The Power of the Primes toyline continues at a good pace, and just in time for some midyear toy sales, the next two leader class figures – both sporting the evolve gimmick – have hit the shelves. The first of these is a brand new mould and likely to excite those who are Beast Wars fans – Optimal Optimus! The second is a recolour (albiet a very cool one!) of a previous figure and a brand new (sorta) character – Rodimus Unicronus!
Optimus Primal
Robot Mode
Optimus Primal looks quite good here, reasonably faithful to how he looked on the cartoon, though minus the hair, and very well proportioned. He comes with two guns instead of his signature swords, and though that is unfortunate it is forgivable. His backpack is fairly visible, personally I fold the cockpit up when looking at him head on to minimize this. The red on the body, along with the Maximal sticker, give the figure that little bit of contrast in his colours which makes him pop more.
Hoverboard-Spaceship thing
Primal’s alt-mode, instead of being a gorilla, is the flying surfboard that was used by his second incarnation back in the Beast Wars cartoon. While personally I think this is a good way to incorporate all of the forms he had back in the day, purists will be annoyed at the lack of Beast Mode. Optimal Optimus can affix to the top fairly well without falling off.
Optimal Optimus
Robot Mode
The big fella! One of the biggest Beast Wars figures has been very well recreated here. The guns from the smaller figure can be combined into one large rifle, or else can affix to his chest to represent the weapons that the original had. Likewise the armour from his forearms can be removed and added to his shoulders to make him appear more like the original. The face sculpt is very good and, the colour scheme is well done and he has those gigantic orange signature hands. Overall pretty good.
Cyber-Gorilla Mode
Really just the robot mode but with shortened legs and a different head. Works well on the hoverboard but you would be hard pressed to call this a proper transformation. The hoverboard can transform into a gun-toting backpack for some variety.
Cyber-Jet Mode
This is pretty much the robot mode lying down with the hoverboard attached to the back to add a cockpit and guns. It’s not bad, but certainly not great, I haven’t been less impressed with a Transformers flying mode since RID Twinferno.
Nemesis Hot Rod
(Please note: As I have already reviewed POTP Rodimus Prime, I will be giving an abridged review of this figure. For a more comprehensive review of this toy mould, please check out my review of Rodimus HERE)
Robot Mode
Geez the colour works well here! I was that in love with the Unicronus mode that I didn’t think I’d pay much attention to how Hot Rod would look, but one look at that face changed my mind completely – almost makes me wish I had the cash to buy a second so I could have both the robot modes on display!
Sports Car Mode
Really sexy! Got that evil-mirrorverse motif down-pat! Looks exactly like a macabre version of Hot Rod should look!
Rodimus Unicronus
Robot Mode
Oh he is just cool! I’m absolutely loving the beard! You just see him and Motormaster arm-wrestling while they pound some Energon-brews in some dingy cyber-pub somewhere! Big, black, bulky – just great!
Cybertronian Winnebago Mode
Probably the least impressive of all the modes for this toy. It has the faults that Rodimus Prime has, but a lot of the cool little details are hard to see because there is too much black in the paintjob.
Overall
I can’t say I’m hugely overwhelmed by Optimal Optimus, however my son, who is vaguely aware of the existence of Beast Wars at best, can’t stop playing with him so that’s a big tick. And personally I am loving Nemesis Hot Rod/Rodimus Unicronus and plan on picking a second one up if they ever become super cheap. Both would do well to find a place in your collection.
Got anything to add to the above review? Write it in the comments section below!
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