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Transformers Toy Review Archive (older series, 1984 to date)
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zeoman4.5's review: RID Optimus Prime

Name Optimus Prime
Function Leader of the Autobots
Unique feature Combines with his brother Ultra Magnus to
form Omega Prime.


Chosen by the Matrix to lead the Autobots on their mission to Earth, Optimus Prime is the very embodiment of all that every Autobot strives to be. He is the soul of honor and compassion, dedicated to the preservation of life and freedom for all creatures. His affection for those he protects is matched only by his ferocity in battle. He has faced them many times, and knows that there can be no surrender and no compromise with the treacherous Predacons. In addition to being an ideal leader, he is a war machine of incredible power. Nearly unbeatable in single combat, his enemies have resorted to an endless string of dirty tricks to lay him low, only to see him rebound every time, stronger than ever before. His strength and confidence, however, hide a deeply reflective spirit. During solitary moments, he has been known to doubt his skill as a leader, for his deep compassion has- at times- clouded his judgment. Thankfully, his brilliant mind and the dedication of his compatriots have always managed to snatch victory from the evil claws of the Predacons.

Well, well, well looks like we have ourselves another Optimus
Prime figure. This time around though, its a tribute to the RID
Prime.

Now for those of you who don't know anything about RID, it was
a short lived Transformers series that filled in the space between
the end of Beast Machines and the start of TF Armada. It was
a relatively good anime based show with tie-ins from many
previous TF series and toylines. It had a few criticized alterations
form previous lines, mainly that it was Autobot Vs Predacons,and
that Prime was a Fire Truck. Having gotten that out of the way,
I can go on to my review, enjoy it or else.

Robot Mode
Prime's robot mode is based on the well armed and armored,
Battle mode, of which RID Prime used to kick some Pred butt on
regular occasions. In retrospect it is probably far better off, as
compared to making one that was based off of his smaller G1
like robot mode, which would have to change into some piece-of-
junk half of a fire truck thing. Any way, Prime's robot form is, like
all titanium TFs, highly detailed, and great for displaying. The
color scheme is a fitting tribute to the larger RID figure, only
without the easily scratched chrome pieces. Mostly red, like a
Prime should be, he also has grey, silver, metallic blue and yellow
details molded onto his body. He is almost spot on with the
anime character, easily the most ornate of all the titanium figures.
His face is not your standard blue helmet with the silver face plate
its red almost entirely, excluding the pair of guns on either side
of his head, and some outline metal strips which give his face a
unique shape all to himself. His overall appearance is like taking a
fire fighter and morphing it together with an ancient samari
warrior. An excellent looking robot mode. The only minor
problem I have with him is his lower legs are hollow, result of his
transformation, the pieces of the legs fold over their upper
portions, to form the cab of his vehicle mode.

As far as functioning as a toy is concerned, he is by far the best of
his kind for playing with, honestly. He is very well articulated, he
has he has 14 points of articulation from his head to his knees.
He has a pair of cannons which can pop out of his lower arms.
They don't look to grand but are fun little bits that add to his play
or display value. In addition to having arm guns he also has his
latter rack, which can be placed over his shoulder. Fold out the
small nossles at the end of the rack and you have a mighty
weapon ready to perform RID Prime's ultimate attack, "Blizzard
Storm." Great fun all around, he is easily one my favorite TFs.


Vehicle mode
A twist here, a turn there, and a couple folds later, and you have
his vehicle form, a fire truck. G1 fans criticize his transformation,
but I personally like the design. I think it is fitting for him to be
a rescue vehicle, more so than a tractor-trailer. It gives him more
tools to work with, in his endless struggle to preserve life. Once
more he looks spot on with design seen in the RID cartoon. He is
a somewhat futuristic, Japanese fire truck. A little plain, but well
made. From the top and sides, you might not even be able to tell
he is a Transformer, if not for the large conspicuous Autobot
symbols, and even from the underside he doesn't look bad. One
thing that you can tell very easily from this mode is that he has
quite a bit more plastic parts than most titaniums, which sort of
takes away from the theme a somewhat, but adds stability and
functionality. The only feature in his vehicle is the movable boom
for his latter, and that his six wheel roll rather well. Once more
a very nice vehicle form, great on many levels.

Marks out of ten for the following:
Durability 8 He has some joints which come off easily, but
they go back on just as easily.
Transformation 7 Straightforward, but different, fun too.
Price 8 Worth the 16.99 I paid, but online it may be
more.
Fun 10 Simply fun, display, play, whatever.

Overall 9 Superb piece, one of the very best of the
titanium line. A fitting homage to the RID universe, and its Prime.
Definately a must for your collection, especially if you are a fan of RID.
 
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