This fella arrived on Wednesday morning, and I have some thoughts. So, I hope you all don't mind my rambling opinions on this guy.
Overall, he's much better than I thought he'd be when he was first shown. I think my initial disappointment was due to my own mismanaged expectations towards him, namely, that he's not supposed to be a direct successor to the Original Cybertron toy, and instead he's a blend of that and G1 to bring him into the Generations styling.
That being said, I have my quibbles, and I'll briefly go over them now. Firstly, and let's not beat around the bush, the separate cab mode is pretty awful.
It's by far the weakest mode, and it's understandable that a toy that does this much is going to have a mode that's lower on the priority list. But this cab isn't just passable, like POTP Orion Pax's was, but an active detriment, and makes me want to fiddle around with the inner figure less.
Which is a shame because, despite this guy's odd proportions, I actually like it quite a lot. It has a strange chunky charm that I can't fully explain. It just appeals to me. It's robot mode is also surprisingly detailed and pose-able for something that most people probably will never display on it's own.
The fact is has things like a ball joint neck and ankle tilts took me by surprise, and there's a lot of paint here along with the sculpted details. This robot mode doesn't feel like a stepping stone like POTP Orion does, which is ironic, considering that in terms of pure utility, he's far more of a stepping stone than the former.
I also have to point out that I love the rotating spine piece that the bumper uses to form the backpack. It's just a pit that the cab on it's own is so poor, otherwise I'd be more positive.
Thankfully, these complaints don't carry over to the combined modes, both of which are fantastic. This might just be the most gorgeous headsculpt I've seen on an Optimus Prime toy since Classics. It's just so imposing looking, and really captures the original look of the cartoon far better than the OG leader. The figure as a whole has such a presence. The painting and detailing is superb and I really appreciate that all weapons can be stores away on the back without cluttering the backpack further.
I only have one real criticism, and that is that I wish that the legs had sideways ratchets and the combined mode boots are rather heavy, which means the legs can;t hold certain poses, and he can occasionally be prone to doing the splits if put into a wide A-frame stance.
Otherwise, this guy is great, and I'm very happy I got him. If I didn't already own the classics, this toy would for sure be my new CHUG Prime.
Thanks for reading my rambling, and I'm sorry I'm so long winded.
I try to write the best reviews I can, and I'm always attempting to improve. And I really do have to gush about how cool the spine piece is. It's such a simple but clever piece of engineering that means the bumper doesn't have to sit on the butt. I hope we see more clever solutions like this in future.
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