Who out there saw those first pics of Animated Optimus Prime’s deluxe figure, with his Ion Axe slung over his shoulder and didn’t almost immediately begin to think of red flannel shirts and start to hum Monty Python’s ‘Lumberjack Song’? – no-one? so it was just me was it…
Lumberjack Prime
As is common now, for Hasbro at least, many Transformers are released in varying sizes for suit various price points, Animated Optimus Prime is no exception.
Which is for you?
Are you strapped for cash? well the first 3 options my be right for you…
Legends (Mini) – Optimus Prime (Android/Earth Truck Cab)
Activators (Basic) – Optimus Prime (Android)
Activators (Basic) – Optimus Prime (Earth Truck Cab)
For those of you who like Cybertronian Alt. modes there’s always…
Deluxe – Optimus Prime (Android)
Deluxe – Optimus Prime (Cybertronian Truck Cab)
Ah Bumper Battlers, better than Cyber-Slammers but only because they’ve got electronics, each has a different voice chip containing sampled sound effects and voices from the Animated Cartoon show. As much as I love the voice chips, these things are less Transformers than the 1984 Jumpstarters or the 1987 Throttlebots, even Playschools ‘My First Transformers’ are better than these…
Bumper Battlers (Deluxe) - Optimus Prime (Android Preschool, Electronics)
Bumper Battlers (Deluxe) - Optimus Prime (Earth Truck Preschool, Electronics)
Bumper Battlers (Deluxe) - Optimus Prime, Nightwatch (Android/Earth Truck Preschool, Electronics - Recoloured Movie All-Spark Battles Nightwatch Optimus Prime homage)
The Gift Sets may sound like value for money, in some cases they are but I’ve never found a store that doesn’t charge more for 2 deluxes packed together than they do for 2 deluxes packed separately, that said the Battle Begins DVD Gift Set not only contains 2 new moulds, but also a DVD containing the first Episode of the Animated Cartoon series.
Boxed Gift Sets (Deluxe + Mini + Mini) - Lockdown, Stealth (vs. Optimus Prime & Bumblebee) (Muscle Car (Recoloured) vs. Earth Truck (Recoloured) & Compact Police Car (Recoloured))
Boxed Gift Sets (Deluxe + Deluxe) - The Battle Begins (Optimus Prime vs. Megatron + DVD) (Earth Truck (Battle Damaged) vs. Cybertronian Blade Gunship (Battle Damaged))
Boxed Gift Sets (Deluxe + Deluxe) - The Battle Begins (Optimus Prime vs. Megatron + DVD) (DVD Cover)
What can I say about the Voyagers, hmm, well I love his fold-away face mask (even though it severely limits his head’s pose-ability), I like that he isn’t over-detailed with battle damage like his gift-set counterpart, but his ion axe and water blaster feel like badly made tack-ons, Hasbro was trying to save money by only giving him a ‘half-fire-truck’ mode, in fact he looks like Megatron has neatly sliced off the upper-rear part of his truck mode, including the ladder, and he’s had Ratchet weld on a water cannon for good measure. The Wing Blade version hold a much nicer ascetic, but he’ll be among the last gasp for Hasbro’s Animated toy line in shelf-space competition with the ‘Revenge of the Fallen’ Movie line, making him farily rare to find…
Voyagers (Mega) - Optimus Prime (Android) - Wearing his legs short this season...
Voyagers (Mega) - Optimus Prime (Earth Truck Cab (with Water Blaster))
Voyagers (Mega) - Optimus Prime, Wing Blade (Earth Fire-Truck/Android (New Accessories – Recoloured) - Thanks for the pic TFormers.com
I enjoy a good bit of Role-Play, but what are you role-playing with this? Optimus never turned into a hulking great cannon in the cartoon, if he did it’d be something for someone like Omega Supreme to wield, and even then it’d look like he had shoved his pinky finger into the back-end of a firetruck…
Role-Play (Mega) – Optimus Prime Battle Blaster (Android Wrist, Fist & Blaster)
Role-Play (Mega) – Optimus Prime Battle Blaster (Earth Fire-Truck)
The Supremacy in futility, this toy should never have been released, sure it has electronic lights & a voice chip (just like the much cheaper Bumper Battlers), it has spinning mode conversion (just like the Voyagers), it has a nice ion axe (just like the Battle Begins), but it has no detail and very poor pose-ability. Generally speaking you’d expect something to become more detailed and more pose-able the larger it was made, like Master Piece Convoy vs. Robotmasters Convoy, same basic toy design, same character, just bigger and better, not so Animated Supreme Optimus Prime, Roll Out Command, Hasbro should have just concentrated their time making Voyager Optimus better, giving him a proper trailer and used their Supreme allowance by putting their very nice Omega Supreme toy into production…
Supreme - Optimus Prime, Roll-Out Command (Android (Preschool, Electronics))
Supreme - Optimus Prime, Roll-Out Command (Earth Truck (Preschool, Electronics))
With these releases it means that Animated Optimus Prime is still missing a Micro (think Micromaster or Mini-Con), Ultra, Leader (Super) & Ultimate (think Fortress Maximus) version. With Hasbro’s new alliance with the Discovery Channel, they have dropped their association with the Cartoon Network, their animators co-designed the Animated toy line – this being the case, with only a few exceptions, Hasbro will not be releasing any further versions of Animated Optimus Prime that are not recolours – we’ll just have to wait and see what Takara/Tomy will do when they finally release the Animated line…
Apart from the Legends, Activators, Bumper Battlers & 2nd Voyager, the other releases come with at least a version of an Ion Axe, whilst the 1st Voyager comes with a water blaster as well. The Wing Blade Voyager is the only version to convert into the full fire-truck as seen in the animated TV series, with the very light weight trailer-part becoming Optimus’s wing accessory and the Magnus Hammer (as seen in the last 2 episodes of the cartoon).
If you can only afford one Animated Optimus Prime, I recommend the 1st or 2nd Voyager (you may have to search some what for the 2nd).
If two are your limit then add the Deluxe Prime to your shopping-list.
If you’re almost broke but want one anyway, the Legends or Activators Prime is for you.
If you’re a fan of Electronic lights, sounds & voice samples go for any of the ones marked ‘Preschool’, just be aware that ‘Preschool’ also denotes the simplicity of their Transform & lack of either molding or paint details.
Personally I recommend getting three, 1st or 2nd Voyager (2nd preferable), Deluxe & the Battle Begins Gift set. The others are nice, but either lack too much detail or are just reissues, recolours, or lack a proper robot mode.
Prime’s a lumberjack & he’s ok, he fights ‘con all night, he fights ‘cons all day… Happy toy hunting 