Toy Review - Titans Return Voyager Optimus Prime

[doublespy]

Optimus seems to get even less love than his pre-tool wave mate Megatron, who to me looks even more obvious that he was designed as someone else first. But personally I find he's a good stand alone figure.

Tanker mode:
Arguably the better of the two alt modes. The big blocks of Optimus/star spangled flag colors look good. There are a lot of visual elements and molded details to keep the truck on from looking bland, and I particularly like the grille bits on the side of the tank trailer. The cab desperately needs some paint though. The side windows and the smoke stacks are all left unpainted. Most of the paint budget on this figure must have been spent on the silver on the tank. The weapons can be pegged on the sides but as long as you have a sword accessory it'll always look silly.

The translucent yellow canopy cover has molded fuel cap details similar to Laser Optimus' fuel tank. The blue stripe stickers on the side are shinny and nice, but the edge towards the end of trailer is already starting peel up, as for transformation this section needs to be moved back and forth. And stickers peeling seems to be a common problem for both Optimus and Megatron in this wave. It doesn't bother me but do be careful if you want perfect stickers on your Transformer.





The wings sandwiched inside the tank have tabs on either side that I presume are meant to be offset to each other so they tab together. But somehow they are in the exact same spot, just mirrored. As a result the wings can't sit properly at the same time (it's not a mid-assembly as the wings are mirrored and have L and R respectively). I suppose shaving one of the tabs off will easily fix this, but it's still something to look out for. Also the two halves of the cab windows don't stay tabbed together all that well.




Cargo jet mode:
Many people criticize that the jet mode is a bit of a mess. Yes the back half basically has two truck cab halves just hanging off the side. In person it doesn't look that bad. The nose halves sit under the wings looking like jet engines. It would've been nice if the cab pieces are better integrated but hey it's a Voyager figure trying to be a triple changer AND accommodate the headmaster gimmick.





The rest of the jet mode looks alright. I particularly like the nose section and the air intakes. The TM sits in the same canopy but now is facing backwards. The gun can now be plugged on top of the canopy.




Transformation:
Overall it's quite simple and intuitive, except for the wings. They are attached via a multi-axis joint which is quite tricky to get right the first couple of times for different modes.

Titan Master:
This name Diac is an homage to Diaclone and the little dude has a painted silver head that looks the same as those Micro Change figures. Other than that there's nothing special to him.

'Bot mode:
It's a sharp looking robot mode with heroic proportions and Prime-esque color palette. Although he's mostly a Laser Op homage, the colors and the golden highlights also remind me of G1 Prime and Star Convoy. And the shoulder pads evoke Fire Convoy's design. So basically he's an amalgamation of various generations of Optimus'. For a triple changer that puts a lot of kibble on the back, he manages to keep the backpack quite compact.





The head sculpt is very G1-ish and is possibly the most G1 head we've gotten in a very long time. I don't particularly like the pop out antennae though. They try to emulate G1 Optimus' classic antennae but just look too detached from the head.



Articulation is your voyager class standard. The translucent sword does look impressive in his hand. And Sawback's shield looks surprisingly good on him, with the sword.





Conclusion:
I'm by no means an "Optimus collector", but I do buy most Optimus figures that have an interesting design. This figure happens to be one and despite the minor issues I quite like it, and it can replace the RtS figure to be my modern Laser Optimus.

[GoktimusPrime]

Tankor mode:

Fixed.

Titan Master:
This name Diac is an homage to Diaclone and the little dude has a painted silver head that looks the same as those Micro Change figures.

Are you thinking about the chrome heads on Microman figures? Although Micro Change was a sub-line of Microman, I don't recall any of them having entire chrome or silver heads (other than the repaints of Saram which came with MC-08 Battle Bike and MC-09 Jet Heli cassettes, neither of which were ever used for Transformers). It sounds like Diac is a homage to Diaclone in name but to Micro Change in form? Any chance of seeing photos of Diac?

Conclusion:
I'm by no means an "Optimus collector", but I do buy most Optimus figures that have an interesting design. This figure happens to be one and despite the minor issues I quite like it, and it can replace the RtS figure to be my modern Laser Optimus.

Replied here.

[doublespy]

Are you thinking about the chrome heads on Microman figures? Although Micro Change was a sub-line of Microman, I don't recall any of them having entire chrome or silver heads (other than the repaints of Saram which came with MC-08 Battle Bike and MC-09 Jet Heli cassettes, neither of which were ever used for Transformers). It sounds like Diac is a homage to Diaclone in name but to Micro Change in form? Any chance of seeing photos of Diac?


Replied here.

Forgot to take a photo of Diac but yeah I was thinking Microman. The head is painted silver instead of chrome but the homage is clearly there.

As for Laser Optimus Prime. I totally agree that it has fantastic engineering and articulation for its time. The sculpt and deco are pretty 90s though. The Black Convoy redeco back in 2000 did this mold justice IMO. The design had aged gracefully and did not look out of place in Car Robots, among what I still consider some of the best toys of the 2000s. I'm happy with this Voyager prime as my modern/CHUG version of Laser Optimus; that's not to say Laser Prime is not good enough, but that it would look aesthetically out of place among modern Transformers.

[FatalityPitt]

Optimus Prime; he who wasn't a Headmaster originally, who now has 2 new toys in 2016 which are both Titan Masters..

In all honesty though, I actually like this voyager a better than the Leader PM Optimus. PM Optimus seems rather fragile, while this seems more solid. Also, If you look at this one's robot mode from the front, it's hard to believe that it can turn into a cylincrical-shaped cargo plane. Even though it's an homage to G2 Laser Prime, the option to fold down the shoulder "towers" and push down the antennae makes a pretty definitive-looking classic G1 Prime.

[MayzaPrime]

Optimus Prime; he who wasn't a Headmaster originally, who now has 2 new toys in 2016 which are both Titan Masters..

In all honesty though, I actually like this voyager a better than the Leader PM Optimus. PM Optimus seems rather fragile, while this seems more solid. Also, If you look at this one's robot mode from the front, it's hard to believe that it can turn into a cylincrical-shaped cargo plane. Even though it's an homage to G2 Laser Prime, the option to fold down the shoulder "towers" and push down the antennae makes a pretty definitive-looking classic G1 Prime.

Same can be said for pretty much the entire TR line Prime will have 3 if you count the yet unreleased Titan Master.


I can tell you now, PM Prime is not fragile at all... i have one and I got one for my 6 yr olds birthday (it was last week) it is a pretty tough TF to withstand a very active child.

[Dimi194]

Have been waiting for ages for this guy (lol PC) and was on the fence about grabbing him from Kmart today... but so glad I did, he's amazing!

Robot mode is a big highlight; weapons are both nice and give variety while the articulation/proportions are great! The backpack is defs there by it can be moved around easily with all the joints on the wings so doesn't inhibit posing or the silhouette too much.

Tanker mode is nice, and even the plane is decent for a 3rd mode; looks better than SP/Astro's train mode, even if it is a little silly!

Overall excellent figure, is certainly one of my favourite TR figures, and eclipsed the Powermaster Prime from this line as my favourite non-movie Prime!

[shockNwave]

1. I found the tanker mode a bastard to transform --the fold up wings are tricky-- but it manages to hold together (just).
2. At first I found the plane mode sad because I approached with a serious mindset. The trick to appreciating it was to approach with a sense of humor and see it as a vehicle that looks inspired by those crazy vehicles at the end of the Lego Movie.
3. When compared to PMOP, the voyager Prime has three modes I can't heavily fault. While PMOP has it's base mode as it's great weak point when compared to the base modes of the other TR figures.