Review: #230
Name: Optimus Primal
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Maximal
Line: Legends
Year of Release: 2014
Size Class: Ultra (LG-02)
Variations: a repaint of the Beast Wars Reborn release, which in itself was a retool of the original Beast Wars toy
PACKAGING:
Optimus Primal comes in a big box, he is packaged in gorilla mode and there's a fantastic piece of artwork on the front and right side.
There's a bio on the back as well as some stock photos which show off the slight differences in paint for this redeco.
GORILLA MODE:
Optimus Primal transforms into a gorilla. This is the leader of the Maximal in the Beast Wars series and he is quite faithful here.
There are some breaks in the fur, with some white and red peeking out, these are from the robot bits. It's not too distracting and overall, this is a plausible gorilla.
In comparison to the original toy released back in 1996, the face is resculpted to being more show-accurate.
There are some fantastic sculpted elements, including the fur over his body. The chest is also nicely detailed.
While he may not be much height-wise, Optimus Primal is really big, bulky and heavy in this mode.
There's a gimmick here in which if you jiggle the lever on his back, it spins his arms to mimic a gorilla thumping their chest. It doesn't actually work very well, thankfully, you can somewhat disable the mechanism through a switch on his shoulders (makes it so the gimmick bends his elbows rather than spin the whole arm around).
For the most part, he is static in this mode. You can move the arms around a bit.
However, the legs are effectively fixed. Any movement and you'll start to reveal robotic parts.
A great beast mode with hardly any faults. The designers did a fantastic job.
TRANSFORMATION:
Optimus Primal has a really simple transformation, you straighten his legs, rotate the waist and pull the gorilla face down. Despite that, it's effective and clever. I also always used to love how animators animated his transformation in the show, which is toy accurate.
ROBOT MODE:
Optimus Primal looks absolutely stunning in robot mode. Ignoring the fact that he is absurdly show accurate, he just looks so buff, so powerful and so ready to carry out whatever heroic deed he needs to.
He does carries a big chunk of kibble on his back though, being the whole back of the gorilla. Don't fret, because this will be put to good use later on.
Another retool to this mode from the 1996 release is a resculpted head to resemble the one in the series. It looks amazing.
The last resculpted part is his chest detailing, which once again, looks great.
Optimus Primal gains quite a bit of height here, now towering over Deluxes, but still approximately Voyager height. Do note that he is much bulkier and heavier than your standard Voyager toy though.
Remember how I said the kibble on his back will be put to good use? If you press a button on his back, it'll release the two shoulder cannons! They're spring loaded so it looks cool in action.
This also means that his back kibble is cut in half. It's still a fair chunk since it needs to house the gears for the rotating arm gimmick (which can still work here if you really desire).
Each shoulder cannon is a spring-loaded missile launcher.
Here is Optimus Primal with the recent reimaginations of the Maximal cast (plus Waspinator). Despite the mold being 20 years old, the aesthetics still stand up to contemporary offerings.
You might have noticed that he also has some sword attached to his back kibble.
There are two swords in total which he has use. They're curvy blades though which is a bit unusual.
You can also plug it in such a way that it forms a double ended blade.
However, that's not all. You might recall that in the Beast Wars series, Optimus Primal had forearm guns. The inspiration is the left hand that opens up and reveals a twin-barreled blaster.
There are two extra blue missiles which store behind his head. Take these out...
...and place them into the two barrels to create a huge weapon. The blaster is also a spring-loaded missile launcher.
But wait! There's more gimmicks packed into this figure. Open up the right hand and you'll see this skull grinning back at you...
Take it out to reveal a flail.
The skull is attached to the handle via a piece of string.
While it's not the best weapon or most versatile in terms of poses, it's still pretty wicked and awesome.
That's about it for all the gimmicks on this figure, and boy, does he sure pack in a lot, this more than compensates for the simplistic transformation.
Of course, play value can also be derived from the amazing poseability Optimus Primal has.
From waist swivel to elbow swivels and a balljointed head. It may not sound that impressive when you list it out, but the range is unhindered and wide. The only thing that you might miss are knee or thigh swivels.
Optimus Primal is very stable in this mode, his large feet anchors him securely, coupled with the poseability of the legs make him easy to balance. I guess the heft helps as well.
The only difference of the Legends version compared to the Beast Wars Reborn version from 2006 is maybe the shade of paint used for his face plate and the gorilla fur.
An amazing robot mode that oozes character even when you have him in a neutral pose. Optimus Primal looks so powerfully built and all the gimmicks are fun and does not compromise anything at all.
OVERALL:
Optimus Primal is one of the best toys ever made. Even if the mold originated in 1996, the fact that twenty years later, it still stands up with the very best of recently released figures is a testament to how well he was designed. Both the gorilla and robot mode are amazing, with the robot mode edging out as the better of the two. He contains a mindboggling number of gimmicks which somehow does not compromise the figure at all. Optimus Primal is a must buy if you haven't gotten the mold already.
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