Goddammit, why is this so good?! Everyone knows that glowing reviews make for dull reading...
The 2002/2003 Armada Optimus Prime toy, Superbase version
Anyways. I'm not going to talk about Armada Prime too much as a character. Partially because Optimus characters tend to follow a well-known archetype, and if you've spent any time at all with Transformers, you won't need that introduction. But also because I'm slightly more of a toy guy in this instance. This version of Prime was a showpiece for his toyline, and also a response to the Optimus of the previous line, Robots in Disguise or Car Robots in its native Japan. Like that toy, it had a super robot mode, was promoted primarily by a low budget anime, which received a rushed dub and a bunch of name changes when brought over. This new Prime, while having a clear lineage to the past versions, took an entirely different approach to the matters of play and transformation. He was stuffed with electronics, with the cab functioning as a wireless controller to the trailer, which had a motorised transformation and too many other things to quickly summarise here. Posability and general complexity were greatly reduced however, especially in comparison to the Beast Era which had only just ended. Armada's overall design philosophy was more like late-G1 and Micromasters, just with a lot more electronics and geared action features. It probably didn't help that Armada Prime was the first actual, no qualifiers, attempt to remake Optimus Prime. Many vocal collectors were put off, although actual children and their parents loved it. At the time, it wasn't for me either, and largely still isn't. I was still getting back into Transformers, and I have the probably autistic trait of not liking noisy toys. So I never rolled the dice on that mould. But I did get the smaller "supercon" release, which favoured articulation, and has aged very well.
The other 2002/2003 Armada Optimus Prime toy, the supercon version, AKA "Bendy Prime".
Now, I could do a mode by mode breakdown, but that's not what's really important here. We've had one deluxe Armada revamp, one voyager, and one leader, so the trend should be fairly obvious at this point. I.e. a toy that evokes those early 2000s pieces, with influences from the animation, but one with a significantly different design philosophy. While mini-cons seem to be coming back for exclusives, they aren't present here, and neither are the vast majority of gimmicks or play features. Rather, you get one or so extremely characterful gimmick, to go with Legacy's general baseline of articulation and 5mm port functions. This makes the resulting toys better as actual transformers and action figures than their source material, if being less fun on the "listable features" level. It's just the numbers, Armada toys had a lot going on, whereas Legacy toys don't usually. Thus, Armada Prime is a decidedly more po-faced and collector-oriented than the original, discarding basically everything vaguely gimmicky in favour of looks and meaningful articulation. Despite that, it did please my inner child immensely, with that joyous feeling of things tabbing solidly into place, clicking of big ratchets, thinking that you don't need instructions, then you actually do, and you think, yeah, I see what they mean now. You know, that "Christmas Morning" feeling when you've been looking forward to something for ages, and it's actually better than you thought it would be. And I admit I was looking forward to this. But I think my enjoyment, and indeed the positive reaction from the fandom, goes beyond it's self-evident merits. This is not merely Armada Prime as we remember him, nor as he actually was. This is something better, and something the 2002 toy could easily have been in the first place.
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As mentioned, the original toy was characterised by having a lot of electronics and a motorised transformation. There's nowt wrong with that as a concept, there is more than one kind of fun after all, but compromises were made. The trailer amounted to a set of panels that stood up to create an immobile set of legs, while the cab was simple and not especially posable. If we consider the tactile act of transforming a toy to be an important part of the experience, and most of the time it is, the original was lacking in execution. It didn't lack for ambition, and it certainly wasn't lacking for creativity, but maybe they looked at the famously fiddly Car Robots moulds and over-corrected? This new toy almost feels like something that could have been made back then, and despite lacking in play features, the amount of fun remains high. This is because, when you get right down to it, having a Prime combine with his trailer to make a bigger robot mode for improved arsekicking is pretty fucking awesome, especially when everything else about the toy is on point. This toy simply feels as good as it looks.
Is this a perfect toy? No, there's a few odd places where omissions become very notable in contrast with the high level of quality otherwise. He has a matrix for example, but the inner robot mode lacks a means to hold it. It's base mode is fine, but like most such things is kinda forgettable. You might want to change the eye colour and there's the occasional hollow bit, but usually in places where it doesn't hurt. But the fact of the matter is that, as far as mass market releases go, it's not being bettered any time soon. Think of it like the average Combiner Wars team right? It's took a while for them to do it, expectation was high, and you can certainly nitpick or get 3rd party add-ons. But even so, they nailed it, and attempts to do the same since have felt like a sidegrade rather than an upgrade. Or however you want to qualify the Legacy Stuntacons. I would not be surprised if something similar happened with this chap.
My point? Only that Armada Universe Optimus Prime is something that exists. I kinda want to call it Transformer of the Year, but I'll hedge my bets and not do so. Because if they do put something better than this at retail? Goddammit I want that too.
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