Toy Review - Generations Orion Pax

[GoktimusPrime]

Orion Pax
Series - Transformers Generations
Sub-line - N/A
Size/class - Deluxe
New/remould/redeco - new
Wave - 2
Released here - No
Approximate Retail Price - US$16 (approx. $22 incl. postage)
Approximate Size - 12.7cm up to top of head, 13.5cm up to top of panel behind the head
Allegiance - Autobot
Alt-mode - Cybertronian vehicle
Main Features/Gimmicks - It's Orion freakin' Pax! Comes packaged with a reprint of "Spotlight: Orion Pax" with an exclusive variation of the Retailer's Incentive cover
Main Colours - red, blue, grey
Main Accessories - ion blaster, Energon axe

Images (stock photos)
Robot mode
Vehicle mode

Pros
+ A wonderfully sculpted figure whose robot mode is a very close adaptation of Guido Guidi's design for IDW. The lower legs are different and he sports arm shields, but that's to accommodate the alt mode which isn't based on Guidi's design; I suspect to make it look more Earthen and marketable for kids. <shrugs>
+ There are a lot of nice paint decos on this toy, such as gunmetal grey on the head crest grill, bronze headlights, metallic silver on the front vehicle grill and fender, yellow on the roof lights and sculpted details on forearms (that is based on G1 Optimus Prime's Marvel/Sunbow model), as well as metallic yellow accents on the waist. Some people have noted that the metallic yellow doesn't match the yellow on the forearms and roof lights, but I don't mind. We know that Hasbro has historically had issues with yellows, but I don't see how it's a problem here. None of the yellows are that too bright as with Armada Hot Shot (and arguably Universe Sunstreaker, though he's nowhere near as bad as Hot Shot), and also none of them need to match up and connect w/ each other like the mismatching yellows on Animated Bumblebee. So who cares if the yellows aren't the same shade? Also, if you look at the way IDW coloured the yellow on the waist, it IS meant to be a glowing yellow, so making it a brighter metallic yellow on the waist makes sense, and I like how they've used a richer cadmium yellow for the other parts. It's something that Takara typically does, but it's great to see Hasbro doing it too.
+ The inside part of the chest that is visible through the window also features a red and white outlined Autobot logo. It's similar to what they did w/ the chest of TFPRiD Vehicon.
+ The ion blaster looks a lot of the original G1 Optimus Prime's rifle as it was drawn in the G1 cartoon/comics. Nice.
+ The Energon axe is also very nice, although the shaft is considerably longer than the way Guidi draws it; I suspect to allow the toy to use a two handed grip on it.
+ True to Guidi's model, the head looks like Machine Wars Optimus Prime's head.
+ The vehicle mode relies on having the arms form the upper part of the rear section, much like Beast Hunters Voyager and Ultimate Optimus Prime, but it works a LOT better on this toy than it did on BHOP. Whereas BHOP's arms just sit back there almost as an after though, Orion Pax's arms actually tuck in and slide down, locking into the legs and firmly forming the rear section of the vehicle. This makes the vehicle mode much more solid and convincing than BHOP's alt mode. There's actually quite a lot of interesting and clever elements to this toy's engineering which I find quite pleasing.
+ Speaking of BHOP; both the Voyager and Ultimate figure have unpainted hubcaps; Orion Pax's hubcaps are silver. Hooyeah!
+ Lots of neat articulation. The shoulders, upper arms and wrists are double swivel joints, the knees are single swivel joints, and the head, hips and ankles are ball-socket joints. 18 points of articulation (counting the wrists as single swivel because the secondary swivel is just there for the transformation).
+ I really like the way that a lot of the panels for the vehicle mode's sides and front section end up folding around the legs. Its a good way to use up the panel rather than just having it hang off somewhere as kibble, and really helps bulk up the legs. It does mean that the lower legs are the least comic-accurate... but I think it's an improvement over the comic model and makes Orion Pax look more "Optimus Prime" (who traditionally has chunky lower legs anyway ).

Cons
+ THE SHOULDERS! There are these two tabs on the side of the chest that the armpits are meant to slot into, but either the pegs aren't thick enough or the slots are too wide, so they don't lock in firmly. The left armpit on mine doesn't lock in at all! So the shoulders end up dislocating whenever I move the arms outward. Thankfully the toy is small enough that I can use one hand to 'pince' the shoulders in while moving the arm out with the other hand. But still a minor nuisance. Does anyone know an easy way to thicken tabs? I've heard using clear nail polish works... has anyone tried this with other toys?
+ There's some minor silver smudging on one panel on mine. Should be able to remove it with rubbing alcohol.
+ The toy has a clear part at the back of the head for light piping, but the eyes are painted a solid baby blue. If they're not going ahead w/ the light piping, then I wish that they would've used a solid dark blue for the back of the head to make it match the rest of the helmet. You'd think Hasbro would've learnt this by now...
+ Some parts of the transformation are tricky and the instructions are complete garbage and utterly useless in telling you how to transform it correctly.

Overall
An excellent toy; hopefully the shoulder issue is an isolated problem (lucky me, huh? ). Assuming that it is, I would highly recommend this toy.

[BigTransformerTrev]

Got 3 of this guy. One for me, one for my son Orion for his 5th birthday (in a bit over 4 years), and one to put away for his 21st birthday. Hopefully he will think it's cool he can get a toy of his namesake . Plus on the backing card the year is listed as 2012 which is the year he was born making it that extra bit special



Oh, and I quite liked the toy

[Bidoofdude]

Looks nice, want this guy. (that, and Hoist )

I think they put light-piping there anyway is for any redecos they do in the future, as well as Takara's deco, which may or may not have light-piping. Just my thoughts.

[i_amtrunks]

Okay truck mode, horribly boring transformation and a decent robot mode. He's nothing exciting that you have not seen before, and probably done better.

The comic he is packed in with is barely worth reading, the art is awful, the story wasteful and not likely to indice fans to start reading the comics.

Only if you are a completionist or a Prime/Orion fan.

[Lint]

Just got mine today. Overall I'm liking this figure more than I thought I would.

I bought it primarily for the accessories: I LOVE the Ion Blaster. It's about time they did one in the deluxe class. The axe is a welcome addition but it feels ultimately unnecessary for the character of Orion Pax. The figure also does a better-than-normal job with paint apps and I was particularly impressed by the sculpt and paintwork of Orion's head. Exactly how you would picture a young Optimus to look. Articulation and balance on this figure are also very good.

My only gripe with this toy is the truck mode. It's like it can't decide whether it wants to be a 20's art-deco saloon car or a Cybertronian pickup truck. I would have preferred if they went full-cybertronian on this one which would have been perfectly possible given the way the whole front end and sides of the vehicle shell-form. The weapons storage in this mode is handy but looks silly.