Toy Review - RtS G2 Optimus Prime

[GoktimusPrime]

yeah, I've seen this toy in stores plenty of times and I keep passing it up - even at $23 at Kmart.

Anyway, hopefully this Sunday I'll be able to make a comparison between Vector Prime's RtS G2 OP and my G2 Laser OP and see how well this toy stacks up against the 16 year old original figure.

[Vector Prime]

Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime

Anyway, hopefully this Sunday I'll be able to make a comparison between Vector Prime's RtS G2 OP and my G2 Laser OP and see how well this toy stacks up against the 16 year old original figure.

I won't be bringing it since I no longer have it mate (as mentioned above)

[GoktimusPrime]

Well I won't be lugging along my Laser Prime then. Unless someone else attending has a loose RTS Prime they wanna bring?

[GoktimusPrime]

I picked this toy up today on sale, and I have to say that I was really pleasantly surprised. From what I've been hearing from people and judging from pictures and looking at the toy MOSC in stores, I thought this toy would royally suck, but I find it has far exceeded my expectations!

As I mentioned much earlier on this thread, the idea of "Classicsverse" is to use contemporary toy engineering to improve upon older toys, like G1. With most G1-based Classicsverse figures, they have improved on the old toys. With the Beast Wars based ones, they haven't (IMHO). G2 Laser Optimus Prime though was a masterpiece of an action figure by 1995 standards... and I gotta say that I wasn't sure if RtS could do it justice, but I find that it has in several ways.

Pros:

+ Very nice articulation. The wrist can bend forward so that he can hold his sword aloft with the tip of the blade pointing up like He-Man. He can do a lot of impressive poses.

+ Good playability. Unlike Perceptor and Jazz, this toy doesn't come apart in the middle of fast-action toy play. The joints move smoothly and easily, something which has been standard in Transformers since Beast Wars, but with recent engineering flaws, this makes the toy stand out.

+ Complex transformation. I thought this toy would transform in a similar way as G2 Laser Prime - and it kinda does, only with greater complexity. Which is impressive considering that it's a smaller and cheaper toy (mind you, a lot of G2 Laser Prime's cost is taken up by the trailer/battle station). But yeah, not having an electronic block means they have more creative freedom... the way the truck windows actually becomes the chest windows was a surprisingly clever touch I thought (whereas on the original toy the chest windows are very obviously fake).

+ I like the way the sword transforms into a hitch for the cab mode. On the original toy it just stows underneath like Drift's sword, but with RtS Prime the sword is part of the alt mode. "What's so good about that?" Well...

That's right! RtS Optimus Prime's sword allows him to hook up with G2 Laser Prime's trailer!! That's cool! And it fits in pretty tight too, as you can see in that last pic.

+ Doesn't have "Optimus Prime" written all over him in vehicle mode. Let's face it, that was always a silly feature on the original toy.

Cons:
- No gun.
- The doors just hang off the arms like they have no place to go and kinda get in the way.
- The stripes on the top of his head light pipe real well, but the eyes don't!

Other comments:
* I'm not a huge fan of the head sculpt. There's nothing wrong with it - just personal preference.
* Truck mode has moofie-inspired chopper flames. I don't like nor dislike this over the original vehicle cab colours.
* Sword's a bit tricky to place into the hands

Here are some comparison pics between the original and RtS figures:




Overall I think this toy is pretty decent, especially for a Deluxe price point. Even better if you can get it on sale. Sure, Laser Optimus Prime comes with more accessories and a trailer battle platform as well as electronic gimmick, but that toy cost about $100 retail iirc (it was certainly the most expensive toy in '95). So putting it in context of the relative price difference, I think RtS Optimus Prime offers comparable value for money.

I'd recommend this toy -- even moreso if you can find it on sale of course.

[Vector Prime]

Glad to hear you like it Gok... I still can't bring myself to like this figure in the slightest

[gekisou]

Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime

Sure, Laser Optimus Prime comes with more accessories and a trailer battle platform as well as electronic gimmick, but that toy cost about $100 retail iirc (it was certainly the most expensive toy in '95).

Wow! Really?! When I got in 1999, I was lucky enough to get him for like 20 bucks. Still my favourite TF toy ever, hands down.

It is also the reason I want the RtS version of Laser Prime and its nice to see one positive-ish review over all the other negative ones.

[GoktimusPrime]

Yeah well in 1999 the toy would've been marked down to clear dead stock. After all, import collectable stores in Sydney marked down reissue God Ginrai to $20 a pop too after they'd been shelf-warming too long. But discount price =/= retail price. Actually, I think I got my G2 Laser Prime for pretty cheap too... found it at Toyworld in 1998 for $20 too... but I vaguely remember seeing it at full retail for about a hundred or so in 1995 (again, this is only IIRC... which I probably can't ). I had 2 Laser Primes at one stage - one I bought on sale... another one I'm sure I paid full retail for. Gah... too long ago! XD

Originally Posted by Vector Prime

Let me just start off by saying that I wasn't impressed with the way this guy looked from the initial time I saw the first pics of him.

Aside from the head, I don't mind the look of this guy. He's a pretty good homage to the original toy which is what the "Classicsverse" line is meant to be about. And my lack of liking for the head is purely a subjective thing - there's nothing technically wrong with it, except maybe the poor light piping in the eyes, but RtS Jazz's eye light piping is also really poor too. In fact, a lot of RtSes don't light pipe well.

Originally Posted by Vector Prime

He may be an okay homage to the original G2 version, but in this era, this guy just stinks.

I think he's a good upgrade of the original toy. He's far more articulate which is impressive considering that it's a substantially smaller figure. The shoulder articulation is a bit constricted by the truck kibble - but they put that there to make to toy look like the original Laser Prime, so I can forgive it. And even then, I can still freely swing his arms about with the shoulders popping out like Perceptor's or having his chest fly up like Jazz.

Originally Posted by Vector Prime

His transformation is simplistic and a tad bit fiddly but the overall look of this guy is where he suffers the most - get him if you love Hasbro grey since there's an abundance of it.

The transformation is rather fiddly, but I found it to be a lot more complex than I was expecting. I thought it would transform like the original toy, but it's significantly more complex than that. I like the way the fuel tanks tuck away and the tyres actually swing up and tuck in. Gives the robot a more streamlined look compared to the original.

The Hasbro grey looks better than I was expecting... but then again, the original toy has an abundance of Hasbro grey too.

Originally Posted by Vector Prime

He lacks paint apps in plenty of spots and even the pic on the cardback has been doctored up - it shows red paint on his knee caps whereas on the actual toy, it's left as black plastic....cheap looking black plastic.

I did notice that, but it doesn't bother me that much. It wouldn't surprise me if reprolabel made a sticker set to make this toy look more like the original figure.

Originally Posted by Vector Prime

The only thing cool about this guy is his sword (and that's only because I love sword-wielding bots).

The fact that the sword also allows the toy to interact with the original toy's trailer is a really cool feature. And that's probably why they sacrificed the red paint on the kneecaps - cos the sword has multiple parts and a moving joint to allow it transform from a sword to a truck cab hitch. I like this idea cos it not only incorporates the sword as part of the alt mode instead of just having it in storage like on the original (or like on Drift), it actually contributes to the toy's play value!

[kup]

I also had a bad opinion of this toy and bought it on a whim when it was on sale. I am also pleasantly surprised, it is a lot better than I expected although it is not as good as other figures in it's line.

So only if cheap.

BTW: What's with this loose Perceptor and Jazz complaints? Perceptor can be tricky but his backpack does lock in place if you transform him properly and Jazz is a pretty solid figure.

[GoktimusPrime]

Originally Posted by kup

BTW: What's with this loose Perceptor and Jazz complaints? Perceptor can be tricky but his backpack does lock in place if you transform him properly and Jazz is a pretty solid figure.

My Perceptor's shoulders don't lock in tightly. I mean, they lock in tight enough for display and light handling, but I start actually playing with the toy then his shoulders can be easily dislodged if I'm not careful. Not as easily as Deluxe Movie Brawl - but still not tight enough for my liking. And Jazz's chest doesn't lock down on my toy either. So when I play with the toy the chest flies up (and of course the head ducks down thanks to the automorph gimmick). Try making your Perceptor and Jazz fight each other and see if the shoulders and chest don't displace.

[SkyWarp91]

The vehicle mode is pretty cool, nothing jaw-dropping but cool nonetheless.

The robot mode looks nice as well, I like how it's a re-imagining of the G2 toy with a hint of movie influences. The transformation was more complex then expected but nothing too difficult. A pretty good toy, but nothing memorable about it. 7/10