So the story behind this is that I wanted something to build in between Bandai’s Star Wars model kits. I put together a handful of Gundam models over a dozen years ago, but I didn’t necessarily want to jump into doing that again. There are tons of options for model kits that allow you to make action figures, but nothing really grabbed me. Then I saw a deformed-style Megatron. And I thought it was the cutest he had ever looked. I did some reading, and found that an Optimus had been released a few months earlier.
Well, that was it — I knew I had found what I was looking for. There seemed to be no cons (no pun intended) since they were pretty cheap, so I could get the main good guy and bad guy and have a nice little twosome. It would give me something to fiddle with while I’m waiting for the next Star Wars model kit, and I’d end up with a cool pair of adorable versions of Optimus and Megatron.
Yeeeeaaaaah… turns out there was a con: now I want more.
Luckily the jets are coming out later this year, so looks like I’ve got a new interest.
The build itself is fairly easy. They’re not as complicated as the Star Wars model kits, being fairly simplistic versions of the two figures, so the two of them took less than two hours total, broken up over two nights. There are only a handful of stickers, but as with any of the models you can easily paint the details you’d rather have painted on. Except for the Autobot and Decepticon symbols — you’re probably going to want to use the provided stickers for those, unless you’re a sadist. Which I kind of can be, but I opted for the stickers this time around.
I think one of the coolest things about these model kits is getting all the limbs together and then finally popping your figure together a part at a time, until it’s finally done. It makes you feel like one of Santa’s elves or something. Maybe that’s just me.
Both kits are well done with a high amount of articulation. They have ball-jointed heads, hinged and balled shoulders, swivel-ball elbows, ball-jointed wrists, ball-jointed waists, ball-jointed hips, ball-jointed knees, and ball-jointed ankles. In order to get a bit more clearance in their hips, you have the option of pulling their legs down so they can clear their little skirts.
Megatron comes with his fusion cannon, a purple energy flail than easily plugs into his hand, and three different face plates you can swap around by removing his head and sliding the plates in and out. That is perfect because Megatron is as expressive as can be and having him cruel, smirking or outright shouting his hatred of Autobots is awesome.
Megatron also comes with a small version of his gun mode, with an alternate handle that allows the ‘bot of choice to hold him in firing position.
Optimus is not the most expressive of ‘bots, so he misses out on the swappable faceplate deal. He does get an alternate pointer hand and his orange energy axe, plus his standard laser rifle. However, he does have an extra nifty little feature: if you tilt his helmet antennae back and forth, his mouthplate moves, simulating him speaking.
Optimus comes with a tiny version of his truck mode. They come in solid colors and there’s no stickers, so if you want it to look authentic, you will have to give it a paint job, which I did extremely quickly so don’t judge me. It looks like coming with their alt modes is going to be a standard thing with them. Gee — non-transforming Transformer action figures that come with a separate version of their alt mode. Sounds like the suggestion of a genius.
I fully realize these aren’t going to be for everybody. I think it’s the fact that I dig things like the Mighty Muggs and Funko’s Pop! vinyl series (though I barely own any of either), but I dig the aesthetic here. It’s like Widdle Optimus and Megatron could easily get into a fight on the playground or something.
Except with fusion cannons and energy weapons. Grade school was nothing like that when I was a kid. Which is a pretty huge shame if I think about it.
As sometimes happens, an impulse buy has turned into a fun endeavor, and a reason to spend more money on things. I’m looking forward to adding the jets to the collection, and hopefully there’s more to come after that.
Optimus is sold out at BBTS , low stock at Hobbylink and you can backorder him at Amiami.
