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CybPh WebsiteSouchaku Henkei: Trans Scanning Optimus Prime
Transcanning Optimus Prime, a japanese exclusive item which features Optimus Prime from the Transformers movie. The toy is basically a skeleton with accessories that enables him to turn into either his Protoform version or his Earthform version.
Me and a friend of mine has lovingly dubbed this toy as "Souchaku Henkei", as a portmaneau of "Souchaku Henshin" (a Bandai toyline that depicts characters with removable die-cast armor) and "Henkei" (The new recolor line of Transformers Classics). The reason is this: The toy is a Transformer that is equipped with armors.
Transcanning Prime will be referred to as TSOP for the remainder of this document.
ReviewI will review TSOP in three categories:
- Sculpt (Form and Color)
- Articulation (Movable Parts and how can it be moved)
- Fun Factor (How did I enjoy it -- and any other stuff)
SculptSkeleton:
TSOP as a toy is a basic skeleton of Optimus Prime. The skeleton features a thin build with holes all over the body. The holes are used to hold the armor pieces that come with the pack, also the holes seemed to be used to lock on to a position when transformed. On it's chest is a blue light orb, not really sure what this is for... probably to depict where Movie Prime's spark is. Aside from the chest the whole body is painted metal gray, except the eyes which are orange. The face of the skeleton is also the face of the Protoform. The body is well sculpted, with minute details and panels all over.
Robot mode (Protoform)
Using some of the armor pieces included in the pack (indicated in the manual), the skeleton could be turned into Movie Op's protoform body. Armor pieces for the shoulders, forearms, chest, pelvis, shins and feet are used to transform the skeleton to the protoform. Sculpted from ABS plastic, the armor pieces are hard materials with pegs that attaches to the holes in TSOP's body. They are painted blue, with purple details around some of the parts. The armor is also scuplted with a lot of fine details. The look is superb and is well worth mentioning. One thing I didn't like though is if you turn the figure around... there is nothing more to see... instead, most of the armor just covers only one side of Prime's body. Leaving him, for lack of a better word, bare-assed... actually there is a better set of words... he looks naked from behind. His colors (blue and purple) also seem to remind me of BBoon from Beastwars II.
Compared to the TFTM movie deluxe Protoform Prime, this design is more closer to the actual movie depiction of a Protoform since it doesn't have the windshield chest and it's head is simpler and smaller compared to the deluxe movie toy,
Also unlike other toys I know that installs an armor piece for the shoulders, the armor is actually attached to the bicep, rather to the shoulder, this actually impedes posability. But at least it tends to fall off less.
Alternate mode (Protoform)
The protoform's alternate mode is a piece of meteor, this form of a chunk of space rock is the Movie Transformer's way of traveling through space. Speaking of which... what the heck was that on the picture?!
Sure, there is no standard look for a piece of space rock... but... COME ON! What the heck was that?
To form... "chunk of space rock", you need to bend some of his parts in almost the same way as the Deluxe Protoform Prime, however TSOP lacks the other parts that hide the robot's form when in alternate mode, which ends up looking like a ... ... ... I honestly don't know... I guess it's a "chunk of space rock". You rock Hasbro! (
)
Robot mode (Earthform)
Using some of the armor pieces included in the pack (indicated in the manual), the skeleton could be turned into Movie Op's Earth Form body. Now here's where it really gets interesting, 19 pieces of armor are used to create the movie prime look. On this form, a new head is needed and the way it's attached to the body very much screams "Souchaku Henshin" (The headpiece of earth form Prime is two pieces of armor that is worn over the Protoform body's head.) Also, the armor used for the Earthform is heavier than the Protoform, though not die-cast.
There are some variations of this figure from the other Movie Op toys released, for one thing "the backpack" is a lot larger and more prominent that the other designs, and the large metal tubing found on the side of the truck can swing forward and provide TSOP with some menacing firepower.
On this form the familiar red and blue scheme of Movie prime is seen along with red licks of flame across the doors and shins. The details of this form are amazing, for a toy whose in scale with Robot Masters, it has quite a decent amount of detail. Unike the Protofrom, his whole body is covered.
Alternate mode (Earthform)
The truck form is extremely nice. For a small figure, the look of the truck is comparable to the Leader Class Optimus Prime. And check out the chrome! The front grill is painted with vac-metal silver giving it a clean chrome finish. Even the smokestacks are chromed! Way cool! Another special feature of the truck mode is the "doors" can be opened, giving it a nice detail for a toy this size.
With all that coolness for the truck mode, there's gotta be a catch! YES THERE IS... You can easily experience the beauty of TSOP's truck mode... IF YOU CAN TRANSFORM HIM!!! Well you can Transform him, but it takes A LOT of patience and an endless supply of sanity... Because in a rank of Good, Bad or Ugly... he makes a new category... CRAZY.
Trying to Transform TSOP into a truck mode is pure heck! First off, parts get easily dislodged causing you to either stop transformation and re-attach the part or continue hoping the part that came off isn't important. Second, some of the parts are themselves annoying to re-attach... I often had the lights on the roof of the truck come off and it's a pain sticking them back in. Seriously.
Fortunately.. there is hope. The armor for the earth-form mode can actually combine without the skeleton, enabling you to have a robot and a truck at the same time. (Probably to re-enact the scene in which he will scan the truck for the first time.)
But if a simple truck is not your cup of tea, you can try this: remove some of the parts first before attempting to transform the toy (specifically the knees and the backpack), then systematically transform the backpack and the body at separate times before reuniting them again to form the truck.
ArticulationThis is where TSOP shines the most. Since the skeleton has a wide array of joints, the toy can be posed in almost any position humanly possible. Almost 30+ points of articulation!
With the armor on (any of them) some of the posabilty of the figure is lost. However the loss of articulation is significant only using the Movie Prime armor, in which a lot of the parts tend to be either too heavy to move or is blocked by another part.
KICK TEST TIME:
So far all forms passed, though Earth Form tends to be unbalanced by kibbles.
Fun FactorAside from the armors, the set comes with two extra hands (opened) for Prime and a base for displaying "chunk of space rock" form.
The main attraction of this line is the usage of armors to create a Transformers' status (whether still a protoform or has chosen an alternate form.) However because of the the Protoforms' simple and seemingly forced alt mode and the Earthmode's Heck-on-earth transforming issues, the standard and most important concept of a transformer toy is lost.
However, the posability of the figure may have saved this line a bit for me. It also helps that the skeleton is highly customizable with other toy parts (as long as it fits the scale and the pegs fit TSOP's holes). Though not enough to push TSOP's ratings up, these features are enough to make it survive another toy wave.
OverallThe toy is a good attempt on a concept that went wrong. A transformer must always be able to tranform into a convincing and stable form, if ever a TF toy falls short on that requirement, then its just considered to be an action figure. Transcanning Optimus Prime is a Transformer Toy last I remember.
Would I recommend this? Only to someone as wacky as I am and never to a person with rage issues. As for the others, think about it. It's not a bad toy... it just not a good transformer toy.
PARTING NOTE: I got two of these... Ain't I NUTS? XD
BEACH BUM!
Rating:Skeleton : A-
Protoform : B+
Earthform : C-
TOTAL :
BSince we did give it the nickname "Souchaku Henkei"... I decided to try this out:
EEK! Undead Kuuga!
[ Click to attempt signal recovery... ]
