No pupils.

 

Alright years back I made a thread or poll about a new Generations Optimus Primal. I pretty much felt like a new one could be cool but would have an uphill challenge unseating the original.

So I got Kingdom Primal today and well.... do I think it’s a better overall TOY(as in something to play with, gimmicks, et al) than the original? No.

However if you wanted a more show accurate mainline FIGURE of Optimus Primal, this is where the new one excels. So if show accuracy and relative scaling are your thing, I think you’ll be happy with this.

It’s kind of a tough sell at $30 me. I’m aware that price is no longer indicative of size and that the plastic went to other areas so this figure isn’t as hollow. Yes I’m also aware it follows relative scaling with the other BW figures in Kingdom. Keep these aspects in mind if you’re undecided on this. You’re getting a figure as tall as a bigger WFC deluxe but with definitely more plastic. It also does feel a lot more substantial and has more detail than a deluxe. I still can’t help but feel like $30 is a lot for this though. YMMV. I think $25 would’ve been a sweet spot for the price.

The sense of detail is enhanced and feels more pronounced since this is a smaller voyager. Luckily it doesn’t feel fragile. The only things missing are a connector for the swords to connect, jetpack thrusters and a mace. Despite that, it does seem like Hasbro crammed a lot into a little gorilla figure.

The articulation is impressive. Elbows and knees can bend more than 90 degrees using single joints. Thigh swivel is hindered inwards but more free outwards. The feet connected to shin piston ball joints work very well. Very impressive to see how they work.

Overall I like this new Primal figure. The original Optimus Primal figure is a better TOY to me. However, this Kingdom Primal is a better ONSCREEN representation of Optimus Primal from the Beast Wars show. It erases any desire for me to own the old Robot Masters Primal. I also find it to be a much better figure than both the 15th anniversary Primal and base POTP Optimus Primal(which turned into a hover board).

 

What's the best way to loosen the hands a little? The fingers' pin joints are super tight and have stress marks

 

Mine has pupils, he's looking to the left a bit.

 

Dish soap

 

RC car shock oil(made from silicone)

 

Pros:
* Pretty excellent robot mode, with a strong cartoon resemblance, save for a few color choices.
* Has a full complement of weapons - swords, shoulder cannons, and arm guns. Mace too if you buy Paleotrex.
* Very good articulation in either mode, including butterfly shoulder joints, moving fingers, and those hydraulic pistons on the feet.
* Transformation is hassle-free. If the Earthrise Seeker jets were an expanded/updated version of the 2006 Classics seeker, This toy feels like an expanded/updated version of the 2004 Robotmasters Primal toy, which was a tweak on the original '96 Munky toy.
* Gorilla mode is quite good, with an upright standing mode and a much better knuckle-walking 4-legged mode,

Cons: (Nitpicks, mostly.)
* The robot mode chest plate has notable gaps on the top and bottom, giving it a 'floating' quality not unlike a plank stuck to the surface of a ball.
* The white painted details seem prone to getting scratched and showing the black plastic underneath.)
* The 'fur diaper' in beast mode looks silly in standing ape mode. Works better as the gut for 4-legged mode or skidplate for robot mode.
* No apparent jetpack, unless you count the vent/grate detailing on the underside of the buttflap
* The gorilla toes on the back of the robot feet look kinda funny.
* The swords can store on the gorilla's back, but can't be hidden away.

Overall: It's a pretty damn great toy IMO. Looks great, has tons of articulation and pop-out weaponry, and feels sturdy and largely unproblematic. It's not a perfect toy, but a solid "A" in my book, and much more fun to deal with than the Masterpiece version.

Blade-Munky

 

Beat me to it! I just picked this up and its...underwhelming.

The original figure was so much better in terms of playability, sculpt and size. I can’t recall the actual price but it sure feels better more value for money.

For this figure, the robot mode is really well sculpted and articulated but gorilla mode...the lower half is a mess.

Maybe I shouldn’t get my hopes and expectations too high but when I see gems like Soundwave, Trailbreaker/Hoist, Grappler and Seekers (QC issues aside)...I can’t help but feel a tad disappointed.

But what to do? My kids saw the toys at TRU and were blew away by the robots transforming into organic animals. Sigh...

*can any of you guys make Primal stand upright in gorilla mode. Seems impossible the backwards looking knee joints?

 

Ultra figures were $20 in 1996, which apparently is $33 in today's dollars. Of course it's moot since it's not like you can get a complete Ultra Primal for $33 today so the realistic comparison is "is it a better use of your money than tracking down an original Primal on the secondary market?"

 

I get what you mean. The original Primal costed $40 (my country currency) the new one costed me $50 (my country currency).

Its insane that things have jumped in price. The reissued big Millennium Falcon is currently selling at $800 (my country currency) when I bought my original release for $220 (again based on my country’s currency).

 

Sucks that he can't combine with Fossilizers, I thought it was the entire point of the line.

 

You can but the pelvis flap doesn’t cover the gaps so the legs end up looking detached/forward from the front/top. Looks weirder than it does in pictures, to the point where it’s almost as if there was something missing due to being cut from budget.

The original can’t be beat as a toy IMO since it did so much, so well, without being compromised the way many other toys were in the years since. To me, the original is a pivotal and historic release.

Yes only if you’re aware that it may come up short compared to the original and if you want a modernized version of Primal fairly closer to the show(aside from having sculpted fur and grey instead of blue for the skin). I don’t think this was ever designed to compete with the original but despite that, for $30 it seems there could’ve been more to it to justify the price. I like it but I don’t $30 like it. YMMV any parent, new fan or fan just getting back into Transformers picking this up might not know about relative scaling or the amount of plastic used here VS other figures and I’m not so sure they’d be willing to pay $30 to find out.

 

I think that’s what most people want out of this guy and most BW updates.

See, Beast Wars is weird because much of the original toyline still holds up in terms of articulation and play value. There’s not many ways you can out-do the originals except for show accuracy and scale. It’s why we hardly ever get TM figure updates, because at that point the show and toys became a lot more unified.

I don’t besmirch Kingdom Primal for not having the size, gimmicks, and chunk as my original Optimus Primal because, well, I still have him and unlike a G1 toy with hardly any articulation and dated proportions and details, that old Primal doesn’t feel much outclassed. So yeah, I like that Kingdom Primal is more compact, show-accurate, and places more emphasis on looking like a real gorilla, because between it, the original, and the MP I have every conceivable base covered.

 

Thanks for the advice, Shin. You’re right - my boys and I tried our best to have this Primal to stand in an upright position and he doesn’t look good because of the design choices...sigh...

IMO $30 is abit much maybe a price point of $20 would have been better IMO.

 

No prob. I thought it looked okay online until I got my copy and saw it for myself.

 

My older kid was abit disappointed like me but the younger one didn’t mind...even used the legs of Primal’s bot mode to get him standing upright.

And being a “bad dad”, I teased him by saying that he’s Robo Ape : part ape, part bot, all Autobot (actually Maximal).

I think I’ll pick Kingdom Megatron next and get the remaining s1 crew when they are discounted...don’t want to be further disappointed.

 

Here's a comparison shot I haven't seen yet.

 

looking at @Napalm 's pictures I can see a pupil in beast mode, it's almond shaped.

 

The original Primal's gimmicks make it more annoying to me as an adult because the arm gimmicks make it not fun to pose, and the legs are pretty bad.

I still don't have this yet, but I imagine I will enjoy it more.

 

He's here with a few mates