Help a newbie please

[dragonfall5]

Hi,

As the title suggests I am new to all this Transformers business - at 38 I was just to old to get into the toys first time around. Beer and girls got in the way (in that order too, if I remember correctly).

However, I had something of an epiphany last year when my four-year-old son bought home a Beast Machines Jetstorm from a charity shop. I just fell in love with it - it was a cool jet plane that turned into a cool robot. What's not to love?

Anyway, a few months on and my son and I have a very modest joint collection cobbled together from a few charity shop finds and some of the Classics line, which has just blown me away.

I don't have an Optimus Prime figure yet and was hoping for some help with what would go well with my other Classics figures. I've ruled out the Classic Voyager version as I already have the Ultra Magnus repaint and don't want to pay £20 for essentially the same figure. I was looking at the Robot Masters version and was pretty impressed - what do you experts reckon to it (or any other options)?

Thanks in advance,
Vince

[Carn]

Personally I don't like the Robot Masters version. The mold looks like a cheap knock off to me (as do the Seekers in that range, which the Classics ones made redundant) but seems decent enough if you want it. For G1 Prime maybe the 20th Anniversary though it is expensive and has a couple of QC issues but it can still be displayed nicely as far as G1 renditions go theres nothing better (if you wanna be extravagant and moneys no object you could get the Japanese Masterpiece version and even go for the one that comes with a trailer too). For G1 inspired there's nothing better than the Classics Voyager in my opinion. You've said you'd rather not pay the same for whats the same mold but it really is good and the colors very striking, and I love posing the Prime and Magnus versions together. They make a great double act My personal favorite OP currently is the Leader Class Movie Prime though it might just be a bit too different for some peoples tastes. I love it myself.

If you wanted a classic (not Classics) incarnation then you could just get the original Optimus Prime (whether first edition or reissue) but they tend to cost a bit for ones in good condition and complete and they aren't very articulated if you're used to more modern TFs. They make good display pieces though as does the G1 Powermaster Prime.

Anyways thats just my opinion and preferences on various Primes.

( I left out RID, A/E/C and several others )

[sonny]

Buy the 20th anniversary edition optimus prime. He's only £50 and he is probably the best toy you will ever lay your hands on.

However he is rather big and will dwarf most of your other figures, so it depends on how big you want your optimus to be. The classics double pack with prime and megatron is pretty good. He looks like junk in truck mode but in bot mode he's really good, very poseable and very G1. Those twin packs are going cheap now so you should be able to find one.

[Carn]

sonny said:

Buy the 20th anniversary edition optimus prime. He's only £50 and he is probably the best toy you will ever lay your hands on.

'only' £50...

and mines leg came off... which after speaking with a couple of people and checking out some other sites is a common thing with the european version of this toy apparently. Still slots in for good display thing. It's just annoying when transforming.

[sonny]

switchblade said:

sonny said:

Buy the 20th anniversary edition optimus prime. He's only £50 and he is probably the best toy you will ever lay your hands on.

'only' £50...

and mines leg came off... which after speaking with a couple of people and checking out some other sites is a common thing with the european version of this toy apparently. Still slots in for good display thing. It's just annoying when transforming.

£50 is cheap for this toy IMO. Its by far the best toy of prime ever made and as far as the leg goes i have had no problems with it nor have i heard of any till you mentioned it.

Just be sure to buy the 20th anni version, and not the dvd version with the talking stand as that version sucks the big one and costs more!

[Carn]

I dunno. I still feel it's overpriced. And to be honest I'd prefer it was made of plastic instead of mostly metal. It's own weight counts against it and makes a lot of potentially cool poses really hard to do as he flops over too much. It's a great figure in many aspects but I'm just disliking it more each day as its faults just bug me more and more. I think I'll keep mine but if I felt then what I feel now about it I don't think I'd get it. Thing which cinched the deal for me was that it was included as buy one get one half price thing which made my movie Leader Prime only £20

[Hellhound]

If your prepared to splash out £50 quid for Anniversary, i'd suggest going the whole hog & getting an Masterpiece version.

I agree with NHR, £50+ is a lot to spend on a toy (he says, nervously glancing at the reissue Predaking & MP 'Scream on a nearby shelf). Saying that MP / Anniversary prime is the prime.

I also agree with NHR, Classics prime is the best reasonably priced 'G1' Prime. Wouldn't touch the Battle in a Box Prime with a 10ft barge-pole & i'[ve never seen Robot Master Prime in the flesh, but the pics never floated my boat, if they did, i'dve bought it by now.

If you wanted an 'alternative' Prime, I'd suggest hunting for G2 Laser Rod Prime, which has a good rep, although i've never owned it. It was reissued in Japan last year & a new one is £30 ( www.neonmartian.com/product.asp?numRecordPosition=1&P_ID=515&strPageHistory=cat&strKeywords=&SearchFor=&PT_ID=148 ). Or if you fancied a bit of Ebay searching there's always Combat Hero Prime, which is one of my favourite TFs full stop ( www.cobraislandtoys.com/tf/1994/optimusprime-g2.html )

[Starscreams Ghost]

tesco's has the prime vs megs classics pack for £15 now

it's a pretty nice prime in that package

might even get one myself

[sonny]

las said:

If your prepared to splash out £50 quid for Anniversary, i'd suggest going the whole hog & getting an Masterpiece version.

I agree with NHR, £50+ is a lot to spend on a toy (he says, nervously glancing at the reissue Predaking & MP 'Scream on a nearby shelf). Saying that MP / Anniversary prime is the prime.

I also agree with NHR, Classics prime is the best reasonably priced 'G1' Prime. Wouldn't touch the Battle in a Box Prime with a 10ft barge-pole & i'[ve never seen Robot Master Prime in the flesh, but the pics never floated my boat, if they did, i'dve bought it by now.

If you wanted an 'alternative' Prime, I'd suggest hunting for G2 Laser Rod Prime, which has a good rep, although i've never owned it. It was reissued in Japan last year & a new one is £30 ( www.neonmartian.com/product.asp?numRecordPosition=1&P_ID=515&strPageHistory=cat&strKeywords=&SearchFor=&PT_ID=148 ). Or if you fancied a bit of Ebay searching there's always Combat Hero Prime, which is one of my favourite TFs full stop ( www.cobraislandtoys.com/tf/1994/optimusprime-g2.html )

I have an original Laser rod prime, he is a great figure but has no G1 features and this guy wants something that is G1 related.

Hot rod: I like the metal on MP Prime. It adds a level of quality to the figure that so many lesser figures just lack. I like the diecast construction, i prefer die cast in my TF's as i feel like i get more value for my money. Metal is better than plastic any day. I will agree the weight makes him flop over in certain poses but every figure does that as they have no balace, just gravity. Some poses are impossible because of that so you need to learn each toy's poseability limits.

[Galvy]

or even go on ebay and get yourself a real g1 prime.
different prices for different condition/accessories

[sonny]

las said:

If your prepared to splash out £50 quid for Anniversary, i'd suggest going the whole hog & getting an Masterpiece version.

I agree with NHR, £50+ is a lot to spend on a toy (he says, nervously glancing at the reissue Predaking & MP 'Scream on a nearby shelf). Saying that MP / Anniversary prime is the prime.

I also agree with NHR, Classics prime is the best reasonably priced 'G1' Prime. Wouldn't touch the Battle in a Box Prime with a 10ft barge-pole & i'[ve never seen Robot Master Prime in the flesh, but the pics never floated my boat, if they did, i'dve bought it by now.

If you wanted an 'alternative' Prime, I'd suggest hunting for G2 Laser Rod Prime, which has a good rep, although i've never owned it. It was reissued in Japan last year & a new one is £30 ( www.neonmartian.com/product.asp?numRecordPosition=1&P_ID=515&strPageHistory=cat&strKeywords=&SearchFor=&PT_ID=148 ). Or if you fancied a bit of Ebay searching there's always Combat Hero Prime, which is one of my favourite TFs full stop ( www.cobraislandtoys.com/tf/1994/optimusprime-g2.html )

Dude, a takara masterpiece prime is like £70, and its exactly the same as the 20th anni version just the latter has battle damage paint and neutored smoke stacks. The extra £20, and god only knows how much for shipping isnt worth the takara name and longer smoke stacks, especially when you can by replacement die cast ones on ebay like i did.

[Hellhound]

Hasbro quality control is shoddy. Sure, it's got better the last few years but there's still too many messy paint apps and dangerously loose ball joints. Saying that the Movie stuff has been of the highest quality. Anyway, back to Prime.

Takara packaging circa MP1 is quality. Proper, thick cardboard, classy black with shinny pictures, none of your crappy plastic here. And if you really want to push the boat out buy MP04 & get the trailer.

But i think we'd all agree that MP/Anni Prime is worth picking up whatever version. You could even do what i did & buy Ultra Magnus instead.

As for G2, 1) it is a continuation of G1... ergo, Laser Rod Prime is the same character as ya G1 Prime, and 2) it has the Prime head & windows on the chest, it has no more or less 'classic' Prime hallmarks than any other Prime toy. I mentioned it merely as an option. I see no one has mentioned HS-02...

[Xbot]

go for the Masterpiece, best toy ever!!!