Cliffbee.com 6" Titanium Optimal Optimus Toy Review

Individual Review




Name: Optimal Optimus
Series: 6" Titaniums
Allegiance: Maximal
Alternate Mode: Car

Thanks to kup for loaning me Optimal Optimus for this review (I have since acquired Optimal Optimus).



ATTACK CAR MODE
Height: 5cm Length: 19cm Width: 21cm

   An orange, burgundy, dark blue and silver rocket car, which looks nothing like any car you'll ever see. It's based on the "Attack Car" mode of Optimal Optimus, without the chrome on the blue and pink (now burgundy) pieces. The colours used here don't quite line up to those on the original, but they do achieve a similar look. The loss of the extensive chrome is expected, since this line focuses on die-cast metal instead. I'm more concerned with orange, which is clearly different on the plastic and metal parts. The cockpit window is yellow, rather than the colourless plastic used on the original, but other than that, the colours of the original are fairly well replicated here. I'm not going to hold the weird colour combination against this figure.

   This isn't quite the car we saw in the Transmetal era - the wings were meant to fold up on the sides originally but this toy figure is designer to display the wings, as in the plane mode of the original. Of course, this Optimal Optimus lacks a plane mode anyway. You can fold up the wings if you like, anyway. The other aspect that differs here is the gunrack on top - well, the lack of one. Sure there are no electronics in this line, but OpOp also misses out on the entire gunrack. Instead, the robot head - well the back of it - is very clearly visible. It does not stow well at all, sticking up noticeably. Perhaps the most annoying aspect here is the _Autobot_ logo stamped on the right fender. I would have preferred no allegiance symbol to the wrong one!

   There's little play value here. There are five plastic wheels underneath - one under the nose and four at the back, but the transformation joints will move if you press down with any force, The shoulder guns can be deployed on either side of the cockpit and you have the option of folding back the wings.

   This car mode is reasonably faithful to the original, but the changes made do hurt. I can live without chrome in the context of this line, but the top really needed the gunrack - even as an add on, and the Autobot logo is just plain careless. The car mode was never OpOp's best mode, anyway, if I had to choose one I would have asked for the gorilla mode, since it was the beast mode and would have asked for less of the toy's engineering - the alt mode is only here to support the robot mode anyway. It's not so much a bad execution, but a bad choice.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

   Extend the rear, split to form legs and fold up his feet. Rotate the rear wheels up and stand him up. Unclip the hands, pivot down the central block to form his chest, fold down the cockpit to form his chest, stowing the wheel underneath. Lift out the shoulder cannons and head, rotate the head around. Swing down and position his arms.

ROBOT MODE
Height: 14cm Width: 21cm

   Again the colours are a good approximation of those used on the Beast Wars toy, with a loss of chrome and two distinct shades of orange. Sadly the Autobot logo is back, on his right shoulder. I'm happy to report that kup has covered it with a Maximal logo sticker! The paint job is pretty good - the face is a highlight, since the entire thing is painted and there are at least three different colours. In this mode it becomes apparent that there are actually two shades of orange plastic - the hands are slightly darker than the orange elsewhere, which is weird. Again the colour scheme is odd, as it was on the original, and I don't feel it's fair to criticise this toy, which is carrying the colours over. I do wish the orange was all the same shade, however.

   The shoulder cannons are small silver things, and while they do resemble the colourless ones on the original toy, they no longer light up. The big shoulderpads are a lot smaller here, which actually looks better in my opinion - although it's not as faithful as you might hope for. Otherwise this is a pretty good reproduction. There's a lot of die-cast metal here, including the chest, chestplate, groin and the big boots.

   The poseability here is very good. The head turns, the shoulders swing and lift about 30° out to the sides, his elbows are ball joints while the wrists have rotators and hinges. His hips swing and lift out to the sides while the knees have hinges and rotators. His ankles fold back and he has huge footprints, so this toy will stand up without any trouble. Unlike many 6" Titaniums, OpOp doesn't have any real engineering problems. Oh, the stand has... an Autobot logo.

   A good robot mode, although it doesn't really offer anything that the larger version didn't. Sure we get die-cast metal, but the chrome is lost and the LEDs gimmicks aren't around. Half the appeal of the big toy was his massiveness, and at barely half the height, that no longer conveys. It's not so much that he displays poorly - Autobot logo aside - as he doesn't bring anything new to the concept.

VARIATIONS

   None that I'm aware of.

OVERALL

   Whilst Optimal Optimus isn't plagued with engineering problems like so many 6" Titaniums, the idea is just so unambitious. This toy does what it's meant to, but the original was all about play value, with four modes and electronics. The car mode really isn't enough on its own and while the robot mode displays well, it's not enough to make this a compelling figure if you have the original. I appreciate the fact that they're tried to incorporate more than just G1 characters into the line - but unlike BM Cheetor, this was not a figure that could be improved on at this scale. Transmetal Optimus Primal would have been a much better choice for me. Fine as a display alternative to the original, but not really interesting as a 6" Titanium - 5/10

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