Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!
TRANSMETAL OPTIMUS PRIMAL

As the Vok were ready to completely destroy Prehistoric Earth at the end of the first season of Beast Wars, Optimus Primal boarded a Stasis Pod and set on a mission to destroy their planetbuster weapon. He succeded, but at the price of his own life. The Quantum surge that followed transformed many of the Beast Warriors into Transmetals, new forms of their former selves. Rhinox, in a desperate plan to revive his leader, mannaged to retrieve his spark and place it into a new body... And thus Transmetal Optimus Primal was born. And here is Defcon's review for this toy.

TRANSMETAL GORILLA MODE:

As with his first incarnation, Primal's alt mode is a Gorilla. However, his "transmetallization" changed his form: Instead of fur he is now completely metallic. His torso and face are metallic blue, and more metallic blue is seen on his feet. His groin (For lack of better term), shoulders and hands are brown, and his arms and legs are grey. "Optimus" is written on his chest, on the right side.

In this mode, Primal has 13 points of articulation, including waist. His head is not articulated, however, which is in my opinion this mode's failing. Also, his pistol in Robot mode is plainly seen hanging from his right leg. Aside from that, it is a good model. This mode's strongest point is its closeness to its television incarnation: it is 99% identical (It's the same, except for the "Optimus" written on his chest)

TRANSFORMATION TO "VEHICLE MODE":

One of the most intersting gimmixks of the Transmetal line was the addition of a third mode, vehicular in nature. This made some interesting desings indeed.

Rotate the back parts of each leg downwards, then re-rotate this piece along with the back of the feet so they are 90 degrees from the legs. Rotate each of these parts so they now face outwards, and connect the two halves of the board together. Flip Primal's gun upwards so it forms the board's reactor.

VEHICLE MODE:

In his vehicle mode, Primal is now, for lack of a better term, a Skysurfing Gorrila. The color scheme carries over, and pnce again it is identical to the model used by Mainframe in the television series. Small wheels are located underneath the "surfboard", allowing Primal to roll on a flat surface. In this mode, Primal loses the articulation points in his legs, leaving him with 9 points of articulation.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE:

Remove the gun from Primal's leg and set it aside for the moment. Separate the board halves, and rotate each of them so they face back. Flip them so they face downwards, and flip the feet so they face fowards. Turn the waist 180 degrees, so the blue part of Primal faces his back. Rotate the grey part so it now covers the blue parts, revealing the chest. Open the chest by swiveling the robot's chest down. Flip the gorilla head in the chest, and extract the robot head. Close the chest unit. Open each forearm flip the hands and close the forearms. Take the discarded gun and place it in one of his hands.

ROBOT MODE:

This mode is 100% identical to his television incarnation's. He now stands about one and a half inch taller than before. His chest is now different shades of brown, with fur molded in the plastic. His head is similar to Optimus Prime's, except with molded fur and facial features, such as a mouth and a nose. In this mode, Primal has 17 points of articulations.

Fixed on his back are two maces that can be placed in Primal's hands. Also, if one flips the back assembly to Primal's front, it becomes a massive cannon assembly, as seen in the show.

A quick comment: I would have thought this incarnation of Primal be similar in size with his predecessor, Optimus Primal. However, he is aproximately 25% smaller.

OVERALL:

Solid beast mode, intriguing vehicle mode and downright incredible robot mode. A virtual clone to his television incarnation. Very highly recommended, A+

BACK to Toy Reviews