Toy Review - POTP PM Liege Maximo & Skullgrin

[griffin]

(Please post comments, photos or even a fully comprehensive review - these are just some brief details to start you off)

Liege Maximo w/ Skullgrin shell
Series - Generations
Sub-line - Power of the Primes
Size/class - Prime Master
New/remould/redeco - New
Wave - 1
Released here - January 2018 (Asia & America DEC 2017)
Approximate Retail Price - (probably about AU$8-10) US$5
Approximate Size - 7cm?
Allegiance - (Prime)
Alt-mode - Power Unit w/ shell/claw
Main Features/Gimmicks - Attach to larger toys
Main Colours - Purple, grey
Main Accessories - shell, claw

http://www.toycollectors.com.au/transformers/2018/gpp01.jpg

[shockNwave]

I'm a metalhead so I had to get this guy. Love the 80's glam metal colors. Love the claw mode. Love the skull.

[Sutton]

The only thing that's disappointing with these guys is that they've changed to pins instead of screws for attaching the 'backpack' on the little guy - would be interesting to see what sorts of customs or even 3P add-ons could be made for these. Little Skullgrin even has tank treads on his legs just begging for an alt-mode.

[GoktimusPrime]

Only if... you're attached to the Skullgrin or Liege Maximo character. The thing with these Prime Masters is, honestly, when you've seen one you've seen them all. And the same could be said of the G1 Pretenders (which we all know were far from being hot selling items). I was glad to get this toy because I was excited to have a CHUG Skullgrin, but if you're not interested in this character then it may not hold much value.

[Sutton]

Only if... you're attached to the Skullgrin or Liege Maximo character. The thing with these Prime Masters is, honestly, when you've seen one you've seen them all. And the same could be said of the G1 Pretenders (which we all know were far from being hot selling items). I was glad to get this toy because I was excited to have a CHUG Skullgrin, but if you're not interested in this character then it may not hold much value.

The G1 Pretenders definitely have nostalgic appeal for me, but yep, happy that we're getting a representation of them on the shelf for $10 a piece rather than a Voyager-sized line wide gimmick. Good compromise, and good choice of characters so far too.

Now I just need to wait for Micromaster remakes...might be waiting a while! :p

[SMHFConvoy]

Not as fun as the titan masters but the pocket size appeals to me :)

[dirge]

I like the Skullgrin tribute, but that's it. Truthfully, though, I'd rather just enjoy my actual Skullgrin. $10 is too much for a little Skullgrin statue, for me.

[Jellico]

I have only seen him on the shelf so far. He doesn't leap out at you like the Autobots. I think it is the muted colours. That is a problem. The play pattern is questionable so the Primes rely on screaming "buy me!" This guy doesn't.

That said the Primes seem well made and detailed. But given that they are barely transformers they would want to be.

[FatalityPitt]

I think for fans of the Super-God Masterforce cartoon, these are good. Because in the show, these characters were roughly human-sized when they wore their pretender shells. They're also pretty cheap and you don't need to collect that many to have the main cast. It's true they had to forego their vehicle modes to remain within budget/price point, but honestly, the vehicle modes in the original G1 toys were hardly memorable.

Me personally, I might just wait for the Bludgeon and Octopunch ones. Those were the ones I had as a kid. I also used to read the G2 Marvel Comics, and I thought Bludgeon was cool.

[shockNwave]

Octopunch is definitely a stand out. Thanks for jogging my memory.

[GoktimusPrime]

Hhhmmm... these Prime Masters are just okay as CHUG versions of the G1 Pretenders. While I agree that the shells look good and they do scale well for the Masterforce-style mass shifting (which I love doing), it also only really works if you have the inner robot. Because the Prime Master robots themselves:
* Are puny little Headmasters - even in Masterforce the inner robots were always full sized. They only ever shrank down to human size when they were inside the shells, never outside. And in the case of Metalhawk, the colours are completely off (which is a shame as the sculpting is quite accurate to Metalhawk's robot)
* No vehicle modes, and none of the Pretenders transform into heads. Even as Headmasters these heads don't even really look like heads.

Whenever I play with these toys I have my G1 Pretenders on standby to represent the inner robots when they come out of the shell. I basically play with the Prime Masters as shrunken down shells and the G1s as the robots. And in the case of Metalhawk where I don't own the G1 toy, I'm using my TR Metalhawk to represent the robot. I must admit that it's lots of fun, but it also only works if you have a larger version of that Pretender robot (either G1 or CHUG). It just doesn't work with the Prime Master robot itself.

I know that POTP has canonically justified this by saying that these aren't the actual Pretenders but rather they are Primes who are simply wearing Pretender decoy armour, and it's the armours that are named after their Pretender namesakes. But the end result is that these toys are more limited as proper CHUG representations of the Pretenders. And not that that's a bad thing either... the 1988 Pretenders are pretty rubbish toys to begin with. :p And honestly, these are just cheap $10 figures. :p

As for the 89 Pretenders like Octopunch, Bludgeon etc., I think that "reverse G1" play value is even more limited as these characters never appeared in Japan (indeed these G1 Pretenders are highly sought after by Japanese collectors who view them as exotic in a similar way that Western collectors might view Lio Kaiser etc. :)) and never did the mass-shifting thing. Having said that, I'll probably collect them anyway. :p I really do love how POTP Bludgeon's weapon mode is a club. Not a gun, not a blade... a club. He'll be the first Bludgeon who'll finally live up to his name! :D

[SMHFConvoy]

Ever notice how skullgrin's weapon mode is more like a hand, especially when you flip out the decoy suit's arm like a thumb?