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Synopsis
END OF THE ROAD! Trapped between Shockwave’s attack and Unicron’s onslaught, Optimus and the Autobots struggle to make sense of what’s left of their world. Shockwave reveals ancient truths—as an old friend tries to reconnect with Cybertron.
just, generally
Story
The Falling is over, now comes the fallout. As we pick up the pieces of what took place during the latest story arc in the Optimus Prime ongoing, we also finally connect to the story continuing over in the mini-series that is the Unicron event finale - even with the lateness and repercussions that this has, more so than previously in this book specifically.
err.. surprise?
Other than the return of both Optimus Prime and Bumblebee, with the former's troubled and questioning ethical and personal issues about how the entire universe may be right in not being that happy with him or Cybertron after all, both being utterly spoiled by now by the Unicron book, there are some interesting aspects of returning characters and intersecting universes that work well in the issue.
heads up: recap puns
In particular, we get to see how Rom is involved in the situation at hand (before the events of Unicron #0), along with many of the other characters previously seen in the Hasbro Universe and still/back on Earth since they were last shown in the series in recent months. And, for someone who mildly enjoyed the titular series, there was some stand out, emotional beats that entirely justify the inclusion in the story.
...
There are other peaks in terms of how the extremely large cast is being placed in relation with one another. Pyra Magna in particular leans even further into her role, as played pretty much against every major Cybertronian - something that will continue in Unicron - Bumblebee being used as exposition in the best way possible, and Optimus pretty much just taking it all in for the whole book, his silence actually quite tangible.
Art
Sara Pitre Durocher is the sole artist on the issue this time, and her work on the eyes of the characters (as well as what seems to be thicker inks, to me) is what stands out in particular on the page. From the very opening of Optimus' awakening, running through several close-ups, the layouts bring us closer and closer in to the story and how it's affecting the characters
starting point
I am still impressed by how much of the series' tone has been given by the tonalities that Josh Burcham brings to his colours, which mark it as its own unique thing even when different artists are concerned, and this issue is no exception to that. With the multiple different settings and scenarios, the lighting strikes just right, and some on staff didn't even realise the artist had changed again!
cold
As for the lettering from Tom B. Long, we only have a couple of particularly visible elements of font work, but the script is one of those exceptions to Barber's style which don't take captions to tell the story, and rather rely on dialogue - meaning that the job may not be as striking, but the careful laying out of the speech bubbles is meticulously done, and precisely on point.
In terms of covers, you can find all three in full size in our database entry, but the Pitre-Durocher one in the thumbnail in particular highlights my point about this book's character focus, while the Zama/Burcham main variant dwells on the story.
Thoughts Spoilerish ahead
What initially seemed to be mostly exposition, as I pointed out above with Bumblebee, and as is partially also true with Shockwave, is also deployed by Barber really quite effectively as it sets in motion a number of cogs that the book itself remarks upon, though quite subtly, and it's probably the most intriguing hook from an issue that would otherwise be utterly flattened by knowing the general conclusion - and which may be the sole biggest fault of the book.
*curses against scheduling*
On the other, very positive hand, it was a pleasure to see how Rom and other Hasbro Universe characters and storylines are being brought in finally without it feeling like a strain. Dinobots, Jazz, the Council and Marissa, Trypticon, the colonists on Earth - all pieces being set up for the next in the game, which OP's removal from the conversation actually shows how much his presence can be a hindrance to their development. (That sentence itself may have foreshadowing hues on what is left of this story.)
I got the Walmart G1 reissue Devastator, ripped him open, and have thoroughly done all my "tests". The last time he was released (Encore #20 and #20A) the QC was pretty poor, so I'm sure a lot of people are wondering how this one will measure up. Also due to his steep price tag (100 CAD/75 USD) buying one of these might be considered quite a leap of faith.
For once folks, our faith has been rewarded. He. Feels. GREAT. And I seriously hope it's not just my copy.
Each individual figure looks and feels fantastic. The plastic is top notch, and everything is tight and solid. The only thing so far that's worried me was Longhauls right arm was hard to pull out the first time, but since then its felt fine. Everybody transforms nicely and everything works (which is nice because one of the heads on my 20A broke and got lost inside his body).
Put'em all together, and you also get a pretty solid Devastator. I mean, he's not that solid to begin with but I doubt he could be any better than this one. All this kinda makes me sad that the beautifully painted 20A was such a dud.
But is he worth the steep cost of admission? I really think he is. The only negative I can come up with it the two shades of green plastic he seems to have, but I personally have no idea how Encore #20 (proper) or the original was. For a crisp quality G1 Devs, you can't do better than this unless you're dead set on proper vintage. I highly recommend him
Fellow Seibertronian shajaki rightly points out that it seems odd that none of the 'bigger' YouTube reviewers have yet notified us of video reviews for the latest Beast Wars figure from the Takara Tomy Transformers Masterpiece line - so we headed for the lesser known names, still worthy of a spotlight!
Below you can find a quick round-up of video reviews for MP-41 Dinobot, including all the accessories and parts found in the set, such as the Golden Disk, eye changing gimmick, transformation, size comparisons with previous figures, from a number of YouTube reviewers. Give them a look, and let us know what you think.
Fans have decided by now if this line is for them or not. However, many fans are also parents and this line may interest your kids. Due to the very little attention given to this toyline by the youtube community, there have not been a variety of toy reviews done for all classes. The first video review for Transformers Cyberverse Grimlock was just uploaded yesterday. Since these toys are all gimmick based, these reviews can give you a good look at the actual gimmick and help you figure out if this would be a good toy for yourself or your kids.
Below you will find video reviews for all Scout class toys including Megatron, Starscream, Grimlock and Bumblebee. As you will see, those toys do not fully transform. Their gimmick remained largely unknown so this is our first good look at a few of them.
There are also videos for Ultra class Grimlock, Bumblebee and Starscream.
Following on from our extensive San Diego Comic Con coverage and galleries (Found here) We now have a video review for the Exclusive golden Bumblebee 1977 Camaro! This figure, fresh from the Transformers Studio Series Bumblebee Retro Rock Garage Vol.1 set - which includes the Camaro Bumblebee toy plus the two originally Japanese only G1 dino cassettes, but which are not in the video below - is reviewed by fellow Seibertron user, PrimevsPrime.
Find their review below, which includes a look at fancy packaging and a comparison to the regular deco but same mould from the Studio Series line, then head to the forums to share your opinion of this exclusive.
Thanks to frequent reviewer and Seibertronian chuckdawg1999, we have a video review to share of the Prime Wars Repugnus figure, which is currently shipping out from Amazon's website. We've had in-hand images already, but an in-motion review is a new occurrence for this toy.
In addition to the usual review fare of transformation, articulation and so on, Chuck also runs through the retooling done to the figure, comparisons to Repugnus' Monsterbot colleague Grotusque, further looks at the option to swap in the Titans Return Repugnus Titan Master for the head, and more. Check out the video below, and share your thoughts on the Energon Pub Forums!
Repugnus is the second Amazon exclusive figure from the Prime Wars trilogy representing Titans Return. A heavy retool of Twinferno, it's closer in appearance to the previously released exclusive Grotusque. An interesting figure in its own right with a fun transformation, Repugnus is a solid choice.
Transformers Power of the Primes Inferno has been out for a while now in various markets around the world to very little fanfare. That is perfectly in line with the initial reaction to this toy existing. While combiners were back for Power of the Primes, the line was filled with new molds for combiner limbs and torsos but Inferno was the only one using the same mold from Combiner Wars with the only thing different being his head (and just the robot mode head, the combiner head is the same as Defensor's). He wasn't planned to interact with the Prime armour, which is one of the play features of the line, and now this old mold was getting the POTP deco treatment of replacing tampos with stickers. So he was disregarded and seen as a cheap way to pad out a line that was already short on new toys. And, what seemed worst of all to fans, he added an unnecessary torso that had no dedicated limbs.
So he seemed an easy skip by many including me. However, I did get him eventually, and I think he's pretty great and I am quite happy to have him as part of my collection. I took images below, to share with you what I see in this toy and to give you an idea of all he has to offer.
Firstly, while he is a redeco of Combiner Wars Hot Spot with a new head, I feel he owns this mold and has as much right to it as Hot Spot did. Neither of them ever had a firetruck mode in G1 resembling what they have here, which is vague enough to also be considered Cybertronian if you wanted it (it's as Cybertronian as any other alt mode in the upcoming Siege line). And with design nods to both the RID Hino firetruck and Sentinel Prime's airport firetruck, red really suits the alt mode. I much prefer the fully white ladder.
What I like best is just how different the paint scheme is. Different parts are highlighted with paint to give him a very different look. Like the little black rectangles on the shoulders with a bit of red plastic within it. Same with the alt mode where we get some nice silver on the ladder area which was unpainted on Hot Spot. Plus the combiner head has extra paint on the helmet.
As for the Power of the Primes gimmick integration, I am impressed with how creative they went to find compatibility. Instead of the the combiner legs being gauntlets, they are turned into a back pack of sorts to allow Inferno to have shoulder mounted guns. And they are stored just as well in vehicle mode as compared to any other voyager in the line (I would even say those feet look better mounted on the firetruck than on any other voyager alt mode).
Inferno fits really well with a classics G1 crew and even works in a lost light crew (that would also include Hot Spot).
The colours look great, that red is perfect. Very vibrant (better than the red used on the Classics Inferno). And it makes a cool red and white combiner torso. The plastic also feels better on Inferno than Hot Spot and I like how they painted the light bar. It just works and it makes me enjoy the hot spot mold more than when Hot Spot was wearing it. Plus they fixed that silly knee issue Pyra and G2 Onslaught had. The red and white torso works really good with lots of different limb bots.
Here are more examples of the possible combined mode from the fan community.
So there you go, a bunch of reasons why I feel Inferno is a worthy addition to my collection. In the end I feel he has as much right to this mold as Hot Spot and simply looks just as good.
With Transformers Power of the Primes Wreck-Gar being a redeco of Combiner Wars Groove with a new head, a pictorial review felt most appropriate. In it you will get the best look yet at the deco choices and how the accessories can interact with his alt mode. You will also see how he compares with the previous deluxe Wreck-Gar figure and how well he can ride or be ridden on.
This figure is a Walgreens exclusive and is currently listed on the Walgreens website (but not in stock yet) and it is an EB-Games exclusive in Canada, as will now be the case for all Walgreens exclusives distributed in the country.
Here are some shots of the packaging, bot mode mode.
The main difference between this toy and the Combiner Wars Groove toy are the accessories and the head (along with the change in deco of course). So let's look at those now.
The weapon he comes with is the same circular blade weapon that came with Generations Wreck-Gar. It is darker grey and since it was meant for another toy, its integration is far from spectacular (but redeemable). As you will see in robot mode, the fact that this weapon was design for a bot whose hands had open fists, he can only hold it from the bottom this time around making it look ridiculous.
Speaking of ridiculous, this is how the instructions tell us to use both the prime armour and the blade weapon.
However, it'a all 5 mm pegs and holes so you can do with it as you wish.
Here is my favourite way (of what I have tested so far).
About the prime armour, it cannot fit on the robot mode chest, so it is basically a weapon, as advertised on the back of the box. I don't care though, I was never fooled into thinking it was more than a hand for the combiner mode. The hand is also not unique, it is the same mold (and colour) as the ones that came with the Dinobots. The Prime Master cover is grey plastic (instead of translucent.
The other big difference is the head. And yes, it looks small, especially compared to the previous Wreck-Gar toy. The reason it is so small is because the gap for the head when transforming the toy was designed for the traditionally square head of combiner components. So to accommodate his antennas, the head ends up being very small.
So a big question with the Junkions is always in regards to their capability to ride themselves (snicker). Well here you go (the red version of the mold you see is Takara's Afterburner).
Personally, I wont try this again but that's just me.
The instructions only show you how to turn him into an arm, so I will show you below what he looks like as a leg if ever you need this as reference.
And speaking of him as a leg, here he is being used as a combiner leg. To get an idea of him as an arm, you can check out Afterburner.
I hope this will be helpful to those who wondered if they should get him. He does come with a random 1/12 POTP cards. So for all those who do not care about the cards, don't be shy to mention it or put these up for sale either on e-bay or on our boards since there are people out there who will want all twelve.
As for my personal opinion on this toy, I could take it or leave it. There is nothing spectacular about him or his deco, which includes a return of the dull grey plastic. It just feels like an easy thing to pump out that is in no way essential or representative of the character. But for those who wanted a Junkion combiner, I am happy for you.
Repugnus is shipping out from Amazon with some fans told they will be getting him as early as tomorrow. We thank XRotorstomX and Carytheone for the info. For those who did not order him yet the toy is currently unavailable, but you can still sign up for a notification of when he will be back in stock by clicking here.
While you wait for yours to arrive, we have some nice in hand images to tide you over coming from the Hobbymizer facebook page and hatenablog. We get our best look yet at Dastard, the Titan Master, which is made to resemble the Battle Beast Prickly Porcupine / Hedgehog (image below for comparison).
We see the myriad of ways that the weapons integrate in both modes, like wings for Repugnus' monster mode, and how they interact with Dastard. Check out these images until the very end where you will see Repugnus with each of his three possible robot heads.
After a slight delay through the SDCC madness, we have reached the final episode of the entire Machinima Prime Trilogy of cartoons. It's been over two years in the making, and it's finally come time to take a look at the culmination of all those previous episodes. It's been a wild ride from start to finish, with a few ups and certainly a few downs. We are getting a bit ahead of ourselves, though, because we have one more episode to look at before the entire series draws to a close. Let's do that now, and make sure to read to the very end for more of my final thoughts on the entire trilogy. Join me as I break down, in our final Prime Trilogy review ever, The 10th epsiode:
Saga's End
Strap yourselves in, it's going to be a long one.
(The following review contains spoilers for the Prime Wars trilogy. There are A LOT this week. Proceed...on your way to oblivion.)
The episode picks up where the last left off, with Rodimus, with his newly upgraded form, in a heated battle with Optimal Optimus at the Well of Sparks.
Megatronus turns his attention towards the main cast, and turns the requiem blaster towards Megatron. At the last moment, out of nowhere, as Megatron is about to be blown to bits, Predaking drops from the ceiling on to Megatronus.
Preda-ex-machina
Predaking demands to know where the Engima of Combination is, but he never explains why. Megatronus engages him, and it gives a moment for Windblade and Grimlock to help Optimal Optimus. They hold Rodimus down as Optimal removes the Matrix of Chaos from within him.
As we switch back to watch Megatronus battle Predaking some more, we get a strange point-of-view shot from Predaking's perspective. It's a neat concept, but it doesn't come across very well, as we only see Predaking's arms for a split second, and everything else in the several-second long shot looks like a mistakenly placed empty frame. I even had to watch the scene a few times to make sure that's what they were trying to get at.
Heart Stopping Action!!!
We also get flashbacks to the first episode of the entire trilogy, when Windblade sliced through Menasor like butter, as Megatronus just tears Predaking's head clean off with little to no struggle in the next scene. You know, this giant combiner that was winning in a fight against Volcanicus just a bit ago. Him.
FATALITY
He then chucks Predaking's decapitated head at Megatron, who responds with an "Oh Shit", which is really strange in my opinion, to hear from Megatron's mouth.
I haven't really addressed the swearing that has really more or less suddenly appeared in this portion of the Trilogy, with "Ass"s and "Damn"s scattered all through the past 10 episodes, so I'll share my thoughts now. While I am 100% behind a more adult or mature focused Transformers show, this series seems to think that making Megatron say "You're starting to piss me off" several times is the way to do it, instead of a darker setting or more complex story lines. The words feel even stranger to hear because, as I said, none of the other seasons really had swearing this bad or frequent. It seems like the show runners sprinkled some curse words here and there this season as a cheap and easy way to make the series seem more "Adult".
This isn't to say I'm against swearing at all, either. Far from it. I think it can actually be used to punctuate emotional moments and make a character's personality distinct. But you can understand my suspicion that this series' use of it wasn't exactly for storytelling purposes.
GIVE ME YOUR FACEEEEE
Solus Prime, still flickering into existence using power from the Well of Sparks, makes the projection of herself gigantic, and picks Megatronus up and out of the battle with Megatron. She envelops him, dragging him down into the well, causing a column of new sparks to launch out in to the universe from the well, which Perceptor remarks will create the next generation of Transformers.
The heroes' problems aren't over yet, as the Matrix of Chaos, while having been removed from Hot Rod, is still searching for a new host. It finds Megatron, who was one of it's bearers in the past, and starts to be enchanted by the evil object. As he tried to fight it, he realises that the only way to stop it from just going and finding another host is to destroy it completely - Megatron included. Optimal Optimus readies the Requiem Blaster, and aims it at Megatron. As the realization falls over all of the cast that this is what must be done, they say their final goodbyes and thank yous to the former Decepticon leader.
As Megatron raises the Matrix of Chaos, Optimal Optimus primes the Requiem Blaster, and fires. Megatron is vaporized.
One day I shall come back. Yes, I shall come back. But until then there must be no tears, no regrets. Just go forward in all your beliefs, and prove to me I am not mistaken in mine.
Perceptor analyses the ground in front of him, and confirms that while the Matrix took the majority of the force, no trace of Megatron remained.
But the cast doesn't have much time to morn, as the one and only Optimus Prime crawls out of the Well of Sparks, because this cartoon isn't in the business of breaking new ground. Yes, of course the precious Autobot leader has to come back to life, and, on top of that, of course he has to upstage the death of the character that led the team through the majority of the trilogy. The show had successfully created a touching, emotional, impactful moment with the death of Megatron, and totally ruined it by saving Optimus Prime. Even if he had waited a beat or two longer to crawl out of the Well, it would have not only allowed time for Megatron's death to reach it's full emotional potential, but it would have made Prime's reveal more impactful.
IT'S ALIVE
Prime explains that he was reanimated through some confusingly illogical process regarding his connection to the Matrix of Leadership. But he says that everyone else who was killed by Megatronus can't be brought back to life.
After the dust settled, we see Prime and Optimal in what appears to be the Sanctorum again. Optimal promises Prime that he'll return the Matrix, but Optimus refuses. Instead they wrap up the character arcs in a not-so-tidy fashion. Windblade has become the city speaker for all titans in the universe, along with Emissary, while Hot Rod is still recovering. Grimlock has gone to morn Sludge with his fellow dinobots, and Perceptor is now the guardian of the Enigma and the Requiem Blaster.
EXPOSITIONNNNNNNN
And, as the two Primes continue to walk away, lurking in the shadows is the one who started it all, Starscream.
*Roundabout by Yes plays*
And on that bombshell, it's time to end.
That's it. This over two year long saga has come to a close. Looking back on it, was it really that bad? Was it really that disappointing? Did it deserve the hate it received? Well...I personally think so. This show started and ended with consistent problems, ones I've harped on, sometimes painfully so, before. Blocky, generic mouth movements, stiff animation to the point only one character (in a shot of many) was moving at a time, the occasional bad voice take, editing, etc. And while many, admittedly, were improved upon with each consecutive season, I think they dedicated too much of their increased budget on celebrity cast members than what was needed to fix the flaws, and new ones began to pop up. Continuity problems, notably, were one that severely impacted this season's first half of episodes. Characters being thrown one direction, and waking up in the complete opposite direction, for example. And, as an interesting side note, with the death of this show comes the death of it's host streaming service, Go90, as it's parent company announced it would be shutting down the platform tomorrow.
The plot as a concept was enjoyable, with many characters that we've never seen interact in Transformers media before thrown together. It was a fun thing to see, Overlord fight with the Mistress of Flame, Optimal Optimus fighting basically what was Nemesis Rodimus Prime.
To be fair, the show started with a disadvantage, premiering right as it's "Tie in" toy line was coming off the shelves, with the second season following the same unfortunate pattern. And while this could be written off as another fault of the show runners, or Machinima, I think that was a slight of Hasbro's part. Out of the creators' control.
Art was one of the absolute highlights of the show
Positives for me looking at the entire series as a whole were the art style/color palette, and the score. I've talked about both before, and, aside from the animation at times, it was a very pretty show to look at. It was at it's best when it cuts to a sweeping open shot of the universe, or a building with many colored lights. It felt very futuristic and modern, and I think they nailed the aesthetic they were looking for. I honestly think it's one of my favorite /looking/ Transformers shows of all time. The character models and designs are great, and, if they had been animated better and given better lines, most characters would also be some of the best iterations we've seen. As it sits, only one character from the trilogy holds that title in my mind...
It was that smile. That damned smile.
Megatron. Probably the most universally praised part of the entire three seasons. As such, I won't dwell very long. Perfectly capturing what a post-war Megatron would be, the show runners, character designers, and voice actor, Jason Marnocha, killed it. With a ridiculous amount of personality and wit, he is, hands down, one of the best new interpretations of Megatron we have ever seen.
And, ultimately, I think he's so good, that that's how the show will be remembered. Not for it's terrible pacing, or emotional moments that didn't really land, or Slug disappearing randomly. I think it was a show that started out with a disadvantage and hype it couldn't live up to (what show really could live up to "The Game of Thrones of animation) and, through a series of missteps, became fatally flawed. Despite a few diamonds in the rough here or there, I think, at risk of sounding like a fanboy keyboard warrior, but as a Transformers fan, we should hold ourselves to a higher standard.
And that's it. Thank you so much for not only reading this review of the finale of Power of the Primes, but all of my reviews over the past 2 years. I really can't express enough how thankful I am for your support of them, your memes based off them, or your discourse (whether you agreed or disagreed with me). I hope you enjoyed reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them. They were a lot of fun, and I loved writing comedy-based pieces to share with you guys. Stay tuned for some more Seibertron articles looking back on the Machinima cartoon courtesy of myself and William James 88 in the coming weeks. Thank you again!!!
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