Toy Review - (JP) Animated Wingblade Optimus Prime
Toy Review - Takara Tomy Animated Wingblade Optimus Prime (TA-38)
Series - (JP) Transformers Animated
Size/class - Voyager plus armor parts
New/remould/redeco - remould
Wave - N/A
Released - 18 September 2010
Approximate Retail Price - N/A
Approximate Size - 20cm
Allegiance - Autobot
Alt-mode - Truck
Main Features/Gimmicks - water squirting gun, armor parts, translucent plastic, retractable mouthplate
Main Colours - red, black, blue
Main Accessories - gun, 'axe', Magnus Hammer, jetpack, two gauntlets and two shoulder cannons
My Comments:
(note: I'm no expert at photography)
Box: First off, I really like the box, very awesome, but getting the toy out of the packaging was annoying, too many twisty ties. He's the original voyager Prime with Wingblade armor parts.
Vehicle: I like it, you can have three 'configurations', one without anything on his back, one with his original trailer (the water gun) and one with the new Wingblade parts. He is cast in translucent plastic, except the siren where it's painted metallic red. I really like how they did something different with the base figure, instead of just the same one as the normal Takara Tomy Prime (which would have annoyed some people with duplication). The Wingblade parts are in metallic paint though. I find that the Wingblade parts arent as stable as the axe/gun since it only connects via one post. All in all, it's just a truck.
Vehicle - without trailer:
Vehicle - with normal trailer:
Vehicle - 'Wingblade' (front and back):
Transformation: I like the transformation, it's simple yet effective, and quite fun. The clear plastic of the base figure feels solid, and not brittle (to the point of breaking).
Robot: Dont like the axe (dont think anyone does), coz it doesnt look like one, but still nice they included it as it allows for some options. You do get the ability to store it onto his back. The clear plastic shines in this mode the most, and he's quite poseable. A flaw that I find is that his waist is too easy to turn, caused by the automorph-type waist transformation (as you twist the waist, it automatically folds for vehicle mode), it gets annoying when you're holding him in your hand and he twists around, wished it was a ratchet joint instead.
Robot
Plugging on his armor, you get Optimus Prime the way he was in the last two episodes of Animated, it's very show accurate. The metallic paint of the parts take away some of the clear plastic (so he's not as cool now when you hold him up to a light). The armor does take away some articulation, mostly the arms, as his gauntlets are quite big (they're not as bad as I initially thought as they looked huge in pictures). I do wish the wings didnt plug onto his siren at the back, taking it off requires a little bit of force, makes me worried I'll snap off the siren (as it's only a panel hinged at one end) every time I take the armor off. With the metallic paint, I feel that the parts would look a lot better on Takara Tomy's original Animated Optimus Prime, it would suit him a lot better (one thing I dont like about metallic paint is that once they're scratched, it's so obvious and wrecks the look).
One thing that disappoints is there's no way Optimus can store his other weapons all at once (as his back is taken up by the jetpack now), so you have to set the axe and gun aside (or just give it to some other toy to use...). He cannot hold either weapon as well since his gauntlet hands are spring loaded..., and the weapons are too heavy for him to grasp. The spring loaded hands makes it a bit annoying to make him hold the hammer, the hammer pegs into a slot in his hands. The head of the hammer is on a swivel, which is awesome. The shoulder missile launchers are really powerful on mine, went over half my room... Optimus looks much more bulkier and bigger with his armor on. I would think the armor would look a tad bit too big on the deluxe, it's perfect on the voyager.
Front:
Back:
General Pics:
It is quite difficult to get him to hold his hammer with both hands, as his gauntlets are big, the hands spring loaded, and if you want him to hold it above his head, his shoulder cannons get in the way.
Optimus looks really awesome next to Samurai Prowl (both having armor upgrades):
And finally, a size comparison:
Overall, an excellent toy, and I dont regret getting him at all although he did cost me a fair bit (relative to my spending habits anyway). I had high expectations of this guy, and he didnt disappoint me, which is something as I find stuff to complain about every single toy. If you're on the fence on whether to get this guy or not, I'll say get him if you have the means.
"sometimes the things you see might not be real and the things that are real you might not see"
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Originally Posted by funkyaw
Nice review as well.
