TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

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Dinobot365's review of: War Within Optimus Prime

Name: Optimus Prime
Allegiance: Autobot
Function: Autobot Leader
Unique Feature: Inherited Matrix from the late Sentinel Prime

Gravitas and the members of the Chamber of the Ancients have spoken. It has been determined that the fate of the Autobots will rest upon the shoulders of an archivist named Optronix. Although Optronix is initially reluctant to accept this great responsibility, he begins to understand the devastating risks at stake for the entire Transformers race.

Optronix is given the leadership name of Optimus Prime once the power of the Matrix is bestowed onto him. It is a sign that he must lead the Autobots away from Cybertron, not only to escape the war with the Decepticons, but also to escape the self-destructive war that exists within them. After a colossal battle with Megatron that spans the boundaries of both time and space, Optimus discovers the power within himself to step up and provide the leadership his race needs in their most desperate hour.

This incarnation of Optimus Prime appeared in “Transformers: the War Within” by the now defunct Canadian comic book company known as Dreamwave. The comic series was written by Simon Furman and penciled by Don Figueroa. Don Figueroa also designed Cybertronian modes for many Generation 1 characters exclusively for War Within. When he did so, he made it possible for the designs to actually transform with no cheating involved just in case toys were made. They are finally being made, being marketed under the Transformers Titanium 6 Inch series and are engineered by Galoob, a division of Hasbro.

Vehicle Mode:

In vehicle mode, Optimus Prime is a Cybertronian truck. The color scheme is instantly recognizable as Optimus Prime. He is mainly red in the front and dark blue in the back. He has silver exhaust pipes attached to his poorly disguised, whitish arms. At the end of his arms, you can see his blue hands sticking out a little. This fits in with the War Within aesthetic of having alternate modes that are designed with functionality in mind, not disguise. His windshield is a light blue. He has two large black wheels toward the front (one on each side) and four smaller wheels in the back (two on each side) that are the same color as the front wheels. Upon closer inspection, you can make out the word “Cybertron” written on each tire twice. Also, his tires spin freely. Overall, the vehicle mode is pretty stable.

Optimus’s gun, which is a medium shade of silver, can be slid into a slot a few centimeters behind his windshield. If you look at the gun, you can see that Don Figueroa’s signature (“Don”) is cleverly made to look like a design on its midsection. It looks almost exactly like Optimus Prime’s gun from Generation One, with the most noticeable difference of being silver instead of black.

Optimus also comes with a stand that is the same shade of grey as his gun. It has a removable nametag that has an Autobot symbol and Optimus Prime’s name on it.

Robot Mode:

Optimus looks almost exactly as Don Figueroa drew him in the comic. His head sculpt is particularly reminiscent of Don’s artwork. Optimus’s color scheme of red, blue, and silver carries over to this mode, but white shows up now on his thighs. He has seventeen points of articulation in this mode. Optimus’s gun can be held in either hand or stored on his back by inserting it into the slot where it is in vehicle mode.

He holds together pretty well, considering his shoulder pads, forearms, chest, torso, and lower legs are die-cast metal. The metal is a Zinc/Aluminum/Magnesium/Copper alloy known as ZAMAC. Mine has a few very tiny paint chips on the metal parts that were there when I took Optimus out of the box. He can hold quite a few poses, but not quite as many as he would be able to if he was all plastic. However, his arms sometimes become disconnected from the wheels. The die-cast also makes him pretty fragile, so I would not recommend fiddling with him very much.

Marks out of ten for the following:

Transformation: 6 – Transforming Optimus isn’t too hard, but you may need the instructions the first time to figure out how his arms go.
Durability: 5 – The combination of die-cast and plastic makes Optimus pretty fragile.
Fun: 9 – I really like War Within Optimus Prime, and this figure is a wonderful representation of him. Also, he has quite a bit of articulation, so he can strike some pretty good poses.
Price: 9 – Opitmus’s retail price is $14.99, and you get a figure that is a little bigger than many deluxes and contains a lot of die-cast metal.
Overall: 8 – Even though Optimus Prime is a little fragile, he is lots of fun and makes a great display piece.