I've realized that I can't do a review series of Optimus Prime figures without first taking a look at the original. When I speak of 'classic Optimus design elements,' it'd be nice to have something to link to.

Of course, it's nigh-impossible to compare a toy that's nearly thirty years old to ones released in the last few years. The toy market and the technology behind it has changed so much as to make any such comparison ludicrous. So this will be more of a discussion of G1 Prime than anything resembling a review.

Origins

Many of the toys that would become the 1984 Autobots started their lives as Diaclone Car Robots in Japan. There wasn't a backing fiction for this series (that I'm aware of), so Diaclone Battle Convoy wasn't necessarily the leader of the group; however, Powered Convoy (who became Ultra Magnus in Transformers) was clearly meant as an upgrade to Battle Convoy rather than a separate character.

Diaclone commercials featured wonderful stop-motion animation, and are still really fun to watch. Here are two, for Battle Convoy and Powered Convoy:

For comparison, here is the first American commercial for Optimus Prime:

...and you wondered why American Transformers fans shell out three times as much money for imported Japanese releases than they do those they could get at Wal-Mart.

He's got the look

In my other reviews of Optimus figures, I repeatedly refer to the 'classic' Optimus design elements, but what exactly does that entail? There is a huge amount of differentiation when it comes to depictions of G1 Optimus Prime. Compare this:

...to the toy's box art, which is a pretty accurate depiction of the toy:

...then to Prime's Marvel Comics model, which is extremely simplified, with extra-roundedness:

...then to Prime's animation model, which seems to be the comics model with the corners sharpened:

...and finally, to these depictions from Transformers: Generations, which primarily go crazy with his helmet:

Many of those interpretations bare only the most passing resemblance to the original toy. In fact, as you can clearly see in the final two images, as well as in any modern depiction of the character, almost every conception of Optimus Prime draws much more heavily on the comics/animation model than on the toy. Masterpiece Prime, the 'definitive' toy version of this character, even takes incredibly complex transformation steps to replace the truck mode's grill and bumper with ones that resemble the animation model (this seems to have become a somewhat standard practice since). But all of these depictions of Prime contain certain common elements. The most recognizable are of course Prime's distinctive head sculpt, with its antennae-like spikes, silver forehead crest and silver mouth shield on blue. But the classic elements which seem to be carried on don't stop there. Most Primes feature the chest windows (either functional from the truck mode or simulated) and a strip of silver underneath them. Most include some reference to the truck grill and bumper in the robot's abdominal area. Furthermore, many Primes also carry on the silver thighs and blue legs of the G1 model, as well as the vent-like structures on the shins. Of course, the vast majority of Primes turn into some kind of red truck with some kind of trailer, though this seems to be the most flexible element in the design of most Primes.

But as you can see from the photos and images above, each depiction of Prime takes different license with these elements. The Marvel Comics model and the animation model simplify them to extremes. Almost all of the decal detail from the toy is eliminated, while a few additional details, such as the triangles on Prime's forearms, are added in to give a little texture. The most outright adaptation between the toy and the comics/animation is the anthropomorphization of Prime's lower torso and pelvis, filling them out to give Prime real hips instead of exposed joints. Even stranger is the blue codpiece structure that appears in the animation model and the more stylized images.

Not all of these elements get carried over to newer Optimus figures. Powermaster Optimus Prime, the next model of the same character (in the US, anyway), adapts elements from both the toy and animation model, while adding a few distinctive elements of its own, in both its forms.

But all of these details sort of blend together to make up the visual cues that indicate a figure is Optimus Prime. Optimus Prime is probably the most distinctive pop-culture characters from the 1980s, and much of the reason for that is because these elements get repeated over and over.

But what about G1 Prime, specifically?

In my opinion, Prime was most spectacular toy in the 1984 Transformers line, with Soundwave coming in a close second. Optimus towers over the other Autobots, but is still in scale with them. He's the only Autobot toy who looks like he could go toe-to-toe with Soundwave, the Decepticon seekers, or Megatron. He's also one of the most posable '84 toys as well, since his arms can both rotate and flip out at the shoulder, while his elbows both bend and rotate. Also, when the toy is new and hasn't been transformed much, you can position one or both of his legs slightly back for a running pose. Of course, my original G1 Prime won't even stand anymore, because the ratchet points on these leg joints are so worn.

On the subject of Prime's hip joints, I remember that once my Optimus Prime's hip joints wore out (when I was playing with him as a kid), I started to use Ultra Magnus' cab in place of Optimus. I explained this away by deciding that Optimus decided to keep the heat-impervious metal treatment that he received during The Return of Optimus Prime. I mean, wouldn't you?

Prime and Soundwave were also similar in that they could store most of their accessories within the figure's alt mode itself. Ignoring the fact that you could always chuck Prime's fists and rifle into his trailer, the fists fit nicely into Prime's cab compartment in vehicle mode. The spots for the fists were the driver and passenger seats in Diaclone's Battle Convoy, which came with tiny humanoid figures. Somehow, probably from buying some US Diakron toys, I had quite a few of these little guys, and they'd occasionally ride in Prime's cab as well.

Prime's trailer completed his coolness package. Even though Prime's three-in-one consciousness was downplayed in the comics and cartoons (after their initial test runs), it always played a huge part in my playing with it. The Combat Deck and Roller would always have their own missions to carry out while Prime led the Autobots into battle. Roller shoots from Prime's trailer via a spring-loaded launch mechanism, and the Combat Deck expands to work as a mobile battle station or repair bay, depending on how the Autobots are faring on a given day. Also, with Roller removed, Prime's trailer could hold at least one Autobot car (more if you stacked them), so Prime almost always had reinforcements waiting in the wings.

What do you call a thirteenth encore?

Optimus Prime is the most reissued Transformer, by a long shot. If you include Ultra Magnus figures, which use the same cab figure, the list gets insanely long. Let's see if we can't count all the times this mold has been used, just in the US and Japan. Starting from the top (and these are links to other sites, btw):

• Diaclone Car Robots Battle Convoy (Optimus Prime)
• Diaclone Car Robots Powered Convoy (Ultra Magnus)
• G1 Optimus Prime
• G1 Ultra Magnus
• G2 Optimus Prime - slight remold, recolor, additional accessories
• JAFCON Convoy - black recolor
• 2000 Takara Reissue TF-01 - indigo Roller
• Matrix Glow Ultra Magnus - yellow cab
• Movie Preview Ultra Magnus - blue cab
• TRU Commemorative Series - shorter smokestacks, longer missles
• New Year's Convoy - blue windows, blue eyes, matrix accessory
• 2003 Box Collection 0 reissue - energy axe accessory
• Pepsi Convoy/USA Pepsi Optimus Prime - repaint, Pepsi stamps, trailer replacement
• Music Label Convoy - new head sculpt, with iPod docking station trailer
• Music Label Convoy (G1 Colors)
• Encore Reissue

I'll admit that my divisions in this list are somewhat arbitrary; there is a complete list of releases on the Transformers Wiki. There are also a huge number of variations within each release; as with most action figures, even today, items are updated by the manufacturer throughout their lifetimes.

I should note, BTW, that the pictures in this review are of my 2000 Takara Reissue TF-01 Optimus Prime rather than the original.

I think it's safe to assume that these latest reissues are coming from completely new master molds, and that the original molds have long degraded into uselessness. Though it is interesting to note that nearly every, if not every single release after Ultra Magnus was produced from that mold, which features slight pegs in the cab's front hubcaps (where they plug into the Magnus armor). Also of note is that the new head sculpt from the Music Label Convoy figures seems to be a size-reduced version of Masterpiece Prime's head, which brings the whole 'classic elements' discussion full-circle.

Generation One Optimus Prime is like the biblical Abraham, in that he's very much the progenitor of the entire Transformers franchise. If you don't own some version of this figure, your Transformers collection isn't complete.

Tags: commentary g1 optimus prime review transformers video

Posted by Dan on March 7, 2008 2:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)