Transformers Power of the Primes Primal Prime Artwork Found in 'Transformers - A Visual History'

Aw man I would have loved to see Primal Prime but, then again, I'm a total sucker for Optimus Primal and repaint potential (and Beast-era Botcon). It would have been nice to see it retooled to have a full mouthplate on the super mode and a Transmetal 1 Optimus Primal retool for the smaller bot in Apelinq colors.

I have a different theory about this art, in that it may have been less of a proposed redeco and more Hasbro's original idea for the normal retail figure's deco to make Optimal Optimus look more like what a "real Prime" would look like (as in, being colored like Optimus Prime) instead of using the 1998 figure's primarily orange deco that the retail POTP toy ultimately went with.

Sabrblade wrote:I have a different theory about this art, in that it may have been less of a proposed redeco and more Hasbro's original idea for the normal retail figure's deco to make Optimal Optimus look more like what a "real Prime" would look like (as in, being colored like Optimus Prime) instead of using the 1998 figure's primarily orange deco that the retail POTP toy ultimately went with.

I disagree. While we love to mock Warden's team for their anti-BW stance generally toys in the Prime Wars trilogy always used something approximating the original deco for their mass release, meaning odds are POTP Optimal Optimus likely was always intended to be orange. It would make no sense to release a single figure in that entire trilogy with a non toy/show-based color scheme.

Skritz wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:I have a different theory about this art, in that it may have been less of a proposed redeco and more Hasbro's original idea for the normal retail figure's deco to make Optimal Optimus look more like what a "real Prime" would look like (as in, being colored like Optimus Prime) instead of using the 1998 figure's primarily orange deco that the retail POTP toy ultimately went with.

I disagree. While we love to mock Warden's team for their anti-BW stance generally toys in the Prime Wars trilogy always used something approximating the original deco for their mass release, meaning odds are POTP Optimal Optimus likely was always intended to be orange. It would make no sense to release a single figure in that entire trilogy with a non toy/show-based color scheme.

Unless it was a special unique figure voted into the line from the outside.

Sabrblade wrote:

Skritz wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:I have a different theory about this art, in that it may have been less of a proposed redeco and more Hasbro's original idea for the normal retail figure's deco to make Optimal Optimus look more like what a "real Prime" would look like (as in, being colored like Optimus Prime) instead of using the 1998 figure's primarily orange deco that the retail POTP toy ultimately went with.

I disagree. While we love to mock Warden's team for their anti-BW stance generally toys in the Prime Wars trilogy always used something approximating the original deco for their mass release, meaning odds are POTP Optimal Optimus likely was always intended to be orange. It would make no sense to release a single figure in that entire trilogy with a non toy/show-based color scheme.

Unless it was a special unique figure voted into the line from the outside.

We have no way to prove or disprove your theory so I'll stick with my gut feeling that there isn't really any sense for this to have been the original, intended color scheme. Too much attention to detail went into POTP Optimal Optimus that I simply have no reason to believe it. If the figure had been such a 'hackjob' due to Warden's dislike of BW it could have gone wrong in so many ways. Instead the team went by the vote and produced a shockingly BW-accurate sculpt which retained most of the key elements and the original color scheme.

Its more logical to assume this was a scrapped exclusive.

Shame we didn't get this guy. I don't know if I would have picked him up or not, but it would have been cool to see him, and I appreciate knowing that they even thought of him.

To me this art presents four possible options of what happened:
-Primal Prime was going to be the SDCC exclusive instead of a weird repaint of a Season 3 design in Season 1 colors, but they decided to make the exclusive still the same character so they could fully theme it after the vote instead.
-Primal Prime was intended to be in the main line had it not been shortened to 4 waves, along with the Prime Masters that were SDCC-exclusive and possibly Snaptrap (at least), the other two Orthia limbs (the heavy mentions of Solus Prime in the Orthia lore from Pulse to me screams that it was meant to be for PotP), and a Battleslash/Roadtrap-styled tooling of Flywheels that was then altered before release in Siege to remove the bot modes.
-This art is from the early phase of planning Selects, and the figure wasn't made because they thought it safer to test the line with Deluxe figures first rather than release a Leader repaint right out the gate (remember that we got a few Deluxes and a Voyager in Selects first before they went in on Shackwave).
-This art is nothing but a concept of a possible repaint that never made it further than that concept stage, and no figure was planned of this deco to begin with.

Interesting, it would still have been a pass for me with the orig toy having all its alt modes and it could still turn up at some point.

Skritz wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:It would make no sense to release a single figure in that entire trilogy with a non toy/show-based color scheme.

Maybe that doesn't but retail FOC Bruticus apparently did

OK, very quick silly question here: what are those tabs on either side of Blackwing's cockpit for?

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:OK, very quick silly question here: what are those tabs on either side of Blackwing's cockpit for?

What tabs?

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:OK, very quick silly question here: what are those tabs on either side of Blackwing's cockpit for?

What tabs?

On the sides of the intakes.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:OK, very quick silly question here: what are those tabs on either side of Blackwing's cockpit for?

What tabs?

On the sides of the intakes.

Hmm, he's in combined form, need to investigate

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:OK, very quick silly question here: what are those tabs on either side of Blackwing's cockpit for?

What tabs?

On the sides of the intakes.

Hmm, he's in combined form, need to investigate

Your talking about he ones that stick out horizontally from the sides of the intake?



I've never noticed them before. Pulled him down and transformed him into jet, arm, leg and combined mode and I'm pretty sure they do nothing. Couldn't clip the combiner hand to them, nor the weapons or any random robot parts. They do appear to have a purpose though.

Unused pretool?

EDIT: well this is a dumb option and I'm just as confused as Blackwing

carytheone wrote:

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:OK, very quick silly question here: what are those tabs on either side of Blackwing's cockpit for?

What tabs?

On the sides of the intakes.

Hmm, he's in combined form, need to investigate

Your talking about he ones that stick out horizontally from the sides of the intake?

I've never noticed them before. Pulled him down and transformed him into jet, arm, leg and combined mode and I'm pretty sure they do nothing. Couldn't clip the combiner hand to them, nor the weapons or any random robot parts. They do appear to have a purpose though.

Unused pretool?

EDIT: well this is a dumb option and I'm just as confused as Blackwing

Did the same think myself, got the same results. No clue what they could be for.

Someone needs to find the instructions, that might be the official transformation. The brothers were weird as limbs officially

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:Someone needs to find the instructions, that might be the official transformation. The brothers were weird as limbs officially

Fortunately all my instructions are organized in folders in my desk. Best I can tell they show the arms pegging into the wings in arm mode and just tucked straight down in leg mode, just like the pics in Ben's review.





I did try and fold them up and over in arm mode, but the pegs and slots don't line up or even reach.

You know what's funny? I think I finally realized why none of the POTP Combiners had any large weapons of their own like the CW Combiners did. I think Hasbro wanted us to use the Prime Masters' Decoy Armor in their weapon modes to serve as the POTP Combiners' weapons.

And now I've got myself thinking of which Combiners I'd want to give which Decoy Armor weapon. However, there are three Autobot Combiners and two Decepticon Combiners, while the Decoy Armors come in three Autobot and five Decepticon flavors. This makes it easier for the Autobots, while the Decepticons get more to pick from.

Right off the bat, I'd give Cloudburst to Inferno since they're both red. Volcanicus I could see wielding Metalhawk since I'd imagine Grimlock would want the leader of the Pretenders. And that would leave Orthia with Landmine, which works out since Landmine's armor came with Alpha Trion, whom Elita is closely associated with.

As for the Cons, I think it would be cool to see them dual-wielding Decoy Armor weapons, so I'd give both Bomb-Burst and Skullgrin to Abominus since they each turn into claw weapons, which leaves Starscream with Submarauder and Bludgeon. Octopunch, meanwhile, is the odd one out, but since his suit came with Solus Prime, and since there's only one female Decepticon Combiner in all of CW/UW/POTP/etc., I'd probably give that weapon over to Megatronia, who'd hold it in one hand and wield her sword in the other.

Interesting notion, they are pretty well sized for combiner hands.

I personally just like leaving them as armors themselves, though all the shells are empty. all my Primes went to the Throne/Scepter. The 12 vanilla Primes are in the wheel, while 13 and the 3 clear ones are in the scepter

Not to mention you can also shove the PMs in the enigma slots as well. Seems like a logical play pattern. Good call