Friday, February 17, 2012

Transformers Prime First Edition US offerings part 1

Hey Guys, I know its been a long time But I'm gonna try doing these reviews again so wish me luck in keeping this thing going.

Anyway, we are going to looking at the US releases for the Transformers Prime: First Edtion figures.

Last year, we at the United States were treated to 6 figures based off of the new Transformers Prime tv series that is showing on the Hub Network. Three of these were Comic Con exclusives and the other three were released in Toys R Us in December. We the fans were expecting many more with images shown at various conventions, but according to Hasbro these were never meant to see US retail. Many fans, myself included sent unhappy emails to Hasbro to object to holding these figures back. Hasbro has stated that they will look for way for us to get them so now all we can do is hope or look to eBay for the ones we cant get at stores. Anyway on the figures, starting with the Comic Con exclusives



SDCC Deluxe Optimus Prime

Optimus was appropiatly enough, our first taste of whats coming in Transformers Prime toys. All in all, it was a great way to start aswell. Granted you were paying a good bit of what you paid for this guy on the packaging, but putting Optimus inside a plastic and cardboard Matrix of leadership that you can actually wear is pretty cool. Optimus himself is an amazing figure, his transformation is well designed. His robot mode sports 18 articulation points in the head, shoulders, biceps, elbows, wrists, waist, hips, thighs, knees and feet. His paintjob is nicely done and his overall look what you would expect from a deluxe Prime. The gun included fits right over his wrist, looking like an extension of his arm. His only real faults can be found in his arms. The shoulders are set rather low and his wrists are elongated. Other than that, the robot mode is very solid.


Prime's vehicle mode is like always is a semi truck. The truck mode looks just like on the tv show. The gun fits onto the trailer hitch easily, where it looks ok, but id like to see an actual trailer there. Maybe when Movie Trilogy Optimus comes out we can see how that trailer looks on this Optimus.


NYCC Arcee and Bumblebee

A couple months after SDCC, Hasbro pulled out another exclusive, this time for NYCC. This exclusive featured specially painted versions of the yet to be released TF Prime Arcee and Bumblebee. This set also included figures for Jack Darby and Raf Esquivel, who we may not be seeing more figures of anytime soon in the States. So lets have a look at the bots starting with the lovely lady.


This itteration of TF Prime Arcee is a direct homage to Arcee's G1 self. The pink and white color scheme looks pretty good in my eyes, but I'm a big G1 fan so I may be bias. Her bladed weapons can be placed on her arms for battle or holstered on her legs when she just wants to chill. the sculpt is mostly accurate to the show with the exception of her back fins which sit on this molds shoulders. Otherwise, she is a real beauty, and my #2 fave of all the figures from the US First Edition line. She has 14 points of articulation consisting of head, shoulders, biceps, double-jointed elbows, hinged wrists, waist, hips, thighs, and knees. Also worth noting that her figure is quite capable of graceful posing, a trend that actually stated with the last big non movie line Transformers Animated. She has light-piping but it dosnt quite show very well.


The vehicle mode is street motercycle. Its not a bad mode but I do find it to be a bit thick from side to side. Like most deluxe class bikes, a 3 3/4" figure can ride on her easy enough. The biggest downfall that Arcee has to face is her scale. Both in vehicle mode and robot mode, she seems a bit bigger than she should be. If she were the only figure you were going to get, this wouldnt be a big deal, but most of us want the whole cast so its a noticeable thing, especially given that this version of Arcee dosnt come alone.


Bumblebee features a paint deco reminicent of his moviverse self. It's a nice look for Bee as this mold does take a few cues from the movie designs. The sculpt is fairly close to whats shown on the series, main difference being in the wings. He has 18 points of articulations in the head, shoulders, elbows, forearms, wrists, waist, hips, thighs, knees and ankles. Bee includes an arm cannon that pegs onto either of his arms. Again its very show accurate and the only complaint about it is thats there is only one included and Bee looks like he was made to dual weild.


This set actually depicts Bumblebee as a New York Taxi cab. Given the nature of the set this deco is quite appropriate. Again, the colors give Bee a movieverse vibe, at least until you look at the doors. The gun can be stored underneth the car, pegging onto two tabs on the feet. This figure is a very strong representation of Bumblebee will be hard to top in the RID line.

Like I mentioned earlier, the NYCC set also included mini figures of Jack and Raf. They are just simple PVC figures, but thier sculpts are spot on with the show. Each one sports a shirt with the letters NY and an Autobot logo tampoed on. The paintjob is ok but thier faces are lacking. Given the size of the figures, this is forgiveable.


The Comic Con sets were a nice way to kick off the TF Prime line, but i think Hasbro sandbagged too much on the actual line itself. Regardless these figures are tremendus. The NYCC set is a true must have for longtime Transformers fans. Optimus is a great figure, but is better suited for a mint in box display, es[ecially since the RID Voyager class version of this character is becoming available at the time of writing this. Both of these sets can still be found at www.hasbrotoyshop.com in the Exclusives section.

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