costco energon optimus prime

next misb - costco energon optimus prime with overload



rear view


enough of movie line & back to familiar territory. today i'm gonna write about another misb item & one of my favourite figure - costco energon optimus prime. i'm keeping this baby misb because its a store exclusive. store exclusive means that an item is only available at a specific store @ supermarket. in this case costco prime is only available at costco supermarket in the us. the loose figure photos taken from internet.
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left to right - armada prime, k-mart prime & powelinx prime


there are 2 other variant or armada prime beside armada (original) and this one - k-mart and powerlinx. k-mart is another store exclusive limited to k-mart supermarket. it comes with powerlinx jetfire and 6 minicons - longarm, comettor, sparkplug, dune runner, iceberg & ransack. it uses the same colour as armada except the cab is coloured gold.
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cab robot mode


matrix of leadership



left to right - corona sparkplug & sparkplug


powerlinx prime is a repaint of grey and red but mass release to the market. it comes only by itself but with corona sparkplug. i was undecided which repaint to pick so i asked by brother to decide. he chose costco because he said the colour scheme made prime looked like a samurai warrior. funny though because some reviews said that this prime looks like ronald mcdonald!.
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cab & trailer



combined with overload


costco prime is packed with costco overload and like most store exclusive both are repaints which means have different colour from the original figures. prime is in burgundy, black and yellow while overload is yellow & red. they are accompanied by rollout and corona sparkplug. this version of sparkplug is gold chromed as apposed to normal yellow plastic, another reason to get this figure. i still don't know why its under the energon line when it is a repaint of armada prime.
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base mode


combined with overload


because its an armada mold prime can combine with armada jetfire & overload (along with their repaints) to form megaweapon in robot, vehicle and base mode. eventhough its on par with leader class the transformation level is only 3. one reason is because of the automatic transformation gimmick of the trailer where it will automatically transform when you transform the cab...a very cool gimmick.
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superweapon mode


combined with overload


because i only have a deluxe version of armada prime i can't actually tell how the toy is. so i'll just summarize a review made by cliffbee (click me to read the review) :

cab
- new cab design
- plastic tires instead of rubber
- no minicon port
- simple transformation
- cab robot mouthplate is move-able
- limited articulation

trailer
- 4 minicon port on trailer
- simple design & transformation
- automatic trailer transformation (battery operated) when cad is transformed

base
- more than 7 minicon port in base mode
- LED light up & sound for console
- many move able parts etc seat, door


giant robot
- limited articulation
- right fist LED light up gimmick
- firing sound gimmick
- 1 minicon port on each shoulder
- blocky design

rotf optimus prime

rotf leader class optimus prime, finally


back view


finally managed to complete my assignments & can do a real posting. this time a little review about the leader class optimus prime from hasbro. i managed to get my copy before they were sold out everywhere.
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nice looking figure


face closeup, a nice tribute to g1 prime


so why buy a movie line figure when you don't like it? curiosity. many fellow blogger and forum members said that this prime was a good transformers figure and it was bigger and better than movie 1 prime. i also noticed that within two weeks of the toy launching prime was nearly sold out as appose to megatron who was becoming a shelf warmer. the more i read about it the more curious i was so finally i decided to buy one. the results were quite good.
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twin swords...distant cousin of wolverine?


solid plastic, nice feel


being a leader class prime is tall & big, nearly 1 feet tall. the figure is sturdy & solid. articulations are good; u can turn the head, move the elbows, knees and thighs. this makes prime a very poseable figure. by comparison this prime is better looking than the first which looks shorter and bulkier. prime is fitted with 2 swords attached to both arms and will flip out with a push of a button.
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side view


rear view


prime also comes with gimmicks. when you press the centre button his eyes & chest will light up and he will say 'i am optimus prime'. his is voiced by none other than peter cullen, the man who voiced prime in the original cartoons and in all 3 movies. parts of his chest also move, emulating the automorph technology. when you extend primes upper body the popular transformation sound will be produced.
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a confusing instruction manual


the box states that prime is a level 4 conversion figure which means the highest level in terms of transformation. the transformation was difficul not because of complexity but due to confusion. a clear example of this confusion involves positioning the arms when transforming to trunk mode. the manual showed that you need to twist and turn the arms several times before connecting them together. this video by takara tomy showed you only need to do so no more than 3 times! the manual also left out one step; once the arms are connected you need to push both arms close to the chest, otherwise you can't close down the truck hood. this is shown in the same video. so personally the conversion level should only be 3.
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trunk mode


a modern look for prime


rear view


like the robot mode the truck mode is sturdy and firm. the rubber wheels rolled very smoothly the truck looks impressive. in this mode there is only 1 gimmick; when a button on the back is pressed the windshields will light up accompanied by an engine roar sound.
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overal rotf optimus prime is a...prime figure. good design and articulations, nice gimmicks and solid feel makes this one good transformers figure. wonder how movie 3 prime will look like?

rotf buster prime

just a quick one, can't afford to do a full posting because haven't finished my assignments...and the due date is next sunday...sigh
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well according to tfw2005 website takara tomy will be launching a second version of leader class optimus prime called buster prime. so far its the same leader class prime but equipped with 2 blasters instead of swords. no detail information is available yet but i'm sure more will be reveal in the following weeks. click me for more info