First look at Titans Return Powermaster Optimus

[Verno]

He could still be a Powermaster. The power just comes from the mind.

[BigTransformerTrev]

He could still be a Powermaster. The power just comes from the mind.

Oh great - he's going to be the fricken John Edward of Transformers

[Chevron Action Flash]

Its 2015 and the articulation on the head robot doesnt look any better than the Headmasters of the 80s. Annoying. I love the original POWERMASTER OPTIMUS yet I need to see a review of this first before deciding on whether he's shelf-space worthy.

[Lord_Zed]

Sculpt looks great, but being based on CW Magnus means it will have the same shortcomings preventing it from being as good as it could have been.

Its 2015 and the articulation on the head robot doesnt look any better than the Headmasters of the 80s. Annoying. I love the original POWERMASTER OPTIMUS yet I need to see a review of this first before deciding on whether he's shelf-space worthy.

That's because articulation peaked around 2010 and is now in decline. As cool as this guys looks, he's got what 6 extra point of articulation over the original?

[GoktimusPrime]

Given they call him Powermaster (and yes I understand why), they should have actually made him a Powermaster :P

I haven't looked, but is he ACTUALLY still called Powermaster Prime?

Remember that the original G1 Powermaster Optimus Prime was originally meant to have a transformable head, but it was abandoned due to budgetary constraints. As you can see, Roller was meant to transform into a robot, then into the head for Super Optimus Prime. This never came to be, and in the end we just got a non-transformable solid head, however, Powermaster Optimus Prime's trailer can store the Super robot's head! This is actually a vestigial feature from the abandoned 'headmaster' gimmick. Go on... try it!

Pretty neat, huh?

So the 'headmaster' gimmick is actually a nod (heh) to Powermaster Optimus Prime's original head-gimmick concept. This is what Ono Koujin originally wanted for PM Prime/Super Ginrai, but was pipped at the post because the budget wouldn't allow for it. Hasbro's budget was even smaller than Takara's, hence why PM Prime is basically a cheaper version of the Ginrai toy. Godbomber (and thus God Ginrai) was originally meant to be a more complex toy too, but again budgetary constraints meant that this prototype was never mass produced and the final product was just a shadow of what could have been.

[MayzaPrime]

Oh great - he's going to be the fricken John Edward of Transformers

I don't think Optimus will every be nominated for 'The Biggest Douche in the Universe' award

[Lord_Zed]

While the Headmaster gimmick would have been cool on the original Powermaster Prime, I'm kinda glad he didn't end up with those Micky Mouse wheel ears.

Remember that the original

So the 'headmaster' gimmick is actually a nod (heh) to Powermaster Optimus Prime's original head-gimmick concept. This is what Ono Koujin originally wanted for PM Prime/Super Ginrai, but was pipped at the post because the budget wouldn't allow for it. Hasbro's budget was even smaller than Takara's, hence why PM Prime is basically a cheaper version of the Ginrai toy. Godbomber (and thus God Ginrai) was originally meant to be a more complex toy too, but again budgetary constraints meant that this prototype was never mass produced and the final product was just a shadow of what could have been.

Ah budgetary constraints always keeping Hasbro from greatness.

[GoktimusPrime]

This is where I store my Powermaster Optimus Prime's head. As you can see, it's a really small space, and it'd be a far more snug fit if this head had wheels protruding from it and could fold out into a Roller buggy mode. I think that this space was designed to be just big enough to hold Roller, and not much else. It doesn't seem to be big enough to hold any of the carded 1988 Autobots (e.g. Throttlebots, Triggerbots etc.). The space doesn't do anything for the robot or base mode; it seems to serve no other purpose other than to hold Roller. And of course, it even has a ramp for Roller to roll up and down from.

[MayzaPrime]

I had no idea that the trailer had a ramp... I knew about the head storage, but not the ramp.

[Deonasis]

It was a brilliant and ambitious concept but i am happy Roller-head was dropped from the final version as the manufacturing was not at a level to somewhat hide the wheels and make it look any good.

On the other hand a Roller that was also a good looking Optimus head AND could be driven around base mode by Ginrai would have been the bees knees.