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Detective Barricade's review: Optimus Prime

Name: Optimus Prime
Function: Autobot Leader
Sub-Group: Animated Voyager class
"While I function, Earth is under my protection." or “Autobots, transform and roll out!”

When Optimus Prime crashed to Earth with the rest of the Autobots, he didn’t really know what it meant to be a hero. He spent most of his time in space dreaming of glory, but it wasn’t until he was first faced with the terrible decisions that inevitably come with leadership that he finally understood. He became a true hero - a being who does what he does not for glory and fame, but because no one else can do it.

Galactic Powers and Abilities:
- Supplementary battle armor
- Rocket-assisted axe
- Grapnel launcher in arm

Optimus Prime has been in nearly all Transformer series to date in one form or another. And he’s always been the leader of the Autobots. So of course the most easily recognizable Transformer of all time would appear in the new Animated series! But, there’s a twist: he’s not the supreme leader of all Autobots this time. That position belongs to Ultra Magnus. Prime still leads a small group of Autobots, with the help of Ratchet. Now that that’s been taken care of, let’s get on with the review!

Alternate Mode:

In alternate mode, Optimus Prime turns into a futuristic truck that can be outfitted with a fire engine section on the back. He’s supposed to be a fire engine, but since he doesn’t often have that back piece on, I’m calling it a truck. However, it seems that the back piece is almost necessary for this mode. It certainly doesn’t hurt to have it on! There’s some rather intricate detailing inside his windshield as well as what might be seats inside the interior. In order for the water cannon to sit right, it has to be facing back. There is virtually no kibble in vehicle mode. He’s also one of a few Transformers that manage to keep all of the wheels on the ground, unlike some figures... (Barricade, I’m staring at you).

Optimus Prime’s colors are pretty close to the Animated counterpart and almost every Prime to come before him. He’s got a red cab with a blue chassis, a grey front fender, yellow lights, and a black stripe that runs below a silver stripe. The grill and hub caps are also silver. The light bar and windshield are translucent blue. In robot mode, Prime gains some light blue for his actual face, which can be covered up by the face plate.

In either mode, one can squirt water from the cannon by filling it up and then pulling the nozzle back. In robot mode, moving a lever on the back of his neck makes his face plate move up or down, similar to Cybertron Leader class Optimus Prime’s face plate, but it looks best to keep the face plate up.

Robot Mode:

To get Optimus into robot mode, first remove that back piece and unfold it to form his axe. Flip the feet up and flip the front bumper down. Next, separate the front and rotate the halves to the sides. Push the catch on the back down to release his waist, which will spin down into position, and push the waist forward to ‘lock’ it. Extend the legs and separate them. Then, rotate the rear wheel over to the inside of his leg so that the front halves can fold up onto the sides. Open the panels on the front of the cab and rotate the arms out. Flip his hands out and clip the flaps on to them. Pull his shoulders out a little, pop the light bar up and rotate it back. Flip his head out and close the back. And now he’s done!

In robot mode, Optimus Prime puts away any doubts one may have had about him not being Prime. Red torso with windshield chest? Check. Blue lower arms and legs? Check! It’s nice to see that familiar G1 Prime look to him. He’s got decent light piping and makes good use of it! Like G1 Prime, he wields an axe and a gun, albeit, the axe is held instead of arm mounted, and the gun is a water cannon instead of an ion one. He can also store his weapons on his back, giving him a sort of ‘jet pack’.

Being an Animated figure, Optimus is of course going to have a lot of articulation. With the face plate up, his head can rotate a full 360. There are four joints in each shoulder, but one needs to pull his shoulders out to make any use of them. His elbow can swivel and bend in two directions. His hands and feet don’t move. His waist rotates a full 360 and his hips move in the usual directions. Finally, the knees bend and swivel. His joints are mostly pinned, but are stiff enough to hold his axe up in nearly any pose.

Marks out of ten for the following...:
Transformation: 4 Not hard at all, but getting the Automorph to reverse is a little tricky.
Durability: 7 His joints hold well, but some are pin hinges. The Automorph on him may wear out over time.
Fun: 9 Play value is extremely high with this version! The cannon even squirts water!
Price: 7 Yours for only $20USD! However, he doesn’t even take up half of the room in his box.
Overall: 9 Possibly one the best versions of Animated Optimus. If you see him, grab him!
 
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