TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

Robot Mode:

Alternate Mode:

Box Art:

Kremzeek75's review of: Omega Supreme

Name: Omega Supreme
Allegiance: Autobot
Function: Construction/Transportation
Sub-Group: NA
"Hasbro doesn't love me, so I get no quote."

Ready to rekindle some fond G1 memories while going into the future of Transformers? Good, so am I.

When I started collecting Transformers back in the 80's, one of my biggest regrets was not getting the original Omega Supreme, who transformed into a semi-base with rocket ship and track system that supported a battle tank. However, I feel I kind of made up for it by buying the newly released Energon version of Omega, which pays tribute to a classic character while signaling the very future of the Transformers Toys. First off, I would like to say that my purchase of Omega was totally by chance- I had been reading plenty of literature regarding the new Omega in Action Figure News and Toy Review, but I didn't think I would be seeing him until fall at the very earliest. Suffice to say, I was totally taken off guard when I happened to be at my local Kay-Bee and saw two of them sitting on the shelf. To me, it wasn't even a question of do I purchase him or not- I immediately picked him up and had him out of the package 15 minutes later. I just had one thing to say when I held him in my hands: WOW.

Vehicle Mode:
To start off with, it is hard to describe the alt modes; individually, there are three of them: a construction crane, cruiser, and then a combination of the two. Just like his G1 ancestor, Omega is cool in the fact that there are several parts that make up the whole of the robot, almost in a gestalt state of mind. But unlike his ancestor, these different vehicles are not dependent upon one another- i.e. the G1 model had the tank dependent upon the track system, the rocket was dependent upon its small base- you get the idea. So lets take the alt modes one by one; first, the crane- over a foot long, you have a great little construction vehicle here. Colored in a primary yellow with dark blue highlights, it has full mobility with a top mounted 3 cannon weapon on top of the front vehicle that tows the crane. Moving to the rear crane appendage, it has a ton of points of articulation. This crane can just about go everywhere- up, down, left, right, and any combination between. The way the crane works is simple- nestled inside it's immediate platform is a red side lever, which when moved backwards and forwards, produces crane movement. The red claw of the crane is strictly manual. I think it would have been nice to make the claw spring loaded, but it's not enough to take away from Omega as a whole. At the swivel end of the base is yellow tinted clear canopy that holds the tiny robot which makes Omega's head. Moving on to the cruiser, my first immediate thought was that it was remarkable how much the cruiser resembled the ships from the old Japanamation classic Starblazers. The very front of the cruiser actually looks like Tidal Wave's hands. This piece in particular is loaded with cannons- both stationary and spring-activated. The cool thing about the front three cannons is that they are all linked together, so when you turn one, you turn them all. Then there is the upper satellite portion of the cruiser, which can also serve as seating for the Omega Head bot, and has its own cannon. The cruiser is also well over a foot long and colored in dark blue with yellow highlights. Lastly, there is the combination crane/cruiser, which is really easy to make- basically, the front of the crane fits directly into the rear thruster of the cruiser. We're talking over 30 inches in combined length, which makes for plenty of room for any minicons that might want to take a ride.

Robot Mode:
When transforming the two individual vehicles into robot mode, I couldn't help but notice how easy this was. I figured since Omega was on par with Unicron size-wise, he would be equally as hard to transform, but I was pleasantly surprised. It took me under two minutes to transform. Basically, with a few twists and turns of some high impact plastic and very well made clicking joints, you get Omega- a robot standing a tad over 14 inches tall.. One thing of particular note to Optimus fans here (which was also well marketed on Omega's box) is that you can take all of Energon Prime's components in super mode and make a huge Powerlinx Omega Supreme. Unfortunately, I don't currently have Energon Optimus, as I am not particularly fond of his latest incarnation, but due to this combining ability, I just might reconsider picking him up. The crane makes up Omega's right arm, and is as fully useable in robot mode as in alt mode. Another aspect of Omega that immediately reminded me of the G1 era was Omega's head- as previously mentioned, his head is comprised of a tiny robot which bears no name, making me think of the G1 headmasters. Perhaps my only complaint is that the head doesn't fully fit into the headslot well- it's a little shaky and not very stable, so I could see a child easily getting frustrated with the faulty head connection. Other than that, you have one great transformer here.

Transformation: 2 - Easier than I originally thought, very straight ahead transformation.
Durability: 9 - with the exception of the head, you have one heck of a solid built robot here, and the plastic is high quality, which makes for a bit of a "brickbot."
Fun: 10 - Since buying him, I have toyed with him every night, constantly finding new details and poses to put Omega in. Omega has kept me enticed much longer than most transformers.
Price: $60, which I thought was a bit hefty, but was ultimately worth it. According to the official Hasbro site, the suggested price is $49.99, but it was no surprise that I paid more, considering I bought him at Kay Bee, who are notorious for price markup. However, keep in mind that Omega could very well turn into another Unicron, ending up overstocked everywhere and being sold at half the original price, so you might want to hold out for a bit before purchasing Omega.
Summary: 10 - I simply love this bot in his entire essence, which paid a certain homage to his G1 incarnation in idea and evolution, but took it in a totally new step for the future of Transformers.