Thursday, February 7, 2013
Review: Transformers Generations Optimus Prime
| Figure Information | |
| Manufacturer: | Takara Tomy |
| Figure Number: | 01 |
| Origin Series: | Transformers: Fall of Cybertron |
| Scale: | Non-scale |
| Height: | Approximately 13cm tall |
| Original Price: | 3,129 Yen |
| Packaging: |
Technically speaking, I was expecting something that will give me the wow factor for Takara's packaging for the Generations line as they've been doing for most of their previous lines; however, Takara decided to stick to hasbro's packaging this time around, so basically, we get the same package look for Takara this time, only difference is the blister card packaging now has a Takara Tomy logo in it and the labels have been adjusted to a japanese text. So, that said, we get a CG model of FoC Optimus on the box, and we clearly see Optimus in all his delicious metallic glory!
The backside, of course, retains the sample product shot in both bot and alt modes, along with his bio and tech specs; one thing notable (though I didn't take a pic of it) is that there's also a silhouette of 5 military based cons with the mark "Project Buticus, Coming soon" at the back.
| Details - Vehicle Mode: |
Prime's Vehicle in Fall of Cybertron now looks like a cybertronian truck as opposed to the War for Cybertron's Cybertronian Batmobile; The figure's vehicle is small but very solid in terms of appearance, Takara's metallic red helps in giving the details more attention, and this is quite a more accurate take on the game's graphics (just that he doesn't have dirt and scratches on his frame), while the toy tries to as accurate as possible, the back of the cybertronian truck is just pretty much hollow and lacking in special detail. But still, overall, the vehicle mode is great and again, really solid especially since Takara has very tight tabbing parts except for the bumper on mine. XD
The vehicle mode does sport 4 5mm ports which you can use anytime to gear up Optimus, there are 1 on each side near the wheels and then his inverted feet in vehicle mode also has 1 port for each.
Soooo, taking some stuff from Darkside Optimus and from the TFC LED guns, I've managed to arm my vehicle mode except for the on feet since I think his own gun (at least from my stash of transformers weapins) would be the only real thing that would look nice with them ports.
| Details - Robot Mode: |
The bot mode is, for me, usually the main attraction for Transformers figures and I must say, I totally LOVE the mold. My sister has the hasbro version and I really loved playing with it since this guy has a really good mold. The head is sculpted in high accuracy especially with details; the eyes, though not using a light pipe, are painted in an opaque light blue color and it really pops out quite nicely and the eyes look great as some lightpiped Primes have weird looking eyes when they glow. XD Takara's use of the blue color are also darker than that of Hasbro's which is a usual approach they do for Primes.
Being a completely different color from Hasbro, aside from the metallic red, also those cheap looking plastic bits have been replaced with dark gray plastic, which highly compliments the color scheme.
The autobot logos are also much much visible with this release although the left logo has a bit of paint fading on my piece and I do hope this is a case sensitive thing. Additionally, this variant has pink bits all over and this is to give the game feel that he has some parts that light up and it doesn't look bad, it actually does the trick quite well giving more life the figure.
One thing to note though is that the hood used to cover up his head in vehicle mode, do handle it with care even though it's unavoidable that part of the metallic red from it will be scrapped off by the tabs locking it in bot mode when you transform him.
Now probably one of the biggest complaints I've been hearing for this mold is that his legs are completely hollow, I would agree, but still, it's not a big deal for me, they probably could've done something to cover it up but it's already there, it doesn't change the fact that the mold is good even if it is small and hollow and besides I don't display my figures in the cab facing backwards, so, it's really a no big deal for me. Again, this sports a darker blue color than that of hasbro's and the wheels have a nice "light" effect touch with them.
Prime retains the number of 4 ports in his bot mode, two of which can now be found on the side of his arms, be careful though if you are going to use these, as you might rub off some paint but mine so far didn't have any scratch marks with them. ^^ The last 2 are still the ones near the wheels. Probably best if you can find missile launchers of sorts for the leg ports.
As for me, I've tried attaching Battle Tanker's double barrel blasters on the side arms and they look great actually, the pic I took is quite dark though.
And finally, to show how his size have degraded, here he is next to Darkside Optimus Prime, who uses the War for Cybertron Optimus mold, and the usual blog mascot, nendoroid petit Hachune Miku. You can really tell how much smaller the newer deluxes are compared to the older ones.
| Accessories: |
As of this point, I'll be covering this for the TF reviews; well, Optimus only comes with his gun, while there are 2 ways for him to hold it, the other one just looks too wrong when used in bot mode. You may be disappointed with his accessory but still, better than having none at all, right? Or even worse, have a gun in the promotional product shot at the box but it isn't even included with the figure at all. (it's a voyager too~)
And besides, what's great about TFs is their ability to swap weapons easily so yeah, even if he lacks at guns, you can always give him tons of other weapons that even 3rd party companies even released a blade and a shield for this heroic leader.
| Articulation Points: |
Now this is the part that I feel is one of this mold's strongest points. Head is on a ball joint and it has quite a good range for upwards and downwards motion, as well as supporting a full 360 rotation.
The arm articulation is pretty neat as well but this also has the biggest con for his points of articulation; the shoulders, while being supported by ball joints, aren't that much flexible since you can't raise the arms to a full 90 degree sideways raise as his shoulder pads are getting in the way; a big loss for better gun poses IMO. Shoulders aside, his elbows are on an almost double jointed level thanks to transformation as well as having bicep swivels. The wrists, on the other hand, rotates on a full 360 as well.
He has a ball joint on his torso as well thanks to transformation yet again, this can easily act as a good replacement for a waist swivel and what's more is that you can adjust it upwards for certain poses; just makes sure the gap won't be seen if you do use it.
While the arms have some flaws, his legs have almost zero hindrance, the hips run on a ball joint which can split fully in both sideways and the front/back ways. A swivel is also located on his thighs though a thing to not is that swivel forward gives a better range than swiveling backward as bits of the plastic hit the pelvic area when swiveled backwards. His knees fold completely because of transformation and lastly, his ankles are ball jointed, but you can pretty much only use it for swiveling.
There is a trick for his ankles though, though this is only good for dynamic poses. Ball joint aside, his ankles also have hinges which you need to use for transformation but you can also use them for certain poses. Pulling the hinge forward lets you get a better use of the ankle ball joints and when you decide to pose Prime in poses like running, kneeling or other poses that need a bent ankle, you can use the hinge to give him a better balance and it would absolutely not ruin the aesthetic when you pose him that way.
| Poseability: |
Now Prime can't do much with only his gun alone but he can indeed do certain badass, powerful, commanding poses with it alone. You can also port his gun on his back and he can absolutely reach it with no sweat.
Now, the Cybertron games are 3rd person shooters and what Optimus needs is an arsenal of firearms, and thankfully, with the number of TFs I have, I can provide him with some, especially from Recon Ironhide's stash. >:)
You can basically give him weapons of your choice and his articulation probably won't even disappoint, he's poseability is that versatile that it took me quite a while to finish his shoot last night. Even Battle Tanker's rifles work wonders for this guy.
Overall, FoC Prime's articulation is totally great if you can maximize that. He can punch, he can kick, he can run and do all sorts of stuff even with his limited shoulder movement.
| Final Thoughts: |
Like usual, it's a matter of choice with the versions you get, but as for the mold itself. I must say, very very impressed and I love how Takara reverted to their premium paint apps instead of sporting model kits and stickers customization that they did with the Transformers Prime line (and I really suck at those even though I have quite a number of Arms Microns releases).
Thing is the pricepoint even became higher for these smaller sized deluxes, around 600-700 yen increase I think, but for me, it's quite fine, just surprised with the increase but it's still cheaper than figmas and more detailed and has delicious paint apps AND has transformation feature as well. For me though, I think it's worth it even if it's already double the price of the hasbro version now (was just around 5USD higher than hasbro before). Many thanks to my good friend, Omniclone, for helping me get this! And before I end the review, here's a Cybertron game-inspired shot!
I give Takara's Fall of Cybertron Optimus Prime a triumphant 4.5 out of 5.
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