Like all Gravity Bots, Optimus' vehicle mode is a bit "chibi", with large wheels and a dramatically shortened length when compared to his more realistic toys. Of course, Gravity Bots are aimed at really young kids, so I can hardly fault them for making Prime more kid-friendly in his proportions, given the movie aesthetic. All of the neccesary mold details are here, but more "rounded" in nature (such as the smokestacks). The mold detailing, at least for a movie figure, is comparative sparse, but again, this is to help Optimus "kiddie" aspect. (There's a TON of mold detailing on his underside, of all places, which is rather... odd.) The color scheme is what we've come to expect from Prime-- dark blue, red, and a bit of silver/gray. However, there's some glitter in the red and blue plastic on this toy, and it REALLY makes the colors pop more than they otherwise would have. I love it, and wish they would have incorporated it into more of the mainline toys. Unfortunately, even for a Gravity Bot, this mode isn't without its setbacks-- the robot feet are PAINFULLY obvious sticking out the back end, so Prime has no real "truck bed" to speak of, just an odd pair of legs back there. A small portion of his chest is also visible from a rear view, but this is fairly minor. Also, like pretty much every Gravity Bot, he's not very "stable" in this mode, by which I mean his parts tend to wiggle and waggle as you move him around-- but this is a side effect of the gimmick.
    Again, like all Gravity Bots, all you have to do to transform Optimus is stand him up! Granted, they had to make a lot of sacrifices to make it happen, but I still think a completely auto-transforming Transformer-- and in such a simple manner, too-- is a GREAT intro line of figures for the little kids. The top part of the truck rotates around to become the robot chest while the front half splits in half and moves down to reveal the robot head and become shoulders. Unfortunately, just like all the other Gravity Bots, Prime is a brick in this mode-- he can't move at all. I wish at least his elbows and head could move, or something. Anyways, his head is sculpted incredibly well, and his truck chest piece is fairly well-done, as well. Unfortunately, his shoulders are way too overly large-- it's barely obvious that they're supposed to be shoulders and not big pieces of vehicle kibble, after all! His hands can be seen molded on the sides of the panels that form his shoulder-arms in this mode, as is the case with most Gravity Bots, and he's very stable.
    Since most Gravity Bots are largely the same in construction, it's hard to definitively "recommend" or "not recommend" one based on design. If you want one, you're willing to accept the sacrifices made to the modes for the auto-transformation-- if you don't want one, well, this one certainly won't win you over. So, in comparison to other Gravity Bots, Optimus Prime has a really nice,  above-average metallic color scheme-- but also has some really obvious legs in vehicle mode and overly large shoulders. Those two counteract the positive and then some, which makes Optimus Prime, in my opinion, a below-average Gravity Bot.

Review by Beastbot

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