Personally, I love Optimus Prime. I buy the ones I like, I've even got a little shrine for all of my Primes. While I do collect him and most of his versions, I collect others, and besides my MP Prime, none of them are even my favorite toy.

 

Optimus Prime has been portrayed as the ultimate good ever sense his conception back in 1984. A semi-truck, not a war machine, could turn the tide of battle by showing up, simply because he's the good guy. Disliking him, and the fellowship that follows him, is interesting to me. Call it academic.

 

My own theory involves a couple of things as to why people dislike him.

 

1. Touted as the Leader, he's had quite a few toy molds that suck and suck hard, yet people still love them. This kind of blindness has got to irritate some people, and rather than smacking down the people who obviously have bad judgement, they take it out on the character itself. Armada Prime is evidence of this, as is RID. Armada was one of the most terrible lines I have ever had the displeasure of having to pick among, the only good toy coming out of it being Bendy Prime, and RID Prime is just ridiculous. He's got HUGE CANKLES, with very tiny feet. Oi. Stupid.

 

2. The character's "ultimate good" aspect it's downfall. Every hero goes through a time when he doubts himself, doubts his message, or is tempted by the dark side. The classic Optimus Prime never really did this, and if he did, he had good reason from Megatron. It wasn't a natural part of his character to consider a "less than shining" path, and this rather unrealistic aspect could grate on a few people. Honestly, this sole characteristic of Prime is the whole reason I got into collecting again. It represents the ultimate hope for me, with the best good has to offer, in the best technology, fighting the worst evil imaginable. But I can see how other people wouldn't find this appealing, simply because it's nearly impossible to relate to the character unless you're an idealistic fool, i.e. Me.

 

3. Optimus getting old, surely there's a new leader? These people probably don't think of Rodimus when they ponder an alternative leader for the Autobots. He's usually a truck, he's usually got a red and blue color scheme, and he usually follows the same character as his previous incarnation. I can really feel with these people, but probably for a different reason. For me, there's nothing quite like the original Optimus Prime, and so every incarnation of him in every new show is almost a detriment to his memory. What about before Optimus was leader? What about after Rodimus was leader? Why are we stuck with the same leader? At least let's do something different with his color scheme, his alt. mode, and his character. The only thing is, if you do that, you have fan outrage pretty much guaranteed, which for these people has got to be insanely frustrating.

 

Those are just what I think. I don't know for sure, so I'm asking YOU. Why do you hate Optimus Prime? Am I completely wrong, or have I hit something on the nose?

RiD OP is the greatest.And I don't hate the character, but his role makes it very hard for him to develop. A static character in a lead role is pretty boring after 22 years.

ZZZZZ

 

Primal > Prime. Primal got more character development in the first season of BM than Prime's had in 20 some-odd years of TF stories.

 

It doesn't have to be Rodimus, just give me someone, anyone new. Hell, I wouldn't care if they wanted to bring back Starsaber.

I do not analyze cartoon characters...its just silly and kind of freaks me out when people do.

 

Toy wise, he has had the occasional weak mold, but overall he is always one of the best in a line. As for RID Prime, I think you have to be in a very low minority that do not like the toy. But I guess I understand why big "cankles" may be an issue to you...ok, maybe not...I can see the issue if this was a human female(yes, there is such thing) but its a friggin robot. I think of robots as more functional than pretty.

I do not analyze cartoon characters...its just silly and kind of freaks me out when people do.

 

Toy wise, he has had the occasional weak mold, but overall he is always one of the best in a line. As for RID Prime, I think you have to be in a very low minority that do not like the toy. But I guess I understand why big "cankles" may be an issue to you...ok, maybe not...I can see the issue if this was a human female(yes, there is such thing) but its a friggin robot. I think of robots as more functional than pretty.

:pfx

 

:thumb

I just find the huge shins on him is a little odd. When he has his additional pieces, it looks ok, but then there's the issue of making the extras stay on, and still being able to pose the figure. Perhaps you've had no problem with this, but for me, his head keeps falling off.

 

And you say a lot of people like him? Then how is it that I've had such trouble unloading him and his partner in the past?

This thread will incurr the wrath of Slaughtermaster. You have been warned.

This thread will incurr the wrath of Slaughtermaster. You have been warned.

 

Actually, I'm hoping he'll post.

:roll

 

You have been warned.

 

**Sigh**. It’s that time of the month when the Optimus Prime proselytizers come out of the wood work. Without further ado, I’ll try to contain the damage.

 

Personally, I love Optimus Prime. I buy the ones I like, I've even got a little shrine for all of my Primes. While I do collect him and most of his versions, I collect others, and besides my MP Prime, none of them are even my favorite toy.

 

This is one of the main flaws of Optimus Prime worshippers. They have a “shrine� for their god and buy junk and chunks of plastics that resembles their god, even when the toy design sucks ass. This is another example of consumerism at its worst. Instead of buying Optimus Primes, why not divest your interest on other characters/toys? This is PRECISELY the reason Has/Tak goes ass-clown on us when it comes to Optimus Prime toys. They KNOW Optimus Prime worshippers would buy Optimus Prime even if it’s just Mr. Hanky with a sticker that reads “Optimus Prime� attached to him, so Has/Tak rapes all the gullible idiots of their hard earn cash. Unfortunately, these same idiots always manage to scrape enough cash to buy the next version of their god, so neither the law of attrition nor the law of natural selection works here. Do yourself a favor and stop obsessing over Optimus Prime and buy other toys. You know, there ARE other characters in the TF universe that also have great toys. Right of the top of my head, Starscream, Downshift, CD Scattorshot, et cetera. Don’t be trapped by your own dogma.

 

Optimus Prime has been portrayed as the ultimate good ever sense his conception back in 1984. A semi-truck, not a war machine, could turn the tide of battle by showing up, simply because he's the good guy. Disliking him, and the fellowship that follows him, is interesting to me. Call it academic.

 

Actually, Optimus Prime has been portrayed as the sucky Autobot leader that got Cybertron conquered by the Decepticons by sitting around on his chrome plated ass and emo-ing about how nobody respects him. It’s a cartoon character and that itself is naturally amoral. Whatever you think he is derives purely from your own delusion. He’s a semi-truck because the Ark scanned him to have that alt-mode. FWIW, semis kill more than tanks or F-16 on a yearly basis – so does that make Optimus Prime a bloodthirsty douchebag? If we go by your logic, yes, yes it does.

 

My own theory involves a couple of things as to why people dislike him.

 

1. Touted as the Leader, he's had quite a few toy molds that suck and suck hard, yet people still love them. This kind of blindness has got to irritate some people, and rather than smacking down the people who obviously have bad judgement, they take it out on the character itself. Armada Prime is evidence of this, as is RID. Armada was one of the most terrible lines I have ever had the displeasure of having to pick among, the only good toy coming out of it being Bendy Prime, and RID Prime is just ridiculous. He's got HUGE CANKLES, with very tiny feet. Oi. Stupid.

 

Actually, people dislike him because of fanatics like you. Like any religion, its image is tarnished by its followers.

 

BTW, Armada gave us Unicron – a character that more people take notice on in that line more than any figure. But I agree with you on RID Optimus Prime, so kudos for you.

 

2. The character's "ultimate good" aspect it's downfall. Every hero goes through a time when he doubts himself, doubts his message, or is tempted by the dark side. The classic Optimus Prime never really did this, and if he did, he had good reason from Megatron. It wasn't a natural part of his character to consider a "less than shining" path, and this rather unrealistic aspect could grate on a few people. Honestly, this sole characteristic of Prime is the whole reason I got into collecting again. It represents the ultimate hope for me, with the best good has to offer, in the best technology, fighting the worst evil imaginable. But I can see how other people wouldn't find this appealing, simply because it's nearly impossible to relate to the character unless you're an idealistic fool, i.e. Me.

 

I got a crayon. I am going to put “good� under the picture of Megatron, and “Evil� under the picture of “Optimus Prime. There. I’ve just redefined your moral boundaries. You should be feeling light headed right now because I’ve just completely reversed your moral makeup. For god’s sake, you do know what the characters are depends on the writer, right? I’ll give you a fanboy’s example – Professor X has become a major douchebag in the last 5 years. If anything, Professor X is more “saintly� than your god had ever been portrayed. And you’re right. You ARE an idealistic fool.

 

3. Optimus getting old, surely there's a new leader? These people probably don't think of Rodimus when they ponder an alternative leader for the Autobots. He's usually a truck, he's usually got a red and blue color scheme, and he usually follows the same character as his previous incarnation. I can really feel with these people, but probably for a different reason. For me, there's nothing quite like the original Optimus Prime, and so every incarnation of him in every new show is almost a detriment to his memory. What about before Optimus was leader? What about after Rodimus was leader? Why are we stuck with the same leader? At least let's do something different with his color scheme, his alt. mode, and his character. The only thing is, if you do that, you have fan outrage pretty much guaranteed, which for these people has got to be insanely frustrating.

 

Hmm. Let’s see here. Autobot leaders that are better than Optimus Prime? Victory Saber, Fortress Maximus, Rodimus Prime, Dai Atlas, just to name a few. Colour schemes on these characters are not limited, unlike your god Optimus Prime, to red and blue. Each of these characters are better developed and less arrogant than Optimus Prime. And more importantly, THEY GET THINGS DONE. That’s what a leader should be – somebody who can use the resources available to him and get things done. Optimus Prime failed in that – miserably.

 

Those are just what I think. I don't know for sure, so I'm asking YOU. Why do you hate Optimus Prime? Am I completely wrong, or have I hit something on the nose?

 

For the record, I DON’T hate Optimus Prime seeing how it is an inanimate object/cartoon character with no will or morals of its own. However, it is the inanimate object/cartoon character in real life that attaches all these ridiculous and imagine qualities to it that makes the character into a douchebag/god, and in turn makes its followers a bunch of fanboy douchebags. It is the Optimus Prime worshippers that I have a problem with.

 

Stop analyzing Optimus Prime, stop making it into a fetish, and look at the world around you and see that there are many examples of REAL PEOPLE that performs “ultimate good� for all living things around them. If you want a religion, God is also portrayed as “the ultimate good�, so starting a religion around another character of the same qualities is redundant. Sadder still, worshipping a toy as a god and erecting a shrine in its honor is just pathetic.

 

I have nothing against you. It's your religion that I can't stand. Please don't burn me at the stake for blasphemising your god.

I'm no Prime worshipper, I just like a lot of the designs. But to be truly honest my all time favourite TF is Smokescreen, well the G1 version anyway. He's my kind of character, someone who hides himself behind a maks of duty and the willingness to help his fellow Autobots. Prime is just one those characters I like the toy design of, but I find the character a little dull. It would be nice to see new leaders appear more often, but then Hasbro would lose the rights to use the name after a while.

If the Classics line had Smokescreen as a first release, I would get him well before getting Prime, but since there isn't a Smokescreen yet, if there will be at some later point, then Prime and the rest it will be once they're released.

Prime is just one those characters that people recognise when Transformers is mentioned and always will be.

 

-.,`~