Optimus Prime's vehicle mode is pretty familiar-- it's basically his G1 design, but more stylized in the more simplstic Cyberverse angular style. The main body of the truck is pretty proportional, though the shoulder joints are pretty obvious on the sides, being gray in the middle of red plastic. As with many Optimus toys, the rear portion is pretty obviously Optimus' robot legs, but it's more obvious than usual here, with the feet not really hidden at all at the back end. There's also an obvious gap down the center of the back end, between the legs--they don't fit seemlessly together. A bit of the orange gimmick-axe also sticks out behind the back end of the front portion. Though the mold detailing is fairly crisp and lean, there are some parts where there's more details than you'd expect-- the lower front portion has several angular designs in it, and the wheels have quite detailed treading (though it should be mentioned the middle tire on each side is just molded into the toy-- it doesn't actually roll). There's also plenty of panel details on the cab. The main colors aren't a surprise-- the usual red on the front portion, dark blue on the back, and some light gray on places like the grill. The light gray plastic doesn't seem to be a milky shade, at least, and it's used sparingly in this mode. The black is used on the wheels obviously, but also on the middle of the robot legs/back portion, on the robot toes, and on two thick lines on the front (including on the windshield wipers). A really eye-catching shade of light blue is used on the front windows and top headlights, and it looks fantastic against the black around it and the red plastic-- though the blue on the back end is dark enough the black doesn't stand out against it as much as I'd like. Oddly, the lower blue-painted headlights are a slightly darker shade of blue. It still looks good, but it's odd, just like the red plastic on the back end of the front portion that is inexplicably a milkier, more "cherry-esque" shade than the more straightforward red plastic used on the rest of the toy. Huh.
    Optimus' transformation isn't anything you haven't been expecting if you've transformed any modern Optimus toy. Fold the rear portion down; flip the roof part back and rotate the robot head up; slide the sides out and forward to form the arms (make sure you do this AFTER you fold the legs down, or the axe will get caught); rotate the toy at the waist, and you're done. In this mode, the proportions are a bit off, mostly on the legs, due to the very odd faux truck grill details that are split up between the legs on the waist (his actual truck grill is on his butt in this mode); in reality his legs are connected to the body higher than they should be, making Optimus look like he's got Steve Urkel pants on or something. The chest looks just as nice as it did in vehicle mode, and Optimus' head is... definitely Optimus with his faceplate up, though his lower face (below the "nose") seems a bit too short for the Cyberverse aesthetic. There's an obvious panel of the truck of the top mode behind Optimus' upper body, and a small panel behind his head, but at least the former has a function, which I'll get to shortly. The lower legs are nicely done, though, and the arms adequately beefy, even if the lower arm is merely molded into the interior sections of the side panels of the truck mode. (On a small note, the smokestacks are actually BEHIND the shoulders instead of accurately on the sides, which is kinda odd.) You'll notice I said "arm", as only the right arm is fully functional-- the left arm actually has no lower arm/hand part molded into. It's actually stuck in its angled truck position. This is for Optimus' gimmick; if you push down on the flap behind his head, there's a little trigger that should push in and activate Optimus' retracted axe on that weapon, which then flips out automatically in front of that arm, supposedly in place of a non-existent hand. It's kinda cool, but sacrificing an entire arm for this gimmick wasn't worth it. It also can be kinda finicky for the age group this toy is aimed at, with the axe sometimes not "activating" as easily as I'd like. (You have to fold the axe back in manually to activate the gimmick again.) If you don't want to activate the gimmick, you can thankfully just fold the lower section of the backpack down. The color breakup has a bit more gray, but it and the mold detailing is pretty much the same here as in vehicle mode, since so much is visible in both modes. The bright orange weapon has some simplistic technical bits on it, and the faux grill details on the hips and stomach are less than convincing, given the proportions. The only added paint apps visible in this mode beyond the axe are the light blue eyes and silver faceplate, as well as black on the fist on the right arm. For articulation in this mode, Optimus can move at the shoulders (at two points on the right arm, one on the left); forward at the right elbow; at the hips; and back at the knees. So he's got some basic articulation, but some ankle-- and certainly some better arm-- movement would've been appreciated.
    Cyberverse warrior Optimus Prime is one of his weaker toys of him in the line. The vehicle mode is fairly good-- minus the obvious feet-- but the robot mode proportions are off, and his gimmick, while mildly cool, is quite intrusive, and for the age this toy is aimed at, rather finicky during transformation. If you want a smaller simplistic Prime, try the 2018 1-step toy instead. Otherwise, go for one of the larger toys of the design.
 

Review by Beastbot

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