Post by cybernaut on Feb 25, 2007 22:26:52 GMT 8
Heh... I seem to end up reviewing bootlegs lately. Any more and you'd probably think all my TF's are bootlegs 
(Well, they're not, okay?)
(I'd like to say first that I do not own an original Powermaster Optimus Prime toy, so I may not be accurate with some points. Comments, suggestions & clarifications are well appreciated)
Anyway, what's interesting about this one was that I found it gathering dust in one of our neighborhood boutique shops waaaaaay out here in the town of Tanay, Rizal. Considering that almost nobody out here cares about Transformers (let alone buy the toys...), I was amazed to see this. The tindera even told me "ser, maganda po iyan, Transformable!" . Buying it for PHP350, I rushed home to check it out.
The cool packaging was what caught my eye, with its design & coloring reminiscent of G1 packaging. There's a black plastic handle on the box, making for a very portable package. It does say "TRANSFORMABLE" on the box & the image is God Ginrai, not Powermaster Optimus Prime (PMOP for short).
The box has a flip panel with the God Ginrai box art mirrored, which makes it an attractive display. The back of the box had G1-Pretender-era box art and PMOP's tech specs, without the "secret decoder" gimmick.
All parts of PMOP were present, complete with G1-style instructions & sticker sheet (it's been a long time since I've had toys with stickers!). As expected, there are no Autobot symbols, nor licensed names & markings to be found.
Out of the box, the bootleg nature becomes evident. It's made of cheap plastic, naturally, and is very rough. Surfaces aren't well finished and the moulded details are muddled. There are lots of excess mould plastic around & the QC is very shoddy, with missing screws and certain missassembled parts. One enjoyable thing about this was that the decals were excellently copied and were fun to attach. It made the toy look better.
As you all know, PMOP turns into a COE (cab over engine...) truck pulling a rather blocky trailer with large weapons. Most of the decals are hidden here and the cheap plastic really hurts this mode. The wheels aren't well-aligned & don't roll very well. One thing to note is that the smokestacks were chromed. (I painted the front bumper white to add some detail to the truck...)
Of course, PMOP comes with a small Hi-Q figure, who folds up to become PMOP's engine-thingy, which in turn supposedly unlocks his transformation (although pushing down on a button near the front grill does the same thing...).
After much ado, we end up with a Prime not dissimilar to the G1 version and a cool base mode out of his trailer. This Prime has a simplified transformation, and is rather plain, probably a necessary sacrifice for the combination feature. (I had to paint the face as well, since it wasn't painted and looked dull.) The trailer's base mode is colorful, thanks to the decals but a lot of excess mouldings ruin the quality. The Hi-Q figure can straddle any of the two double cannons.
Finally, we come to what I think is the the best part of this thing, the super mode!
Essentially a block with rotating arms and does the splits, this thing is awesome. It has a certain coolness to it, with double blasters and two shoulder-mounted dual-barrelled guns, making it worthwhile to look at and play with. The bootleg holds up well with very tight joints and connections. This is one big badass bootleg Prime! (almost as tall as 20th Anniversary Prime, even!)
I've put it beside Pretenders Landmine and Groundbreaker for scale. Hi-Q can be seen as PMOP's engine block. Note the rusted rivets... A lot of the rivets, screws and metal pins had rust on them and the toy had dust out of the box, so I assume it'd been on that shelf a long time. That or the rivets weren't stainless and the box wasn't sealed for moisture and dust...
Never having owned an original PMOP (Hint! Hint! Anyone?), this Bootleg sorta fills that gap a little. Its solid, and a very good reminder of the greatness of G1 toys. The backstory only adds to the charm, and I proudly display it in super mode with all guns blazing.
In closing...
(Well, they're not, okay?)(I'd like to say first that I do not own an original Powermaster Optimus Prime toy, so I may not be accurate with some points. Comments, suggestions & clarifications are well appreciated)
Anyway, what's interesting about this one was that I found it gathering dust in one of our neighborhood boutique shops waaaaaay out here in the town of Tanay, Rizal. Considering that almost nobody out here cares about Transformers (let alone buy the toys...), I was amazed to see this. The tindera even told me "ser, maganda po iyan, Transformable!"
. Buying it for PHP350, I rushed home to check it out.The cool packaging was what caught my eye, with its design & coloring reminiscent of G1 packaging. There's a black plastic handle on the box, making for a very portable package. It does say "TRANSFORMABLE" on the box & the image is God Ginrai, not Powermaster Optimus Prime (PMOP for short).
The box has a flip panel with the God Ginrai box art mirrored, which makes it an attractive display. The back of the box had G1-Pretender-era box art and PMOP's tech specs, without the "secret decoder" gimmick.
All parts of PMOP were present, complete with G1-style instructions & sticker sheet (it's been a long time since I've had toys with stickers!). As expected, there are no Autobot symbols, nor licensed names & markings to be found.
Out of the box, the bootleg nature becomes evident. It's made of cheap plastic, naturally, and is very rough. Surfaces aren't well finished and the moulded details are muddled. There are lots of excess mould plastic around & the QC is very shoddy, with missing screws and certain missassembled parts. One enjoyable thing about this was that the decals were excellently copied and were fun to attach. It made the toy look better.
As you all know, PMOP turns into a COE (cab over engine...) truck pulling a rather blocky trailer with large weapons. Most of the decals are hidden here and the cheap plastic really hurts this mode. The wheels aren't well-aligned & don't roll very well. One thing to note is that the smokestacks were chromed. (I painted the front bumper white to add some detail to the truck...)
Of course, PMOP comes with a small Hi-Q figure, who folds up to become PMOP's engine-thingy, which in turn supposedly unlocks his transformation (although pushing down on a button near the front grill does the same thing...).
After much ado, we end up with a Prime not dissimilar to the G1 version and a cool base mode out of his trailer. This Prime has a simplified transformation, and is rather plain, probably a necessary sacrifice for the combination feature. (I had to paint the face as well, since it wasn't painted and looked dull.) The trailer's base mode is colorful, thanks to the decals but a lot of excess mouldings ruin the quality. The Hi-Q figure can straddle any of the two double cannons.
Finally, we come to what I think is the the best part of this thing, the super mode!
Essentially a block with rotating arms and does the splits, this thing is awesome. It has a certain coolness to it, with double blasters and two shoulder-mounted dual-barrelled guns, making it worthwhile to look at and play with. The bootleg holds up well with very tight joints and connections. This is one big badass bootleg Prime! (almost as tall as 20th Anniversary Prime, even!)
I've put it beside Pretenders Landmine and Groundbreaker for scale. Hi-Q can be seen as PMOP's engine block. Note the rusted rivets... A lot of the rivets, screws and metal pins had rust on them and the toy had dust out of the box, so I assume it'd been on that shelf a long time. That or the rivets weren't stainless and the box wasn't sealed for moisture and dust...
Never having owned an original PMOP (Hint! Hint! Anyone?), this Bootleg sorta fills that gap a little. Its solid, and a very good reminder of the greatness of G1 toys. The backstory only adds to the charm, and I proudly display it in super mode with all guns blazing.
In closing...
