PotP Vector Prime & Metalhawk ***Proofed by Skyquake87***

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ganon578
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PotP Vector Prime & Metalhawk ***Proofed by Skyquake87***

Post by ganon578 »

Name: Vector Prime & Metalhawk
Function: Prime Master, Pretender
Subgroup: Power of the Primes
Size Class: Prime Master

Time Traveler. So it says on Vector Prime’s package. The other Prime Masters have their own powers, different from that of Vector Prime. With the Power of the Primes line release, this is Hasbro’s way of introducing the thirteen primes and the powers they hold within, as well as shoehorning in some cross-play functionality between the Prime Master, Legends, Deluxe, Voyager, and Leader size classes. The cross-play is there, but I don’t think it works nearly as well as the Titan Masters, and slapping in the Pretender ability isn’t exactly a saving grace.

To be clear, I know almost nothing about Pretenders. I have never owned any of the original toys, nor have I read any fiction regarding them. My limited knowledge comes from Transformers Cliff’s Notes in the form of TFWiki. So yeah, no nostalgic ties going on here.

That said, when Power of the Primes came along, I really wanted to test the waters on these new Prime Masters. I’ve had some fun with the Titan Masters of the Titans Return line, and was eager to see the next iteration of the toy designs. Choosing between Liege Maximo/Skullgrin, Micronus/Cloudburst, and Vector Prime/Metalhawk was pretty much a no-brainer. The latter was by far the best looking of the group, and the names are much cooler than the others.

Pretender Mode:

A shell that’s pretty much a hollow block with a tiny Prime Master inside, Metalhawk has very limited movement and play ability. The arms move up and down, and he can either wield his giant gun, or strap it to his back. Luckily, you can also stick other Prime or Titan Masters into the shell for some added ‘fun’. And… wait. Nevermind, that’s it.

On the plus side, the blue/red/yellow/silver paint apps give a sharp look, and the Metalhawk armor is a good representation of the original character. Plastic detailing is well done and quite pleasing. One detraction on the aesthetic (and this will likely be true of all the Prime Masters) is that the Prime Master head inside the armor looks rather tiny. If you’ve ever put a Titan Master face inside a Leader Class Titans Return figure, you’ll know what I mean – it looks like a tiny head with too large of a helmet. The same effect holds true here. While you can see the face in there, it’s shrouded by too much armor.

Gun Mode:

All you need to do to get to gun mode is attach the cannon properly and flip out the handle. As an added option, you can peg the folded Prime Master on top, just in case you would like your Transformers to time travel while blasting people in the face. The gun mode isn’t terribly convincing, as it’s merely a block of detailed plastic with a barrel at the end. The barrel is silver and blue though, and does look quite sharp. the mode does, however, work as a weapon for any figure with a 5 mm peg hole in the fist. So that’s a plus.

Robot Mode:

Vector Prime’s robot mode is identical to the previous line’s Titan Masters. The nearly identical form factor allows the Prime Masters to be backwards compatible to the Titans Return figures. Limited paint applications (in this case, silver paint on the face) moveable arms, and hip and knee hinges. The hinges on mine are opposite of eachother – while the hips are super snug, the knees are rather loose, making it a chore to stand Vector up properly.

Prime Master Mode:

When folding up Vector Prime, you get a fancy design on the top, with connect-a-dot lines. I presume this is to give the impression of time travel, but it really just serves to be Vector’s symbol. You can find this symbol on the random cards that ship with the various other Power of the Primes figures, which will tell you Vector’s effect on said figure. For additional cross-play, the Prime Master can plug into the chest armor that comes with the Deluxe figures, the ‘bucklers’ and enigma slots that come with the Voyagers, as well as the Matrix housings that come with the Leader class figures. It all works just fine, and I can see that swapping Prime Masters to give figures various ‘powers’ would be very intriguing for the target audience. For collectors though, this idea, while neat, isn’t as good or fun as the previous Titan Master iteration.

Marks out of ten for the following:

Transformation Design: There really isn’t anything going on here, with just a Pretender shell and a Master that folds up. I suppose it’s not frustrating though. 3/10.

Durability: There’s not much around to break, so durability is good. 9/10.

Fun: There is cross-functionality, and there are several modes. On his own though, VP/Metalhawk isn’t super fun. 6/10.

Aesthetics: The gun mode isn’t convincing, the robot mode is standard, but the armor looks sharp. 7/10.

Articulation: The Prime Master is standard, and the armor is limited to arm swivels. For the toy’s purpose, I supposed that’s sufficient, but I wanted more. 3/10.

Value/Price: Prime Masters are very inexpensive, around $5 USD. I don’t think you get as much bang for your buck as you did when these were the Titan Masters. 6/10.

Overall: Vector Prime and Metalhawk are a good novelty addition if you’re collecting Power of the Primes, though I don’t think I will collect more than say, two Prime Masters at best. If you were planning on buying him on his own, you should think really hard about it, as Titan Masters are still on some shelves for the same price and offer more. On the upside, I can see where VP & MH would be fun for the young ones, as it doesn’t take much finger dexterity to fiddle with. The cross-play functionality across size classes is an added bonus. This one's a toss-up. 5/10.
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ganon578
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Post by ganon578 »

And here the little guy is!
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VP5.jpg
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Skyquake87
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Post by Skyquake87 »

Hmm. The Prime Masters do look like some sort of $2 Blind bag toy, rather than a legit release. I'm on the fence with these, and I've a funny feeling they'll end up being the best part of £10 when they hit the UK, which make them as appealing as the Titan Masters for me. I like the interactivity, although adding them to the armour doesn't do anything except make that look slightly less silly. Good Target Master mode, but by Crikey that Grimlock looks horrible.
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ganon578
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Post by ganon578 »

Skyquake87 wrote:Hmm. The Prime Masters do look like some sort of $2 Blind bag toy, rather than a legit release. I'm on the fence with these, and I've a funny feeling they'll end up being the best part of £10 when they hit the UK, which make them as appealing as the Titan Masters for me. I like the interactivity, although adding them to the armour doesn't do anything except make that look slightly less silly. Good Target Master mode, but by Crikey that Grimlock looks horrible.
They're a tough thing to review, since I see where Hasbro was going with the cross-play, there just isn't much to do with them unless they're interacting with other figures. It's a toss up if you want to drop the limited cost, but I think people will be happier with a $3 sale price instead of dropping multiple $5 hits for a handful of these things. Definitely not as fun as the TR ones.

I don't mind the look of Grimlock so much (granted, he's not winning any beauty contests), and he's quite fun to fiddle with. I'm just bummed he didn't have a sword or something, which is why he gets to wield VP/MH.
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