Weaponizer Optimus Prime

Presenting the Weaponizer Optimus Prime from the Transformers Prime toy-line.

I'm personally not sure if this particular incarnation of Optimus Prime is canon. But given the fluid nature of Transformers as has been manifested in both the cartoons and the movies, I would not put it beyond Prime's abilities to manifest a pair of chain-guns.

And I've always thought that Optimus Prime is a bit under-gunned. Those big-broad shoulders definitely have room for additional weaponry. God-Ginrai showed us how cool it looked. But shoulder mounted weapons for Optimus Prime did not truly manifest. It took third-party groups to produce shoulder mounted weapons for Prime, particularly the Gears of War-2 Pack and the TAW-Sword:

Weaponizer Optimus Prime's blister card reads: "Few Autobots carry as much raw firepower as Optimus Prime. He does not deploy the full measure of his strength often, but when the fight against the Decepticons is at its worst, you can rely on the leader of the Autobots to rain fire down on the evil robots." I'm not really sure why Prime feels the need to hold back, and even when he doesn't - like in this case, his Fireblast is still only rated at a 9, not a 10. His stats are:

• Strength 10
• Intelligtence 8
• Speed 7 
• Endurance 10
• Rank 10
• Courage 10
• Fireblast 9
• Skill 8

 What's to like about the Weaponizer Optimus Prime?

The packaging claims that Weaponizer Optimus Prime has four modes, but let's face it, he has two modes and the ability to produce really-big-guns - which is the coolest thing about him. 

That and the fact that he's a Leader Class Optimus Prime - the first of the Transformers Prime series if I'm right -  towering over his Voyager Class Counterpart and his Cyberverse version. 

Let's start with his truck mode. 

Weaponizer Optimus Prime's truck mode is pretty solid. Nothing remarkedly different from his smaller versions - they all tend to be pretty spartan and bare:

Now if you pull the engine grill down - with some difficulty, the lock is quite in there - you get another set of panels covering the engine - where the radiator should be. You can pull these panels down to reveal the chain guns, but there really is no need to:

Press the gray button on the upper left-hand side (Driver's side for US based drivers), and Optimus Prime's twin chain guns come spinning out accompanied by a flashing red light underneath the cab.

Now if you saw that running down the highway headed for you wouldn't you swerve out of the way?

Moving on to his robot mode. There are some pretty blatant issues that we have with this form, but we'll discuss these later.

It looks pretty solid. It's detailing is again no more different than its smaller counterparts. Though as a Leader Class Autobot, he is quite an imposing figure.

Articulation is unfortunately so-so. The arms are fine: Shoulders, wrists, upper arms and elbows are all there and working. Unfortunately, unlike his Voyager Class Counterpart he cannot twist his waist or any part of his torso, so over-all pose-ability is lowered. He's also quite top heavy so his legs have to be placed just right to compensate for the heavy load.

Pressing the little yellow button on the lower left side of his torso releases the lock that activates his chain-guns that pop out from behind him and fall back on his shoulders automatically while a bright red light flashes from the center of his chest. The result is an Optimus Prime with chain-guns and a pair of wicked looking horn like armor plates jutting from his back.

Now is that cool or what?


 What's NOT to like about the Weaponizer Optimus Prime?

Unfortunately, a freaking lot. Where to start?

Oh from the top.

• His head. Weaponizer Optimus Prime cannot turn his head without lifting his chin slightly. He practically has no neck and his head is almost flushed to his torso. At first I thought that it was suffering from the same problem that his Voyager version was suffering, but a quick screwdriver to the head revealed that there was no quick remedy to this problem. 

• Next is that big back-pack hiding his chain-guns. it makes Optimus Prime top-heavy with a tendency to the lean backwards. 

• Did you see something else wrong with that image? The back of his legs is dismally open and under-detailed. There are many ways that Hasbro could have filled that in.Those gaping holes looks even worse in truck mode. It makes me wonder if Hasbro left these portions so exposed because they have a trailer coming. I so hope they have a trailer coming because right now it looks terrible. There isn't even a place to hide his ion cannon. You have to mount the Ion Cannon on one of the mech-tech ports on his side. 
• Speaking of Ion-Cannons, his Ion-Cannon is the same size as the Voyager Class Ion Cannon. Hasbro couldn't be bothered to give him a bigger one. 
• Speaking of holes. In truck mode, once the chain-guns are brought out, you can see through him:

• That's not yet considering the big gash running from his groin to his chest that you can place a sword in. A leader with a hole in his chest is not very inspiring. The re-set lever for his chain-guns is unnecessary. You can push the chain-guns back to storage position. The only real reason why I think Hasbro put the reset lever is so that people would try the chain gun while Weaponizer Optimus Prime was in his packaging (Not very sanitary by the way, if you get one, remember to wipe it with alcohol). 

The Weaponizer Optimus Prime from the Transformers Prime toy-line is available on Amazon for US$ 29.99 (PhP 1,289 plus shipping) and is powered by a pair of A76 Alkaline batteries (included). I purchased this particular Weaponizer Optimus Prime at Toy Kingdom in SM Fairview for PhP 2,229.75 (US$ 53 - so I got robbed). It's a cool version of Prime, but severely lacking in detail. It's almost like a child's toy.