All photos are stock photos from unicron.com. Go and check out their gallery.
http://unicron.com/
Semi cab mode:

Prime looks very nice in this mode. The front is a nice Prime red with a minicon port on the top for his gimmick. He has silver shiny windows and a grill with blacksh dirt detailing on it. The top is silver. All the gray on the silver gray on this guy is not crome but shiny. in the back there is a big trailer hitch to attach the big one's trailer on. He also has a hole on the lower right corner to attach Over-run onto in his gun mode.

Robot mode:

In robot mode his feet are crome along with his faceplate and head crest thingy. his smokestackes come of for a missing peices action feature. The minicon port is now on his back so when you plug in Over-run you can move him up and down and he...punches. It looks alot more natural if you think of it as him fiering his smokestack guns like on the show. He has exelent aticualation also. oh and his hands are a shiny gold color.

Over-run
Plane mode:

This mode is very sinple being he is a Mini-con. He is mainly the silver gray on OP, but not crome. He has blue on the back of his wings and a black cockpit. In the front he surprisingly has fold in and out landing gear and two black weels in the back. That's all with him.

Robot mode:

In robot mode he has not so good articulation. His legs can go pretifar out to the side, but that's it. Arms can almost do 90 degrees forwards, and a little over 180 backwards. The front of the plane folds down on his chest and he has a HUGE long chest thing.

Gun Mode:

His gun mode is simple. From plane mode fold his wings down and flip his tail fin back to reveal a handle. My OP does not hold it very well. It just flops around in there. I don't know if it is just mine or not but, oh well.

he is exellant I got this figure on E-bay for 12.99 buy it now! MIB! 10 out of 10 in bot mode. 9 out of 10 in truck mode because his armes have a hard time staying on the side.
Sorry it was long. alot to go over.

 

I picked this up when he came out. Tried to sit him diwn and his leg broke off and I had to return. Super-articulated my ass. Then I got the Cybertron one for buy-2 get-1 free offer a couple of years ago. He's really cool, now that I've had him for more than a few hours. Wish that version had the minicon, but the paint aps are nice. I did the leg mod so he could sit.

I like the dancing action. Funkiest 'bot I own. Wish the arm sleeves (?) were a little tighter so they didn't slide around so much.

 

Well, other than the legs I think there is alot of articulation for a armad figure. I don't have any breaking legs issues so that was probably just yours. I want to get the nemesis prime repaint and maybe that cybertorn one too. If you want the mini-con you can probably find him on E-bay buy it now for 10.00 with free shipping. That's how most of the mini-cons are sold on E-bay.

 

i actually prefer this version. though the smokestacks poping off are annoying, other than that a good toy, and nice review mate

 

Wait, some of you couldn't get Prime to sit? I own three versions of the mold (original, Nemesis Prime, and Cybertron), and they all sit just fine. No modding done.

 

As Armada figures go he's alright, but he's nothing special compared to almost every other Transformers toy ever.

 

Those bumps at the tops of his legs prevent his legs from moving forward. if you force them, go ahead and look at the posts his legs attach too. they now have stress marks all over them. very scary stress marks.

my over-run fell apart (wheels fell off, arm fell off, legs broke off). made me sad, even though it was probably my fault, accidentally putting him in a box with unicron on top of him. he's such a cool minicon. so I gave him the one that came with Battle in a box Magnus.

 

It's been a while, but Armada "Bendy" Prime was a favorite of mine, at least until Classics Optimus stole the spotlight. Part of the appeal is the somewhat non-traditional design for an Optimus - it's all Optimus Prime, but takes a different approach from the usual window-chest design. There are flaws - the 'punch/shimmy' gimmick is kinda lame, yet still fun to play with. The upper leg molding screws up hip articulation, which is otherwise quite nice (love the articulated skirt armor and two-axis ankle joints), The exhausts/guns on the arms tend to come off easily (my approach there was to leave on those little clear rubber bands that held them on in the package.)

The design is showing its age a little bit nowadays relative to other newer lines, but still a nifty little toy, and fine (if small) Optimus Prime.

 

Hey man, just a request, if you're going to use our pictures, could you at least link directly to the gallery?  

 

This is the only Armada figure I kept other than Unicron after I sold off all of my Armada toys.

 

After took a look at some old figures, I feel an urge to take a more detailed retrospective look at some of these older figures; Wherveer or not they age well, I feel like there's still quite a bit to talk about with them. I've previously take a look at 2007 Movie Deluxe Longarm, and this time around I decided to take a look at another old, nostalgic figure that I just recently acquired, which is the so-called "Bendy Prime".

Alt Mode




In alt mode, Armada "Supercon/Deluxe" class Optimus Prime takes the form of a long-nose truck cab of made-up model, with some interesting design liberties taken. By current standards, this truck mode does has a bit of an odd look going on, with the super-wide tires (And especially with the barely disguised arms/smokestacks sections stick out quite far outwards). It does has a certain charm to it, and it does its job perfectly fine.

For some reason, I find the smokestacks pops out quite easily. The smokestack parts are only been loosely pegged on the "Rear side pillars" with 2 short pegs, and they pops out more that I would prefer; To the point of I think I might as well glue them in after this (As the smokestacks can't peg together as a gun, and they only serves at forearm blasters for Optimus in robot mode anyway)

Accessories/Mini-Con

When it comes to accessories and weaponry, Optimus Prime only comes with the Mini-Con Over-Run, who can transform into a gun for him, or can peg onto the Powerlinx plug on Optimus's back to activate a gimmick (Which I'll talk about a bit later).



For a small Mini-con, Over-Run is basically what I would expect; Over-Run is a pretty basic little figure in robot mode that doesn't do a lot, but the fact that Over-Run can also transforms into both a somewhat-OK looking jet mode (As well as a third Targetmaster-style blaster weapon mode for Optimus Prime) does adds another interesting flair to Over-Run that makes him stands out a bit more than your usual Armada Mini-cons. I also appreciate that despite the tiny size, Over-Run also has an optional fold-able front landing gear in his jet mode (Which is a pretty neat attention to detail).

Robot Mode



In robot mode, Armada "Supercon/Deluxe" class Optimus Prime stands at around 13 centimeters in height. Maybe it's just me having a bit of a fond memory watching Armada/Micron Densetsu despite its issues, Optimus Prime's robot mode is honestly a personal favorite design of mine. The paint and sculpting on this figure are amazing for an almost 20 years old toy, with just the appropriate amount of surface detail and distinct design elements like the front-grill chest, bulky shoulders, yellow eyes, forearm smokestack blasters that makes this design has its own identity and stands out.



One thing I'll say is by today's standard, the articulation of this figure is standard at best. There are some good points of articulation like the ball-jointed head, waist swivel and ankle tilts, but there are also some aspects of this figure's articulation that indicates this figure's age; The elbows can only bent upwards for around 45 degrees at most, and despite the hips are on ball-joints the way the hips are molded limits the forward motion to around 40 degrees at best.

The articulation is a bit of a mix of good and bad, but it's not the worst; There are some extra attention to details that I do appreciate, like the side and rear skirt swivel that can move out of the way to allow the hips to move backwards and side quite well.



I did mention that the way the hips are molded limits the forward motion to around 40 degrees at best, which are caused by the molded detail at the upper thighs (That looks like a pair of headlights) which blocks the hips from moving any further upwards. If you don't mind doing a bit of "surgery" on your figure, one way that can improve the articulation of the hips are to trim off the aforementioned "headlights" molding at the upper thighs, which does allow the hips to move upwards further (to almost 85 degrees).

Those weird "quirks" aside, Armada "Supercon/Deluxe" class Optimus Prime isn't that bad when it comes to posing, and when compared to most other Armada toys (Which are rather limited when it comes to articulation due to the need of a "Mini-con" gimmick be integrated directly with the toy itself), this figure doesn't do a bad job when it comes to articulation; The articulation by today's standard is fairly standard, but I can also see why this mold in particular was so well regarded for its time.

But, I'm not quite done yet.

Gimmick

Being a toy from the Armada toyline, "Bendy Prime" Optimus Prime here also includes a Mini-Con activated gimmick (Which once again, involves Optimus's included Mini-Con Over-Run). To activate this so-called gimmick, plug Over-Run into a dedicated blue-colored Mini-Con peg at Optimus's back to unlock it (The gimmick will remains in a "locked state if Over-Run or any other mini-cons aren't plugged into this peg)



In theory, plugging Over-Run onto the Mini-Con peg on Optimus's back allows Over-Run to act as a trigger to activate a double-fisted "punching" action by Pushing this so-called "trigger" up and down repeatably. This isn't the worst idea for a mini-com gimmick I've ever see, and if done well this could look quite cool. The idea that this so-called gimmick could allows Optimus Prime to do Star Platinum's "OraOraOraOraOraOra..." style rapid punching is just so ridiculous, that it's kinda badass.....



In practice....



Ehh... not so much. Rather than anything than resembles Optimus Prime doing an awesome rapid double-fist punching action, Optimus Prime here looks more like he's hyper-actively shrugging or dancing in a bizarre way.

Ok, moving on.

Conclusion



Overall, Armada "Supercon/Deluxe" class Optimus Prime here is quite a neat little figure for its age; And "Bendy Prime" here was certainly an interesting figure in a certain way which contains a message within him.

When Armada came out, the toyline takes a rather "180 degrees" change of direction from the previous toylines such as Car Robots, in flavor of blocky, easy to transform, sturdy but comes at the cost of articulation/ possability sacrifices with most figures to keep price down in light of the need to add a Mini-Con partner and multiple intricate gimmicks to every mold, with the aesthetics of larger robots hearkened back more to the blocky concepts of Generation 1; But unlike the more recent toylines where there's still other options available if you can't get or don't like a certain offering (Like you can get Siege Voyager class Optimus Prime, if Siege Galaxy Upgrade Optimus Prime was too expensive for your limited budget), there's a worry of a major character in the show only receiving a single toy (Like if you want a goood Armada Side Swipe figure but think the actual Armada toy was complete crap? Too bad, it's either that toy, customize another toy by yourself or nothing).

Well, that's not the case with Armada Optimus Prime. Rather than just have the Supreme class with the auto-transforming motorized trailer and call it a day, the designers also bizarrely decides to create another smaller, more articulated toy, which was also newly molded from the ground up for just Armada Optimus Prime; And consider that the Supreme class version can't really do much besides combining with some other stuffs and looks pretty, that may not be a bad thing.

Nowadays, I don't really think "Bendy Prime" was really a "must have in everyone's collection" kind of figure anymore; especially for someone who may not be a big fan of the Unicron Trilogy as a whole. For better or worse, this is still an interesting figure to talk about in various ways, and until the day Takara Legends EX Armada Optimus Prime finally released to purchase for real, this is THE Armada Optimus Prime for me.

 

I remember when the old PS2 game came out I always used this version of Armada Prime to reenact scenes from it. Great review of one of my childhood faves!

 

I've always found he displays really nicely next to the deluxe powerlinx Prime from Energon that came in the Megatron 2 pack. I've actually got one of these guys up for sale right now if anyone wants to shoot a PM. Flawed by today's standards, but pretty great for its time.

 

The toy was the first real "characters available at different price points" toy. Yeah RID had the Spychangers, but they were considered illegitimate as far as proper representations due to simplicity, and any examples before that were different forms of the same character. (Bat Primal/Ultra Primal) This could be seen as the progenitor of the modern concept of Transformers toys, where kids can always have some version of the main characters without having to shell out for the biggest and most expensive versions.

You picked a hell of a time to review this guy, as cool as he is, as it just makes the sting of that presumably cancelled Armada Prime update hurt that much more. T_T

 

Armada "Bendy Prime" may be one of the earliest examples of "same character available at different price point" toy that I could think of, but I'll say that it's not the first example of such case. The Beast Machine toyline also features two different Cheetor toys available at 2 different price point, which was the Mega/Voyager-Class Cheetor and a more expensive Supreme Class.




In the same toyline, Jetstorm also got 2 toys (In either Deluxe or Ultra class pricepoint)

Indeed, the announced Takara Legends EX Armada Prime looks quite epic (Just by what I've see so far), and the fact that that thing never got any status updates beyond "Takara didn't cancel it, but development of said toy isn't in their main priority right now" does makes me went and get "Bendy Prime" for an Armada Optimus prime toy. Armada Optimus Prime's robot mode is honestly a personal favorite design of mine, with distinct design elements such as the front-grill chest, bulky shoulders, yellow eyes, forearm smokestack blasters that makes this design has its own identity and stands out.

 

The reason I don't count those toys is because they're clearly different designs/bodies, though I suppose they are representing the same characters, the designs are separate. Jetstorm is close, but still different. They fall more to the G2 Laser Prime/Combat Prime realm.

Aside from lacking the supermode transformation, Bendy Prime is the same design as the larger toy. Same details, and in this case the same transformation, replicating the same design.

 

This was one of my favorite figures when I was a kid. I still adore it.

I REALLY WANT THE NEW ONE THEY SHOWED OFF I NEED IT.

 

I feel 'bendy' Prime is a standout toy of its time. Funny to think how the toy got its nickname simply for having a decent level of articulation in the middle of a line that wasn't known for it. (though some things like the dual-axis ankle tilts, skirt-flaps, and ball-jointed neck were pretty uncommon even during the Beast lines.)

I remember being initially disappointed in the toy at first - it just seemed small and unimpressive to me, but over time the toy grew on me, and it became one of my favorite Optimus toys, definitely beating out the leader Armada toy in the long run. I really enjoy the robot design (cab robot anyway, not so much the combined form) - beefy and chunky with massive tires and the smokestack guns on the forearms. IMO it does a very good job giving off an 'Optimus' feel while not following all the G1 design cues - no big chest windows, real or fake, for example. More of a stocky brawler look.

The toy has some issues - the stacks/guns on the arms like to fall off (I liked to leave the little rubber bands in place that held them on in-package), the leg molding got in the way of his forward kick unless you felt like modding the toy, and the minicon 'power punch' gimmick is pretty lame. There's some risk of popping the shoulder off during transformation too.

Regardless, I find it to be a very strong toy of a very strong visual design, one that holds up pretty well even today.

 

Not 100% sure what the designers were aiming for, but the action seemed more like recoil oscillations from his wrist blaster fire to me (Like G1 Snaptrap's cannon gimmick). Looks convincing enough if you pose him like Hot Rod's shooting pose. Not enough follow-through in the mechanism for a punch action.