Dave's Transformers Cyberverse Rant: Optimus Prime Battle Base Trailer (reissue Warrior, plus new trailer) Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Cyberverse/BattleBase https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Cyberverse/Warrior1 - Cab part A somewhat sui generis thing, they decided to make an Ultimate price point toy that gave the Warrior class Optimus Prime a trailer. There is no significant difference between singlepack Warrior Optimus Prime and the one in this set, so it's really not worth the money if you already have Optimus, unless you really want a second one for kitbashing or something. Note, I first spotted this as part of the "train" for Bumblebee movie promo stuff, which means every store that got the display got a LOT of these. If you wait a few months, there's a decent chance they'll go on clearance for half off, at which point it might be worth buying for just the trailer. CAPSULE $30 price point. Optimus Prime Battle Base Trailer: The robot figure was very mildly recommended. It's a nice base, though...too bad it's only nice for, um, every line other than Cyberverse. Best for Siege MicroMasters and Battle Masters. Only get if you can find it for half off, the trailer is definitely worth $15, but the robot isn't worth even $5 extra. RANT Packaging: The box is the same size as Ultimate boxes, but tipped sideways so that it's 9" tall and 12" wide. It's a window box with a somewhat unusual feature, a cardboard call-out glued to the window plastic showing the trailer transformation. The upper right corner proclaims 2 attack modes, with the lower left corner showing Energon Axe Attack (same as on the single-pack Warrior Optimus Prime), and the lower right having the Cannon Charge gimmick of the trailer. The left panel has the usual Autobot trio, and says this is Warrior Class. The right has animation art of Optimus in bot mode. The back of the box has the Warrior bot's modes as a small inset in the upper left, with the majority dominated by a photo of the base mode with Warrior Bumblebee driving up the ramp. A small call-out on the left claims that it stores Cyberverse Warrior class figures, but most of them won't actually fit (i.e. Windblade's wings). The right side shows renders/photos of the two gimmicks. The co-sells in the lower left are Bumblebee and Megatron. The instructions are folded up behind the inner tray. The robot is held into the tray by tray shape, plus one tie around the waist. The trailer is actually sealed under the blister. Note, the trailer just barely fits inside the box in terms of depth, so check before buying to make sure there's been no crushing. Note, the ONLY difference I could find between this version of the Warrior figure and the original is that there's no date/assortment stamp on this one (the original has it on the sole of the right foot). This product has that stamp on the ceiling inside the base mode. So, this review will focus on the trailer, and only touch on the cab in terms of connection to the trailer and the total length. AUTOBOT: OPTIMUS PRIME Assortment: E2470 Altmode: Tractor-trailer Transformation Difficulty: 8 steps (robot), 8 steps (trailer) Previous Name Use: Yes Previous Mold Use: Cyberverse (cab) Epithet/Gimmick: (robot) Energon Axe Attack, (trailer) Cannon Charge Function: Noble Leader Trailer Mode: Well, it's a trailer, albeit with sides that go almost all the way to the ground (no dramatic "lay down the motorcycle and slide under" this trailer!), and some random bulges here and there. The iconic stripe is present, but much lower, almost to the ground before rising up over the rear wheels. There's a cowling sticking out in front, covering the gimmick trigger, and details that look like maybe refrigeration units that hold the cannon for charging. 7.75" (19.5cm) long, 3" (7.5cm) tall, and slightly less than 3" wide, it's mostly a gray box with a blue and white stripe, plus black wheels. Black plastic is used for the four snap-in wheels, the little kickstand that lets it sit level on its own, and the trigger button for the gimmick. The stripes are painted white down the middle and dull medium blue on top and bottom. A red Autobot symbol is printed near the front end in the stripe. There's dull medium blue energy accents on the cannons as well. Bumblebee barely fits inside, and only if you didn't leave a base mode part down. Megatron and Windblade can't even come close. Most One-step/ Turbo Changer cars will fit, though, as will Legends scale cars from Titans Return and Combiner Wars (they're more to scale with the tractor anyway). Note, Bumblebee has to back in, thanks to the big hinges on his front fenders, but if you pull the side wall out a little you can get him in forwards and get past the blocking bit. Pushing the trigger button makes a pair of cannons pop out, elevated about 20 degrees above horizontal in a likely reference to the official positioning of the cannons on Powermaster Optimus Prime. They can be manually elevated all the way to straight up, but springs push them back down when you let go. Angling them straight up and then pushing them down resets them. There's no connection points in this mode. The ramp can be lowered without transforming the rest of the toy or compromising stability, and if you're careful you can get one of the guns to rotate to point out the back. Tractor-Trailer Combination: Rather than a peg, as is standard for trailer hitches, the cowling over the Cannon Charge trigger is designed to go over the toes that stick up in back of the tractor part. So, it would more or less work for any tractor with toes sticking up the right height and size, but it's really meant to go just with this specific Optimus Prime cab mold. Since the hitch is the toes way at back, there's a lot more of a gap between cab and trailer than one usually sees, even with the cannons deployed to sort of sit over the gap. 10.75" (27.5cm) long in total. There's some wiggle room in the cowling, but very little articulation in this articulated lorry. Transformation: Put down the kickstand, lower the ramp, pull the driver's side wall down 90 degrees, and then fold the rear 40% of the roof up and around 180 degrees. Then it's time to fiddle with details, such as a partial wall that swings down from the ceiling (if this isn't lifted back up, Bumblebee can't fit inside in trailer mode), popping up the roof cannon, and folding the Teletran-1-inspired screen up. Base Mode: The passenger side wall stays up, so this has a stable roof to use as a firing platform, although the roof is best scaled for Legion Class, MicroMasters and Battle Masters, it's too small for even the Scouts that are the smallest class in Cyberverse. It's basically a bay for a single Deluxe or smaller vehicle, with a side panel that has a computer panel based on Teletran-1 that's about right for a BotBot to use...even MicroMasters are a little tall. It has two weapons. One is a pintle mount cannon that only stays on the roof, the other is a small dual cannon turret that defaults to being on the side piece, but it can be removed and placed anywhere with a 5mm hole. With the cannon charge gimmick out and the ramp down, it's 9.75" (25cm) long, 5.5" (14cm) wide, and 4.5" (11.5cm) tall. The roof cannon and its shoulder joint are made of black plastic, as is the side wall grid piece. The computer screen and small turret are gray plastic. There's matte black paint on the center third of the ramp and a slightly narrower strip down the middle of the main floor. The front of the computer is painted orange-yellow with dull blue details (including a circle around the 67 degrees indication, I guess it's a nice day...or horrible if that's Celsius). The small turret's painted matte black as well. The roof cannon has a universal joint, the hinge part pops off pretty easily but the swivel seems permanently attached to the roof (mushroom peg, perhaps). The turret can swivel in its peg hole. The computer can be folded down if you don't want it being a weird scale thing. Man, this has a lot of 5mm peg holes for a toy line that doesn't give any 5mm peg accessories to any of the toys. There's seven hexagonal 5mm peg holes on the toy, although one of them is not in a good location (mostly under the roof). The small turret on the side wall has a 5mm peg, and it's clear that the peg hole on the roof is meant to be an alternate location for the turret (it won't actually fit on some of the pegs). There's also a 3mm peg hole on the roof, it's what lets the pintle mount cannon lock into place in trailer mode. Its housing is about 5mm wide, but really short, not a lot of stuff will connect there as a 5mm peg. There's another shallow 3mm hole on the side wall, and a 3mm nub it connects to in trailer mode...so, yeah, a Fire Blast could be attached there. It wouldn't be too hard for someone to Shapeways up an adapter that connects to a 5mm peg hole at one end and Titans Return ramp sets at the other. Unfortunately, the peg holes are all pretty shallow, and the pegs on the Battle Masters tend to be narrower at their tips, so they don't all go well here. The Race Car Team work well, though. Overall: A battle station that goes best with just about any line other than the one in which it was released. Too bad the trailer can only go with the tractor with which it was released. Worth picking up if you can find it on 50% clearance, it's a good thing to get for your MicroMasters and Battle Masters. Dave Van Domelen, found the Deluxe Siege today, but should really get to the Studio Series toys he got earlier in the month first.