Toy Review - JP 2010 Primus

[jaydisc]

Yes. Charged immediately.

[Sky Shadow]

Yes. Charged immediately.

Thanks Jay. Sounds like a plan then...

[kaiden]

Unfortunately i ordered this (and unicron) at the same time as i ordered shadow scyther which will get delivered to me in december -_-

so i cant even think about reviewing this toy any time soon and i dont have the previous version.

Worst. Review thread. Ever.

We were reviewing the price :P

[Lint]

Okay heres my lengthy review, pics pending

I don't own the original Primus figure so I will be drawing little comparison with the original figure and evaluating him as a standalone purchase.

The Skinny
Impressive looking figure! Is grey, not silver like in promo pic. Looks a lot better in person than review photos and videos would have you believe. Unified colour scheme and rustic/metallic paint apps give Creator Primus credibility as an ancient god.

Packaging
Creator Primus comes in a nice collectors-grade box with the blue artwork that can combine with Dominator Unicron's box to complete the blue orange mosaic. The back of the box has the promo artwork most of you would have seen from RK and other sites selling the figure. Opening the box you will find that Primus is held to a cardboard frame in robot mode by our old nemesis the metal twistyties. I was dismayed when I first saw Unicron packaged in such a manner because:
A) twistyties are a pain to undo
B) its way more difficult to replace a figure back into it's packaging when its tied to cardboard backing.
After undoing way too many twistyties (i refuse to cut them) and trying to liberate Primus like King Kong (the liberation was far less graceful and theatrical than I had hoped) I resolved that I would never attempt to tie him back to his original backing and put him back in his box. Why couldn't TakaraTomy put these 2010 figures in bubble form packaging like the Masterpiece line? Huge dissapointment.

Robot Mode
Creator Primus is a handsome boy. I don't have the original cybertron version but I think the 2010 version tops it with shiny metallic paint apps and an abundance of detailing. The grey has a pearly lustre to it (less easy to see now that I have no natural light) and is not a flat colour like I had feared. The gold/sand colour looks a lot better in real life than it does in photographs. While it is not gold as some of the promo pics had us believe, it has the same type of pearly lustre as the aforementioned grey and is not ugly at all. The dark blue is the same kind of subtlely metallic plastic we've seen on figures such as WFC Prime. A lot of the finer details have been accentuated by black detailing.

Creator Primus' has far more poseablility than I would have expected for a figure of his size class. The only articulation limitations I've found so far are his wrists (no articulation whatsoever). Other poseability limitations include his wings and arse kibble which restrict limb movement backwards and his rubbish toes + heavy upper body which limits his balance to one hip click forwards and backwards. That said Primus looks his best standing up straight and being a deity probably shouldn't reduce himself to tacky action poses . One thing I have note is that Primus has five digit articulation in his hands with double knuckle joints on all fingers. This is fantastic except he has no accessory to hold. Also his fingers are disturbingly long.

Gimmicks in robot mode include two firing shoulder launchers. Creepy grabber arm things in the legs and the arm cannons which pop-up and out when the force chip in inserted in the slot. I don't know what the purpose of this is, maybe its so that Primus only accidentally shoots off his fingertips instead of his whole bloody ginormous hand when he's feeling triggerhappy.

Transformation
Primus' transformation is nothing to write home about. It's fairly simplistic but I still get a kick out of it because its fun imagining him unfurl from planet to robot. Transformation "necessitates" the use of the Omega Lock accessory which I find to be quite plain in appearance.

All his electronic gimmicks kick in during transformation. The omega lock accessory lights up whenever it is plugged in to any of the four available sockets. There are electronic sounds when you open the lock to unveil the planetary guns and more sounds when you use the lock to unveil Primus' head in the final stage of transformation. His eyes also flash red for a bit at this stage! The goofy sound effects start to piss you off after a short while. I wish there was some other means to make his eyes light up after he has been transformed.

Planet mode
Creator Primus transforms into a fairly solid planet Cybertron. In planet mode all the pieces lock together reasonably well. I have one hemisphere on my one which is a little loose but it doesn't detract from the spherical appearance of the planet. The unified colour scheme really shines here as Primus really does look like planet Cybertron. The big blue fists and cannons which are showing in this mode are a little distracting but they don't bother me a great deal. The molded details are really impressive and the sandy rubber pieces look good in this mode. The four cities at the top of the planet are painted in metallic gold which is really pretty. At the 'back' of the planet the city which I believe is 'Kaon' is really well sculpted though it looks like a big blue barnacle on the face of the planet. Though the planet looks nice in this mode it is not the bright silver ball of bling as advertised in the promo pics which is disappointing. While it still looks great I would have like a little more paint detailing across the planet aside from the sparse splotches of copper and silver at various points of interest across the planet. Also absent in this mode is the black detailing which made the robot mode look so good.

In planet mode there are a few gimmicks. Firstly are all the minicon ports, you can whack several minicons onto Cybertron. They don't activate anything and it makes the planet look ridiculous so don't do it. Secondly are the side cannons. They work exactly like they do in robot mode and actually make a lot more sense in this mode. I wish the 'turret' could rotate though. Lastly are the planetary guns. By inserting the Omega Lock into the top port and shifting it the two top hemispheres of Cybertron split apart and the planetary guns deploy forwards. Looks somewhat ridiculous but is still cool with some imagination.

Overall
This is an excellent figure. Despite this version not existing in any official canon I think he is a fair and complimentary imagining of the TFverse deity and the planet Cybertron. Compared to what I've seen of the Cybertron version of this mold, the unified colour scheme makes for a much better looking planet and in robot mode Primus definitely has credibility as an ancient god instead of looking like a cheap plastic toy. While i'm not pleased that TT have pulled a Hasbro photoshop con job on us (I will never trust a TT promo pic again) Primus is still a great looking figure. Whether he is worth the money I would say, for me, yes. Previous owners of this mould might not find as much value in it having already played with the toy. Especially since there is no retooling and does not come with any new accessories on top of the planet key, omega lock and missiles. Overall, despite the high cost, I am satisfied with my purchase. He is an impressive looking figure which looks great on display. While I will probably add some custom paint details for the fun of it, I would be otherwise pleased to keep the figure as it is. My absolute biggest gripe with this figure is the packaging.

[GoktimusPrime]

Gah! Colours look far too bland IMO. I prefer the way the original toy had more colours to break up all that blue and gray. JMHO.

Primus has five digit articulation in his hands with double knuckle joints on all fingers. This is fantastic except he has no accessory to hold.

The original Primus did.


But tbh toys with articulated fingers are the poorest at holding accessories. When it comes to holding accessories, I much prefer a traditional Kung Fu grip or closed fist with a hole. Finger articulation is great for bare-handed poseability, but craphouse for holding stuff.

I resolved that I would never attempt to tie him back to his original backing and put him back in his box. Why couldn't TakaraTomy put these 2010 figures in bubble form packaging like the Masterpiece line? Huge dissapointment.

Dude... you're probably one of very few people out there who'd buy a toy, open it, then want to re-tie it back in its packaging! Remember that adult collectors themselves are a minority anyway; and remember that Masterpiece was produced in limited numbers in Japan and marketed exclusively at mature collectors, whereas the Primus mould was initially intended for and marketed at children. While the repaint has a more collector-centric focus, I don't think TOMY are excluding the child market either (as they did exclude with Masterpiece). So I wouldn't really fault TOMY for not accomodating for such a niche desire.

[jaydisc]

Great review. I agree with you and think the colors are excellent, vastly more realistic, and much less gaudy than the original's (same as Unicron). Colors breaking up colors are fine for a coloring book, but I prefer subtle, more realistic blending which this figure and Unicron have.

Gok, I think you've misread him. He's not going to put it back in the box BECAUSE of the twist ties. He has no desired to re-tie it. Have I understood correctly?

As for people who want to put toys back in packaging, Takara has seen fit to invest extra so that this is possible with most of their TFs, and they would not be doing it without customer demand. I, and many other adult collectors (it may be "very few" in your circles, but certainly not mine), appreciate this feature as we either rotate items in display, display items in packaging or might have a multitude of other reasons. And since we at least agree that Takara does indeed market to adults, the twist ties are indeed disappointing.

[Lint]

Gok, I think you've misread him. He's not going to put it back in the box BECAUSE of the twist ties. He has no desired to re-tie it. Have I understood correctly?

That is correct. I have limited display space so I need to cycle toys for display. If the packaging is nice and partial to it I will return toys their packaging (which is quite easy to do for most TT tfs). It's space inefficient, but it helps keep them in good nick.

But tbh toys with articulated fingers are the poorest at holding accessories. When it comes to holding accessories... ...Finger articulation is great for bare-handed poseability, but craphouse for holding stuff.

I know what you mean (e.g Hasbro MP Screamer) but this guys' hands are huge and in typical TT fashion the joints are super tight.

While the repaint has a more collector-centric focus, I don't think TOMY are excluding the child market either (as they did exclude with Masterpiece). So I wouldn't really fault TOMY for not accomodating for such a niche desire.

If this was marketed at children they should have made it a windowed box (which by default would set him in bubble form packaging ). I believe the original Cybertron Primus was sold as such. Also I don't see a big black box with a low contrast blue artwork catching the attention of kidlets. Additionally the price point here is getting beyond what a parent would find reasonable for a kids toy. If you're trying to say that exclusion of the bubble form inset makes this toy more attractive to children or has lowered the pricepoint to meet the needs for that demographic I would have to disagree.

Now that I think about it though, Creator Primus quite a heavy toy and the run of the mill bubble form packaging would probably buckle and crack to a degree under his weight. I've seen with other large toys packed in this manner. The cardboard backing he was tied was was extremely rigid and secure.

But thats a poor excuse and it still sucks.

[Sky Shadow]

I LOLed at Primus's book, sake and keyring.

[GoktimusPrime]

As for people who want to put toys back in packaging, Takara has seen fit to invest extra so that this is possible with most of their TFs, and they would not be doing it without customer demand.

There's actually a practical reason why Japanese toy companies usually design their toy packages to be intentionally easily repackaged, and it isn't really for adult collectors. A lot of children's toys are easily repackagable (here's an example).

Now that I think about it though, Creator Primus quite a heavy toy and the run of the mill bubble form packaging would probably buckle and crack to a degree under his weight. I've seen with other large toys packed in this manner. The cardboard backing he was tied was was extremely rigid and secure.

But thats a poor excuse and it still sucks.

Remember that Japan is in located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, and as a result Japan experiences frequent seismic activity - typically low intensity tremours and occasional volcanic activity... nothing hugely major most of the time, but it can be enough to knock things off shelves. So you can imagine that if you were a collector living in Japan, and you had your Transformer stored in its box, and a tremour caused it to fall from its shelf - you'd really appreciate a more rigid and secured package over something that would be more liable to buckle and crack.

You guys know I love nothing more than keeping my Transformers loose and free, but even when I was living in Japan I kept all my Transformers inside their boxes. Even Hasbro Transformers that I'd imported... not that Hasbro's packaging would've saved them that much compared to Takara's (so naturally I never stored my Hasbro TFs at any height - I put them on the bottom level of my cupboard ).