Optimus
Prime (Battle Damaged) [Sam's Club/Online Store Exclusive]
(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 Target Exclusive Robovision Optimus Prime. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of Robovision Optimus Prime here.)
Technically, Battle-Damaged
Optimus Prime has the same color scheme and color placement as the original
Voyager-class version of the toy, but the battle damage is so extensive
on this toy I felt it deserved a review all to itself. The toy itself has
a bit of a complicated and odd history-- it was available in a Sam's Club
exclusive three-pack with Battle-Damaged Arcee and a normal Voyager-class
Starscream, but was also released seperately by itself. However, as of
this writing (8/08), there's no indication of the single-packaged version
being made available at any store, and only some online toy stores have
gotten it in.
Anyways, onto the changes,
and there's a LOT of them. Very few pieces on this version of Prime are
WITHOUT battle damage-- even if he has no actual mold changes, it looks
like he's been to the Pit and back, to put it lightly. He's got "cracks"
on his windows, a black paint wash on his upper arms and front grille,
and a black fade pattern on his robot legs, his face, his guns, his chest,
and his lower arms. But of course, that ain't enough-- he's also got "scratched
metal" paint apps and pock marks on his front area and roof (which look
particularly impressive and realistic) and his blue roof is covered in
"scorched metal" black paint. The silver piece of "metal" above his windows
in truck mode also has some black "scrape" paint apps on it, as well.
All in all, Optimus
Prime has some darned impressive battle damage that looks very realistic
in all but a few select areas. Easily recommended over the mass-released
Voyager Prime toy, and about on par with the uber-shiny Robovision Prime.
As for which version I'd recommend the most, it depends on whether you
prefer "shiny" or "dirty" Transformers more.
Review by Beastbot