Toy Review: Transformers Age of the Primes Micronus Prime (Deluxe)

Review:  #901

Name:  Micronus Prime

Brand:  Transformers

Allegiance:  Autobot

Line:  Age of the Primes

Year of Release:  2025

Size Class:  Deluxe (Wave 3)

Mold Status:  new

MICRONUS PRIME:

Micronus Prime himself is a small, almost Mini-Con sized figure.  He's a wide bulky blue robot.

He's pretty non-descript (and you'll see why later with his alternate mode), but the blue paint used is nice since it's got a shiny metallic sheen to it.

The head sculpt is okay, a bit too serious, especially for this size.

Above is a comparison against a Micromaster and a Core figure, to give you a sense of his size.

That said, for this size, he has a great range of articulation, with joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, hips and knees.

Unfortunately, and this is part of the gimmick, but he has translucent plastic for his arms and legs, including the ball joints.  Thus it is fragile and very prone to stress marks straight out of the packaging, if not after your first transformation.

As long as you don't play with it too much... (which is ironic) it not a bad figure.  Good concept but the choice of materials to questionable.

Micronus has a simple transformation as you just fold all the limbs together to form a disc.

VEHICLE MODE:

Releasing Micronus as only a Micromaster sized figure is not going to fill up the Deluxe class value, so he comes with a single wheeled bike of sorts.

It is a very unique design, although the side exhausts are very obviously the robot hands.  The wheel itself can also roll, despite the transformation.

Micronus can sit on the seat, and his arms rotated so that the fists holds onto the handlebars, fully securing him on there.

There's a bit flaw with this vehicle mode though... and that is it cannot stand up by its own.  There's no flat piece or whatnot on the wheel to keep it upright, and it's a very poor design.  Yes, you can fold the exhaust down to act as a stand but it doesn't look proper then.

Size-wise, given the transformation and the separate figure, the whole set is a little bit smaller in footprint compared to other Deluxes.

It's a compact vehicle mode, you can see from the side how short it is, it has more height than it has in length.

The teal / aquamarine and black color scheme works surprisingly well.

A unique vehicle mode, just hampered by the flaw that it cannot support itself upright.

ARMOR MODE:

The vehicle can split up into multiple pieces, and it is designed so that it can be attached to another Deluxe, similar to a Weaponizer.

It's not great, mind you, given it just gives the robot a huge backpack and some extra kibble behind the legs.  Even the wheel as a shield weapon looks ridiculous given how thick it is.

TRANSFORMATION:

Unfortunately, Micronus is a partsformer, so you will have to split him into multiple pieces to get the robot mode.  It's fairly disappointing in this aspect.  But anyway, the wheel comes off and it unfolds rather interesting into the legs (given that it goes from a wheel shaped thing into a pair of legs and waist).  The sides including the exhaust detach to form the arms, and the rest of the vehicle is the torso.

Pegging it all in together, you'll notice that the torso is hollow, this is is because you will need to get Micronus Prime himself into his disc form and insert it into the torso.

Once that is done, you can finally close the panels together.  It's an interesting design and one that is ambitious to do in Deluxe, given that Micronus takes up so much space.  You are left with a wider robot as a result.

ROBOT MODE:

Micronus' robot mode looks good, and if you didn't know, you wouldn't have expected that the torso can be opened up to reveal the disc shaped Micronus Prime inside.  It's a neat idea and one that is executed quite well here.

Alas, he has a huge amount of kibble at the back.  The vehicle mode's front, as well as the support struts that attaches to the wheel.  The designer tried to make it look better here, giving fan-like pieces at the end (that actually spins), but it's tacky.

The head sculpt is nice, with the silver visor, if a bit taller than it is wide.

Given the transformation, Micronus is short and stocky in robot mode, however, he doesn't have that many hollow parts and feels compact.

One thing is that you detach a separate transparent circular piece with Micronus' insignia (which is also the Mini-Con insignia), that you attach to the chest, it's a pretty cool look.  Plus, the torso panels have gaps in them so that you can see through to Micronus.

Articulation is good, he has joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees and ankles.

He doesn't have waist articulation due to transformation.

He also doesn't have any handheld weapons.  It's not a huge deal given his fingers literally are guns, so they look good enough there.

The legs are interesting, as they're jointed a little differently due to transformation.  Given the shorter legs, it can be challenging at times to get a good pose out of them.

A unique robot mode, both in terms of construction and in aesthetics.

OVERALL:

Micronus Prime is a good figure, despite the compromises and flaws.  The vehicle mode is the biggest one, not being able to properly stand up by itself.  Micronus himself would have benefited from being cast of normal plastic rather than a more fragile transparent plastic.  But the transformation and the concept of the bigger robot mode being some sort of armored shell for Micronus himself is really cool and executed well here.

-----------------------------------------------------------

For other Transformers reviews, have a look at this page and this page.

Support this blog by purchasing from Amazon using this affiliate link.

(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)

Wonder Egg Priority (2021)

Wonder Egg Priority is a 13 episode original anime. It follows Ai Ohto who has become a recluse, staying at home rather than going to school. The reason? Her best friend committed suicide. We’re quickly shown bits and pieces of what happened, with Ai being heavily affected. Ai feels guilty given that she was too apathetic to the things that were happening to her best friend, which ultimately led to that fatal decision.

The fantasy side then comes into play when Ai meets two characters, who give her an egg and promise that it will grant her wish. When Ai breaks it, she is sent to a dream world where while it’s a dream for her, it’s not a dream for the other people in it. The girls that are in that dream are being hunted down by “Seeno Evils”, which looks like these little evils with a crazy smile holding a knife.

Ultimately, Ai learns that she needs to protect these girls from danger, and the more girls that she successfully saves, the closest she is to bringing her best friend back. She soon meets other girls that are like her that get these eggs and tries to protect others in the dream world. Each character has a different tragic reason behind why they’re doing it. The anime begins in a more episodic manner, as Ai tries to save a different girl in each episode.

Given the episodic nature of the anime, each episode in the first half can be somewhat predictable. In the beginning, she’ll meet a new character to befriend with, then in a later episode, we will see what trauma they each carry within them. We see the reasons for their fighting. It tackles some heavier themes, and it is nothing to make light of, but at the same time, it doesn’t quite work out in certain moments, where it’s trying to be serious but then glosses over other elements.

The plot starts to go somewhere towards the end of the season. All the set up and backstories have finally finished, and it can move on. The biggest mystery of course is about the wonder egg and what its purpose is. Most viewers would suspect something bad, and the anime will deal with that plot thread. Although the pacing in general is quite slow, and it’s not as if it suddenly goes faster as a result.

The anime had production issues, and there are some signs of that, such as the recap episode in the middle of the season, and then half of the final “special” episode also being a recap. However, towards the end of the season, the plot really takes off as we finally get some more insight into the eggs. It’s still grounded in such a way that there is some psychological horror, and there’s a distinct creepiness to the atmosphere as well. The chill and dread that you’d feel as the events unfold was executed nicely.

Unfortunately, that execution and pacing couldn’t be sustained to the end. The ending felt rushed in ways, it closed off most of the plot points, but not particularly well. There are some great concepts there, but it is shown poorly. It seems after the long journey of watching the whole season, none of the character arcs come to a satisfying conclusion. It was messy, confusing and contradictory to earlier themes.

Overall, Wonder Egg Priority has moments where it shines and is full of potential. It collapses under all that expectation though, and we’re left with an inconsistent story that is at times confusing and messy. Even right until the very end, the plot didn’t feel like it could wrap up in time, and it ended up being a rushed job. Wonder Egg Priority is an average anime that gets worse as the season progresses.

---------------------------------------------

For other reviews, have a look at this page and this page.

Support this blog by purchasing from Amazon using this affiliate link.

(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)

Toy Review: Transformers Generations Studio Series KSI Widow (Deluxe)

Review:  #900

Name:  KSI Widow

Brand:  Transformers

Allegiance:  Decepticon

Line:  Generations - Studio Series

Year of Release:  2025

Size Class:  Deluxe (Wave 29)

Mold Status:  new

VEHICLE MODE:

KSI Widow is a "Concept Art" character, in that she never appeared in the movie, and is based upon the concept art.

That said, the vehicle, surprisingly being a licensed McLaren MP4-12C did appear in the movie.  And this is a fantastic vehicle mode, with transparent windows, and painted both front and back in the appropriate places.

She's an okay size for a Deluxe.  Being a supercar, the vehicle's stance is wide and flat.

There are some panel lines but it's fairly clean for the most part.  Surprisingly, the headlights are painted, as well as the back section, plus her hubcaps.  It's impressive for a Deluxe toys these days...

The wheels roll on a flat surface and that's it for play value.  Both her robot weapons store underneath the car, out of sight.

There's really no compromise in vehicle mode, and is one of the best we've had.

TRANSFORMATION:

KSI Widow has an interesting transformation, although it is one we've seen before.  Basically, most of the vehicle, being the middle panels spanning the whole car, will fold and collapse itself into the robot legs, thereby eliminating most of the kibble.  This is similar to how the Prime Vehicon figures did it, and while it's a little bit less impressive here, it's still very cool and neat.  The front fenders then form the shoulder pads, and the rest of the robot is basically revealed.

ROBOT MODE:

KSI Widow's robot mode is stunning, and not hampered by matching an onscreen model, so there's no faux kibble or anything.

And she doesn't have much kibble.  The vehicle doors fold behind her back, but that helps to bulk up the torso.  Most of the car ended up being folded into the legs.

The head sculpt is one of those that's more organic looking, and she's definitely a Decepticon based on that look.

She's slimmer in robot mode compared to your usual Deluxe.  Due to transformation, a lot of the mass is down in her lower legs, which is a bit chunkier than it should.

Articulation is great, with joints for her head, shoulders, elbows, waist, hips and knees.

She comes with two blasters.

These blasters aren't designed to be held, but rather pegged onto the forearms (similar to Shatter's), and they look really nice there, as if integrated into the arms.

Those blasters can also store on her back by plugging into the the doors.

This is a unique robot mode, not only due to the design, but also the orange color scheme.

From the side, you can see the thicker legs, and these also stop her from having ankle articulation.

Still, she has great shelf presence and she holds together well in robot mode.

A wonderful robot mode that barely has any flaws.

OVERALL:

KSI Widow is one of those figures that's a good toy because it's a good toy.  She has a fantastic vehicle mode, an interesting transformation, that leads to an equally good robot mode.  Sure, she may have some slightly restrictions in her lower legs due to transformation, but that's barely a nuisance.  She just looks so great that even if she never appeared on screen, she's still worth getting.

-----------------------------------------------------------

For other Transformers reviews, have a look at this page and this page.

Support this blog by purchasing from Amazon using this affiliate link.

(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)