Optimus Prime

I was very excited to hear about the Transformers: Generations line. As someone who got back into Transformers after both Classics and Universe, all I really had to pick from were movie toys, and even though a lot of them were quite good, I wanted something a bit more… traditional. Thankfully, this Optimus Prime is able to deliver on that. This is the Cybertronian Optimus Prime, featured in the new video game Transformers: War for Cybertron. The game takes place before the old G1 cartoon on Cybertron, showing some of the initial conflicts between the Autobots and Decepticons.

Originally I had no intentions of picking this figure up, but after playing through the video game, I found myself liking the character design more and more. When the Generations toys started showing up at my local Toys R Us, I had to pick one up. This is Optimus in his vehicle mode. It’s a Cybertronian six-wheeled truck-like vehicle. It’s very chunky, yet sleek at the same time. The top has a five mm peg where the gun can be placed like a turret. The truck rolls very well, and makes a very satisfying sound when you do so.

When you look at the bottom of the vehicle, the transformation may be a bit unclear. His head is looking straight down, with his arms folded up above his head. It is definitely intimidating. This transformation is a very complex one. On the new transformation difficulty chart, this is a Level 4 (Advanced), where other deluxe figures are usually Level 3.

The first step requires you to unhook the blue panels along both sides of the truck. The wheels flip down on a very solid and satisfying hinge. The smoke stacks then clip into the blue side panels and flip against the side of the legs. After that you can unfold the legs and pull the knees down. The tail lights in the vehicle mode flip around to make knee pads.

The chest section is by far the most difficult part of this transformation. The hood of the truck has a panel that is flipped up before lifting up the entire upper cover of the vehicle. After lifting this panel up, it’s easier to unfold the arms from along the side of the truck. There are two panels that form the shoulder pads that can easily be slid flush with the shoulder.

Once you do this, the large front wheels are flipped from the front of the vehicle to the back, to allow clearance for the arms to fold in place.

The next part may be the trickiest. The front hood, along with the lower section of the body is all on a rotating joint. You need to pull the front of the hood forward, and then swivel the hood 180 degrees around so that it’s lined up with the gap formed between the two wheels.

Then the hood is folded up so that it is parallel with the back of Optimus. The lower leg assembly is then pushed so that it all folds up neatly against the torso.

The chest then turns on another swivel that turns it upright, and the gray sections of the lower abdominal area hold everything in place. A simple flip of the two side panels along the hips, and the most difficult part of this transformation is complete.

Flip out the hands and click the head down into the chest, and the transformation is done.

Once you have Optimus in his robot mode, you have a very striking robot. He has a very bulky outline to his body that really makes him stick out. It’s also fairly accurate to the on-screen model in the video game. Many of the panels along his legs and back are all actually on the game version of this character as well. The amount of sculpted detail that lines this toy is fantastic. Even as your transform the figure, there are lines and panels underneath the chest or on the inside of the wheel hinges that were unnecessary, but make the figure even more detailed.

His head is very sharp and angular. The ears on this version are much longer, almost like rabbit ears. There’s a very small piece for light piping in his eyes that just barely works.

There are pink lines and details that cover his robot mode. Although these may seem a bit garish in color, it actually is accurate to the game. Many of the Autobots feature shades of vibrant red that line their robot and vehicle mode. Although the colors may bother one at first, after a while you barely even notice them.

There is a trend also in the video game models, for the Transformers to have subliminal Autobot and Decepticon insignias on their back. Although it’s much smaller than the in game version, Optimus also features this on his back.

There is only one thing that really bothers me about this toy, and that is the back hood. Compare these two shots, one with the hood folded up, and another where the hood is simply hidden from view:

When you have the hood out of the way, Optimus’ proportions and outline are much more defined, giving him a more muscular and heroic appearance. It’s a shame to have that covered up, but it is a very tiny gripe that does not diminish my enjoyment of the toy. Optimus’ posability is quite good. His head is on a very free ball joint that allows him to look up fairly well. His arms are on several hinges with a good range of motion.

His legs are also very articulated. Although the ball joint for the leg may initially seem a bit limited due to the front skirt armor, there is an additional hinge on there that folds up to give the legs a wider range of motion.

He features double jointed knees and one of the best ankle joints I have ever seen. The ball joint for the foot is on a swivel that allows you to pull the foot forward and back, and also tilt side to side quite nicely.

Unfortunately, Optimus does not feature the massive two-handed battle axe that he wields in the video game. However, the gun he does come with is very cool. The gun that serves as a turret in vehicle mode is spring loaded. When you lift the small ammo clip, the front section flips out to form a battle rifle. It’s a very fun gimmick that turns a tiny cute turret into a sizable weapon for Optimus to hold.

One curious thing about Optimus is that he features several 5mm peg holes along his body. Using these you can clip the rifle onto the side of Optimus’ arm, and it actually fits into the crevice of the arm perfectly. This also allows you to store the weapon on his back neatly as well.

Of course, you could always just use these holes in another way, and give Optimus a ludicrous amount of firepower as well.

Cybertronian Optimus is an incredible value for his Deluxe price point. Although some may come down on him for his small size and poor scaling with Deluxe Cybertronian Bumblebee, I think small size makes his engineering and overall fun factor even greater. If you only want to pick up one toy from the Generations line, I would definitely make it Cybertronian Optimus.