Beast Wars Transmetal Optimus Primal

Who's up for another Beast Wars review? I know I am!

With the destruction of the Planet Buster, a quantum surge hits prehistoric Earth, knocking the remaining orbiting stasis pods launched by the Axalon prior to crash landing out of orbit and frying several of them, causing at least two's DNA scanners to malfunction and scan and duplicate two animals' DNA into a single beast form. (the Fuzors) The original combatants of the Beast Wars that weren't shielded at the time the surge hit got turned into Transmetals, plus Rampage and Depth Charge. Optimus Primal was destroyed when the transwarp cell of a modified stasis pod was detonated within the Planet Buster. (he was piloting it, and intending to bail at the last minute, but Megatron had other plans) After the quantum surge, the Maximals discover a stasis pod containing a blank protoform, (one without a spark) and Rhinox goes on an out-of-body experience to retrieve Primal's spark before it joins the Matrix...just as the Predacons choose that time to attack. Luckily, the process is completed and Optimus is restored in a flashy new Transmetal body. (and they gain a new comrade in the process in Silverbolt) So now that I've gotten that out of the way, let's get on to the review.



Optimus Primal's alternate mode is now a mechanical silver-back gorilla in metallic dark maroon and brownish grey. With a ton of blue chrome on his head, chest, and feet. There's also some red chrome detailing his shoulders, silver in his teeth, and magenta for his eyes. At this point in the review, I'll point out that I got this guy second-hand, so the scuffs in the chrome on his chest are not normally there out of the box. However, unlike Transmetal Rattrap or Beast Machines Ultra Jetstorm, his chrome is perfectly fine otherwise and isn't flaky. (I knew they were flaky when I bought them) In case you forget who this is, his name is stamped on his right pectoral. (the Metals version has Cybertron and the Maximal symbol instead) As I've mentioned before, the mileage for chrome on individual figures may vary, and smashing it around doesn't help. He has a gun that can shoot missiles through some sort of combination of spring and pressure. There's a spring in there, but there's no trigger so the missile has to be pushed out from the back. The missiles also function as clubs that he can hold or store on his back. Those weren't included when I bought this, as the previous owner couldn't find them, but I don't really care. And as this is a Transmetal toy, there's a third mode to cover of sorts.



The gun flips up on the side of his leg for a thruster and his robot lower legs partially unfold and connect together to make a gorilla surfing on a hover-board! There's even a pair of wheels under there to allow him to roll! However, smooth surfaces don't provide enough friction for it to do anything other than skid, and his balance like this is...precarious at best. Now for the robot mode.



Robot mode exposes some dull orange on his chest and face, and the pseudo-organic fur detail shows up as is to be expected. A clever trick of the transformation has the forearms open to swing around the beast and robot fists for the appropriate mode. Another is how the back piece always covers the other mode's chest. And all his weapons can remain stored throughout the transformation. He's got about 20 points of articulation, with ratcheting shoulders and hips, though his ankles are kind of loose. And one more gimmick to this guy is the energon chip/rub symbol on his back, though it's right-side-up when in beast mode. Speaking of the back, I love how its orientation almost seems to change what the details on it are for. In beast mode, he looks to have massive shoulder blades with vents to keep the machinery inside cool when using those powerful arms. In robot mode, it's now like a jet pack to allow him to fly in robot mode. I don't think this was ever done in the show, but a kid could use their imagination for such a thing. But now that we mention imagining things that the back can do...



Someone in Mainframe imagined that Optimus could have his back flipped out in front of him to use as a gun platform, with the clubs serving as the barrels. You're technically not supposed to do this, as it is just floating there not being secured or held in any way, but it can be done. Of course, this would look more impressive if I actually had the clubs, but I don't.

So is Transmetal Optimus worthwhile? For $30 - $35, absolutely. He's much better than the bigger Optimal Optimus toy that came out near the end of the Transmetals line's run, and a pretty solid toy. Don't care for a surfing gorilla? Not a problem, it's quite easy to just ignore its existence and still enjoy two very neat modes. But, if you can score the Metals Vs. pack with him and Megatron, DO IT. It may be one of the cheapest options for getting both of them, and for the latter not ending in tears. But if you don't care for Beast Wars or Transmetals figures at all...he's not going to change your opinion. And that's just...Prime.

it was rather creative for Hasbro to create a Transformer of this nature.

Let's take a figure that has a torso, a head, 2 arms and 2 legs.
Now let's make it transform into something with a torso, a head, 2 arms and 2 legs.

I got this figure, complete 100% and I do think he pretty good looking and the best of Optimus Primal's bodies and just for this thread, a pic of Primal weapons attached to his back doing the gun thing: