Dave's Kiddie TF Rant: Optimash Prime - Mr. Potato Head Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/123/Optimash Released as part of the Movie flood, but it's the G1 Prime...so I'm sticking it in with the Go-Bots as a kiddie toy. :) Why not the Cyber Slammers in here too? Well, they're also tightly tied to the movie. Eh, there's gonna be more of these uncertain placements. Besides, the 123 directory is explicitly for Playskool, which Optimash is branded as. So there. Amusing note: this was released as Optimus Potatimus in Japan. CAPSULE Optimash Prime: Okay, conceptually it's a horror of sanity-blasting proportions, an unholy mashup (pun intended) of properties. But it's adorable. Recommended. $9.99 at Target. RANT Packaging: Half the fun of this toy seems to be in the box. Definitely half the fun the designers had in putting it together. :) Anyway, in shape it's a fairly standard specialty Mr. Potatohead box, with a lot of clear window sides and a plastic handle on top. 7.5" (19cm) wide and tall, 5" (13cm) deep. Optimash is in, well, Optimash configuration in the package, with the standard Mr. Potato Head smile, mustache and nose stuck in the upper right corner of the box, and a cute little vehicle mode truck below that, facing forward. On the front of the box, the Mr. Potato Head logo in the upper left, movie Transformers logo in the upper right, a standard Mr. Potato Head cartoon in the lower right, the tagline "Potatoes in Disguise!" in the lower left (with Playskool logo under it), and the Optimash Prime name at the bottom. The box bottom has photos of the toy, the various logos, and another tagline in a blank Autobot symbol outline: "More than meets the fry." Trademarked, of course. The left side of the box has a very nifty partially stencil-ish large Autobot syembol dominating the top two thirds in cardstock, and then a small pic at the bottom showing Optimash's skidplate open to reveal part storage. The right side (well, the side by Optimash's right hand) shows Mr. Potato Head transforming into Optimash...something you can't do with the pieces supplied. No ears, eyebrows, regular feet or arms included. Below this is a parts list: 1 helmet, 1 pair of eyes, 1 mask, 2 robot arms, 1 truck mouthplate (that's what they call it), 1 toy truck, 1 pair of robot shoes, 1 nose, 1 moustache, 1 set of teeth, 1 potato body. There's also the trademarked "Potatoes in disguise" tagline, and "A Tater-Bot(TM) with dual identities!" The back shows the same photos as on the bottom, with the "More than meets the fry" tag, plus several alternate constructions, most of which are...ehn. The Peter Cullen mode is good, though. You are told you can, "Fit pieces anywhere on potato body!" and "Use your imagination to create all sorts of wacky looks!" At the top of the back panel is the bio note, of sorts. I'm disappointed that the Decepticons don't get a vegetable pun name, like Deceptiyams or Decepticorns. It also gives a second Autobot pun...so, is he a Tater-Bot or an Autotot? I like the latter. A single piece of tape holds the box closed, although a secondary blister is taped to the main tray to hold the Mr. Potato Head pieces in place. No twist-ties, but I think they heat-seal the blister around the toy or something, it took a lot of wrestling to get it out. Also, the feet are on the other side of the tray, so remove them first. AUTOTOT: OPTIMASH PRIME Altmode: Potato OPTIMASH PRIME is the fearless leader of the Autotots, a faction of taters battling the evil Decepticons. Starchy situations call for a quick change - from truck to robot! No ordinary fries, these are potatoes in disguise! Standard Configuration: Stands 7.5" (19cm) tall, and I hear it's the first specialty potato to have new feet (the rest just recolor and paint the standard sneakers, as my Spud Trooper does). The feet and helmet are made of blue plastic, with silver paint on the mask, forehead tablet and some vent details on the feet. Little black wheels are painted/molded at the back. Allowing for potato-proportions, they're pretty accurate. The mask is actually a nose piece, peg-wise, and the chest armor connects like a mustache (hence being called a mouthpiece). The chest armor is red plastic, somewhat flexible, with black windows, orange roof lights and silver grille and trim. The eyes are the usual white plastic with big black pupils. The arms are also red plastic and pretty non- cartoony save for the three-fingered hands. The short stacks and forearm stripes are painted silver, the traditional ||> patterns on the forearms are painted yellow, and the hands are blue. The hands are in a sort of "open but with thumbs up" pose that can ALMOST hold 5mm pegs, although the thumbs get in the way. The right arm is a little bent, the left arm is bent almost 90 degrees. Neither has articulation save for the pegging in at the shoulder. There's a silver Autobot symbol on the left shoulder, but not the right. The only other "poseability" involved is that the connection peg for the feet goes in a slot, so he can turn and bow and stuff. Cullen Mode: Remove the faceplate and chestplate, put in the standard nose, mustache and mouth. This looks vaguely like Peter Cullen as a potato. Wearing Prime armor. Or so I'm told. Butt storage is enough to hold his mask and chestplate in this mode. In fact, it'll hold everything except the helmet and feet. You can even force the feet in if you're determined. Toy truck: Rather than a weapon (like the Spudtrooper's masher), Optimash gets a chibi little truck that almost looks more like Huffer than Prime. 1.75" (4.5cm) long, 1.25" (3cm) wide, 1.5" (4cm) tall. Cast in red plastic with a hollow bottom, it has blue paint on the back, black on the windows and tires, orange on the roof lights, and silver on the grille, window trim and stacks. No silver on the sides, though. Two too many applications, I suppose. There's an Autobot symbol molded on the driver's side, unpainted, but not on the passenger side. Ths fits with the single printed symbol on the robot arm. The slot between the "legs" on the bottom will fit firmly on one of Optimash's thumbs, for more truck proctology fun! I think he's meant to grab that slot with his fingers, though. Other Combinations: Well, the only other Mr. Potato Head I own is the Spud Trooper, which is another "dominated by helmet" figure, so I don't have a lot of flexibility. But I got this for the cute little truck anyway. :) And the box shows using Prime's helmet as a garage for it, nice. Dave Van Domelen, tempted to bring this to work to scare people with.