TF Prime: Powerizer Optimus Prime

Hey everyone, back again with another review, this time of a figure from the new Transformers Prime "Robots in Disguise" line, not to be confused with the RID line from the late 90's early 2000's. I figured I'd start with a bang and do the bigger figures first starting with

Optimus Prime.
This is the Voyager Class "Powerizer" figure and is a little different from the First Edition Voyager that came to other countries earlier in the year. Now the pics in this review will very from the original out of package look and a customized look were I added red to his forearms and chest with a sharpie, as I've seen on videos on YouTube, so if he looks different in some shots dont worry, it's all of the same figure. So lets get down to it and have a look at the box.

Optimus come packaged in a nice sized window box. He is clearly visible in his robot mode, along with his gimmick ridden gun, that you can reach in and try in the package thanks to a smale hole in the front. Also visable is his sword. The side gives us a small bio for Optimus aswell as some tech specs to help us learn a little bit about the big guy. On the back we can see a nice image of Primes robot and vehicle modes, along with a quick description of his gimmicks. I do find that the pics of his gun are a little misleading, and I'll be explaining why in a moment. For now lets look at robot mode.

Out of the box, Optimus Prime's robot mode look really good. His build is well proportioned, and sculpt-wise, fairly close to the animation model. His look is hampered by the translucent blue plastic used on his forearms which hurts the overall look in the long run. This blue plastic was I assume to represent Energon and I fear it will be present on all Autobot Voyagers in the PRID line. For Optimus, this is easy to fix with a red sharpie. Simply run the marker over the blue parts of the forearms and they will take on a translucent red color. You can even do this with some of the grey areas on his chest if you wish. just be warned that the ink can and most likely will rub off on your skin if not sealed. Other than that, his paintjob is pretty good.

Prime has 17 points of articulation including a ball-jointed head, ball jointed shoulders, bicep swivels, hinghed elbow joint, hinged up and down wrist swivel, ball-jointed hips, thigh cuts, hinged knees, and ball-jointed ankles. This is more than enough to create some epic poses, especially if you have other characters and accessories. Speaking of accessories, Prime's accessories are a little lacking. He includes a sword that can either be held or peg into his wrist, which is pretty cool but it dosnt look right either way. He also has a spring loaded blaster rifle that transforms and lights up when you push the grey piece backward, the only problem is that it cannot stay transformed unless you put a rubber band on just behind the barrel. I would have preffered weapons closer to what the First Edition release recieved because the weapons PRID Optimus includes are duds. I usually keep them stored away and give Prime a gun from an old KO Defensor I once had, which looks a lot better in my opinion. If you can find a nice sized black gun that fits in his hands, give it to Optimus, I'm sure it will look much better than what he came with.

Transformation to vehicle mode has it's tricky parts but isn't all too difficult. The arms and chest are the hard parts to configure and the grill dosn't snap in place unless everything is alligned perfectly. The vehicle mode itself is a nice sight. True to his legacy, Optimus becomes a semi-truck. Much like his movie form he is a long nose type, but he has a more G1 color scheme on him. It's a shame Hasbro didn't make a trailer for him because I feel that would have truly completed the look. Still, the truck mode is just right. The weapons can store on either his trailer hitch or one of the two ports on the sides of the hitch however you prefer. The windvane can also fold back to revial two more ports for a more weaponized look. Personally I prefer to keep the weapons off.

When you put Optimus with his fellow Autobots, he looks really good. His scale with the others is just about right. He stands taller than the others, and thats about accurate with the show. Next to his Arch-Nemesis Megatron, you can see he stands eye to eye with the Decepticon Commander. He should be a a hair shorter then Megs though, but this feels more like Megatron being shorter than he should rather than Prime being too big.

Next to the First Edition deluxe Optimus, PRID Optimus clearly shows as an improvement. The proprtions are better, there is no "fake windshield" in robot mode which inturn makes the vehicle mode much nicer, and he scales better with other figures. The First Edition does have a better weapon, which sadly, cannot be used by PRID Optimus. I dont have the First Edition voyager Optimus so I cant do a comarison between those, but from what I understand, many like the FE Prime better. I wouldn't feel too bummed if you are like me and couldn't get the Fist Edition release though. This voyager Optimus is really good and worth owning.

Comparing Optimus to some of his past incarnations shows that his look borrows bits from each of them, like the trademark windshield chest, the blue legs and ofcourse the face. It helps to really show how Optimus has evolved over the years. I still think Henkei Optimus is the best incarnation of the character in this scale, but PRID Optimus is high in the rankings.

If your a fan of Transformers Prime, or Optimus in general, you owe it to yourself to get this figure. It's not without its flaws but most can be cured with a sharpie and a weapon borrowed from someone else. If you are lucky enough to own the First Edition Optimus you may be inclined to pass this one by, but I think that would be a mistake. PRID Optimus is worthy of being on any TF Prime shelf.

MakeToys Giant Yellow Series A: Bulldozer and Excavator

Hey guys, back again and this time I have a review for the first set in the MakeToys Giant series.

Bulldozer and Excavator

This year, almost in respons to TFC's Herculese set, MakeToys has begun to release thier own renditions of the Constructicons, starting with limited releases of the group in thier yellow G2 colors. The first set features Bulldozer (aka Bonecrusher) and Excavator (aka Scavenger). Like the Herculese set and the Constructicons of old, when you get all six figures, you can combine them to form the Mighty Giant (aka Devestator). We won't be looking at the Giant until after all the sets are released and reviewed. but for now, lets have a look at our first pair, starting with...

Bulldozer.  MakeToys has done a good job in making thier figures very solid. The plastic has a nice feel to it and the joints are very tight. Bulldozer has a very solid robot mode, but looks completely different from the G1 character that inspired him. Given that this is 3rd party figure it's quite forgivable. He has 19 points of articulation consisting of a ball jointed head, ball jointed shoulders with hinge joints for added mobility, bicep swivel, double jointed elbows, ball jointed wrists, waist swivel, ab swivel, ball jointed hips, ball jointed knees, ankle swivel and ball jointed toes. The Biggest knock against him is that in robot mode, the Giant's connections hand on the back and are pretty easy to spot.

Transformation to and from vehicle mode is pretty easy. The only tricky part is moving the shovel on the front. It splits apart at the shovel and is on small ball jointed arms that are ment to rotate it behind the robot mode, only thing is that the waist and legs often get in the way. Twisting the waist sideways make things a little easier but it still needs to be done carefully. The Vehicle mode itself looks very nice but is pretty much a brick. There are no wheels in the treads so it can not roll and the only articulation is in the shovel. It still does the job very well and looks very nice on display.

Excavator is the reimagined Scavanger of the group and has a lot more in comon with the G1 Scavanger than Bulldozer has with Bonecrusher. He has all the same articulation points that Bulldozer has with the exception of his wrists being swivel joints instead of ball joints. Excavator also has articulation in the shovel arm on his left arm which allows him to use it as a melee weapon. Once again the biggest grip is the large connection point hanging off the back of the figure. A way to store and hide this connector would have been greatly appreciated. Another concern I have is in the head transformation. There is a small piece of plastic that the head is on and when its moved into place there is fear of breakage due to having to lift the head up slightly while moving it. Otherwise this is a very solid toy.

Excavator's vehicle mode is quite a piece of pretty plastic. Again, Excavator is a brick in vehicle mode. He has only articlation in the shovel arm. The transformation is easy enough to achieve, with the head transformation as the only concern spot. The overall look of the vehicle is quite nice. The details are well done and all i feel either of these guys need are some G2 con logos.



The accessories included tie in better to the Giant's combined mode than the individual bots, but im not gonna give any spoilers on how just yet. They come with a purple cylinder that splits into the guns for the two bots, and a pair of portable genarators designed to attach to later releases in the Giant collection. There is one way that the genarators interact with Bulldozer and Excavator, but you'll have to guess until the right time comes.

When comparing the MakeToys figures to the G1 Contructicons, the differences and similarities are easy to spot. It's quite clear that MakeToys paid close attention to how the G1 figures worked and did everything they could to preserve thier look, while at the same time refigning and updating the characters to meet with modern standards. The figures stand roughly the size of a Deluxe class Hasbro figure and in my opinion fit in better with the Classics than the Hercules group did. Individually, the Constructicons were not the biggest bots around, standing at about eye level with the average con, so in my book, the MakeToys figures scale better.

Overall, MakeToys has done a stupendous job of crafting these fine figures and i am very eager to see how the rest of the set will turn out. There are rumors of a proper Green Version of these figures coming around the end of the year, but whichever color you choose to get, I highly recommend these figues. As the Giant series is released, I'll be reviewing them and will in time show you what the fully formed Giant is like. So until then, take care.