Beast mode is a technorganic gorilla. This mode is fairly show-accurate, but there's one major thing that bugs me about this mode (as well as the robot mode); the yellow and amber part of the color scheme. It clashes with the rest, and it doesn't look right on a gorilla at all- not to mention it's not show-accurate. If the color scheme were only changed to a more show-accurate scheme, than this toy would almost be a dead-on likeness of the show version. Other than this major drawback, this mode's pretty cool. The detailing is amazing- there's fur and mechanical detailing everywhere. I also LOVE the "brass knuckles". A very nice touch. The gorilla face looks a bit odd, however. For some odd reason, Hasbro decided to smother dull orange paint on his upper lip, which looks rather silly, since I don't think any gorilla has any color like that on its lip. It makes poor Optimus look like he's been sniffing paint. The mechanical detailing on the sides of Optimus' gorilla head is nice, but for some reason, they look like elf ears. Kinda funny how one thing can be mistaken for another, huh? Optimus' action gimmick in this mode is that, if you push down on the blue button on the top of his head, his lip curls up in a "growl". It's surprisingly realistic, although the eyes, which are completely white, negate the fear effect some. Optimus' "hunch" in this mode is entriely too large when looked at from a side view, and it curves down to meet his torso way too steeply. Another thing about this mode is that the posability is somewhat limited- the legs can only move at the hips, the arm with the "blast punch" gimmick" (discussed later) can only move at the shoulder, and the arm without the blast punch gimmick can only move at the shoulder and ever-so-slightly at the elbow, due to Optimus' very large arms. Still, this mode's pretty decent, overall.
    Although Blast Punch Optimus' transformation may look like just a "stand me up and flip my head" transformation, it's actually a bit more complicated than that. You switch the toes and fingers to make them look more "robotic", and you also lengthen his legs a bit. The only pain about the transformation, however, is that you have to fire out the missile in Primal's left arm so you can turn the hand around for transformation. It's rather a pain to have to take the thing out every time.
    Anyway, Primal's robot mode is almost 100% show-accurate, minus the colors, of course. There's entirely too much transparent plastic in this mode- the upper arms, part of the lower arms, and the main upper body of Optimus Primal are all transparent. I HATE having transparent plastic used for main body parts! It makes no sense! Anyway, ranting aside, this mode's pretty darn neat, although the way they colored Optimus' robot face, it makes him look like some kind of Mexican wrestler. A more show-accurate coloration there would have been appreciated. Primal has small "jet packs" that come out of his back, but they're a bit TOO small, barely stick out at all. Now, onto the reason for the name of this toy; the Blast Punch gimmick. Basically, by cranking Primal's left shoulder pad up and down about 20 times or so (until you hear it "click" and start resisting) and then pressing his neat-looking two-layered spark crystal embedded in his upper left arm, it will activate his "Blast Punch" gimmick. It's rather cool- once you get past the 10 seconds or so it takes for his lower left arm to swivel around by itself every so sloooowly until it reaches a trigger. Once it finally reaches the trigger, Primal's fist punches out about half an inch, and he fires a missile from it. Very neat, although I wish I didn't have to wait so long to activate the gimmick.
    Although Blast Punch Optimus Primal's a pretty neat transformer, many people have complained that his modes look too similar, and that is one major downfall- the transformation really doesn't do much for as long as you spend on it. Still, Optimus is a great-looking toy with a neat gimmick (which works most of the time, although some people have complained of theirs not working), and I'd recommended it to a Beast Machines fan.

Review by Beastbot

(NOTE: Because Blast Punch Optimus Primal was one of the last toys of the Battle for the Spark line to be released, he is somewhat rare. If you find one at the store, whether you like the toy or not, I'd recommend you pick it. There's bound to be someone on the internet who will want it.)

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