Toy Review - POTP PM Quintus Prime & Bludgeon

[FatalityPitt]

Quintus Prime w/ Bludgeon shell
Series - Generations
Sub-line - Power of the Primes
Size/class - Prime Master
New/remould/redeco - New, but has the same structure and engineering as other single-carded Prime Masters
Wave - 3
Released here - July/August 2018
Approximate Retail Price - AU$8-10 (US$5)
Approximate Size - 6.5cm
Allegiance - Decepticon
Alt-mode - Power Unit w/ shell/weapon
Main Features/Gimmicks - Attach to larger toys
Main Colours - Orange, purple, gold
Main Accessories - Pretender armour, kanabo (Japanese club-like weapon)

[FatalityPitt]

So yeah, I picked-up the wave 3 Prime Masters over the weekend, and I decided to crack open Quintus Prime. Quintus Prime (A.K.A. Bludgeon) was the one I was most excited to get, and is the first and only Prime Master I’ve taken out of package… So this was a new experience to me!… Yeah, I’m one of those weirdos who keeps most of his collection MOC/MISB... Anyway, enough about me.

My impressions: The first thing I handled after ripping open the package was the Pretender shell (or the “Bludgeon decoy armour”). It’s VERY NICE! It’s much smaller than the original toy, but I like it. Somehow this scale seems appropriate, and it’s not too obtrusive when displayed on my desk. There’s a lot of paint colour on this thing, way more than the average single-carded Titan Master. I was wondering if the head was a separate piece from the rest of the shell, and it isn’t. The front half of the shell is sculpted from orange plastic, the helmet is painted purple, and the on top of the purple; the skull face is painted white. So there are two layers of paint on the head alone! Besides the purple and white paint, there are also gold and gray paint apps, and the Decepticon insignia looks like it might be metallic purple. Whoever came up with this paint scheme must like Bludgeon! They were generous with the paint apps.

As for the Quintus Prime (inner robot). There’s hardly any paint on him (most of paint budget got spent on the shell), but I’m not bothered since I’ll be keeping him inside his armour. I just wish they sculpted his face better. I can make out a visor and a mouth if I squint really hard, but from a distance, he looks like this guy.

Unlike G1 Bludgeon, Quintus doesn’t turn into a tank (clearly); but this toy compensates for the lack of a vehicle mode with a weapon mode that can be wielded by a larger figure – It’s like a cross breed between a Pretender and Target Master. Frankly, the gun mode as suggested by the instruction sheet looks silly. I think the weapon mode looks better as a club or cane-like weapon.

Overall, I like this a lot. It’s small and cheap but it’s great value in terms of paint, sculpting detail, and playability. It captures the look and feel of G1 Bludgeon really well.

[GoktimusPrime]

I love how Bludgeon actually transforms into a bludgeoning weapon. But in all honesty, once you've seen one Prime Master you've seen them all. I'm happy to collect them all but it's not something I'd recommend unless you just want to complete the set (in which case you don't need any convincing ).