Power of the Primes (PotP) Appreciation Thread

Discussion in 'Transformers Toy Discussion' started by TyrantGalvatron, Jul 20, 2017.

  1. 8bitboy

    8bitboy Well-Known Member

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    Would you recommend the PE feet/hands for Orthia? Are the stock feet worse than the PE feet? Also, can you post an image using the stock hands in place of the PE hands whilst they're in combined mode? I'd really love to see how that looks. You'd be helping me make a decision on a purchase.
     
  2. DocSeth81

    DocSeth81 Well-Known Member

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    [​IMG]
     
  3. waflhaus91

    waflhaus91 Co-wisest person at TFW, as proclaimed by barry.

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    Let me preface this post by saying I am extremely biased against Hasbro's combiner hands/feet. I think they are the ugliest hands/feet I've ever seen and I refuse to use them on my combiners.

    Having said that, yes, the PE ones (mine are KO's) are better than stock. The feet that came with Elita-1 won't even stay pegged in. And the PE feet improve stability. The prime armor hands don't even look like hands to me. They look like boxing gloves. Which then looks ever more ridiculous when holding a weapon.

    For comparison, here is a completely stock Orthia:
    20191009_094552.jpg
    And here is Orthia with KO PE hands and feet, the stock Prime armor hands as knee/shoulder pads, and her torso reversed:
    20191009_095717.jpg
    It's purely subjective but I think these upgrades make Orthia a damn good looking combiner. All I hope now is we get a non-3D printed chest upgrade from PE, TDW or DNA sometime soon.
     
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  4. Imperator

    Imperator and he drove the fastest milk-cart in the west.

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    Rodimus Prime is a better character than Optimus Prime, hands down. No question. Hell, he's probably the better Prime too, but it's not like we ever got to see it. Optimus Prime suffers from Superman syndrome, whereby the character is too perfect to be interesting (yes I know Superman has had a bit of a renaissance lately, that's not the point here). Optimus Prime is the strongest, wisest, most capable, bestest Autobot everest, and therefore infallible. Every decision is correct, every battle is a victory, every word of wisdom is profound. Optimus Prime is never wrong.

    Rodimus though? He's put through the wringer. Being the Chosen One by a pretty arbitrary process he spends the majority of season 3 grappling with the awesome burden of having to live up to the legend of his predecessor. He doubts himself. He makes choices he's unsure of. He wonders if he's even worthy of the Matrix, and willingly hands it over when he thinks Optimus is back. By the end of the season, Rodimus has grown, matured, and come to terms with his role as Prime. That's actually great storytelling, even if the quality of the cartoon was always the wrong side of shonky.

    Just a pity the writers had to go and spoil it all in the last episodes by bringing back Optimus and kicking poor Rodimus to the kerb. He deserved better. And those episodes were straight-up terrible.

    Okay, the toy, part of the Power of the Primes line. It's a contentious one. This is a flawed creation, no doubt about it, and the list of problems is enough to put anyone off. The worst is the shoulder joints for the larger robot mode, which are jointed at the collar rather than the actual shoulder. This hampers poseability a lot. There are the small robot hands just about visible under the chest piece. The large vehicle mode's tabs don't all quite line up properly. The robot mode fists are visible in this mode too. There's a lack of 5mm ports in the smaller car mode. All in all, this speaks of a toy that really did deserve to have another run through the drafting process, to iron out the kinks and make it as good as it looks, and as good as it ought to be. It makes Rodimus Prime feel a bit... rushed.

    [​IMG]

    And yet.

    I absolutely love this thing. This is the Rodimus Prime toy I always dreamed might exist when I was a child. I'd watch his first transformation at the end of the 1986 movie and think to myself "Yup, that's just Hot Rod with a load of extra guff stuck to his roof to turn himself into a camper van", yet the few attempts at toys for Rodimus never seemed to lean into this obvious fact until POTP. You can remove the guff and have Hot Rod on his own, or slap it back on him for the full "Who the hell would ever drive this?" Prime experience. And in robot mode you can power him up for giant-ass Rodimus Prime, or leave the small robot on its own as Hot Rod... or a perfectly acceptable Rodimus Prime as well.

    (Because here's the dirty secret: Hot Rod and Rodimus Prime always looked pretty much the same)

    [​IMG]

    The Hot Rod portion is the best part. It's a near-perfect Hot Rod in both modes, though pedants might want him to be a bit pinker in hue. I'm fine with the red and orange, to be honest. It certainly looks a lot better in robot mode than the Titans Return version of the character - charming as that is, the miniature spoiler and beefy gorilla arms just don't look great overall. In vehicle mode TR Hot Rod edges it slightly, with the curvy edges and opening cockpit, but it's a close-run thing even there.

    As Rodimus Prime the vehicle mode is possibly the best, most comfortable ride to go dogging in that you could ever imagine. Can't really see it being used for much else, the giant wacky flame designs sending very particular signals to passers-by. Ah, but then there's the old problem of having no windows in the trailer. Perhaps not then. It's not exactly an upgrade from Hot Rod's mental sports car mode to a doddering old camper van, but I guess they needed to find some way to bulk him up back in the 80s. And then the robot mode... well, so long as you don't try to pose him, it's pretty spectacular. He stands tall, stoically gazing out like an ancient sentinel, his face lined and angular to differentiate it from Hot Rod's smoother mush (that's how you know he's grown up). Ironically he has pretty decent legs, with ankle tilts even before Siege made it common practice. It's yet another case of the toy being nearly perfect.

    Perhaps that's for the best. Rodimus Prime as a character was never perfect. That's why he was a better character, after all. He had flaws, and so does his toy. I can't love this thing because of the flaws, but I can love it in spite of them. Outside Masterpiece (which looked good but kept breaking), this is still the greatest rendition of Rodimus Prime ever made. We'll probably not see another one for a long time, so why not enjoy this one? Now if only Hasbro had had the guts to keep Optimus dead forever, maybe Rodimus would get the respect he deserves...

    [​IMG]

    Right, so that's all of them reviewed, right? The entire principle cast of season 3, over, finished and in the bag! We've had the Fast One, Old One, Smart One, Dumb One, Girl One, Serious One, Heroic One... and Wreck-Gar and Sky Lynx. That's everyone! Hooray! Thanks to everyone who's been reading these, I appreciate all your fe-

    Oh no.

    Oh no no no.

    I missed one.

    Oh god...
     
    Last edited: Oct 15, 2019
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  5. Patrickab7

    Patrickab7 Well-Known Member

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  7. Barbarossa Prime

    Barbarossa Prime Red Beard; Silver Linings TFW2005 Supporter

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  8. Kamen Ranger Bat

    Kamen Ranger Bat Don’t hassle the Hoffimus Prime

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  9. Barbarossa Prime

    Barbarossa Prime Red Beard; Silver Linings TFW2005 Supporter

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    Just did lol
     

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  10. Scarlet knight

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  11. Huktonfonix

    Huktonfonix Well-Known Member

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    FWIW, Optimus dies again in the Japanese headmasters
     
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  12. 8bitboy

    8bitboy Well-Known Member

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    Thank you so much for taking the time to share this. Wow. Like apples and oranges. I'll look into getting a set, thanks. I was thinking of black but white looks good! Cheers.
     
  13. Imperator

    Imperator and he drove the fastest milk-cart in the west.

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    Yeah, but it’s not for Rodimus’s benefit, because they shuffle him off and out the way as well. It’s so they can put Fortress in charge instead. But Headmasters was never good or well written anyway.
     
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  14. Huktonfonix

    Huktonfonix Well-Known Member

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    True, but that fricken song gets stuck in your head though.
     
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  15. roguesaint

    roguesaint Reconnaissance Expert

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    I remember watching that episode and being supes disappointed that they chose to deal with G1 Rodimus & Kup by having them “going off into space”
     
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  17. Smitty.1981

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    WHO IS ORTHIA? THE STORY BEHIND THIS MYSTERIOUS ALL-FEMALE COMBINER – Hasbro Pulse
    I wish...
     
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  18. Pfg80

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    If she's made by Solus she would be the first but it still re-writing history.
     
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  20. MasterScale

    MasterScale Loose, comes with baggage...

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    Some of these toys don't even look that good in person!

    Also, is this a ''Call of the Primitives'' tribute?
     
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