Omegatron
09-17-2014, 02:40 PM
So I wanted to take a stab at writing a review of a transformer. I’ve been collecting since 1984 with a break from about 1988 up to about 1998 and steadily since then. I’ve always been fascinated by the toys, what they do and how they are made. I suppose I just hope that the review is another way to appreciate them. I’m old school so this review will be text based.
To make things easy I’ve broken to review down into chunks and tried to explain where I’m coming from. Others may not care about the same things but at least they will know why I have reviewed a toy the way I have. Check it out and tell me what you think.
Biases, bases for the review and what I care about.
I’m an old G1 guy so I care more about certain types things than others. Basically, in order, I care about:
1) The appearance of the toy in Robot mode. This this is the mode I’ll most likely display it in so this is the mode I care about most. The only real exception is combiners where I care most about the appearance in combined mode.
2) The appearance of the toy in vehicle\ beast mode. This is a close second because a toy that does this poorly is really a one dimensional transformer and because the point of a transformer is to transform that costs it a lot of points.
3) The transformation. I don’t really care if a transformation is simple or complex, what I care about is how elegant and complete the transformation is. A toy with an interesting transformation which uses all of its pieces well in both modes will score well, one that’s too complex or too simple, cheats too much, or has lots of kibble will do less well.
4) Nit-picks. There is always something and I’ll mention it. As long as it’s minor it won’t affect the score much.Being an old G1 guy I put articulation here as I don’t care much for articulation that detracts from the look of a toy. That being said some toys lack articulation they could easily have and that is worth mentioning.
Standards for the review.
Different toys and toy lines should be reviewed differently. A Masterpiece toy should have a different standard from a legion toy because I expect more from it. To make things easier I’ll state at the beginning of the review what my standard is for that review.
Mark and overall score
I write this part last, but put it first for people without the time or patience to read the whole review.
With all this said, on with the review.
Age of Extinction Leader Class Optimus Prime.
Mark and overall score
4/10. Not really an O.K. toy and definitely a disappointment. Has an excellent vehicle mode though.
Standard for Review
Good engineering, solid design, some creativity to the design, fun to play with.
Rationale for standard
Age of Extinction Leader Optimus prime is a modern leader class figure. It is also an Optimus Prime figure. As a result it can be expected that it is a flagship piece for the line and should represent the best of the line. That being said it’s not a Masterpiece and will have to take into account budgetary limitations so it is not reasonable to expect it to be perfect.
Initial thoughts
Wow, that backpack! It must be hard work carrying a truck on your back at all times. On the plus side with a backpack like that I suppose you’d always have everything you need with you: energon rations; bottle of water; reading material etc. I really don’t like the backpack. As for the rest of the details read on.
Robot Mode
From the front the robot mode is O.K., not great, I’ve seen better, but passable for a toy of this size and price. Some of the visual cues are nice. Both the shoulder flaps and the hip flaps are technically kibble as they could be removed without affecting the robot mode. That being said both are appropriate for the knight ascetic of the toy and add to the overall look. Unfortunately, the hip flaps attach to the back of the underside of the truck backpack and keep his legs from moving easily and the shoulder armour limits your options for posing the arms. I really wouldn’t care if he could stand there and look good from all angles but he can’t so playability and display are both compromised, not a good combination.
The chest piece also goes some way to making the toy look like it does in the movie, it’s not perfect but the basic cues are there. I tend to be a bit of G1 purist and this is one of the few Primes without chest windows that I kind of like, and that feeling does extend to the toy.
The chrome is nice and shiny and there really isn’t too much of it. While I can live without chrome, and tend to prefer paint, I admit that it’s used well on this toy and generally adds to the overall appearance. Time will tell if it stands up to use and it will look ugly if its worm or flaked but we simply won’t know for a while.
Taken from any other angle than the front, the backpack dominates the robot mode and takes away from its attractiveness. On balance I would have to call this robot mode a disappointment.
Vehicle Mode
I am not really a truck guy. I recognize that trucks deliver my food, clothing and other possessions and are generally essential to western civilization but I neither love nor hate them. I say that only to illustrate my next point: Wow this is a very pretty vehicle mode. The proportions, colours, solidity and look of the vehicle mode are all excellent. The rear area around the hitch is a little open and I wish the red were a little brighter but that’s really a stretch to complain about even as a nit-pick. The chrome also works well in this mode, with items which would be chromed on the real truck, the front grill, above the windows, etc., receiving the correct treatment.
All in all this is a really a nice vehicle mode. Almost makes up for the backpack, but only almost.
Transformation
This one’s a bit hard to judge. Hasbro has been open in their attempt to limit transformation steps so I have to consider this as part of the design intent and not an oversight. On the other hand, the transformation feels incomplete in Robot mode (that back-pack again) and the way the arms transform into Vehicle mode just feels simple and clunky. This is an effective transformation but not an inspired one and could have been better.
Nit-picks
I really don’t have any nit-picks as everything that is frustrating about this toy affects it on a larger scale. The backpack affects its look and the hip and shoulder flaps affect its ability to pose in ways that look natural. What you end up with is a toy that looks O.K. standing there from one angle (the front) and has an excellent vehicle mode. This is not enough for a recommendation.
Closing thoughts
In writing this review I discovered that I like this toy less than I thought I did. It still has an excellent vehicle mode but its other shortcomings are great enough to outweigh this strength. I don’t really hate it, but I also can’t bring myself to call it good. Buy it if you wish, but if you can, play with it first to see if its shortcomings bother you, because I bet they will.
To make things easy I’ve broken to review down into chunks and tried to explain where I’m coming from. Others may not care about the same things but at least they will know why I have reviewed a toy the way I have. Check it out and tell me what you think.
Biases, bases for the review and what I care about.
I’m an old G1 guy so I care more about certain types things than others. Basically, in order, I care about:
1) The appearance of the toy in Robot mode. This this is the mode I’ll most likely display it in so this is the mode I care about most. The only real exception is combiners where I care most about the appearance in combined mode.
2) The appearance of the toy in vehicle\ beast mode. This is a close second because a toy that does this poorly is really a one dimensional transformer and because the point of a transformer is to transform that costs it a lot of points.
3) The transformation. I don’t really care if a transformation is simple or complex, what I care about is how elegant and complete the transformation is. A toy with an interesting transformation which uses all of its pieces well in both modes will score well, one that’s too complex or too simple, cheats too much, or has lots of kibble will do less well.
4) Nit-picks. There is always something and I’ll mention it. As long as it’s minor it won’t affect the score much.Being an old G1 guy I put articulation here as I don’t care much for articulation that detracts from the look of a toy. That being said some toys lack articulation they could easily have and that is worth mentioning.
Standards for the review.
Different toys and toy lines should be reviewed differently. A Masterpiece toy should have a different standard from a legion toy because I expect more from it. To make things easier I’ll state at the beginning of the review what my standard is for that review.
Mark and overall score
I write this part last, but put it first for people without the time or patience to read the whole review.
With all this said, on with the review.
Age of Extinction Leader Class Optimus Prime.
Mark and overall score
4/10. Not really an O.K. toy and definitely a disappointment. Has an excellent vehicle mode though.
Standard for Review
Good engineering, solid design, some creativity to the design, fun to play with.
Rationale for standard
Age of Extinction Leader Optimus prime is a modern leader class figure. It is also an Optimus Prime figure. As a result it can be expected that it is a flagship piece for the line and should represent the best of the line. That being said it’s not a Masterpiece and will have to take into account budgetary limitations so it is not reasonable to expect it to be perfect.
Initial thoughts
Wow, that backpack! It must be hard work carrying a truck on your back at all times. On the plus side with a backpack like that I suppose you’d always have everything you need with you: energon rations; bottle of water; reading material etc. I really don’t like the backpack. As for the rest of the details read on.
Robot Mode
From the front the robot mode is O.K., not great, I’ve seen better, but passable for a toy of this size and price. Some of the visual cues are nice. Both the shoulder flaps and the hip flaps are technically kibble as they could be removed without affecting the robot mode. That being said both are appropriate for the knight ascetic of the toy and add to the overall look. Unfortunately, the hip flaps attach to the back of the underside of the truck backpack and keep his legs from moving easily and the shoulder armour limits your options for posing the arms. I really wouldn’t care if he could stand there and look good from all angles but he can’t so playability and display are both compromised, not a good combination.
The chest piece also goes some way to making the toy look like it does in the movie, it’s not perfect but the basic cues are there. I tend to be a bit of G1 purist and this is one of the few Primes without chest windows that I kind of like, and that feeling does extend to the toy.
The chrome is nice and shiny and there really isn’t too much of it. While I can live without chrome, and tend to prefer paint, I admit that it’s used well on this toy and generally adds to the overall appearance. Time will tell if it stands up to use and it will look ugly if its worm or flaked but we simply won’t know for a while.
Taken from any other angle than the front, the backpack dominates the robot mode and takes away from its attractiveness. On balance I would have to call this robot mode a disappointment.
Vehicle Mode
I am not really a truck guy. I recognize that trucks deliver my food, clothing and other possessions and are generally essential to western civilization but I neither love nor hate them. I say that only to illustrate my next point: Wow this is a very pretty vehicle mode. The proportions, colours, solidity and look of the vehicle mode are all excellent. The rear area around the hitch is a little open and I wish the red were a little brighter but that’s really a stretch to complain about even as a nit-pick. The chrome also works well in this mode, with items which would be chromed on the real truck, the front grill, above the windows, etc., receiving the correct treatment.
All in all this is a really a nice vehicle mode. Almost makes up for the backpack, but only almost.
Transformation
This one’s a bit hard to judge. Hasbro has been open in their attempt to limit transformation steps so I have to consider this as part of the design intent and not an oversight. On the other hand, the transformation feels incomplete in Robot mode (that back-pack again) and the way the arms transform into Vehicle mode just feels simple and clunky. This is an effective transformation but not an inspired one and could have been better.
Nit-picks
I really don’t have any nit-picks as everything that is frustrating about this toy affects it on a larger scale. The backpack affects its look and the hip and shoulder flaps affect its ability to pose in ways that look natural. What you end up with is a toy that looks O.K. standing there from one angle (the front) and has an excellent vehicle mode. This is not enough for a recommendation.
Closing thoughts
In writing this review I discovered that I like this toy less than I thought I did. It still has an excellent vehicle mode but its other shortcomings are great enough to outweigh this strength. I don’t really hate it, but I also can’t bring myself to call it good. Buy it if you wish, but if you can, play with it first to see if its shortcomings bother you, because I bet they will.