A TF review written exclusively for Inside Pulse by Alessandro “Rikkomba” Riccombeni

Christmas comes earlier in Italy, it seems: a big package from Joel made me think of it, while I had to get dressed and go out in no time to sign for the parcels before seeing the courier taking them away to sell them on the black market. They usually justify it saying “Customs, customs, you know… customs are so lazy”. They are a good reason to buy a Megatron reissue, I can tell you.
Ok, is not true, but it COULD be in some parallel universe. Maybe.

Anyway, being today December, 25th I gladly received TFs like Titanium Rodimus Prime (which will be reviewed very soon) Classic Optimus Prime (which will be reviewed even sooner) and Toy’s Dream Project Cybertron Optimus Prime(which I will never review), that I got just because I already have any other variant: after 10 I just couldn’t stop anymore, call me junkie.

Sales are the right of all sentient collectors

Mind that “sentient”: with all the TFs around, why should one hurry and pay more when it’s possible to pay less than half with some patience? That’s why I got Classic Optimus Prime so late. Well spent money, I can tell you, and being half the price only made it sweeter
Actually, it’s smaller than last years Voyager/Mega sized toys, I think that Energon Ironhide or Cybertron Leo Breaker could be 30-40% larger than this one. However, good things come in small molds, as Alpha Trion’s Goodnight Tales always have always told us. I guess the old man was right. And he’d better be, after I spent 200$ for it (ehr…)! But let’s move on…

Autobots, transform and get rid of those damn Cyber Thingies before I lose it!

Oh, yeah, baby, they made it. Our favourite no profit company, Aaron & Little Friends Ltd, finally gave us an Optimus Prime with hte gimmick we always wanted: NO GIMMICK. Guys, this is coolness. Ok, vehicle mode’s smokestacks and windvane change into a couple of weapons, but this is not a real gimmick, it’s just more coolness!
No springs, no electronics, no (dumb) voice chip, nothing at all: just a cool truck that rolls on its wheels.

Ok, doors don’t open, there’s not a single steering wheel to be seen and so on, but we are talking about Classic TFs, not alternators: in fact, this TF got repainted only once as Ultra Magnus, instead of being reused a dozen times like any Alternator mold… man, this is all so cool!

Until the day… till all are on clearance!

Ok, maybe it’s a little too “simple” and sensibly smaller than most voyagers, but at least it’s a solid TF in both modes. As static as its alternate mode is, its trasnformation sequence is quite involved, especially for the upper part of the body. I guess that if you give them enough freedom, Hasbro’s Macdesigners can give us lots of satisfaction. Unluckily enough, they seem to have recovered their old passion for Macdonalds before getting to work on Movie Megatron. Ain’t it cool? NO. IT’S NOT.

One shall stand… that’s it.

Yes, not only Optimus can stand without problems (differently from my Titanium Rodimus Prime, sigh) but it’s also articulated to the bone!

Neck, shoulders, elbows, waist, trunk… I think that making this toy a leader class TF with articulated hands and feet would have been awesome, but that’s life.

Prime’s robot mode is fresh air after last year molds’ bulkiness: long legs, strong arms, tiny waist, you could think the Autobot leader at the climax of the war subscribed for Men’s Health.
Posability is excellent, this toy is very versatile, almost at Cybertron Metroplex’ level.

The front part of the truck stay as pure kibble on its arms, but with so much coolness in front of you it’s hardly a real downside.
Color scheme stays more or less the same, with the 3 primary colors accompanied by some light gray. I’d like to see more gold and silver instead of plain yellow and grey, but that’s just me.

Optimus Prime, MAXIMIZE! Ehr…

Trukk, not munky! No gorillas, no kitties, no strange animals of sort: here we have one of the nicest Autobot leaders ever, with a solid vehicle mode and a well articulated robot mode. And no invasive gimmicks. We got here a Transformer toy that is 100% a Transformer!

Ok, it’s not too far from being a shellformer, but who cares, that’s just cool. Yeah. Buy one as soon as you can, unless you are sparing money for Movie Preview Protoform Prime (yeuuuuuuuuuckk!).

On Elohim’s Energon scale, I give Optimus Prime 8 out of 10 cubes.

Take care,

Rikkomba

The Bottom Line

Charles Emanuele- Classics Optimus Prime is the greatest Prime figure besides MP Prime. Normally a statement like that would come at the end of a BL but I wanted to make sure all of you reading this are in the proper mind set. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the figure, it has the right amount of articulation, a challenging transformation sequence that isn’t overly complicated, and and interesting weapons interface. If G1 was being made today then without a shadow of doubt this is how Prime would look. If you haven’t bought this figure yet I really have nothing to say to you except,GO BUY IT NOW!!!!!

Last 5 posts by Rikkomba

• Transformers Review: Universe 2.0 Mini-con 12 pack - August 30th, 2008
• Transformers Review: Cybertron Minicon Vs. sets wave 4 - May 3rd, 2008
• Transformers Review: Micron Booster 4 - February 6th, 2008
• Transformers Review: Movie Longarm - December 22nd, 2007
• Transformers Review: Japanese store exclusive Wedgeshape - August 28th, 2007