Toy Review - POTP Amazon Exclusive Nemesis Prime
Having recently acquired this Black Beauty, I thought I'd try out my first Toy Review.
Full disclaimer: I don't normally review toys, and I can't imagine I'd do it frequently. I'm what I would call a 'Desktop Collector' - my collection, as small and varied as it is, resides at my workplace thanks to my very tolerant boss. And I am by NO means a professional photographer But let's press on, because I feel this guy is definitely worth writing about!
Power Of The Primes is one of those lines which has given me a Hit/Miss feel. I have to really pick and choose what I purchase due to space and budget limitations. My 'Diorama' at present is VERY heavily Autobot though and I was on a lookout for a rival against my imposing God Ginrai. Initially this was going to be Overlord but after a long battle with a toy supplier (which I've posted elsewhere about) this changed to Nemesis Prime. I'd seen him listed for a while, was impressed about the amount of accessories and weapons, and went all in.
I ordered Nemesis Prime from eBay user 'toyspark' for a good price. The seller is in Hong Kong but I managed to get him in under a week, and since I live in mid-Regional South Australia, I was very impressed. He arrived in thick foam packaging in A1 condition.
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But I'm not a MISC/MISB collector; I play with my toys! So on we go.
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First impressions were fantastic. Nemesis Prime is well presented in his multilingual box, in "Evolution" robot mode with all his accessories.
Out of the box, it seemed I was fortunate that despite some QC issues plaguing other figures, mine seemed to be in perfect condition. No swapped parts, no loose joints. At least, not YET.
This was my first 'Black Repaint' and I honestly don't think I could've done much better as a first time. His black is imposing, and the silver and teal highlights really make Nemesis Prime shine. The deep red on his chest windows and his menacing eyes also complete the look. His Evolution robot mode is weighty, solid-feeling, and really poseable. The head sculpt evokes Optimus Prime (forthwith referred to as 'OP') but in a really menacing way. This was also used for Toxitron in the Combiner Wars line and I could see it work as a Toxitron repaint quite easily.
His repetoire of weapons is amazing. The symbolic Ion Blaster of OP's of course present (able to break into two weapons for the smaller Nemesis Pax, Nemesis Prime Himself (forthwith referred to as 'NP'), or whatever tickles your fancy) but he also comes with so many homage weapons as nods to NP's past iterations. Two double-barrelled wrist blasters evoke Armada NP, the Dark Saber (to reference perhaps Energon Grand Scourge, Takara's 'evil twin' answer to the Energon Optimus Prime of the time, which heavily referenced the Star Saber? I'm taking a bit of a wild guess on that one) and Giza, the transforming Sword Bird (in reference to Prime's NP having an Arms Micron partner, again from Takara). So yes, POTP NP can literally 'flip the bird' before carving you up with him!
Lastly of course is the Matrix, in this case what is known as the Dark Matrix (since everyone knows the Decepticon Matrix doesn't exist!) The Matrix ties in with the POTP 'Prime Masters' gimmick so the little purple crystal can pop out and be replaced with any Prime Masters (which means I'm gonna have to get my butt into gear and get some while I still can and burn a hole in my wallet!) I did have some issues putting the Matrix into NP's chest while in Evolution mode, as you have to swing open both NP's and Pax's chest doors to get to the Matrix niche, and its quite deep. So in the end when he's in this mode I install it into Pax first before I plug him into the armour, its less fiddly that way. Sadly, neither Prime nor Pax's hands are sculpted to hold it, which is a little disappointing, hopefully a 3P will fix this though. He'd look great holding it aloft.
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To get Pax out, he has a little switch which locks him into place very neatly into his armor, and for someone who likes to try transforming without instructions, I must admit it took me a second to work out where the switch was! But it's a neat little design which holds him snugly. Sadly his back kibble doesn't lock into place which leaves his arms kinda hanging there, so you may have to adjust them a bit if you use his hands as extra weapon storage over his back (like I did with his ion blaster).
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Nemesis Pax himself is another redeco and retool of Orion Pax. He has the BEST new headsculpt for a little guy! A spiked mohawk really gives him a punk/metal feel. You wouldn't want to cross him in a dark alley (or, anywhere really).
Unfortunately this is where my ONE issue became prevalent. His left foot pin must be loose, his foot flops about like it's not attached! Fortunately this doesn't compromise his poseability much (except maybe for high kicks, where it might look like he has no bones in his foot!) I'll have to look for a way to fix him long term though. Nemesis Pax can hold all the weapons his larger form can, though the double-barreled cannons don't quite look right. I have been splitting his ion blaster when he's Pax and that works pretty well, as everything else looks a tad large. His black with silver and teal highlights continue to serve him well, along with his imposing red chest window. The Matrix can still store in his chest cavity (albeit in reverse) but sadly he STILL can't hold it!
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Transforming both Pax into Cab mode and his Armor into Trailer mode wasn't a hassle at all, and no instructions were required which pleased me (everything has little locking tabs). Pax's head becomes the trailer hitch, and the rest of him kinda folds up to be a LITTLE messy off the back of the cab, but due to his unified colour scheme, its not really noticeable compared to photos I've seen of OP, and his Matrix still stores nicely. The trailer is sturdy but sadly can't REALLY hold any figures (maaaaaybe a Legends class in the back but you'd be pushing it). His ion blaster tucks into the middle (and can be raised/lowered), his swords can go on top, and his double-barreled blasters can be attached 'Powermaster Style' via two swing-out doors. These do leave a little gap on either side of the cab but the aesthetic makes it worthwhile. My labels also perfectly matched either side (another common problem people have been having so I feel I was lucky).
Overall, I am SUPREMELY pleased with Power of the Primes Nemesis Prime. With all the accessories, the black/silver/teal/red colour scheme, new head sculpts for both modes, and overall sturdiness and poseability, he's the new 'Big Bad' for my display and a gem in my collection. I can only fault his one limp foot on Pax, but this may be something easily fixed. And the fact he can't hold his Matrix is a little disappointing. But with all the other features and functionality I can easily look past it.
I give him 4 1/2 Nemeseas (Nemesises? Nemesii?) out of 5.
