What's up, gang! We rollin' out or what?
So, the Siege has ceased and Earth has risen
as the second chapter of the War For Cybertron trilogy swoops in, ditches the whole Cybertron angle,
and takes us straight back to Earth, where it's safe.
Seriously, I suppose Siege's spacey sensibilities were just too spicy to keep up two years in a row
seein' as how its sexy successor, Earthrise, is packin' the most strenuously straight-ahead
nostalgia-service design style we've seen since, like, Hard Hero.
I mean, if Universe '08 was "G1 but modern",
and Siege was "G1 but cool",
then Earthrise is "G1 but again".
I mean, I do like the look of it, but...
we're even doin' a lot of the same characters we just did!
Hasbro, I support you. You know this. But you'll forgive me if I sit a LOT of this out, yeah?
And what could so snarky an intro lead to but the brand new Generations Optimus Prime
which is eerily similar to the brand new Generations Optimus Prime I was hypin' up about this time last year
which I liked, but mildly resented for being so agonisingly not quite what I wanted,
which was pretty much this.
What am I, a schmuck?
But, y'know, let's be cool! Let's try and stay impartial. It's the big new Optimus Prime!
Let's try and look at it with the naïve eyes of the casual consumer
who sorta remembers what Transformers were before the live-action movies overwrote everything.
BEEP BOOP. FAMILIAR THING SIGHTED.
DISSEMINATING CURRENCY.
Sorry. I just -- I feel like I got got here.
But yes, look at this! Earthrise Optimus is certainly something to behold!
It is, without embellishment, the purest possible updated version of Optimus Prime!
All right, thanks for watching! Like and subscribe and ring the bell
Sorry, sorry! Like - literally, that's what this is!
I mean, with Earthrise I honestly get more of a micro Masterpiece vibe than anything,
just as faithful as possible to the original toys and shows, with full modern engineering
but at supermarket prices.
So come on, let's check out this cheeky chiefbot, 'cos the overall design's gorgeous, obviously!
Just a proud and powerful papa bot lookin' positively peerless in his scrumptious scarlet and ballsy blue,
sculpted for the Gods and without a Siege smudge in sight! Hallelujah!
I feel like there's some slight proportional weirdness though - like, is it me or is that a lot of leg?
Torso's totally tight though, with stunning steely-blue truck tiddies
and a heckin' pectoral precipice over that slinky waistline.
Touch of unwieldy wheel weight just above his butthole, that doesn't look ideal
and also sorta stops his waist from fully flexin', but that's literally the only real problem with it.
Like, both with the look and with the movement, is just this one assflap.
We'll live.
'Cos it's otherwise basically flawless!
Posin' goes super hard with every joint - it does the lot and looks dope doin' it!
Like, the legs are ludicrously long and limitlessly limber,
lookin' legendary with the twin shin wheels and shiny thigh backs.
Arms have definitely got the look down - just chunky red oblongs and why not -
but they are a smidge stubby, so he can't quite do the opening-the-chest pose until it's already open,
neither can he quite reach the second handle on his gun.
Like, it would be cool if he could double-hand it like a proper boss, but he's just too damn stumpy.
But like, do you know how great it is having fingers on a figure this size?
It looks so much more natural and expressive - just one extra piece, one hinge, and it changes everything!
Hardest working fingers in town!
...is what they call your mum.
But yes, glossed over those accessories real quick there, didn't we?
So naturally he's got a massive gun which is thick as hell and all about the girth
- again, like your mum -
and you can fold it away for easy backpack stashage, but I've never quite got it to go all the way down
...unlike your mum.
And what's this within the windows but the Matrix!
JOHN MATRIX.
It's kinda good, I suppose! It's quite nicely made. Cheeky bit of light piping, love that.
But sadly his sickly servos are just too short to reach in and do the "darkest hour" pose
although I guess that's more of a Rodimus thing, right?
so he just has to kinda swing it around in his hand like it's his ID.
And as if that ain't enough, he's also packin' a plain but practical shield
and a rash of Siege omni-combat ports for what is technically backwards compatibility!
Because did you know it's actually in the constitution that Optimus Prime owns every gun?
I know!
Anyway, Earthrise Optimus Prime certainly holds his own against the other recent Optimus Prime from Siege
- BOTH Optimus Primes from Siege -
AND the one from the Studio...
God, been a heck of a 12 months for Voyager-ish Optimus Primes, huh.
Damn, boi.
DAMN BOI, HE THICC! BOI!
THAT'S A THICC-ASS BOI!
But we should probably bring the Siege guy back in 'cos they are basically twins.
Not strictly identical twins, but twins.
Like, the torsos are definitely different and the lower legs are definitely the same.
They are retooled a bit here and there, but they've still got all the internals
from where the Siege one's wheels flip around to the other side, even though this guy doesn't do that.
Whatever.
Swear down the heads are the actual same component though
and, I mean, why not? What would you change?
But there does seem to be a little less sparkle in the Earthrise guy's eyes
'cos they haven't painted the space between them
and as complaints go, that's a pretty minor nitpicky nerd-ass one,
but it still is one.
But I can't deny they've played an absolute blinder here, lads! This robot mode's honestly as good as it gets!
Just a beautiful bit of blatant geekbait that knows what you want and knows that you want it.
SpecTACular.
Alright, sidebar real quick - let's do the box!
So Earthrise is doing a new "secret content" thing with like a starmap, where you search for hidden planets
using a red see-through decoder!
Remember these, people over 30? Yeah ya do!
And I don't fully get the astronomy thing? I'm sure it'll sort of reveal itself over time
but isn't it a bit heavy on the nostalgia focus to bring THESE back too?
I already said I like it! You don't need to give me literal rose-tinted glasses!
Oof, bit warm, mate! Whoofh.
Here's what I really wanna know, though - why's he packaged like THAT?
Like, I saw this on websites and that and I kind of assumed there'd be something in the way down there
like an accessory pack or just a bit of the inner package
but there's nothing! So what is it? An alpha move?
Is he taking up space to establish dominance like a Tory power stance?
Are they just messin' with us by making the Earthrise flagship figure stand like a dipshit for no reason?
WHY ARE YOU DOING THAT?
Transformation's ...breathtaking!
Like, I think we pretty much accept that the robot mode grille and the truck mode grille
can't be the same physical grille 'cos the shapes they need to be are so different now
so there's always gonna be a bit of cheating involved and the way this one deploys its falsehood
is so considered and clever!
I mean, this entire front panel's folded up like four times and tucked away deep in his core
and the way it works itself out is just mythical!
And the truck mode
...sure is a red truck!
Buddy, you're so good at being those.
It is a good 'un though - delightfully compact and flawlessly formed, those bright blue windows are ballin',
details are just pure divinity, all gorgeous techno panels and tiny paired bumps just like the original!
They didn't have to go THAT hard - but they did!
Little strange that the front and back wheels are different - I don't mind, I just noticed.
Back end's also a smidge weird! Like, it is good, it's got this little grey inter-leg island
with the hexagonal hitch - love that -
but because it's reworked from the Siege one but transforms differently,
it's just got this redundant second trailer hitch on the outside, like they just forgot to remove it.
and fair enough! I forgot to mention it in my Siege review because I somehow didn't realise it was there
but I also didn't make the toy.
What's your excuse?
Whatever. Free weapon port!
So while this is extremely good - and it IS extremely good -
it is very much in the Voyager size tier and yet it still demands Leader money thanks to the trailer!
And that's very much the play with the current Leaders:
they're more like high-quality Voyagers with a bunch of extra crap
and I wasn't sure whether Shockwave really sold it.
I haven't even looked twice at Astrotrain, and I love Astrotrain
so Prime's trailer's really gotta pull this one out of the bag!
I don't even really like trailers that much either! They're rarely THAT much fun unless you can do a super robot.
They're usually just a huge empty box I've gotta find space for somewhere.
This is real life, bro! They don't just disappear out of frame!
Ain't no subspace pocket dimensions around here! It's just stacks and stacks of boxes.
Which is why I actually really appreciate how space-efficient this one is!
Like, it's not immaculate - wheel sections are a smidge unsightly and it's pretty tight on steering clearance
but it hits right!
The stripes are perfect! It's got all the classic little inlaid greeblies!
It just blows me away. What do you want?
I'm no match for the fanservice!
And it does almost everything you want it to.
You got a little robot friend for standing repairs and snoozy siestas,
you can backpack it up for big guns and back rubs;
there's like weapon storage, couple of cheeky underside Siege ports,
can I get a Deluxe class Roller?
But I think one of the best-loved things about the trailer, even back to the Diaclone days,
was that you could sneak a couple of Autobot cars in the back,
but like, this trailer's smaller AND the cars are bigger
so you can pretty much just about squish Prowl in there
but everyone else is too awkward or too broad
or too everything.
I dunno. Maybe some of the upcoming Earthrise lads will fit
or maybe it's just designed for Legends class?
Are we still doin' those?
Also, the ramp door's got these peculiar little notches in the end, which presumably attach up to something?
I understand there's some kind of build-a-city thing on the go?
I dunno. I'll have to show you another time. Leave it with me!
But until that day, shield.
So yeah, good couple of weeks for big-ass truck reviews!
And like, this might sound daft, but I feel like this thing really GETS Transformers.
It understands where Transformers are at now and where the whole thing came from.
Like, it's a truck that is also a robot?
It's easy to get disconnected from how big a deal that idea was in the 80s
and what trucks even symbolised at the time,
'cos this is a TRUCK, man!
It's a truck man.
It breathes with the churning fires of industry!
The king of the open road, hewn from cold steel and cold beer to haul ass and take home cash!
Like, what do they call him in Japan? Convoy.
I think what I'm trying to say is that Optimus Prime's truck mode is a perfect representation
of the side of Optimus Prime that is a truck.
Yeah.
So overall, I gotta say I think Optimus genuinely justifies the Leader price
'cos it is a really goddamn nice figure
and while the trailer's a bit on the basic side, it does give him that rarest of things among modern Optimus toys:
a sense of completeness!
This is the full package!
This is, IMO, the definitive modern version of G1 Optimus Prime,
and if it's gonna be £45 rather than £22, then so be it!
I'd rather fork THAT much out than
THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIVE!?
ON SALE!!!!????
But... it is SO similar to the Siege one and it bugs the shit out of me!
I gotta say it! I gotta do right by 2019 Me!
This has gotta be THE most straight-ahead, honest-to- goodness G1 Optimus since, like, Classics '06!
They definitely could have pulled off a micro Masterpiece for a Voyager price point,
and just decided not to.
Oh, 2019 Me, you fool!
You mark!
You child.
Don't you see? This is what everybody wanted! Of course it is! And they knew it.
They had this waiting in the back pocket all along, didn't they,
and they released the stylised cyberspace version first on purpose, didn't they?
Because if this one had already been out in the world
then why the hell would we have bought THIS?
So, in that sense, Earthrise Optimus Prime feels in a very small way like a betrayal.
But in every other sense,
it's perfect, isn't it? I love it. Obviously I love it, don't I. Jesus Christ, they got me again.
Thanks for watching.
God damn it!
Okay! We have landed on Earthrise. Doesn't it feel good?
Massive Patron-y love this month to Umar Ali! You absolute champ.
Next time, baby!
Be sure to subscribe for more Thew's Awesome Transformers Reviews.
Limited appeal, keeping it real.