Toy Review - Siege Voyager Optimus Prime

[Paulbot]

I wasn't really planning to get this figure until I saw some images of the transformation and thought it looked interesting. Then I saw it in store and I immediately wanted this one more than any other Siege toy on the shelf.

This is a fantastic action figure of G1 Optimus Prime (that transforms nicely is a bonus).

He's got the heroic proportions, a great headsculpt, a heap of little details that pay homage to the original toy and cartoon model. On top of that he's very poseable with lots of extras not needed for transformation, even a little hinge on the shoulders so the smokestacks can move out of the way.

The weapons are good too. He's got a bit of a backpack but it doesn't distract much.

The transformation is good, lots of things flow smoothly and everything tabs into place.

The truck mode is nice but it does look like a lot of random scifi parts stuck around a traditional Optimus Prime truck. I like it, but the robot mode is the winner.

[bowspearer]

I felt this figure deserved an in depth review considering how well it was pulled off.

Robot mode: The Robot mode is smaller than recent Voyagers - I'd place it halfway between a PotP Deluxe and a PotP Voyager class figure. The look of the figure, is, in a word, iconic With the exception of the front half of the fenders under the forearms and the window panels on the side of them, along with the front-facing, half concealed wheels on the legs and the wheels retracted into his sides, this feels very close to an animation accurate G1 Prime. The head is what you would expect, the amber lights at the top of the red torso all have individual paint apps, the windshield pecs are in blue translucent plastic, with circuitry moulded into them, while the frames feature tastefully applied battle damage to the underside of them. Underneath that, the iconic silver grill, is bordered by white plates under each windshield frame, with red unpainted sections under them. As mentioned, to the sides are the wheels, which feature painted silver rims.

The crotch plate is grey, with yellow panels, while the thighs are the same grey, which unfortunately clashes with the weathering paint to make them look dirty rather than scratched up. The shins are blue, with moulded grey vents and painted silver toes at the front. I honestly wish they'd used the silver on the toes for the crotchplate and thighs as it would have worked so much better with the battle damage.

The arms are moulded in the same classic red as the torso, with silver pained smokestacks and moulded blue fists, with grey moulded arm sockets.

There is a bit of a backpack on him from the rear, however the light bar from the truck mode pointing down on the bottom of the backpack, does give the illusion of a rocket pack. The only other detail, not noticeable from the front, is that the back of the legs are moulded in grey, with a back plate covering them. The panel isn't a perfect fit, as there is a gap around it, however complete with the moulded detailing, it's still far better an offering than many figures over the years at this price point that haven't shown this attention to detail. In fact the robot mode feels far more like a Masterpiece figure's robot mode that has slightly missed the mark than a standard Voyager Class figure.

Not perfect, but far closer to perfect than it is to terrible.

8.0/10

Articulation: This figure really does feel like an Optimus Prime action figure which just happens to transform when discussing the articulation. All in all there are a whopping 27 points of articulation, not including transformation only joints! While some joints, like the neck, don't feel tight, they don't feel loose either and the plastic feels incredibly solid on the figure.

The head is mounted on 2 swivel joints at the neck, discarding the typical ball joint in favour of a joint which feels not so much loose as smooth in its movements and a lot more durable than the average ball joint.

The arm sockets are mounted on 2 swivel joints, allowing for a 360 degree vertical motion and 45 degree horizontal motion - however if the arm socket is moved too far back, the truck kibble can get in the way. The panels with the smokestacks themselves are on flaps which move up, giving the arms 90 degress of vertical movement at the shoulders. The arms also feature a bicep swivel and greater than 90 degrees movement on the single elbow joint and wrist swivel.

There is a hip swivel, but no ab crunch, however the backpack doesn't get in the way of the hip movement at all.

The leg sockets have 3 swivel joints built in, giving the legs about 160-170 degrees of forwards and backwards movement, which is only constricted but the backpack and front skirt, and even then only barely, while the legs have a 90 degree side movement and a 45 degree thigh swivel. There is a double swivel joint at the knees, due in part to the transformation, which gives the knees both a 360 degree rotation, while the single knee swivel joint allows for about a 135 degree knee bend. While Prime can't kick his own ass, when you lift up the backpack, he can certainly kick himself in the back.

Finally there is a 45 degree ankle tilt, allowing for great stability in many poses, which leads me to the next thing. Prime is very solid and has excellent balance. You can have him hold his arms forward, put him in a 170 degree splits (each leg out 85 degrees to the side), stand him on one leg and he'll balance.

When talking about articulation, this very much feels like an action figure first and a Transformer. Some minor range of motion issues, but this has to be the best articulation and posability I have seen in a standard Voyager Class figure - ever!

10/10

Transformation: If, when I said this feels like an action figure which just happens to transform, I gave you the impression that they slouched on the transformation, then let me reassure you that simply isn't the case. Transformation without instructions is a little bit fiddly and frustrating without instructions the first time you do it, but once you've done it once, it feels organic, straightforward and natural, despite its complexity.

- Spread the legs slightly and rotate the legs at the knees 180 degrees.
- Flip up the inner shin panels and rotate the back shin panels 270 degrees to fold them into the side panels.
- Rotate the outer shin panel/rear wheel assembly 180 degrees until they tab in place, so that the wheels are facing outwards.
- Fold the toes and heel spurs down 90 degrees.
- Flip up the panels on the front of each knee 180 degrees and tab the legs together at the knees and insoles
- Flip the backpack up 180 degrees.
- Pull the back half of the hips back 90 degrees by the legs.
- Accordion the wheels out and face them downwards, ensuring that the stem slides inside the gap between both hip parts.
- Flip the panels on the sides of the arms up 90 degrees and rotate the front half of the wheel hubs on the arms more than 180 degrees so that they are pointing out to the side to a slight angle.
- Position the arms in so that the shoulders are pointing down, the forearms are pointing forewards, then rotate the shoulders back 90 degrees and then rotate the forearms in 90 degrees, tabbing the forearms in at just above the waist. Make sure the backpack is up high enough to allow the arms clearance.
-Open both halves of the windshield outwards 90 degrees and fold the head down.
- Flip the side panels on the arms up a further 90 degrees to reveal the doors and side windows.
- Flip the truck kibble in the backpack up a little more than 90 degrees, untab the side panels more than 90 degrees and fold down the front bumper bar.
- Fold the backpack down to form the front of the roof, ensuring enough clearance between the side panels and windshield halves.
- Slide the truck kibble back and tab the side panels in at the outside of the wrists and close the windshield.
- Tab the front wheel hub halves into the bumper bar and wheel struts.
- Tab the inner shin panels/rear wheel hub halves into the thighs. The thighs may need to be fiddled with so the tab lines up.
- Fold the wheels out and tab them into the hubs.

This transformation manages to do what good Masterpiece figures do- to make a transformation that is highly complex and yet intuitive, simple and fun to do. In fact one thing that worries me with it from a longevity perspective is that it can be very tempting to pick up the figure and keep transforming it. The transformation is a tiny bit fiddly, but it's what you'd expect when dealing with precision.

10/10

Truck mode: Prime's truck mode, while still a short nosed cabover, feels a little like something out of a Mad Max movie or some other dystopian future. It's also surprisingly small - with Titans Return Gnaw standing almost at tall as it.

The cab body is primarily red, while the massive light bar and windows on the front, as well as the lights, grill and windshield are all done in translucent blue plastic, with white panels between the windshield and lights. The grill surround and 2 trapeziodal panels next to it are in painted silver, while the bumper bar is done in moulded grey and next to it on each side are what look like dual minigun clusters, with the barrels in black and the surrounding panels done in silver. in the window, a silver panel showing the Matrix of Leadership can clearly be seen. On the sides, the fuel tanks and 2 storage compartments in front of them are painted in silver- as are the sides of the windows. There is however a noticeable gap in the rear of the body of the cab when looking at it from rear on, where a small bit of waist and leg kibble can be seen.

This is the weaker of the two modes, though not by much. The big detractors are the gap in the back of the cab, the silver rather than clear side windows and the unpainted bumper bar. However I suspect that design budget may have played a significant part in this.

8.0/10

Accessories: Prime comes with his laser rifle and Axe. The rifle is solid, unpainted moulded black and given the pain apps on so much of this figure, it's a little disappointing that there wasn't at least some attention to detail paid to his iconic weapon. Likewise, the rifle is just a solid block, with no foldaway gimmick for storage.

Nothing could be further from the truth when talking about the Axe. The staff is moulded in grey, while the body is moulded in black. The face of the axe is painted in silver to offset the black and even features weathering on a small section of it like the Prime's body does. It also transforms. It stores on the trailer hitch of Prime's Cab mode in shield mode, which has three fireblast points on it. To transform the shield into an axe, you simply flip out the staff, flip down the rear blade of the axe and flip up the front blade of the axe

The accessories are chalk and cheese in terms of the budget assigned to each of them and while there's nothing terrible about Prime's laser rifle per se, it's clear which weapon was neglected and which one got all the love.

7.0/10

Gimmicks: In truck mode, prime features 9 hardpoints for moutning weapons - 2 on the roof, 2 on the sides of the cab body, 1 on each smokestack and 3 on the trailer hitch - 2 on the sides and one on top on the middle. In robot mode, he gains another 4 hardpoints on the soles of his feet, but looses the hardpoint on the top of the trailer hitch for a total of 12 hardpoints.

The shield features 3 fireblast points, while the figure has a further 4 points - 1 on each arm and 1 on each knees. The one letdown here is that there was no inclusion of fireblast points on any part of his chest.

In terms of the gimmick, it's decent, but the lack of a fireblast point on the chest lets the figure down.

6.0/10


Overall: I look at this figure and to be honest I feel like it's so close to being a great figure in the Masterpiece line, but just lacking in a couple of areas to push it over the line. Only this isn't in the Masterpiece line of course and that really speaks volumes to just how well executed this figure is - because I'd happily put it against many of the Autobot Cars in the Masterpiece line and say that it is as good, if not better than them. The transformation is quite complex for the size and price point, while the articulation is absolutely brilliant.

Is it perfect? Not quite. The grey on the shins should have been revised to a more metallic silver as it clashes horribly with the metal paint used to show battle scars and detracts from what otherwise looks really great on him, while the cab's side windows, unpainted bumper bar and gap in the back do noticeably detratch from an otherwise brilliant design. Likewise the figure really could have done with a fireblast post or 2 on the chest. However these are far from deal-breakers and the figure is still amazingly well done. It's not a 10/10 due to the above issues, but it's pretty close.

9.0/10

[Jellico]

Does anybody subscribe to the theory that this is a pre-mold for a G1 Earth based Optimus? Apparently there are a few panels that could easily be swapped out to make an Earth truck.

[bowspearer]

Does anybody subscribe to the theory that this is a pre-mold for a G1 Earth based Optimus? Apparently there are a few panels that could easily be swapped out to make an Earth truck.

I don't. The roof of the truck would need a massive redesign for that.

[SharkyMcShark]

I go back and forth on this one.

It has what seems to be a fantastic transformation and I want to support a figure with this much articulation and thoughtful engineering with a purchase.

On the other hand it's a bit too G1 blocky looking for my taste, and I also have Striker Manus, and this figure looks like a smaller simpler version of that.

I think it might be a miss for me.

[Maruten]

Finally started messing around with this guy and I was just blown away by how complex and fun the transformation is. It's kind of fiddly, but in a clever way rather than a frustrating or difficult way. I have rarely enjoyed transforming a Transformer so much.

[Deano85]

There's a great toyhax/reprolables set for Siege Prime

https://toyhax.com/for-siege/2667-pa...mus-prime.html