Holy monkey-poop in a hat, this toy feels as if Optimus Primal just jumped out of the TV screen and became real! :eek: :D :cool: This toy is about as close as you'll get to a near-perfectly show-accurate figure.
Beast Modes
Gorgeously show-accurate in most regards, although some robot parts are visible which is unavoidable. The most noticeable parts are on the back of the legs where you can see the robot thighs and feet. The MP actually doesn't conceal the robot feet as well as the original figure - they pretty much tuck in to become heel spurs for the beast mode. But considering how faithfully/slavishly show-accurate the rest of the figure is, I think that these aren't a big deal. Besides, most other MPs also have visible robot parts in their alt modes (e.g. underside of cars, jets etc.), so proportionately speaking this toy has relatively less exposed robot parts than a lot of other MPs. I like how the robot knees flip to hide the red in beast mode. It's a neat way for the designers to basically admit that although they cannot conceal the knees, they can at least draw less attention to it by dulling the colour. The robot feet really serve function over form in this mode, as they do provide essential support in the bipedal beast mode.
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Did you notice that the sub-heading for this was Beast Modes? ;) There are two beast modes for this toy - bipedal and quadrupedal, and the quadrupedal mode isn't as simple as posing the toy to stand on fours as on the original figure. It actually involves some transformation. This allows for the toy to look better in both bipedal and quadrupedal modes, because gorillas actually don't look very good standing upright which is due to the reality of their physiological structure (humans are the only primates who have a fully erect gait). Real gorillas are usually quadrupedal, walking on their feet and knuckles. The original Ultra Optimus Primal toy is designed to mimick a more realistic gorilla stance and as such doesn't look great when standing upright.
RE: Bipedalism in apes
As the article explains, quadrupedalism is the preferred stance for apes. In the Beast Wars show, Optimus Primal uses both stances - often using the quadrupedal gait for travelling (as gorillas actually do) and using an upright stance to basically do more human-like things (i.e. when he needs his hands free). So it's pretty cool that the toy allows for both. Articulation in the beast mode's head allows for it to be adjusted between the beast modes. This is another reason why the original figure can't stand upright, because the head is positioned to look forward in the quadrupedal stance, if you stand the toy upright then the head is look upwards. Like he's gargling mouthwash. :p
The overall shape of the gorilla mode is more show-accurate, which in turn makes it more zoologically accurate. The original toy's beast mode has a more King Kong "flavour" to it (it even explicitly says so in the tech specs bio!), giving the toy a far more savage appearance. This was of course because Jurassic Park was the big selling toy line in the early to mid 1990s, and Kenner was capitalising on this fad when taking the failed Transformers Generation 2 and rebooting it as Beast Wars. This is why Dinobot and Grimlock's velociraptor modes are based on the Jurassic Park raptors rather than actual raptors (although the JP-accurate tyrannosaurus rex mode for Megatron also happens to be more paleontologically correct ;)). We know that BW packaging had the big reptilian eye which is reminiscent of the scene from Jurassic Park where the Raptor puts his eye against the kitchen window. So a lot of creative licensing was done by Kenner to make the beast modes look a lot more robust than they actually may be IRL. And this was a very common trend in 90s toys - remember when Star Wars toys looked like they were on steroids? ;) But hey, it's what kids wanted because remember that these toys were also all the rage in the 90s. Mainframe Entertainment went and made many of the beast modes more realistic looking, hence why Primal isn't the savage brute that the toy is.
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The surface of the toy is smooth with fur texture extensively tampographed throughout. This does make the toy's fur look really flat and somewhat bland, but show-accurately so! The original toy though has that fantastically fur grain detailing sculpted on the surface of the beast mode. That incredible attention to detail was what made the Beast Wars toys so endearing when they came out - no longer were Transformers relying on stickers to add detail... this suddenly seemed primitive and crude. Now designers were using highly detailed sculpting! The tampographed fur does feel like a big step down from the sculpted detail, but it's obviously done to make the toy look more cartoon-accurate, so it's understandable. TakaraTOMY didn't do it because they were lazy or anything, but one of the potential downsides to making a toy slavishly show-accurate is that they can sometimes end up looking more plain compared to if they took more cues from the original figure. But slavish show accuracy was clearly the objective of this figure so the tampographing is a fair call.
Transformation
Just amazing. The arms and waist are pretty much the only parts of this toy that transform like the original figure, everything else is totally different, but designed to look like it's the same (as the cartoon model's transformation is fairly toy-accurate). The toy does an amazing job in shifting from a more realistic looking gorilla mode to a more human-proportioned robot mode.
Robot Mode
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One of the great challenges of apeformers where the ape arms and legs become the robot arms and legs respectively is that apes have long arms and short legs, while humans have short arms and long legs - apes are built for swinging from branches while humans have evolved shorter arms as we use them to manipulate tools rather than as forelimbs for locomotion (walking, swinging etc.). The end result for previous apeformers is that they tend to have more ape-like long arms in their otherwise humanoid robot modes, although Kenner/Hasbro did try to make an effort to reduce this - e.g. the original Optimus Primal's rear legs contract and expand 90 degrees to either shorten or lengthen. MP Primal has double ratchet joints on the legs which allow for the legs to become much shorter in beast mode and longer in robot mode. Now it should be said that MP Beast Convoy's arms are still longer than they should be for human proportions. A human's hand ends up half way between the hip and knees. Our trouser and short pockets are stitched at this level. When standing upright an ape's hands go all the way down to the knee level. MP Beast Convoy's knuckles stop just above the knees whereas the original toy's knuckles end just below them. The slightly shorter arms do make the robot toy look less simian, but still not totally human like. But again, show-accurately so because this is exactly how Optimus Primal's robot mode was proportioned in the CGI cartoon model. :) Optimus Primal's cel cartoon model on the other hand features shorter more human-like arm length, but this toy is clearly based on the CG model, not the cel animated one. :o
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The deployable arm cannons and shoulder cannons are a nice touch. I really like how the arm cannons are so well concealed. The Convoy Jets on the back are also pretty well done, again flipping in and out of concealment. The way that the swords can clip onto the back is a nice nod to the original figure. Although I must say that there's something more fun and satisfying about having the spring loaded deployable weaponry on the original figure, especially the shoulder cannons. Simply swinging them out by hand doesn't have the same "oomph" to it. :o But granted the far higher complexity in transformation, these gimmicks were understandably sacrificed. I don't miss the ratcheting arm gimmick though. :rolleyes:
Comparison with the Original
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Here is my review of the original figure (which I wrote back in 1998 :o). Now here's something to make you feel old - MP1 Convoy was released 20 years after G1 Optimus Prime and MP32 Beast Convoy has been released 20 years after the original Optimus Primal. That's right, the amount of time between G1 Optimus Prime and MP1 is the same as the time between the original Optimus Primal and MP32! :eek: Damn it!!! :eek:
Take a look at this picture of MP1 next to G1 Optimus Prime. As awesome as G1 Optimus Prime is, especially for its time, that toy is a veritable brick next to MP1. Other than flailing its arms about, the G1 toy can't really keep up with MP1. Now watch what happens when I try to see if the original Ultra Optimus Primal figure can "keep up" with MP32...
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Left: This is a toy
Centre: This is a computer model based off a toy
Right: This is a toy based off a computer model that was based off a toy
As you can see, the original toy can keep up with MP32. Sure, the poses may be more crude, but bear in mind that the original is not only a much older toy, but also 215% cheaper. MP32's RRP is about $150 whereas the original would be $70 by current day standards. It'd be like comparing say Generations Legends Megatron with Voyager Cloud Megatron. Relative to their respective price points, I think that both figures are very nice, and I also think this just goes to show just how ahead of its time the original Beast Wars toys were.
Overall
MP32 is a fantastic and beautiful toy that is well deserving of the title of Masterpiece. TakaraTOMY have truly outdone themselves in adapting what was such a revolutionary figure and bringing it at a higher level. As I said before, it just feels like the character has just leapt out of the screen! Strongly recommended. :)
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