Optimus Prime's vehicle mode is pretty good, at least when it comes to proportions-- unlike some other Fast Action Battlers, Prime's truck mode isn't chibified very much, with the only real proportional difference being that the front bumper is a bit bigger than it should be. There aren't really any robot extras either, though as his truck body trails off to the rear hauler section, it's pretty obvious his robot chest is back there, as some details of the robot mode are easily seen on that area of the truck mode. What is dissapointing about this mode, however, are the details. Optimus Prime's color scheme is way too dull, especially for a toy aimed at younger kids. There's no bright colors whatsoever, except for the transparent hook weapon that's used primarily in robot mode. Even the flame paint apps really don't add much to this mode, as there aren't enough of them for a toy of this size-- in fact, there really aren't enough paint apps period on Prime for a toy of this size-- the windows are just left a dull gray, which looks really, REALLY boring. His front bumper is also half-gray, half-blue, which looks pretty weird. (As a minor aside, the hole for the missile in robot mode being right there almost in the center of the front grill is rather distracting.) The mold detailing is fair on most of the vehicle mode, though it's much better in robot mode-- some spots on the top of the truck mode are especially barren of detail.
    Optimus' robot mode, however, is quite good, especially for a Fast Action Battler. The truck bed becomes a sizable backpack in this mode, but it fits behind the body very well and doesn't hinder articulation, so I don't mind it much. (The square shells on the sides of his shoulders, though, look rather bad.) Prime's proportions are pretty much spot-on in this mode, with his upper arms being slightly smaller than they should be. (Well, and the lower arms are just blocks with detailing of the lower arms in them, but some sacrifices obviously have to be made to get Prime's complicated design into a deluxe-sized toy, not to mention they're necessarily for the gimmick.) Prime's chest and head are detailed extremely well, both in terms of the mold and the paint job, though on his other parts he lacks enough paint apps, like in his truck mode. Prime has excellent articulation for a FAB-- he can move at the head, shoulders, elbows, waist (in that odd "one-way-only, and if you let go of it it snaps back into place" way that nearly all FABs have), hips, and knee articulation, and some of those are on ball joints so you can get a fair amount of poses out of him. As for Prime's gimmick, his left hand can fire a spring-loaded hook-missile. The hook's attached to his back on a string, though, so I really don't see the point of having it fire-- it's not like it can go far. Using it as a more general wrecking hook is pretty cool, though.
    Overall, though he has his flaws Optimus Prime is one of the best toys in the Fast Action Battler subline. He has a great robot mode, and a fairly good truck mode as well. His unnecessarily dull color scheme and lack of enough paint apps make his score lower than it otherwise would be.

Review by Beastbot

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