Transformers Armada: Supercon Optimus Prime
Okay, I'll admit, when the summer started I decided I needed to stop spending so
much money on toys. I also needed some of the money back, so I sold a large part
of my collection. A lot of it. I have very few transformers left, as I only kept
a couple that I really liked for whatever reason. After I did that I bought Hot Shot
from the Armada line and I was disappointed. He was nearly a brick, and he reminded me
of some sort of Fisher Price toy. I had planned on buying a couple things from the Armada
line, such as the huge (expensive) Prime, Megatron and Starscream, but Hot Shot totally
turned me off to the line. RID may have been an awful show, but the toy line behind it
was (for the most part) quite exceptional.
Then the other day I was in Walmart, wandering through the toy section as I often do
(since I used to work in a toy store as well as collect, I have a curiosity about these
things, plus I still collect Hot Wheels) and I stumbled upon Armada Prime, only not the $60 (or however much he costs) but one for $10. After a little internal debate I grabbed him and brought him home. I have to say, I'm glad I did.
The major reason I got him was simply because I really like Optimus Prime, and this is
him in his most classic form (albeit remodeled), that of a red and blue truck cab. I'll be
honest with you though, I don't really like his vehicle mode all that much. From the side
it looks okay enough, but from the front or top it looks flat and stupid, mainly because of the way the wheels stick out. Indeed I'd like it a lot more if the wheels weren't so friggin wide, but overall it's cool enough, though it takes some effort to get all six wheels to roll.
As is the Armada way, he also comes with a minicon, Over-Run. I'll give Over-Run a brief review as he's not all that spectacular. Okay he has three modes, a jet, a gun (or what passes for a gun in shape) and of course robot mode. Hie jet mode looks fine from the top, but from under and the sides it's a bit lacking as his arms just peg into his
underside. Gun mode is a simple matter of flipping the wings up (they fold both ways) and folding the rear tail fin into the body so the handle is exposed. In this mode he can mount on top of Optimus' cab or on what becomes his ankle as a turret. Gun mode looks pretty much like a pile of robot parts, but it gets the job done well enough I suppose. Robot mode is about as good as one could hope for something so small, though the
nose of the jet sticks out of Over-Run's chest for miles. Would have been nice if it folded down more or something, but it's nothing major, and I didn't spend $10 for this minicon anyway, he's just a nice added bonus. On to Prime!
Okay, transformation is nothing special as far as trucks go. The blue part becomes his legs, and the front of the cab unfolds in various ways to become his upper body and arms. The parts that fold down to become his shoulders are a bit stiff and I was sort of scared I'd break them, but everything appears to be quite sturdy.
Robot mode is quite cool. It reminds me a lot of Laser Prime/Scourge with big hulking shoulders and wheels on the legs and all that, only this Prime doesn't have his view to the sides blocked by his own shoulders. The main thing that annoys me about the Armada line is the lack of poseability. Looking at the pictures in the catalog that came with Oppy here, pretty much everyone is in a "stand at attention" pose except him. His joints are reminiscent of the Beast Wars days. He's got ball jointed thighs (which are restricted badly unless you do a little switching, which I'll get to in a sec), ratchet knees, swivels above the knees, his feet can swing forward and to the sides a bit, he has a full range waist joint, swivel and hinges at the shoulders, and weird ball and ratchet jointed elbows that are somewhat restricted, but still very cool. Ah yes, and his head has a full range of motion (he can even look down slightly).
The major problem lies within his gray upper legs. There's some stupid decorations on them that disallow his legs to move forward. Easily fixed. Take apart his lower legs and pop off the gray parts (carefully) and switch them. Rotate the knee swivels so the knees bend the proper way and reattach his lower legs. Tada! This doesn't effect the transformation at all, and now Prime can bend over to pick up his exhaust pipe gun when he drops it. Or pat Over-Run on the head or something.
So yeah, I definitely like this toy. I'd say if you were only going to grab one Armada guy, this one should be it, but my only basis for comparison is Hot Shot, so I won't say that. Optimus however, has convinced me to pick up a minicon package, and when I go home for vacation I may even review Hot Shot (meh). Anyway, that's it for me for now.
