United UN-22 Laser Optimus Prime

Generation 2. Starting in 1993, and ending in 1995, this line mostly featured repaints of Generation 1 toys with the odd new accessory at its start. Soon though, new toys started coming out. And of course, Optimus Prime and Megatron got new ones. An awesome oil tanker truck who would much later be repainted/slightly retooled (with electronics gutted) into the awesomely bad ass Robots in Disguise Scourge, and...a giant green tank. Fast forward to 2010, Hasbro releases Generations and Reveal the Shield. Naturally, Optimus Prime got toys in both lines. One based on his War for Cybertron appearance, and one based on his G2 Laser toy though featuring the flame patterns of his movie counterpart. Later, TakaraTomy released their United line, and we come to our review subject today: United UN-22 Laser Optimus Prime. Possibly the best version of this mold...outside of the TFCC Subscription Service's Scourge. Just like the original toy now that I think about it.



Optimus Prime's vehicle mode is, of course, a truck. Apparently a racing truck this time. The traditional red, silver, blue, and translucent blue are present, but he features a lot of black as he is based on the G2 toy. Metallic blue paint attempts to blend the side window panels with the translucent blue windshield. Attempts to, at least... There's also Autobot symbols on the doors instead of a rub symbol on the roof. Just the typical G1 Autobot ones rather than G2 Autobot symbols, but it's not a big deal. The nice part about this toy's deco is that the cab itself is black, matching the parts in front and behind it instead of the dark blue of the Hasbro version that makes it look like it came off of a completely different truck. The flame patterns are still present on the nose, and the red paint for these actually stands out reasonably well against the red plastic on the front half of the nose.

...Wow. Complimenting paint standing out from the same color plastic. That's a first... Um, how about a size comparison with Reveal the Shield Jazz?



Slightly longer than Jazz. Well, they're both Deluxe figures, so something like this is kind of to be expected... He's got a hitch if you want to give him a trailer, like, say, the Maketoy's Battle Tanker. All six wheels also roll very well...if the toolbox bits covering his hands don't get in the way. That's a case-by-case thing, though. It depends on how well the piece they're attached to is pinned in to the back of the cab, and if it can fold down perfectly. Mine sits up just slightly, so it sometimes scrapes against the wheels just behind it.



Transformation is sort of like the original G2 toy in a way, but with some new twists added. The biggest change is that the truck cab actually does form the robot's chest rather than being 'false' detail. Speaking of details... Remember those side window panels? They fold in for transformation...revealing a molded in Matrix of Leadership half behind each one. That is really cool. Would have been nice if they were painted, but staring into the chest in the light is enough to see it at least. It's this detail that makes me suspect that this toy's deco is primarily based on the G2 Laser Optimus Prime reissue that featured Matrix of Leadership sticker detail on the chest windows instead of his name with the original, with movie-inspired flames added. This guy has insane light-piping. Not just the eyes, but in his forehead and in his upper arms. It serves no other purpose but looking cool, and it performs that purpose most admirably.

Optimus has just one accessory, and that's his sword. This puppy stores between his legs, serving to help hold the legs together, and is disguised as the hitch. The grip folds out, the hitch pops up and slides down the length of the blade before finally folding over the grip to make the hand guard and locking the grip in place. As can be seen, the grip is plenty long enough for him to hold in two hands. Though there's a design flaw/common issue with the toy: the holes in his hands are just slightly too small for a 5mm weapon, and so they stress inside the palms. The hinges the hands are attached to can also show stress marks due to how tiny they are. Thankfully, so far this is merely limited to aesthetics, and there's been no real reports of these parts breaking. Mine haven't shown any signs of the stress marks worsening, and I've put the sword into his hands plenty of times. Some boiling water or a hot blow drier ought to remove the stress marks if you absolutely can't stand them being there. Don't want to use the sword right now? The toolbox bits that covered the hands in vehicle mode fold and lock together to make a scabbard of sorts for the sword to loosely rest in. And by loose, I mean it doesn't actually tab in there anywhere and is free to wiggle around. Though if you get it in there far enough, it won't fall out easily. Nice touch!

Here's the fun part: articulation. This guy has it in SPADES. 24 points throughout. He's got a waist, though it's extremely limited because of the back of the cab bumped up directly behind it. The wrists though are perfect for a sword-wielder. They connect to the arm via a ball joint, and then a hinge to the hand to let it tilt up and down. The ankles have a swivel and ball joint thing going on, but the inside of the sockets on his feet are cut to allow VERY wide stances comfortably. On the down side, the knees are quite limited by the junk to either side of them, and won't bend further than about 45 - 50 degrees at best. Thankfully, the ankles mitigate this somewhat. Having big heels also works to this guy's favor.

And he needs all the favors he can get. As now, we come to robot mode size comparison with Jazz. This is gonna be painful...



W-what the -?! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN THE SHOT, CAR CRASH?! ...Oh, right. I put you there and threatened to encircle you with a bunch of other figures staring right at you if you didn't comply. Actually, this helps show off how short this figure is. Jazz is about average for his time, and the Causality cars are all shorter than a current Deluxe yet bigger than a Scout. Optimus is not much bigger than Car Crash, a little shorter than a current Deluxe, and definitely shorter than Jazz. But the proportions are very nice and athletic, so alone he doesn't feel that short. This version features a slight change from the Hasbro version in that the tab on his right shoulder is shorter, but wider, so it doesn't interfere with the shoulder articulation as much. I have no idea if TFCC SS Scourge uses this change or not, but it's likely. It's also likely that Botcon 2012 SG Ultra Magnus and SG Optimus also feature this change. It's hard to be evil when your shoulder is hindered.

I highly recommend this figure. He has an awesome robot mode capable of some very dynamic poses and a cool truck mode that does its best to hide the fact that it turns into a robot. And hey! Weapon integration and storage! The United version is a bit expensive at nearly $40, but given how it's been four years since this toy was on shelves in Hasbro's markets, and the alternatives being two expensive convention exclusives and an expensive subscription service, you're probably not going to get the RTS version for all that much cheaper on the secondary market thanks to the Maketoy Battle Tanker set being available. It's worth getting at least one version of this mold if you're into the Generations figures. This guy, or Scourge.

Detective Barricade wrote:This puppy stores between his legs, serving to help hold the legs together, and is disguised as the hitch. The grip folds out, the hitch pops up and slides down the length of the blade before finally folding over the grip to make the hand guard and locking the grip in place. As can be seen, the grip is plenty long enough for him to hold in two hands.....the knees are quite limited by the junk to either side of them.....

That's sounds so dirty.

I don't like this mold, and I love OP toys. Maybe had I gotten the United version, the Hasbro paint is REALLY dumb and I don't know why they cheaped out on the side windows. He just looks very spindly and bobble-headed. His saving grace, as you mentioned, is the articulation and the sword. Great review though! I'm going to dig out my OP and play with it since reading it. Maybe I'll change my mind on him.  Mine holds his sword just fine however, unlike my Generations Grimlock.

Ramjet wrote:

I'm going to dig out my OP and play with it.  Mine holds his sword just fine however, unlike my Generations Grimlock.

That sounds so dirty

GREAT REVIEW!!!

I love the scourge repaint.......I had it once and then sold it..........whyyyyyyyyyy o whyyyyyyy   

I still got one. Missing a few discs but all its one of my favorite figures.

@Ramjet - I don't see it so much dirty as painful. The tip of the sword pokes into his ass. And Hasbro doesn't always have the greatest track record on matching paint to translucent plastic very well.

I have RiD Scourge. Him, his trailer, and his gun. That's it. Not even the Sword of Fury...

He looks pretty good with the MakeToys Battle Tanker, but as a stand-a-lone figure...it just doesn't fit with my collection. Nice review, DB!

I'm gonna try to make a review on RID Scourge. He's such a badass figure and he deserves a spot here on the Lair. I better start by getting him dusted off.
 

sounds like a good idea  

I got RID Scourge, rather the takara version and he ranks as one of my favs, simple transformation yet highly effective and just for the record, mine is complete 100%, trailer, guns, missiles and Sword of Fury! Maybe we should have a spotlight section to the lair, for figures we deem awesome enough to appear in it? 

I think a SPOTLIGHT section is a great idea!!
I'll get to work on that

^^^ someone needs to curate a Masterpiece section (like our 3rd party area). I might get to work on that once my hand heals, right now it's a bitch just typing shit out.
 

I know how hard it is to type one handed
 

Typing with one hand can be tricky, but do watch the spelling!

Ravage wrote:I love the scourge repaint.......I had it once and then sold it..........whyyyyyyyyyy o whyyyyyyy   

Are you guys talking about the RID or did they recolor this mold as Scourge as well?

...ahhh, is he was as a Collector's Club exclusive.

the RID repaint