I picked up this piece yesterday at IMAGE ANIME in NYC yesterday. The shop owner (Wing) even covered for me as I was illegal parked to rush in to pick up this figure. They are awesome.

This will be a quick review to get us going.

The package is quite a throwback to the Beast Wars packaging with a giant reptilian eye in the background.



Primal is packaged in Bipedal Beast mode. The first thing that will hit you is the amazing treatment (Hydrographic Transfer) that has been applied to the plastic to simulate the fur on this figure. To the touch it is extremely smooth feeling plastic, but visually it gives an impression that the plastic has been hand painted even though it has not. The plastic reflects the light in a very convincing fashion.





From the front I was amazed with Primal. There are some caveats though. The shoulder-pads do not fully collapse against the upper arm (this is due to how the two halves of the shoulderpad are connected, and clearance issues with the arm itself. The rear legs in Bipedal mode seem, but some sacrifices were for the robot mode.

The build quality of Primal is A++. The soft rachets are competent, and just sturdy enough, and he holds positions like a champ.

When posing Primal in beast mode, you will break the sculpt at almost every opportunity, but it seems Takara were slavish to the original Primal show model. The elbow mold breaks at the front hinge which on Modern MPs would have been "filled" as the elbows bend, but Takara kept Primal close to the show so the elbows bends just like a 1997 toy would. Personally I wished they had made the effort to update things here by I digress.






Poseability in Bipedal and Quadruped mode are top notch. Primal can angle his Gorilla head accurately to look forward in "hunched over" Quadruped mode.

Transformation is both VERY interesting and a little bit challenging, and I had to use the instructions because it is not clear on where to start untabbing Primal to start the transformation. Takara included the most subtle of "fingernail" tabs, but you have to know where to look. They are there, and they are greatly needed to work with the ultra smooth paneling on Primal.

I particularly liked his leg transformation and the chest collapse head reveal. The clearance on the head reveal leaves no margin of error, so always make sure his head antenea (which are poseable) are rotated forward before attempting transformation.

The robot mode is absolutely stunning, and I got a VERY Perfect Effect "Warden" vibe from him when he is fully transformed. It feels as if over 90% of Primal has been painted due to the plastic treatment for his fur. It really is quite special in hand. Poseablility in robot mode is top notch, benefitting from the same soft ratcheting from beast mode. Head is on a dual swivel and is competent.



Adding two LR44 or SR44 batteries to the "Beast mode" head ball joint (thats where they are hidden and its really neat) allows Primals Eyes to light up when the robot mode head is depressed.





Robot mode features all of the goodies we have come to expect from Primal. Pop up Wrist blasters, Dual wielded swords (paint is top notch on these) that can be stored on his back in robot mode and over the shoulder positionable (rotation only) shoulder cannons

He is armed to the teeth.




Overall Optimus Primal has quickly become one of the favorite figures in my collection, and yes it has only been one day, but I have not been able to put him down. He is so fun to fiddle with and pose.


I have tried any of the five alternate faces yet, but there is a gallery on the front page today that shows them off.

 

Great job covering the basic questions a lot of people have had. I'm wondering if people will come up with some creative mods to handle the shoulderpads in beast mode.

In any case, I have to call out one of my favorite aspects of the toy- the light up eyes. I don't really care about the feature itself, but am stunned at how seamlessly it was integrated. Normally electronics in a transformer means there will be compromises in aesthetics or poseability, however the system here is beautifully integrated solely into the swiveling piece that his beast and robot mode heads are attached to- it's incredibly elegant and entirely self-contained, and no sacrifices had to be made for its integration. Beautiful design work right there.

 

Yes the light up feature is pretty amazing.

I am surprised there is not a Maximal symbol on him. Their is a space on the chest, but... Feels like 3rd party in that respect. No sticker included in the packaging.

 

Thank you so much for doing this. I am so crazy excited to receive mine, it looks incredible!

 

If it's show accurate, he probably has super teeny tiny ones on his head or somewhere else hard to notice.

Come to think of it... did Primal have insignias anywhere on him? Rhinox and Cheetor had them on their heads, and Rattrap had them on his arms.

 

None on the Masterpiece figure that I can see.

You are welcome.

 

I... actually don't think so. I don't think all the Maximal's had the insignia. I also can't recall dinobot or airrazor having one either.

 

For how long those the light Stay on? I read 3 seconds. Is that correct?

 

From the reviews I watched. 3 seconds seem right. It's not long.

 

Thats sad   wish it was without a timer

 

It doesn't bother me, I was just showing the details for those it seems to be bothering.

Yeah I was just thinking the same. Once click for a delayed fade, and maybe two clicks for a persistent "on" until an off click.

10 Seconds. Its a pretty good duration.

 

Beautiful looking figure.


Thanks for the pics man.

 

Wow 10 secs thats better Then 3

 

I like what they've done with the bot mode eyes.

They look painted but still allow the LED to shine through nicely.

 

I found one Caveat:



If the head is turned, one eye will be much brighter than the other.

 

Not liking how the red knee parts stick out so much. Particularly when his knees are bent. Do they fold down or not?

 

No they do not. It's more part of his lower thigh than his knee. The actual knee is double jointed.

 

its pretty cool.

I think im set with the 10th set I have.

 

Does it help if you find out that it's show accurate?


Because it totally is.