Toy Review - Beast Hunters Cmdr Optimus Prime

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

Series - Transformers Prime
Sub-line - Beast Hunters - Cyberverse
Size/class - Commander
New/remould/redeco - new
Wave - 1
Released here - March 2013
Approximate Retail Price - $15-20
Approximate Size - 10cm
Allegiance - Autobot
Alt-mode - all-terrain truck
Main Features/Gimmicks - none
Main Colours - red, blue, black, grey
Main Accessories - sword, missile launcher, missile

http://www.toycollectors.com.au/tftoys/tfpbhc06.jpg

Disappointing.

I can see that they've tried to do some new and innovative things with the design and transformation, but overall it fails to impress. This toy isn't as good as Cyberverse Commander Optimus Prime, and that toy isn't so great either. IMHO the Commander Class just utterly fails in comparison to the old Scout and Basic Class. :/

Vehicle mode
The truck mode is a CoE as opposed to the long-nose truck that previous incarnations of TFP Optimus Prime has been -- and from a G1 fan perspective it's kinda neat to see Optimus Prime go back to the CoE style. And to be fair, a CoE truck does potentially put more constraints on engineering because you just don't have that ample amount of bonnet space out front to squeeze robot parts into. But I still think that this toy could've been done better (just look at Legends RtS Optimus Prime). The vehicle does feel a bit "empty" in some places, particularly just under/behind the front fender and just behind the cab section. The rear of the truck has some weird cage thing happening for some reason I don't understand. I guess it makes him look a bit more like a car carrier (potential for an Ultra Magnus redeco?). Also, on my toy only the rear four wheels roll... the front two wheels don't. I can't figure out why. :(

Robot Mode
In robot mode the smoke stacks end up on the insides of the forearms, and occasionally get in the way of himself during play. The missile launcher is just too big for a toy this size. I wish they'd scrapped it, given us a gimmick-less gun, and made some improvements to the figure itself. The sword is the Star Sabre, which is cool. I haven't tried to see if Cyberverse Commander OP can hold it too or not. I'd like to get a Star Sabre that my Deluxe or FE Optimus Prime can hold, but I'm not about to buy the Voyager BH OP just for the sword!
This toy also shares a common flaw with his Cyberverse Commander forerunner -- the torso doesn't seem to lock in firmly, so the toy is prone to bending over backward pretty easily; coupled with the blocky look of this toy, it just makes him look like he was drawn by José Delbo! :rolleyes:

Overall
I can see what they've tried to do with this toy... and there is notable effort in trying new ideas with engineering and transformation -- which is a vibe that I get from Beast Hunters in general... and I really do appreciate this. But in the case of this toy, the end result just doesn't hold up. A nice try... but no Energon Cube. I got this toy because I wanted a BH Optimus Prime, but from what I've seen and read, the Voyager appears to be a disappointing toy too. So... instead of spending $40-50 on a disappointing Voyager, I went and spent $15 on a disappointing Commander. :p At least this toy has decent paint apps and a tampographed insignia. :)

Would I recommend this toy? Not particularly. Only if you _really_ want a Beast Hunters Optimus Prime, but you're not prepared to pay for the Voyager.

P.S.: The robot mode is mistransformed in the stock photo. Here's a picture of the robot mode transformed correctly - i.e. feet are flipped out.

I actually like it. Nice and chunky! Looks like he means business in that truck form.