Alright, one I wasn't expecting to do (because I didn't expect to like him enough to spend a great deal of time with.) Also surprised no one else has a pictorial up, but maybe I'm the only one who likes him enough.  

His vehicle mode is a quite cute looking little red truck. The red plastic in person is a nice deep colour, not the washed out look we've got going on in these pictures.




Transformation is not too complex, but involved. It's also not the same method as the deluxe and FE voyager, which is nice. Begin by splitting the legs and folding the feet down from the cavity (they form the trailer hitch).



Follow this up by untabbing the cab walls, then folding the entire mechanism (up to the wheels) back on it's hinge. Do this for both sides.




Fold the panels up on their balljoints, positioning them in a way which looks nice to you. Sadly, we can't minimise the cape-effect this gives him, due to the positioning of the joints at the bottom of the 'cape'.





^^^ See that grill? Flip it.



Untab the roof of the cab from the windows, then split it. This may require some messing - mine's a bit tight. Split the arms too, they form the hood.





Reposition the mechanisms to the side of the windows, on their hinges. Then, bring the windows up to the chest cavity till it locks in place.




Rotate the arms 180, then collapse the shoulder assembly - take care to flip out the small hinged pieces on the inside - they add detail to his shoulders.
Prime is now Transformed.




This version of Prime has come into some criticism for some very good reasons - his forearms are blue, he's smaller than the First Edition, and he has a superman cake. As with most things people complain about, it's somewhat less terrible in reality, but still may not be to your taste. Let's talk size.



New Prime on the left, FE on the right. He's a fair bit smaller, so too is his head, so you won't be able to transfer the teased maskless prime to the bigger body. He's also less show accurate: the forearms and back kibble break the illusion slightly.

He's a product of his time - DotM saw the return of heavy gimmickry, and shrinking toys, and this figure is certainly victim to that. But it's really not too bad in hand. Sizewise he fits in well with the figures he's meant to be displayed with.




He's definitely voyager sized though. He's not, for instance, the ever annoying 'deluxe toy at a voyager pricepoint', we sometimes have to put up with. I think in this regard it's the FE Prime who is unusually large for a modern voyager, rather than 'powerizer' (stupid name) Prime who is small.



He comes with two accessories - a sword, and a mechtech gun. The sword is... a small plastic sword. It goes into his hand. It cannot, I don't think, be equipped to look like his blades in the show, sadly. It's nice enough for what it is.




His gun is atrocious. It's quite possibly the worst Mechtech weapon I've ever seen. It's bad enough that it doesn't even look like a gun until the gimmick is activate, but it doesn't hold in place, either. Throw in that it requires a big old battery compartment that's too big to allow him to bend his arm when carrying it, and you have a waste of plastic, and lights.




I know, I know. Hugely impressive. The forearms light up well enough, so at least the concept works - even if the execution is less than stellar. I'm excited to see how later waves work in this concept.

If you have a FE Prime, you're lucky enough that he can hold those weapons quite nicely, and due to the size difference they're suitably impressive.




Let's talk articulation.

He looses the waist joint of the FE Prime, and the wrist swivel. In their place he gets a wrist hinge due to the transformation and a nicely expressive balljoint head. Due to the way his feet fold into the legs, he has a really nice pair of ankles, so he can stand very heroically indeed. I think he gets slightly increased movement from the FE in most regions. He's also much more stable, missing any of the problems caused by the shoulder wheels, or poor tabbing on the shins of the FE version.





Since the first pictures, and the video review I was initially pretty disappointed with this figure. Getting it in hand has changed all that. If you want a Prime who can stand there and look show accurate, then yes, FE is you man - if you can afford him, or even find him. But if you want a toy, something fun to play with. If you want a Prime who fits in neatly with the other RID figures, and who holds up to being messed with. If you can stomach the wasted mechtech thing he comes with, and accept the clear plastic on the arms, then I'd actually recommend the RID version. It's a close call, but I think this new mold just edges out the FE. He's a more playable version of the character than previously available - and if the teased minicon gimmicks work out, then you'll have a good supply of decent weapons for him in no time at all. He's definately very dislikable, and you should in no way feel bad for thinking he's crap, but I found myself enjoying him despite these quirks. He's fun, and to me, that means the world.  

One more thing - the blue plastic looks much, much worse in photos than it does in hand. In hand, your eye sees that it's clear - and it shows the red beneath it. It's a small trick the clear plastic does to make it less of a bugbear - the red can still be seen in his forearms to a certain extent. I wish it showed up better in photos.

I think the biggest reason I've enjoyed this figure to the degree that I have is possibly because I do own FE Prime. It's let me judge the figure by it's own merits, rather than by comparison to the better FE version. If this was the only one i had, I think I'd be a lot more critical. Ah, psychology.

Just some poses to end on.  







One final thing I noticed messing with the various swords - remember that bendy plastic used in Drifts sword, and the horrible rubber used in FE Prime's sword?

It's gone.

All the swords I've got from the new toys - Wheeljack's and Prime's - have been a much hardier material. Those used to bend with ease, sometimes under their own weight. Not any more. This is as much give as they have:

OLD


NEW



I hope that change stays. These things no longer flop around, or bend if left in someone's hands.



EDIT: Error corrected, cheers Split Lip.

Truck comparisons!:





First Edition on the right. The Powerizer comes together better, but this could simply be because I'm either inept or have sausages instead of fingers. FE has darker red plastic, both have roughly the same amount of paint aps (though in different spots).

Nose to nose, the First Edition is a fair whack bigger, of course. It seems to have more 'real' proportions, whilst the new one is slightly more stylised.



EDIT 2: Had a bash at a repaint, to bring him closer in line to what he should be.

 

Cool review man! So glad that flaccid swords are on the way out. I'll still be sticking with my first edition prime! Are you able to compare truck modes?

 

Thanks for the review! It's not as bad, but man it needs red in robot mode. That truck is silly, too.

It was a ball joint last time. My FE Prime has just as much mobility in the neck as that does. He can look up easily 45 degress and can even look down.

 

Not as bad looking as it initially did, though I still like the aesthetics of the FE more. The RID one would be better if the 'cape' folded up and the windows pushed into the chest more. That entire section looks a bit awkward jutting out like that.

This kinda makes me hope that we'll see leaders for TF Prime after all. Imagine a leader OP that combines the best of the FE and RID versions!

 

Hm. I guess mine's defective then, since it can't do anything but swivel.  

(EDIT: Just forced it off the joint. Misassembly, it's fine now. Disregard. Although I do still think it has the edge, even with FE 'new' head motion.  )

Truck comparisons incoming.

 

Huh, same thing happened to mine. My FE's head wasn't on the joint properly until I popped it off then back on. I wonder if that's an issue with all samples?

 

Hey, thanks for the review! I still hope to be able to get the FE, but this isn't bad either. Maybe it's just me but I like the truck mode better on this one, too.

I'm always very forgiving with my figures but the gun on this one... there's no defending it.

 

He looks nice, I love how they did his chest transformation.

 

I'm genuinely surprised by how fond I actually am of it. Except for the gun - that's an utter joke, and a bad one too. Someone got payed for that!  

Maybe, maybe.  


Truck comparisons added to first post, folks.

 

I would deffinitely like to get both figures, but if I can only get this one, I won't be too disappointed.

Thanks for actually taking a picture where we can see the light up gimmick in the arms. I wish the gun looked better folded up but as someone said before, I think it meant to replicate that folding out mechanic he has in the show.

 

I actually like the mold better on the RID one, just wish the colors were better. Hopping for a better colored takara version, with red forearms and ribs.

 

It has some interesting points to it, and I really like the transformation. I think I may wait for a repaint though as I'm happy with my First Edition.

 

If it weren't for the backpack and clear arms I'd be so into this guy; the transformation looks really fun.

Do not understand the weapons at all, though.

 

I can actually live with all those things. The arms in particular, while dumb, don't bother me as much as everyone else.

But what kills it for me is the cape he's wearing. Seeing that giant, silhouette-ruining backpack, especially when he's standing next to the FE, makes me not able to take the toy at all.

 

Just got mine (They didnt have Megatron  ). Havent transformed it yet but man its TINY compared to FE Prime. Is there a way of making his gun stay out?

 

Awesome and very informative review Creaky, I've been looking forward to a pictorial review! Will buy this and some version of FE Prime...FE has the better sculpt in robot mode but powerizer isn't shabby.

 

I just (like, a second ago) forced the gears on mine (putting it into the 'on' position, holding the barrel extended and forcing the grey bit back to the off position) just to see what would happen. It sortof works, and the light up feature still works. Overall though it's still less than impressive.

 

Yeh the gun is very disappointing. The sword though is better than the one that comes with FE though.

Also comparisons in bot mode.

 

The gun does look disappointing. I want FE's Prime + guns + these swords.