Optimus
Prime (Battle Steel; DotM)
(NOTE: Because this is a repaint, this is not a full-blown review. This mainly covers any changes made to the mold and the color scheme, and merely compares it to the original DotM Commander class Optimus Prime. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of the original DotM Commander class Optimus Prime here.)
Battle Steel Optimus
Prime's core color scheme-- that is, red, blue, and gray-- hasn't changed
much on this redeco. However, the placement of said colors and the shade
of them varies quite a bit. The dark blue is a bit more prevalent this
time around, and an even darker shade than it usually is on Prime-- it's
still definitely recognizable as blue and not black, but only just so.
The red is a slightly more vibrant, more metallic shade of the color, and
looks quite dynamic contrasting with the blue, particularly in vehicle
mode where it's (mostly) right up against the dark blue going on a straight
line back from the top sides of the figure. The milky gray is mostly used
on Optimus Prime's new weapon accessories for this version of the mold,
which are a pair of cannons that can either be pointed backwards/downwards
to look like a jetpack/booster, or can be flipped forwards in vehicle mode
(or separated and held in the hands in robot mode) to become cannons. They're
a pretty cool little accessory, and they also come with two sword accessories
that Optimus can hold in robot mode or store on the cannon backpack in
vehicle mode. The swords aren't quite as versatile as the cannons, but
they're sculpted very well and the metallic orange paint they're covered
in looks pretty darn cool. I'm not a fan of the swirly light gray on the
cannons-- as you likely know if you've been reading my reviews for a while--
but it's used fairly little on this toy so it doesn't bug me much. The
rest of Optimus Prime's "gray" parts are actually painted silver on this
toy (such as the windows, steps on the sides, and the smokestacks), and
as such look pretty spiffy. There's also some black-- mostly limited to
his wheels and a few minor parts in robot mode-- that, while nice, look
very close to the blue because how dark the latter color is.
Besides the different
weapon accessories, no mold changes have been made to Battle Steel Optimus
Prime.
Battle Steel Optimus
Prime-- being another movie Prime redeco, and released alongside so many
other movie Prime toys and redecoes-- was unneeded, to be sure, but it
still looks good. Although I would've liked the dark blue to have been
a tad lighter to contrast better against the black, the metallic red looks
GREAT against it, and the accessories he comes with for this version are
aces. My favorite release of this mold that isn't in some larger multi-pack,
overall.
Review by Beastbot