A solid, concise review!

I've owned this guy for a couple days, and he's not bad! He has fairly good poseability, and the shoulder armor isn't as obtrusive/cumbersome as I feared. The skirts along the thighs aren't really much of a problem either. Overall, the guy poses pretty well. The legs have strong ratchets, get better range of motion than you'd think, and the huge heels make for a solid base. Articulation wise, I only wish his shoulder ratchets had less drastic stop-points and that he had wrist swivels.

I do agree that he's aesthetically slight, he definitely isn't as imposing as past leaders. This guy will suffer compared to both the ROTF leader mold (which really is the leader of all leader classes) and an on-screen CGI model that will be hard to fully duplicate in figure form. Both this and the FE seemingly took shortcuts resulting in backpacks. Calling this a slightly overpriced ultra is accurate.

This guy's a decent to good figure, but I'd bet they can do something better in time. Branding something as a leader class puts it at a pretty high bar. He has some interesting details, like the folding sheath, chrome and rubber tires. Honestly, I'd trade the chrome and tires for more complex paint and a little more engineering, but I am happy messing with this guy.

 

Looks alright, just glad I got him for the Amazon price.

 

This definitely something I need to see in the store before I decide. If everything looks good enough, MABYE I can overlook the back.

The shield gun actually looks cool.

Truck mode looks nice.

From my experience as a kid in G1, and watching my boy play with stuff...I hate to say it, but rubber tires kinda suck sometimes for a TOY. I cant tell you how many times I would drive my G1 cars around and pop a wheel from the rim. Yea, they look and feel better..I just don't mind plastic tires on a kids toy. How are these? do they feel like they will pop off the rims if my boy skids it sideways?

Im curious how they are doing with the rubber tires now.

All in all, this was the prime in a larger scale I was looking forward too. These pics do not really change my opinion. Don't like the back, I love the armor panels hanging..Theres a lot to like here.

I just think this may be more for my son, that for my tastes. Will wait to see it in person.

Thanks!!

 

Not happy about rubber tires, but actually really liking the rest. Even the back doesn't bother me. Glad I ordered this one, actually more hype for this than Grimlock.

 

Want.

Want now.

Want right now.

 

These tires are of a harder rubber, and there are ridges on the plastic wheels to keep them tracked in place. It is possible to slide them off with hand force. They did stay on as I pushed it side-to-side on a polished wood surface. However, I could see a kid putting full weight on the figure for a drift and slipping one of these loose. I would say these are more secure than the old G1 rubber tires though.

 

The figure would look a lot better without the backpack:

 

I'm liking this quite a bit. Shame that he's so small compared to the older leader class figures (I'd say $35 is a more realistic price than $45) but he should scale nicely with the deluxe and voyager figures from this line. I may have to pick him up, especially if it's the only way to get a decent representation of his upgraded Western Star alt mode.

 

But I think the truck mode would suffer a bit.

That said, I could think of a neat way or two to better compress that backpack.

 

BAM.

I trust a lot of the stuff you say, I may have to pick this up for the boy. I only said that about the rubber tires, because I recently got him some G1 minibots, and when he "cops a slide" he throws a tire off..lol..just like I did as a kid.

That's really the only downside, (besides degradation) to rubber tires that I can think of.

Thanks dude

 

YES. That without the backpack looks AWESOME.

If we could rig up a ball joint that clicks in between the old pin hinges, you could disconnect the backpack, drill some 5mm holes and it could be a "Roller" to go with this one.

 

I was thinking the same. Or maybe even modify it so it could act as a weapon. I always liked this custom (it's the only pic of it I could find):



There are several options to be explored with the backpack and I don't mind partsforming as long as the bot mode is as best as it can be.

 

eh...cool, but not worth $45 to me...may as well wait for the $75 Takara version.

 

Wonder if the da-3 trailer is compatible with him.

 

I think he looks pretty cool, but I'm seriously gonna consider removing/modding the backpack. It's just so lazy of them not to do anything with it. If they'd made the shield come from the back of the truck, and just had one joint so the gas tanks flipped up, that would have removed most of the mass of the backpack, but instead it's all just there on the back.

I like the idea of making a weapons platform with a ball joint or c-clip that detaches. Maybe Prime uses a skateboard in the movie  

Oh, and that is the worst window color I've ever seen in my life. I think I'll just paint them silver.

 

I wonder why this wasn't just sold as a $29.99 ultra. Unless inflation really is that bad currently.

Glad it has a simplified transformation. Hinged wrists would've made this figure much more appealing. For example, once I realized RTS G2 Laser Prime had them, I was amazed at how fun it was to pose. From then I was convinced any swordsman transformer just isn't as fun without hinges wrists.

 

Grabbed one of these guys at Target today, and I must say I'm pleasantly surprised at how nice he feels in-hand. He's sturdy, the plastic feels solid and the chrome looks really nice. The downside is that he is small enough that $50 after taxes feels about $10 to $15 too expensive for what you get.

One thing nobody's commented on: his wheels are pinned, which is a happy little thing these days.

Agreed with Shin above that he needs wrist swivels, though. There doesn't seem to be a lot one can do with the sword without them.

EDIT: After fiddling around with this guy for a bit, I...kinda love him. His semi mode looks amazing. It's sleek and elegant and the minimal panel lines plus the chromed tanks and stacks really help sell it as a real truck. The urine-yellow windows really annoy me, though; the tips of Prime's feet sticking up in the cab look like seats so I don't want to just paint over them, but god they're so ugly. It's one negative against an otherwise lovely alt mode.

 

He's definitely a keeper, in my book. I'm glad the electronics are gone, though. Pointless and wasteful. The backpack could've had more done with it for sure, but it's a fun figure. ROTF Prime separates the men from the boys, while this one brings them together. I do see the appeal of a slightly simplified transformation, now. I still love the spring loaded flaps in the legs to hide the gaps. Neat feature.

 

He's definitely a much better toy than ROTF Prime. ROTF, you stick on a shelf and admire how accurate it is, while AoE you actually transform back and forth. At least, I do.

They've prioritized playability over obsessive screen-accuracy, and I guess that's okay. I do miss the highs of ROTF/HTFD, but those days are never coming back. It is what it is.

He should still cost about $30, though.

 

Simple: Chrome and rubber tires.

Whatever, he looks really good now, in hand. I dunno if I'll buy him at full price, but I will eventually.