Dave's TRU Exclusive Transformers Rant

     Megatron/Powerlinx Optimus Prime Two-Pack

     Early in 2004, a number of Japanese-exclusive Superlink (Energon) toys
showed up, such as a smaller Megatron (because Takara apparently didn't think
they could sell the Super-sized version of a villain) and a "Standard"
(Deluxe) version of Prime (sold both with and without Kicker).  And while it
looks like Hasbro is bypassing the exclusive Microman Kicker toy in favor of
their own mold, they did bring "MiniMegatron" and "STD Prime" (two-pack
version with the chrome) here in the form of a Toys R Us exclusive two-pack,
in the Super sized box.
     After failing to find the set at TRU in my early September trip to
Topeka, I ordered it from Amazon.com.  

     http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Energon/Super2 for the original review
of Megatron.


CAPSULE

     Megatron/Powerlinx Optimus Prime: Megatron is a good resize of the
original, with full function and better sounds.  Prime is...a really
impressive effort.  Better than the original in some ways, but would be a
marginal Deluxe on its own.  Recommended if you don't have the $40 Megatron
yet, otherwise mildly recommended.  $24.99 (plus tax and shipping for a total
of $32.30) from Amazon.com.


RANT

     Packaging: The box is Super sized, but TRU apparently decided it would
sell better at $25 than $40, or something.  The paperwork pack has the Volume
2 comic/catalog, sigh.  It has separate two-sided instruction sheets for each
toy, and at least the Powerlinx Prime instructions are new.  There are no
techspec/bio cards, but it's pretty safe to assume they'd have the same stats
and stuff.
     The color scheme on the box is Powerlinx Battles, including the blue cog
logo on the right side.  Both are twist-tied to plastic trays on a cardboard
inner box, in robot mode.  Prime (and his art, etc) is on the left, Megatron
on the right.  Prime is listed as a silver cog combiner on both the front and
on the left side panel.  Megatron is not listed as a Decepticon or Terrorcon,
but it's pretty safe to assume he's a Decepticon.  On the front window
plastic is a sticker proclaiming the toy to be a Toys R Us exclusive, and the
first time this scale has been released in North America.  The bottom has
Omega Supreme as a co-sell.  
     On the back of the box, each toy is shown in both modes.  Also, an inset
in the middle bottom of the panel shows Prime powerlinxed both ways with
Rodimus.  Prime on top looks okay in the picture, but Prime on bottom looks
powerfully lame even with the "show it from the good side" picture.
     Megatron comes with LR44 button batteries included.  This is an internal
engineering change, since the full sized version needed AAA batteries.
     Most of the twist-ties are inaccessible at first.  Three big ties help
secure the plastic tray to its cardboard backing, but there's six taped tabs
as well, and all the rest of the twist-ties holding the figures are strictly
through the plastic tray.  The tank drone and sword for Megatron are secured
to the cardboard wiht a total of four more ties.  Getting the plastic tray
off is a pain, but kinda necessary, since not all of the twist-ties on the
figures are cuttable without risking damage to the figures.
     All told, Megatron and his accessories are responsible for ELEVEN
twist-ties and two rubber bands.  Prime is only to blame for five ties and
one band, clearly the good guy of this piece.
     Both figures are packaged in robot mode.  Prime's gun is not tied down
separately, rather it's held in his hand.


DECEPTICON: MEGATRON

     This is often called "Mini-Megs" or some variation on that, but it's
really not a lot smaller than the original, being an 83% size copy at 8"
(20cm) tall.  Of course, being 5/6 height means 125/216 volume and weight, a
significant savings (58% as heavy as the original if it's a straight
scaledown).  But who needs theory when you have an electronic scale?
Mini-Megs is 448g with all accessories, the original is 784g.  Given the
margin of error in my height measurements, looks like it has the same density
as the original (although I suspect the plastic is a little less dense and
the interior electronics aren't scaled down at all).  All Mini-Con Hardpoints
are full size, and the fist holes are larger so as to still be able to hold
stuff. 
     All the articulation remains, although the insanely stiff knees of the
original have been replaced by more reasonable ratchets.
     The color changes are subtle in some cases, and generally make the
figure look lighter in color.  I'll use the format here of "original's color:
new version's color".
     Medium blue plastic (i.e. fists, shoulders, kneecaps): dark blue plastic
     Dark blue plastic (wings, rear landing gear, horns): bright blue plastic
     Light gray plastic (torso, forearms, boots): lighter gray plastic
     Clear green plastic: lighter yellowish green plastic
     Clear colorless plastic (sword): same yellowish green plastic as above
     Really dark gray plastic (tank, thighs): no change
     Red paint: orange paint
     Copper paint (kneecaps and toes): yellow paint
     
     The tank paint apps are the same, as are Megatron's abdomen and
Decepticon symbol.  His face is now matte powder blue with orange eyes.  The
metallic green paint of the original's shoulders is replaced by yellow in a
slightly different pattern.  There are metallic yellow-green paint
applications on the weapon ports of the wings that have no counterpart on the
larger version.  And where the pop-out guns for the original's Hyper Mode are
clear green plastic with dark blue paint on the edges, the guns are solid
bright blue plastic on Mini-Megs.
     Transformation is, of course, the same.  However, things are a little
less solid (easier to slide bits out of place while trying to get another
thing into place).  Once in jet mode, you can see that there's a little less
paint on this version.  No dark paint on the nose guns, and no silver paint
inside the now light gunmetal gray ares where the tank drone connects.
     [Later note: the shoulders on Mini-Megs are geared together internally,
so pulling out one makes both emerge, unlike regular Megatron.]
     The tank drone has some structural differences in addition to the
earlier mentioned change in batteries.  The cannon barrel does not seem to be
removable (I stopped short of "break it off" force), so you can't do the
"under the arm barrel" trick.  The batteries have one of those "pull out to
use" tabs, and it can be re-inserted when you get annoyed by the sounds.
     [Later note: a reader who disassembled his drone confirms that the
barrel is held in place by two screws.]
     Both sounds have been changed, thankfully for the better.  The launcher
sound is more of a "whoosh-crash" sound instead of the teeth-grinding
beedeedeedeedeek of the original.  And the sword sound is actually a sword
clashing sound, not a weird electronic swoosh.  While the sword still lights
up via a red LED when the sound is activated, the second LED behind the clear
plastic Decepticon symbol is gone.


AUTOBOT: POWERLINX OPTIMUS PRIME

     Okay, this is an all-new mold that's designed to look as much like the
core part of Supreme combiner Prime as possible while also being a silver cog
combiner instead.  It was sold solo as well as in a gift set with the
Microman Kicker figure and a special gold chrome Energon Saber.  [Later note:
the two-pack version had metalflake shiny paint, but both versions have the
chrome grille/bumper.  Only in the prototype pics did the solo version lack
chrome.] 

     Vehicle Mode: Okay, he's packaged in robot mode, but I'm gonna start in
vehicle mode anyway.  At 4.75" (12cm) long, it's a generally shrunk down
version of the core "Fatimus Prime" vehicle found in the Super-level Prime
set.  For reference, he's about 70% the size of the original, representing a
more severe downsizing than Megatron.
     While they probably could have made a better vehicle mode if they tried,
the intent was clear here: duplicate the original as closely as possible,
within the limitations of making it a Silver Cog combiner.  They do a pretty
good job of that, although they had to change how the robot head is gotten
out of the way, and raise the trailer hitch point to make sure it could still
hook up to the rolling rhomboid.
     Of course, they're doing a good job of copying a lousy vehicle mode, but
hey.  
     The front bumper and grille are silver chrome, with blue paint on the
headlights (thin enough that they still look chromed) and the bumper stripes
(really thick).  Most of the pieces that were white plastic on the original
are clear dark blue here, with paint as necessary (so the windows are
transparent, if darkly tinted).  The robot fists are the main exception.
Most of the "fixtures" (spark crystal, gun rack, etc) are the same, but
there's two dead Hardpoints on the robot arms (only a few things could fit
well on them in this mode) and six 5mm pegholes: trailer hitch, gun rack, a
perpendicular one on either side of the cab and slanted-forward holes on the
gas tanks.  I suspect these holes are intended for placing rear-facing
weapons or exhaust pipes.
     The robot head just sort of sits between the robot arms, but at least
they point out to rotate the inner head around so that the face is hidden by
the super-mode helmet.  The helmet is a solid piece, and cannot unfold into a
radio dish.

     Transformation to and from Robot Mode: Very close to the Super
version's, except that the feet are single pieces (rather than two flaps) and
peg to the underside of the hitch, and the head is not stored inside the
cab.  Because the fists don't retract, it's a little tricky getting the arms
into position for the vehicle mode, but pulling them back out is no realy
hassle.  
     Officially, the rear wheel section folds down over the butt, and the
thunder thighs stay in place.  I find it looks better, though, if you rotate
the rear wheel section so it folds up into a backpack (this requires some
creative positioning of the helmet, though) and pull the thighs down into
boots as per the Pants Mode.

     Robot Mode: 5" (13cm) tall at the head, compared to 7" (18cm) for the
original.  The robot mode is about 75% the size of the original, which would
be inconsistent with the vehicle mode size-down, except that the lack of
electronics allows the smaller version to have a less-deep torso.  The torso
thinning doesn't change the robot height, but it does affect the vehicle
length.  
     Poseability is good.  The head turns with the helmet off, but not with
the helmet on.  The shoulders are universal joints (although the
transformation hinge is rather loose, so the whole arm may swing back when
you try to pose it), the elbows are stiff hinges and the wrists can swing in
and out (part of the PL mode transformations).  There is no upper arm swivel,
but the bigger version didn't have that either.  Between the shoulder and
forearm block, the arms are clear dark blue plastic, which looks pretty
neat.  Hips are universal joints, but the front wheels don't swing out of the
way to allow sideways motion...move the legs out too much and the torso just
splits apart (the grille is supposed to peg onto some bits and hold the torso
together, but the chroming makes the fit poor).  There's thigh swivels, hinge
knees, and in official mode the ankles hinge for transformation (the other
joints all work regardless of whether you have the tanks up as thighs or down
as boots).  However, because of his topheavy nature, he can't stand in poses
that are too dynamic.
     The head is proportionately smaller on this version, and that's actually
a good thing.  The smaller head actually reduces the "Fatimus" visual effect,
and sliding the tanks down the legs helps even more.  Oh, it's still not my
favorite Prime by a long shot, but it actually looks acceptable on its own.
It doesn't NEED the PrimeForce drones attached.
     On that subject, while a lot of the details for connection are there
(such as the clip grooves on the shoulderpads), you can't actually connect
the drones to this version of Prime.  The connection parts are too small, and
the extrema are too big (feet don't fold as flat, fists have bit hardpoints
sticking out of them).
     PLPrime has Swiss Army Hands.  He can have a regular fist with 5mm peg
hole, push the hardpoint to the front, or deploy a multibarrel gun (that's
really there for Pants Mode).
     His rifle is made of clear dark blue plastic, roughly the same shape as
the white rifle the Super Prime has, but solid and with no missile.  It has
two 5mm pegholes in it, one on either side, so he can build up megaweapons.
The grip is a solid 5mm peg.  All of Prime's own pegholes are accessible in
robot mode, if not always in useful places.

     Shirt Mode: Well, they tried.  The robot arms become combiner arms, but
are a little larger as the original shoulders become upper arms and the front
top quarter of the cab splits to become the new main shoulders (with the
robot legs just sort of trying to lay against them as additional shoulder-
padding).  The hands are now backwards, so you're supposed to use the cannon
hands instead (you can peg the rifle onto his hardpoints to let him hold it).
The helmet deploys in this mode, and looks the right size.
     Now, a lot of Shirt Modes are essentially "head up one's hinder" in
configuration, but they hide it reasonably well.  Prime very clearly has his
head in his crotch.
     That aside, it doesn't look TOO bad.  It just doesn't perform well when
in motion.  The massive shoulderpad assembly doesn't peg together, so it
comes apart very easily.  The arms are a tad spindly, and cannot be raised.

     Pants Mode: Better to call this Kilt Mode, with the cab quarters just
hanging off to the sides with the robot arms dangling from them.  The legs
don't get any longer, and the overal effect is risible (which is a
pretentious way of saying "'Tis to laugh!").  It actually looks like some
sort of misbegotten BattleMech on its own in this mode, some sort of
converted IndustrialMech.  It also looks like Prime's robot mode just sort of
collapsed down around his waist.
     This mode is just kinda sad.  Best to not use it.

     Overall: I gotta give the designers an A for effort here.  Given the
clear constraints they had to work with (make it a Silver Cog while still
looking like the Black Cog version in vehicle and robot modes), they did some
pretty impressive things.  But since one of the constraints was to copy robot
and vehicle modes that were...not very good...the results are less than
pleasing.  If this were sold on its own as a $10 toy, I'm not sure I'd
advocate buying it.  And if you don't want the Mini-Megatron, definitely
don't get this set just for Prime.

     Set As A Whole: This is clearly intended to be a $40 set.  Mini-Megatron
is an Ultra in terms of size and complexity, while Prime is a Deluxe, for $35
right there.  Plus it's a TRU exclusive, so I wouldn't be surprised by a $40
price.  But TRU (at least online) has decided to sell it for $25, which means
that it's a case of "Buy Megatron, get Prime free!"  And that's definitely
worth it if you don't already have the $40 Megatron.
     If you do have $40 Megatron...well, this is still a decent value for the
money at $25.  Mini-Megs is not just a recolor and resize, it also has
improved sounds.  Basically, think of Prime as an incentive pack-in to get
you to buy a redone Megatron.  Beats the heck out of a recolored Mini-Con
team, eh? 

     Dave Van Domelen, should be getting Dead End in the mail soon...gonna
have to make more room on the shelves.