Review: #498
Name: Optimus Primal w/ Amalgamous, Nexus, Prima and The Thirteenth
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Maximal
Line: Generations - Power of the Primes
Year of Release: 2018
Size Class: Leader
Mold Status: repaint of POTP Optimus Primal with new accessories
PACKAGING AND CONTENTS:
Throne of the Primes was a 2018 SDCC exclusive, although it was a general release for the Japanese market.
As a result, it contains special packaging including a huge windowed box showing off the figure sitting on the throne, and the back having a large piece of amazing artwork.
The plastic shell doubles as the throne (you can either keep or remove the plastic shell, it works either way). It's made of cardboard but coupled with the backdrop, it looks really nice.
PRIME MASTERS:
The set comes with not one, not two, nor three, but four Prime Masters: Amalgamous, Nexus, Prima and The Thirteenth.
Note that while three of them are obvious when you first open the packaging (one is attached to the scepter, the other two in the plastic ring on top of the throne), the fourth Prime Master is also on the plastic ring but you need to rotate it to reveal it. There's nothing special about these figures, retaining the same limited balljointed heads and shoulders.
OPTIMUS PRIMAL (ALTERNATE):
Unfortunately, the smaller, core, robot, transforms into a rectangular slab. It has a cockpit in front so you can imagine it is some sort of spaceship.
In effect, it's pretty much a folded up robot and this is a disappointing alternate mode, particularly since all the robot pieces are so visible.
TRANSFORMATION (OPTIMUS PRIMAL CORE ROBOT):
Transformation is laughably simple, you can guess from the pictures since the chest, legs and arms are visible. You fold the front half back, then unfold the legs which releases the arms and then flip the head out from the chest.
OPTIMUS PRIMAL (ROBOT):
Optimus' core robot mode is a lot better. The design is based upon the first season of Beast Wars and looks pretty good, if a bit more robotic.
Sadly, he carries a massive backpack, half the alternate mode in fact and is basically the pieces required for the bigger robot mode.
The head sculpt is average, it lacks defined curves since it feels softer than you'd expect, particularly from a Leader classed figure.
The core robot is roughly the size of a Deluxe, and above is a comparison against Voyager Optimus from the Titans Return line.
At least poseability is good here. He has joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, hips and knees. The knees are actually double jointed thanks to transformation.
The negative is that he lacks ankle joints, so getting him to stand flat for balance can be difficult in more dynamic poses.
He comes with two weapons, and they are both guns.
However, the instructions have Optimus hold them as if they are batons.
It doesn't look too bad as a handheld weapon. Note that the backpack causes stability issues as the heelspurs are not big enough.
As guns though, they look much better and he can pull off some great dual-wielding poses.
Thankfully, since this is an exclusive, there aren't too many stickers used, the main one is the Maximal sticker on his shoulder.
A good looking robot mode from the front but the huge backpack pulls it down significantly.
OPTIMAL OPTIMUS (GORILLA):
We'll now focus on the Evolution Armor, otherwise known as Optimal Optimus. The key change in this set is that the armor is painted in the same color scheme as the core robot, instead of the gaudy season 3 colors.
The gorilla mode looks okay from the front but clearly has robotic elements. The back reveals that the torso is hollow and the figure, while looking big, feels very light for its size.
The headsculpt here is better and it is on both a hinge and balljoint.
This is a Leader classed figure and above is a comparison against Leader AOE Optimus.
In terms of poseability, the gorilla mode retains most of the robot mode's joints, just lacks the knee joints.
The arms are as flexible as ever, and the ankle tilts are super useful.
The figure comes with a collector's card, something to put aside by this point as you would have amassed quite a collection already from the line...
Taking inspiration from the season 2 incarnation of the character, the core robot's alternate mode can act as a skateboard for the gorilla. The feet actually peg into the board which is a nice touch.
Lastly, the core robot can slot into the gap in the torso and you can then add in the guns for some over the head cannons but this does give him a huge backpack as only the front half fits into the gap. It's a solid mode overall.
TRANSFORMATION (TO JET MODE):
Getting it to jet mode is super simple as you lay the gorilla down, pull the arms forward, straight the legs and then peg the core robot's slab mode.
OPTIMAL OPTIMUS (JET MODE):
This is more of a bonus mode rather than a true alternate mode, although it is inspired by the original toy.
This is basically the robot mode lying down... with a cockpit. There are no wheels though but he does have tail fins.
A quick size comparison and you can see how the core robot is just resting on top, sigh.
A write-off and better to ignore this ridiculous mode.
TRANSFORMATION (TO ROBOT MODE):
This is the real reason to get this figure and the robot mode looks really good, even in the black and white scheme (arguably better in fact).
The sacrifice that had to be made for the gimmick is how half of the core robot is always backpack kibble and that's such a shame. At least it doesn't cause any balancing issues here.
The head sculpt is basically a larger version of the core robot's but more defined, it's only a swivel joint though.
Size-wise, he's about the same as other Leader sized figures. There are a lot of areas where it's hollow to save on plastic and when this is coupled with some tight ratchets, it can be scary.
As you'd expect, this mode is packed with gimmicks. The first of which is the matrix in his chest, which you can replace with a Prime Master if you so wish.
The cockpit on his chest can move down such that you can peg in the guns to mimic the chest guns of the original Optimal Optimus toy.
Lastly, the pieces around his forearms can be detached and then attached on top of his shoulders to make this taller, this also mimics the original toy.
The two guns can combine into a longer one and held... awkwardly in either hand. There's no peg hole in the fist, but it is in the thumb so he has to hold it in an awkward position.
Poseability is pretty good and the range is fair. He features a lot of ratchet joints. The best is how he has ankle tilts which are fantastic at keeping him balanced in all poses.
The shoulders have this interesting double joint to allow them to lift up to the sides. It might be unsightly at times but it does the job.
While he's mostly unpainted black here, the grey, white and red highlights do a great job at creating a pleasing color scheme.
His huge hands have a wrist swivel, as well as a hinged thumb and the rest of the things molded as one hinged piece.
Annoyingly, the wing pieces on his shoulders don't actually peg and they can be loose and easily dislodged when posing the figure.
However, the main reason to get this set are the two exclusive accessories, the crown and the Scepter of Sparks.
The crown is molded to fit snugly on top of the head and it looks really good there.
The scepter can be held in either hand and there are grooves in the handle that corresponding with the slots inside the hand which lets Optimus grip it securely.
However, perhaps the best gimmick is how you can attach four Prime Masters onto the side to create a more powerful looking scepter.
While the scepter becomes heavily thanks to the four additional Prime Masters, the ratchet joints of Optimus are more than able to hold it up.
When not being held, the pair of guns can also attach to the sides of his legs, which looks good there to be honest.
After this, you can place Optimus on the throne. Even better if you have enough Prime Masters to fill in the ring behind him (although getting them back out can be a pain).
A wonderful robot mode with an awesome accessory.
OVERALL:
This is an excellent redeco of a solid figure, plus an clever accessory that makes great use of the line-wide gimmick. The color scheme is arguably better due to the more uniformed approach and the figure itself, despite the flaws of the smaller robot and the sacrifices that had to be made for the gimmick, is a lot of fun. While he can be a bit expensive due to his exclusive nature, it's well worth the admission price.
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