Post by zephon on Jan 22, 2007 15:23:03 GMT 8
I really had no intention of going "Prime Collecting" as Primes seem to be sold at premium rates. As 2007 was starting, I came across this seller offering his Energon and Armada Primes at a good rate and now I find myself with a decent collection of post-Beastwars super Primes!
Anyway, this review will focus on the 2nd of my 3 super Primes-- Energon's Optimus Prime plus Wing Saber.
The Sonic Wing mode of the Cybertron series' Optimus Prime wasn't the first time the idea of Optimus combining with Wing Saber was toyed with. In fact, before the Cybertron series, the Energon Optimus Prime had a very good combination with Energon Wing Saber.
Optimus Prime:
This is the infamous version of Optimus that was called "fatimus Prime". As usual, Prime starts off as a truck with a trailer:
As with most Primes, the cab detatches from the trailer to become Optimus.
Here's a pic of the cab:
The gun can be stowed in a slot at the back of the truck:
This does not get in the way of the trailer being attached to the back of the cab:
This truck:
Transforms into this robot:
Basically it's the front of the truck that suddenly grows a head and a pair of arms and legs. I guess by now you get an idea why he was dubbed "fatimus prime".
The trailer resembles a car carrier reminiscent of the traditional Ultra Magnus car carrier trailer. As with all Optimus trailers, this one can also become a little more than just a trailer.
Stand it on it's front and flip up a radar:
And flip down the back support:
Open up the pannels to reveal Optimus' little minions.
These little minions are bordering on kiddie toys. Their significant value here is that they form the limbs of Optimus' super mode.
Here's Optimus beside the trailer:
The concept of Powerlinx in the Energon series made the designers go for this radical concept of Optimus becoming a robot resembling something from a 70's super robot show.
In this configuration, the firetruck and helicopter form fists at the end of his arms in supermode:
The gun fits the hole in the fist. The supermode comes up with a decent level of articulation and balance. A lot of credit goes to a generous serving of ratchet joints.
The limbs can be mixed-and-matched. The arms can become the legs and vice-versa.
Here is a mode that can be interpreted as a homage to G1 Omega Supreme -- one arm is a claw and the other one a gun/drill:
Wing Saber:
Wing Saber starts off as a modern take on the B-2 Stealth Bomber. It's basically inspired by the flying wing design of the subsonic bomber.
The toy is quite wide - about a foot across I would say.
Here's a top view:
Profile view:
From this detail view, you can see that it even has retractable landing gear:
Wing Saber transforms into a a robot whose articulation level is reminiscent of G1 bricks. There's no shoulder, leg, knee, neck movemet and only a 45degree elbow forward bend available.
He's rather tall in his robot mode. Here he is beside Optimus.
Wing Saber's hands can accomodate the "standard" weapon peg found in most Armada and Energon TF's. Here he is holding the Star Saber from the Binaltech Arming set.
Here comes the fun part!
If you quarter Wing saber, he becomes the limbs of this version of Super Optimus Prime:
Although quite back heavy, his ratcheting joints and wide feet help balance him. With his wings and such, this is regarded as the "flight mode".
I prefer to place him in a crouching position just to be sure. I move the thigh 2 clicks forward then bend back the knees 1 click
backward. He then acheives a good center of gravity that way.
For additional firepower, you can flip forward the guns on his knees:
Doing another mix-and-match and exchanging the postion of the parts used for his arms and legs:
If the first mode was the flight mode, this mode is now the fight mode:
Most noticable in this mode are the 2 double-barreled guns on his shoulders which remind you of Energon's Omega Supreme.
The guns which were previously found on his knees are now found on his forearms and can be swung forward:
Here's another view:
The problem with this mode is that there is no forward/backward elbow movement. What you have is left and right movement. To have the shoulder guns and forearm guns all pointing forward, you have to turn the forearms into the palm-up position and then bend the elbow:
Here's a good view wherein you can just imagine Optimus with guns blazing:
Despite all the negative comments you hear about Energon Optimus, he's still a fun toy to tinker around with. If you're planning on buying one, it is strongly recommended that you buy Wing Saber to go with it. The supermodes created with Wing Saber are way way better than the default supermode.
....And there are also those nights when Wing Saber and Optimus had a little
too much energon to drink....
Anyway, this review will focus on the 2nd of my 3 super Primes-- Energon's Optimus Prime plus Wing Saber.
The Sonic Wing mode of the Cybertron series' Optimus Prime wasn't the first time the idea of Optimus combining with Wing Saber was toyed with. In fact, before the Cybertron series, the Energon Optimus Prime had a very good combination with Energon Wing Saber.
Optimus Prime:
This is the infamous version of Optimus that was called "fatimus Prime". As usual, Prime starts off as a truck with a trailer:
As with most Primes, the cab detatches from the trailer to become Optimus.
Here's a pic of the cab:
The gun can be stowed in a slot at the back of the truck:
This does not get in the way of the trailer being attached to the back of the cab:
This truck:
Transforms into this robot:
Basically it's the front of the truck that suddenly grows a head and a pair of arms and legs. I guess by now you get an idea why he was dubbed "fatimus prime".
The trailer resembles a car carrier reminiscent of the traditional Ultra Magnus car carrier trailer. As with all Optimus trailers, this one can also become a little more than just a trailer.
Stand it on it's front and flip up a radar:
And flip down the back support:
Open up the pannels to reveal Optimus' little minions.
These little minions are bordering on kiddie toys. Their significant value here is that they form the limbs of Optimus' super mode.
Here's Optimus beside the trailer:
The concept of Powerlinx in the Energon series made the designers go for this radical concept of Optimus becoming a robot resembling something from a 70's super robot show.
In this configuration, the firetruck and helicopter form fists at the end of his arms in supermode:
The gun fits the hole in the fist. The supermode comes up with a decent level of articulation and balance. A lot of credit goes to a generous serving of ratchet joints.
The limbs can be mixed-and-matched. The arms can become the legs and vice-versa.
Here is a mode that can be interpreted as a homage to G1 Omega Supreme -- one arm is a claw and the other one a gun/drill:
Wing Saber:
Wing Saber starts off as a modern take on the B-2 Stealth Bomber. It's basically inspired by the flying wing design of the subsonic bomber.
The toy is quite wide - about a foot across I would say.
Here's a top view:
Profile view:
From this detail view, you can see that it even has retractable landing gear:
Wing Saber transforms into a a robot whose articulation level is reminiscent of G1 bricks. There's no shoulder, leg, knee, neck movemet and only a 45degree elbow forward bend available.
He's rather tall in his robot mode. Here he is beside Optimus.
Wing Saber's hands can accomodate the "standard" weapon peg found in most Armada and Energon TF's. Here he is holding the Star Saber from the Binaltech Arming set.
Here comes the fun part!
If you quarter Wing saber, he becomes the limbs of this version of Super Optimus Prime:
Although quite back heavy, his ratcheting joints and wide feet help balance him. With his wings and such, this is regarded as the "flight mode".
I prefer to place him in a crouching position just to be sure. I move the thigh 2 clicks forward then bend back the knees 1 click
backward. He then acheives a good center of gravity that way.
For additional firepower, you can flip forward the guns on his knees:
Doing another mix-and-match and exchanging the postion of the parts used for his arms and legs:
If the first mode was the flight mode, this mode is now the fight mode:
Most noticable in this mode are the 2 double-barreled guns on his shoulders which remind you of Energon's Omega Supreme.
The guns which were previously found on his knees are now found on his forearms and can be swung forward:
Here's another view:
The problem with this mode is that there is no forward/backward elbow movement. What you have is left and right movement. To have the shoulder guns and forearm guns all pointing forward, you have to turn the forearms into the palm-up position and then bend the elbow:
Here's a good view wherein you can just imagine Optimus with guns blazing:
Despite all the negative comments you hear about Energon Optimus, he's still a fun toy to tinker around with. If you're planning on buying one, it is strongly recommended that you buy Wing Saber to go with it. The supermodes created with Wing Saber are way way better than the default supermode.
....And there are also those nights when Wing Saber and Optimus had a little
too much energon to drink....
keeping the site active as a place to dump info for easier backtracking. 