Transformers: Legacy United Animated Universe Optimus Prime is Something That Exists

 

Animated Optimus Prime’s wiki picture

When you get right down it, Transformers: Animated was an anomaly. Effectively serving as a Plan B should the 2007 film fail, it didn't, Animated was by radical departure from the bayverse and Transformers in general. Animated stepped back from technical realism in favour of bright, dynamic, cartoony and above all else, characterful designs. The thing Animated did so well was creating Transformers whose mere appearance spoke volumes, only for the vocal performances and writing to utterly endear them to fans. Of course, that wasn't the only thing it did well, and I'd easily put it in the Top 3 Transformers media of all time. What Animated arguably did less well was the toys, the art style not being the easiest to replicate in plastic, and once the line concluded, Hasbro never tried something like that again. At least until Legacy got going and started drip-feeding those characters into the mix. Today I talk about the first voyager attempt.

The 2008 Transformers: Animated Optimus Prime toy, voyager class

 

So, Animated Prime, what's his deal then? Well, he's a fairly nuanced take on the archetype to be honest, with a debt to Optimus Primal. He's not the leader of the Autobots, Prime is a common rank in this continuity, and he's in charge of a Space Bridge repair crew. He's got the same idealistic, big good vibes as Optimi tend to have, but he's much lower in the hierarchy, and is depicted as young and inexperienced. Not the kinda guy you'd expect to be doing infrastructure. The precise reasons why he's in that command are actually very tragic, he's in disgrace, and his arc through the show is him overcoming that. This isn't an Optimus Prime that starts out at the top, in a rivalry with Megatron. Animated, though cut short, ends when he's god-damn earned that.

 

The actual toy then, and its vehicle mode first. Optimus' alt mode was honestly a bit ill-defined on screen and in plastic. He's more or less the front end of a scifi fire truck, although if you took the light-bar off, and you can here, you wouldn't know that. The show was a bit woolly about this, he had at least two trailers, but the actual toys didn't implement that. The original voyager had a functioning water cannon instead, for example. This new Legacy toy then focuses on the truck cab then, and its doing an OK job with it, but its not doing anything spectacular. On the plus side, it compares favourably with both the animation model and previous toys. There's a Generations greeblie filter being applied, but it passes the squint test. It not a Bulkhead or Skyquake situation, the likeness was prioritised here. There’s also some easily missed interior details, like a steering wheel, which is nice. The downside is however the feet, which ended up in the trailer hitch area and look a bit obnoxious, while the axe can stow but not integrate. The feet in particular are the subject of much speculation; there's a pair of slots there of no obvious use, prompting hopes of some Wingblade version down the line and the creation of at least one third party add-on set. This sort of visual flaw seems to occur a lot with modern primes, and I'd tolerate it more if something could obscure it, but this is at worst average as Legacy alt modes go. Shame about the production scars though.

If the truck form was more adequate than great, the robot form nails it. Lets talk about characterisation again. Optimus is a big guy, but big in a specifically heroic and cartoony way. He's very wide in the chest and arms, but thin in the legs and hips. He's a triangle of upper body strength, which is possibly more exaggerated here than in the 2d art, but its perfect for him. There's nowt brutish about it either, he's in bright, friendly colours, and most importantly, NO MOUTHPLATE. This adds so much, revealing his youthful face. Its a bit, umm, mainline Generations, but its him. He's Captain Carrot Ironfounderson, if he were a giant robot. And then there's the rocket axe. The vintage toys often didn't capture this right, but its perfectly replicated here with a blast effect port on the back, and an extending haft. This combines with the articulation to make a superlative robot mode. Its just about possible to do a two handed pose, and it presents posing options just not found in other toys. And its not just good articulation, its good articulation in service of character, and this robot mode has a lot of character. Maybe the forearms needed some details painted, but otherwise this is doing what it should with unexpected vigour. Oh, and its got the 5mm port thing covered.

 

In truth, Animated Optimus Prime was probably not the obvious choice for an update. Nowt wrong with him, and certainly someone you'd need eventually, but he's not one of the breakout characters from his show. And truthfully, even at the time, there were a lot of Optimus toys, and even more now. But this honestly impressed me. The altmode is at worst acceptable, and suffers from high expectations, but its doing OK. And the robot mode shines. While this toy seems to have gone under the radar and straight into discount, lost amongst so many other Primes, its well worth your time.