either side of the waist, and pull the abdomen and legs down (the red piece just above the silver abdomen slides in a track).
Rotate the windshield down, and then the forwardmost portion of it back up.
Swing the two halves of the cab out, so that the upper part of the fenders covers the wheels. Position the windshield so that the top edge matches the line formed by the fenders that just rotated out. Snap the head into place.
Swing the abdomen up, so that the squared notch on it locks with the square peg under the windshield. This one seems a bit tricky.
Rotate the arms around, maybe have him strike a pose or something? Don’t forget to slide his left hand so that they both match, and rotate the tailpipes so that they look good.

Not too bad, was it? Colour-wise, there’s not much difference between the modes. Most of these parts were visible as a truck, really. This is a really nice figure. If all the Animated toys are this nice (so far, this has worked out), it spells an expensive year for me. Few figures can boast this level of posability, although it probably contributed to the problems I mentioned above with the vehicle mode. I can’t think of much you can’t convince him to do, and the balance seems to be pretty nice. As I type this, he’s balanced on one foot, poised to swing his axe and split some unlucky Decepticon right in two (wait, this is pre-Earth Prime… must be an uncooperative space bridge component, then…). My G1 Optimus sure couldn’t do that, even if he wasn’t broken. Speaking of axes, Prime comes with a not too shabby assortment of weapons for a Deluxe. He comes with his dual bladed axe, and his roof canopy forms a shield that pegs onto his left arm. But that’s not all he can do - the halves of the canopy separate, and the two blades of the axe fold together, allowing the canopy to attach as an even bigger axe blade.

Articulation Breakdown

Head - Ball joint! I swear, this is such a simple way to add to the fun of a figure. What pose is worth the trouble if you can’t get the face pointed the right way?
Arms - Ball joint shoulders, ball joint + swivel elbows (he can touch his shoulders!)
Waist - Swivel joint
Legs - Ball joint hips, two swivel joints at the knee, limited swivel at the ankle.

Score

Deco: Rating: . This one is a gimme. It’s hard to mess up an Optimus Prime deco - red up top, blue on the bottom, throw some silvers and yellows in. It’s Animated, so it’s all bright colours, but it suits the dynamic design.
Posability: Rating: . I’m sure I’ll run into something he can’t do one of these days, but I can’t think of a pose he hasn’t done for me yet.
Transformation: Rating: . It’s a satisfying transformation, following the scheme Prime has used for over two decades (rear end = legs, cab = chest and arms), but with some interesting twists, pardon the pun.
Badassery: Rating: . Optimus deserves a larger size class, and I know he’ll get it, but I’ll still dock this version for it. He’s got a superhero build, a big axe, and he’s Optimus freaking Prime.
Vehicle Mode: Rating: . It’s a nice truck, for sure, but the gaps in the pieces just bug me too much to score it higher.
Robot Mode: Rating: . Again, he’s got a superhero build and he’s got unbelievable posability. It’s hard for him not to look amazing. There’s a slight angle to the soles of the feet, pushing him toward dynamic poses that look pretty awesome.