My 5-year old nephew Tony (Antonio) got (rescue bots) Optimus Prime for his birthday and he loves it.
He came over with my sister the other day and went into my room , saw my american Gigazord sittin on the floor of the closet and tried to pick it up by the arm. The whole thing fell apart in his hands. I ended up giving him the entire thing.
I also gave him Prime Ratchet in robot mode but he got frustrated because he couldnt figure out where to start. I said "you can do Optimus right?"
and he says "yea but this one isnt like that".
He'd probably enjoy the "Medic Bot". When I was his age, I had Perceptor, Magnus, Starscream....etc. They all broke. My point is, he (kids) would probably enjoy things like these Rescue Bots, old Gobots, G1ers like Powermaster Optimus, TM Pointblank etc more than the 'bigger kid" toys like Bayverse etc etc.
He doesnt give a rat's ass about articulation, weapons, how militant can we make optimus, elbow joints and ****. He just wants a toy to play with. Not a friggin rubix cube robot.
(if your 5 year olds can transform that ****, mad props, the first person that makes a comment about my nephews intelligence is a dickwad.)
I also gave him a ton of IDW issues since I picked up the trades. I feel like an ass, because I think I just indoctrinated him (which I said I wouldnt ever do) the day before he started 1st grade....
I dont think he knows too much bout G1. I'm curious how he'd like it, it would be fun to sit down an play it for him when I think he's ready. He loves Optimus because he loves trucks, so I dont know if he's ready for the good ol deathbed scene yet. When I was his age Id already seen numerous dead bodies at funerals (which is why my mom cried for Prime, but I didnt, Im sure you can figure that part out...), I dont think he has though.
Let's face it, Ive been swimming in this robot culture for 27 years, I'll let the little dude learn at his own pace. I was so hoping he'd be a sports kid, but if robots can teach him something and keep him from gangbanging later on, then thats a great thing.
Needless to say, the bayverse is offlimits. at least, I aint gonna be the one pushin play. I still have nightmares about the guys hairy asscheeks from 'Armed and Dangerous'