TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

Robot Mode:

Alternate Mode:

Box Art:

Dedicon's review of: Nemesis Prime

Name: Nemesis Prime
Function: An evil Optimus clone

Motto: A warrior finds honor only in the total destruction of his enemies.

Repaints. Once Hasbro started arming the Alternators line with those- I thought the line was lost. I mean retooling is one thing. Repainting, that’s just lazy. Especially in toys like Rollbar, when even the details are the same and just the body paint has changed.

With that said, for me, the rules are completely different for the black repaints of Optimi.

To be honest, I am a sucker for demonic/dark creatures and that’s exactly what all the Nemesis Primes are. And apparently I am not the only one, cause all the black Optimus Primes are selling like hot buns, and then go to ebay for insane prices. This one is even worse. Not only is he a black Optimus, but he is also an exclusive.

One more thing worth mentioning: Nemesis prime has a bio made for him. It puts him in the Binaltech storyline. However, since Hasbro didn’t bother to write the bio on the back of the box, I won’t bother to put it here in the review. If you want to read it, just go to the forum section and click on search. The rest will just magically happen.


Onward, to the reviewing part!


Dodge RAM SRT-10:

I’ve lent myself the privilege of stealing Clay’s idea, and I named the vehicle mode by the name of the car! HA! And you probably didn’t even notice!! [edit: The hell I didn’t! I proofread these things, you know! :-p –Clay]

Anyway, the Dodge ram still looks very odd in the sports/muscle/street cars within the Alts/BTs world. It misses the luxury value the others had. Still, it’s black, it has red transparent windows, it’s evil, it’s Nemesis.

Some banal things: you can open the two front doors, you can open the backdoor of the storage box (I don’t know how to even say it in English) and the hood. The engine is nicely shaped with the “Viper” words written on both sides of it. Funny, he has a VIPER engine and it’s completely different from the ones the other Vipers have. I think it’s some truck-version. I can’t tell since I am no car freak.

With that said, Nemesis makes one convincing car. I can’t find anything that can put him out of his disguise, unless someone looks at the bottom. He does have an odd gap between the wheels and the front bumper, making the front a bit empty inside. And it is empty! Open the hood and remove the engine, there is nothing there!

In alt mode closing, Nemesis prime is a nice and realistic pickup truck, but the hollow hood and odd gap at the front makes him… well, odd. Still, he is a black Prime, so I love him anyway…what can I say? I’m weak.


Nemesis Prime:

Okay, let’s be honest. Unless you are going to keep him MISB, this is the mode he will be most. And for good reason: Nemesis rocks as a robot. It just shows what a new paintjob can do. Nemesis is a dead-on RID Scourge. He has red eyes, black with some grey and teal for detailing (especially on the legs). He has two Decepticon symbols (one on each shoulder) and most importantly: he looks evil. The engine transforms into my favorite BT/Alt weapon: it actually looks like a gun!
Nemesis also has some great poseablity for his size. I won’t write every single joint, but let’s just say he has enough.

So what’s bad in this mode?

Well folks, if you paid a Binaltech price for your Alternator, you will have Binaltech problems and the Alternator quality. Meaning? Nemesis’s head and shins are painted chrome black, and in my less than a month having him and only three times transformed, he’s already got paint chipping in both places!

Now, one of Hasbro’s fine points in Alts compared to BT’s was that the Die-cast parts might get their paint chip, but in the Hasbro plastic version, it won’t because it’s painted on plastic. Gone that theory on this toy, because chrome colors are known for getting easily chipped, die cast or other wise.

The second point Hasbro got is the price. But again, unless you’re lucky enough to buy it at hasbrotoyshop.com, or just preordered it from the club store when preorder was available, you are going to pay a BT price, or even more. I don’t know about you, but that got me pretty upset and it’s something to consider if you are paying that much for an exclusive repaint.

Transformation:

The worst point of the toy IMO. Transformation is mostly clever, but the way you need to put the arms inside the body is awful. You have no choice but to use excessive force on the toy. I will be happy if any one with an Optimus mould would tell me I am wrong and will give me a solution, but so far this is worse than Smokescreen. At least with him it wasn’t so much about force but more about technique. This one isn’t.

Now, let’s grade him shall we?

Transformation: 9- Would’ve been 6 if not for those damn arm problem again, this is not to rate the quality, but the difficulty of the transformation.
Durability: 7- Paint chipping on an Alt??? Unheard of!
Fun: 9- For me, the fact he is a black and evil Optimus makes him enough fun.
Price: 1- Yep, you will pay anything from $40-$80 on him. And the ones at $40 are only on Ebay and are already hard to find.
Overall: 8.9: I would’ve love to give the toy a 10 or even a 9, but though I love him, I must be unbiased and say he is not the best out there. At least not at this price. If you love black Primes and you want an Alternator RID Scourge, get this one. If you don’t, just pass. At this point, I can’t really say this toy is for everyone. But it is for me, and for me at least, it was worth the cost.