Universe Nemesis Prime

Not a lot of Universe toys here, either, so here goes:

Universe Nemesis Prime

Source & Pictures: Transformers-Universe.com

Robot Mode: The classic Optimus Prime head (only in a darker tone of blue) is the only thing about this robot that invokes resemblance to the Autobot leader. The rest is an original body (or as original as a repaint can be) and immediately shows that Nemesis is a shell former. The outer hull parts of his Mammoth mode adorn his legs, hips, arms and shoulders. The tusks give him an enormous width in the shoulders, making him look bigger and broader than he actually is. Posability is very good and while the color scheme is a bit lighter than I would have preferred for what is essentially a dark clone of a good character, it still manages to look very decent. What's the deal with the peace symbols on his thighs, though? Well, better than the Maximal symbol on his chest. He's a Decepticon, isn't he?

Anyway, Nemesis sports an array of weaponry. Gun barrels unfold from his forearms, missiles can be launched from the shell plating on his shins, and the trunk/back part of his Mammoth mode becomes a humongous missile launcher. He also has a Matrix stored inside his chest. Obviously not the Matrix of Leadership, it is colored dark and called "Dead Matrix" according to the box. He can take it out and hold it with both hands.

All in all Nemesis is a very good robot toy, posable and with quite a few fun features. The shell parts of his Mammoth mode all fold away nicely and out of the way, so no complaints here, either.

Beast Mode: Nemesis Prime transforms into big wooly mammoth. Now, a mammoth isn't exactly the first animal I think of when wondering what a big, scary robot should transform into, but they did a decent job making it look scary. The dark fur, the deep red eyes, the blood-stained tips of his tusks, all combine to make one scary-looking mammoth. The entire thing is a shell, really, and looks very patchwork, but it all comes together quite nicely. The mammoth is pretty much a brick, but it does hold some features. The ears flap, the tail rises, the trunk can be moved using a lever on top of the head, and when pulling back the ears the tusks move. Bottom line, a very good beast mode.

Remarks: Nemesis Prime is a repaint of the Japanese Exclusive Big Convoy, the Maximal leader from the Beast Wars Neo series. I never saw that series, but whatever. There have been some Nemesis Primes, evil clones of Optimus Prime, but seldom have they looked more sinister than this one. I don't know how he fits into the Universe story (what there is of it), but Nemesis Prime is one evil-looking toy, so I wanted him. Now if only they had taken the time to replace the Maximal symbol with a Decepticon crest ... well, can't have everything.

Rating: B+

Great review.

I would say my biggest criticism of Universe Nemesis Prime is that he's difficult to pose whilst holding the BFG, he does like to topple forward.

My least favorite thing about this guy is that he has so many parts that have to be put together for beast mode. Other than though he is pretty sweet.

From what I hear, his TF level should be 6/4

Is there still a place to get his guy for a decent price? I wanna own the mold

A Sonokong Big Convoy (Korean release, identical to Japanese) is probably the cheapest way to get the mold, and even that runs about $35-40 now.

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I occassionally see Nemesis Prime on ebay, but you can expect at least 40 dollars there, too (excluding shipping). He's a great figure, though, I'd say he's worth that price.

I'd like to say that he has some "lights" moulded onto his upper chest, much like G1 Optimus Prime in the homage department.

Definitely one of my favourite figures, deco surpasses big black convoy and regular big convoy. Got mine for around 50 USD without shipping about two years back, never regretted it.

He's supposed to be Big Convoy from some alternate timeline, only instead of defeating Unicron, he was tortured, killed and converted to a Decepticon, giving them the power of his matrix as well.

Yeah, the Dead Matrix is supposed to kill Primus just as the regular Matrix does Unicron. I think we saw that in the "Balancing Act" comic that came out to the members of the Official Transformers Collectors' Club.

I remember finding this guy at Target. I was ecstatic, since they usually sucked when it came to exclusives.

I love the figure, a lot more than I do Big Convoy too.

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Definatley one of my favorite Figures. Awesome in bot mode and fun to pose. Tricky to get him to hold the BFG well though. Beast Mode looks okay but its hard to get him back into it and its not posable at all(like alot of BW figs actually lol)