After visiting www.shortpacked.com earlier today, I noticed that Walky had posted the DPCI numbers for the Deluxes and Voyagers (I didn't know that they were here too). I very quickly decided to make a stop at Target tonight and see what I could find...

 

AND FIND SOMETHING I DID!!!

 

CLASSICS OPTIMUS PRIME

 

This is one of the most badass molds I've seen for Optimus to date. Why do I feel this way you may ask? Simple: He's about the size of a Deluxe and he's still ultra posable. I've never been a big fan of the larger sized Primes because they look ridiculous towering over their troops, and they're usually that big to facilitate to some dumb gimmick or for electronics. Classics Prime is just the right size and doesn't need any of the fancy gimmicks to make him cool.

 

VEHICLE MODE

 

Prime's vehicle mode is about 6" long. He's on scale with the Titaniums and only a shade bigger than the normal deluxe-sized bots (he's just as long as Bendy Prime). For a Voyager, he's surprisingly small, but this actually works in his favor. The designers of this Prime packed a TON of details into him. All of his accessories, both his laser rifle and his ionic blaster transform into parts of his vehicle mode, which is very nice because then you have no loose parts to deal with. Prime's laser rifle becomes his smoke stacks and his ionic blaster becomes the wind vane. With everything attached, Prime looks like an extremely convincing flat nose semi cab. The only bit of kibble is his feet, which look oddly out of place on the end of his frame.

 

TRANSFORMATION

 

Prime's transformation is actually surprisingly complex for a Voyager-class bot. The trickiest part is getting his head to come up out of the little nook it's resting in while in vehicle mode. The joint feels very stiff and I was afraid of accidentally breaking him, so be careful when transforming that part of him.

 

BOT MODE

 

Prime's bot mode is simply top-notch. It's easily one of the best we've seen in a long time. He's larger than a Deluxe, but not too much larger. He stands about 7" tall in this mode. He actually has just the right amount of height when compared to the other Deluxes from other lines. He's simply loaded with articulation. His shoulders move vertically and horizontally, he's got waist (and pectoral!) horizontal movement, his knees bend vertically and his legs can spin 360 degrees above each knee. Some places where articulation was missed is in his feet, his hands, and surprisingly, his head. Prime's feet do not move from their transformed position. There is an extension on each foot coming off the back to help Prime to stand. His hands do not move in any way aside from their transformed position. And Prime's head only has horizontal movement. He cannot look up (kitbashers: this is your call to duty!).

 

As I said before, Prime is LOADED with details. His whole body is made of high-grade plastic, so there's lots of little things molded right in. The only complaints about his details are the paint apps on him. They're clean for the most part, but here and there are little chips and scratches. Typical factory wear.

 

Prime is unfortunately not free of kibble in his mode. Attached to his arms are both sides of his vehicle mode cab. They fold back out of the way nicely enough, but they're just hanging there. Not very eye catching. Second, the front of his cab (grill, bumper, tires) is just hanging on his back. It also doesn't get in the way of anything, but again, it's an eyesore to see it there. The grill can be covered up if you choose to attach Prime's wind vane to his back.

 

ACCESSORIES

 

Speaking of the wind vane, the vane itself is detachable from Prime's cab and can be reattached in bot mode. This was done for simple storage, I think, and also because the wind vane becomes Prime's Ionic Blaster! The blaster itself is roughly 2.5" long, and looks like Prime's heavy artillery. The blaster has no form of firing missle, which is nice because this Prime doesn't need a gimmick like that to make him better. The only thing I would warn with the blaster is that during the transformation from the wind vane to the blaster, the joints are a bit stiff, so don't apply too much pressure or you might risk breaking it.

 

Prime's other gun, his laser rifle also transforms into his exhaust stacks which attach to him in vehicle mode. They look great on him in vehicle mode, just a bit flat. Transforming the stacks into the rifle is a very easy process, and the rifle looks very nice in Prime's hand. It's not his traditional long-barrelled rifle, but it definitely has a "beefiness" to it like Prime's traditional rifle. The rifle itself, while awesome, also poses the biggest concern overall. It's EXTREMELY flimsy. There is only a small plastic joint holding both pieces of the rifle together, and it feels very weak. I was very worried that I would break it while transforming it back into the stacks. BE WARNED. Don't apply too much pressure to the joint or it will snap!

 

SUMMARY

 

Well, as I've said, this is one of the best looking Prime's we've seen in a long time, even with his quirks. He's like an upgraded Bendy Prime, only without the Armada suckiness. I am really pleased with him and it just promotes such high hopes in me for the rest of this line. If the rest of Classics are like this, it's going to be one of the best lines yet!

 

My Score:

 

:thumb

Strangely enough, I'm not really that excited about this Prime. I'm actually a lot more excited about that Prime from the Ultimate Battle Pack. I just don't really like the design in general of Classics Prime. It screams Don Figueroa IMO, and that's not necessarily a good thing, also IMO.

Yeah, I'd have to disagree with that. He's a great Prime, and the ideas that went into him paid off. I can't tell you guys how happy I am that this prime has no electronics, no firing missiles, and no cheesy gimmick to mess him up. Just about the only thing I'd ask for would be a trailer, but that would merely be for vehicle mode displays.

 

As for the battle pack, oi. You and I are on separate sides of the fence on this one. I've already got an RM Prime and he sucks. The only reason I'll be getting this is so I can finally get rid of my secondhand, secondrate G2 Megs.

I guess my two biggest problems with Classics Prime are that A) I think he has way too much yellow, especially on his arms and I don't much care for the yellow lights on his legs, they should have been dark gray, really. And B) I don't much like his shoulders or rather his arms in general, because that arm "kibble," as people seem to call it, is really quite an eyesore. I'll still probably get him though...Magnus, too, only because Skywarp was probably my favorite Decepticon when I was younger, and Classics Skywarp is AWESOME.

I guess my two biggest problems with Classics Prime are that A) I think he has way too much yellow, especially on his arms and I don't much care for the yellow lights on his legs, they should have been dark gray, really. And B) I don't much like his shoulders or rather his arms in general, because that arm "kibble," as people seem to call it, is really quite an eyesore. I'll still probably get him though...Magnus, too, only because Skywarp was probably my favorite Decepticon when I was younger, and Classics Skywarp is AWESOME.

if the yellow is that much a problem for you, you could always paint over it or something :roll

 

I think that the yellow highlights on him look fantastic. They're not too gaudy as to overpower the blue and red parts. He's extremely well proportioned, color-wise. Maybe once you have one on hand, you'll change your mind.

 

As for the arm kibble, it is an eyesore, i agree. It would have been nice if the designers had found a better way to store/incorporate the cab sides into the robot mode a little better.

 

And I also want Skywarp. I hope they do all the Seekers! :D

I LOVE CLASSICS PRIME AND I DON'T CARE WHO KNOWS

 

Looking at him you think immediately "WOW that's G1 Prime". It's just unmistakeable. This is clearly a line intended for the old school fans.... and old school I am. OMFG HE KICKS ASS A LOT LOT LOT

Strangely enough, I'm not really that excited about this Prime. I'm actually a lot more excited about that Prime from the Ultimate Battle Pack. I just don't really like the design in general of Classics Prime. It screams Don Figueroa IMO, and that's not necessarily a good thing, also IMO.

 

Aside from my dislike for Optimus Prime, I have to agree and disagree with you about your assessment of this latest cash cow. Overall, I think the semi truck Optimus Prime has been done to death. The window on his sleeves looks really girly (reminds me of those long sleeves that hangs out in some of the women's club wear tops), and the thinly "disguised" smokestack/guns looks really cheap. The overall design is just uninspired.

 

The colour, however, I think looks really appropriate. That's the only thing I find good about this latest version of Batman....er, Optimus Prime.

I LOVE CLASSICS PRIME AND I DON'T CARE WHO KNOWS

 

Looking at him you think immediately "WOW that's G1 Prime". It's just unmistakeable. This is clearly a line intended for the old school fans.... and old school I am. OMFG HE KICKS ASS A LOT LOT LOT

 

YES!!

That Battle back Prime is not a bad one, on par w/ the Robot Master one IMO. The only thing is his gun make him looks like he's in the mofia ;P

 

oh, and the classic prime rules. I'm planning to have bumble been borrow prime's smokestack gun when I see him on shelf.

 

Before I begin, let me just say this. There should be NOTHING stopping you from buying any figure in this line. Even the arguably weakest figure of this wave, Astrotrain, has very few negatives going against him. I have thoroughly enjoyed every single Classics figure so far, and I don't feel the least bit bad about making a Target employee scour the backroom just to satisfy my collector appetite. No, sir! Now, onwards.

 

Most of these guys have been reviewed in-depthly already elsewheres, so I'll just give my various thoughts and angles in general.

 

 

Let me apologize for any quality problems with my pictures, my camera's not so hot and I like to take close up images, which my camera doesn't like taking. So some of them turn out blurry, but hopefully all of you have already seen high-res pics of these guys somewhere else already. Anyway, there's all of them standing there majestically. They already look great posed in a group, and I can only imagine how cool they are going to be once the rest of the line comes out. :thumb

 

 

Autobots:

 

Optimus Prime: Hasbro made a good choice swaying from the original design here, as we have an almost completely different Optimus but having all of the charm and power of the original. I'm especially pleased with his smokestacks/machine gun, which also has the universal peg size so it fits in any recent Transformers' hands. Awesome. The Windvein/Ion Cannon is slightly less impressive, but is still quite satisfying as an alternate weapon. The details on all of these figures is incredible.

 

Bumblebee: Winner. This guy has all the charm of the original cartoon character and none of the spindliness of the original toy. Also, he looks incredibly cool with Optimus's machine gun. Observe:

 

 

Rodimus: His head's a bit small, but he is ultra-poseable (at least as compared to the original) and has the little sawblade in his arm just like the movie. He also carries a portable jet turbine, which apparently doubles as a flamethrower. Personally I think the gun looks a bit dumb in his hands, especially with the flame missile, but that doesn't matter because the rest of the toy is incredible. You may have noticed him carrying 20th Prime's Matrix; he did need some sticky-tack help there.

 

 

Decepticons: Naysayers be gone. For the first time in 21 years, Megatron is a gun. True, he's a nerf gun, but that doesn't make him any less fun to hold and pretend you're blowing Ratchet and Ironhide's mechanical guts out. INSTRUMENTS OF DESTRUCTIOOOON! Sorry. The majesty of the Decepticon army is quite imposing.

 

Astrotrain: While he did get the short end of the stick as far as awesomeness compared to the rest of the Classics, he's still quite an impressive toy when it comes down to it. Anyway, you need him so you can have Starscream yell out "ASTROTRAIN--TAKE OFF!" Or shakily fly him through your hallways complaining about jettisoning weight. The original won't do because he can't hold his rifle up.

 

Starscream: Forget Masterpiece Starscream. Save $90,000 and get this guy instead. I thought Robot Masters Starscream was exciting when he came out, but I'm glad I waited for this one. I have a few comments to make regarding his design...

 

 

It is unfortunately true that his arm can't really point all the way horizontally to fire his gun. He can, however, rotate up at the shoulder sideways and point fairly imposingly. The guns are also removeable and can be held as rifles of sorts.

 

 

At least one review that I've seen has lamented on Starscream's lack of landing gear, but I'd like to point out that he does, in fact, have landing gear. It's not mentioned in the instruction manual, nor is is in the usual location, but it's there. As you can see in the picture, his chest turbines actually fold out to become a pair of small non-rolling wheels which give him a bit more balance in jet mode. Sweet.

 

 

Whee. I hope you're sold on Starscream now.

 

Megatron: I've already said a few things about him, but basically he's great. The purple and orange might throw off some fans, but that's easily repaintable, and personally I think the wings look fine. He's got some back-related balance issues, but it's usually easy enough to rectify. By the way,

 

 

Cybertron Soundwave belongs with the Classics Decepticons. Also, some people have noted the simliarities between the Classics Megatron and the Nerf Maverick gun. Judge for yourself:

 

 

By the way, the Maverick is totally worth buying too, but that's another review completely.

 

So that's pretty much it.

 

 

Primus gives it a freakin' huge A-OK! Fellows, do whatever you can to get your hands on these toys. Only don't wrench them from the hands of the children, because they deserve it more than you do.