#action master

[driver270]

Photo dump of the Transformers Authentics Megatron & Optimus Prime toys my 8-year-old niece gifted me for my 40th birthday & Christmas respectively. They have their charms, but they got hit with the blunt end of the budget stick. They cost the same as a what a Deluxe Class Beast Wars figure would cost when they first came out in 1996 ($10 CAD).

Optimus, you might wanna see Ratchet about that... 😅

As far as alt modes go, Megatron's is bulky but still hits all the marks despite not having functional wheels. The grey plastic they used on Optimus instead of the more iconic blue drags him down further.

Articulation is a total joke for these guys, but I can't be too harsh considering they were a gift.

Out of the two, Megs is my favourite since I discovered that his fusion cannon accessory uses a 3mm post that's not only compatible with Transformers figures with similar sized ports, but it also fits the hands of Lego minifigures. So I can have some fun with that, at least.

[churino]

Design for mainframe pushbutton and t-ai

Teletraan 1 and his daughter

Although mainframe can't speak, they're the ones who've been telling the stories of the early autobots to the new generation, with push button acting as an interpreter

They've been here the whole time we just didn't see them because you don't get a lot of action when you do your best work behind a keyboard

Mainframe is a close personal friend of jazz and is stationed aboard the apex bomber as the ship's computer, inaccurately refered to as teletron 1. born with a cognitive error, mainframe's hardware is incompatible with the speech synthesis software that the rest of the autobots use, meaning he's mute, and comunicates in his own way, usually with another bot acting as an interpreter.

Although living with a disability isn't easy, mainframe wouldn't trade his experiences for anything, as the life he's lived, unable to express himself verbally has given him a unique perspective which allowed him to excel in places others could not, mainframe is a genius programmer smart enough to improve even vector sigma's programs, he believes that struggles create strong people which is not very autobot of him,

Not fully convinced of the autobot cause, having enjoyed working on the skirts of their territory with jazz for many years, the computer gets a little sassy when it's time for optimus prime to do his taxes not trusting authority, which contrasts push button who would like nothing more than to go into battle with their leader but is stuck working for mainframe who pays a pretty penny to keep her around and keep an eye on his computer screen

The computer in question is teletraan 1

Teletraan is the operating system transformer's brains run on, created by vector sigma. Just because something is standard doesn't mean it can't be improved, t-ai, named after the "transformer artificial intelligence" OS made by mainframe that she runs on, is intended to be the first to benefit from a new teletraan for the modern day but her fast processing speeds makes her frustated when other bots can't think as fast as she does

[jimclassicstoycollection]

Transformers

R.E.D.

Optimus Primal

by Hasbro (2021)

I don't exactly remember when I got this guy, but it was sometime back in 2021. I guess it doesn't really matter anyway.

This is Optimus Primal. We've seen him before, but THIS version is part of the now defunct (or I presume it is by now) R.E.D. toyline or 'Robot Enhanced Design' line Just a fancy way of Hasbro trying to merge the concepts of Action Masters and Star Wars' Black Series figures.

I've covered a few of them at this point, and I never bought that many, aside from the obligatory Optimus Prime, Megatron, and a few others; I thought mostly the line was a bit of a let down.

But I would say Optimus Primal is (mostly) an exception.

Bot mode:

I suppose it would be pointless to talk about the beast mode, considering he doesn't have one.

Anyway, Optimus Primal is in his Season 1 robot mode, and I gotta say, THIS is fantastic!

The sculpting of the fur is so good; some of the best in my opinion.

The Optimus head sculpt might be one of the best Primal head sculpts I've ever seen too (though I do think the blue of his helmet and the gray of his mask are bit too dark).

The range of motion on this figure is good. The toy is capable of a lot of different poses which is great for photography.

For some reason, the chest panel and the backpack are removable, and I'm not really sure why. There is some sculpting under the chest panel, so I suppose this could be a form of battle damage...OR maybe since some of the other R.E.D figures have similar removable pieces, perhaps they can swapped around to different figures...

Accessories:

Optimus Primal comes with few accessories; a pair of closed fists and his two swords.

Starting with the swords. They're fine. I think they look really nice, they feel solid, and look accurate to the shows design.

On the downside, however, is not with the swords, but with Optimus' gripping hands.

The plastic of the gripping hands is very thick and not very maleable. I had to exert some strength in order to wedge those sword handles into the hands. It's not fun.

Swapping out the grip hands for the closed fists is very simple. And once you got those dukes on, Optimus Primal is ready to box.

They look fine, but I wish Optimus came with another pair of hands, with open palms or something.

Final Thoughts:

R.E.D. Optimus Primal might be one of the best this line had to offer (in spite of its flaws) in its brief existence.

The sculpting is good, the level of articulation is good, the accessories...are lacking. But at the end of the day, it's just fun. Maybe not $20 worth of fun, but fun nonetheless.

I do have to say that I think 20th Anniversary Optimus Prime scales in well with RED Optimus Primal

[hasbr0mniverse]

The Transformers Gallery - Transformers Action Master Soundwave with Wingthing

[fanotastic]

Don't talk to me

or my son

or my son's son ever again

[aviatrix-ash]

"So they think my inventions suck do they? Well watch this!"

*rebuilds Trypticon*

 SG Wheeljack for Wheeljack Wednesday + bonus SG G1/Action Master Slicer version cause I love all Wheeljacks. 

I have a dumb headcanon that all Wheeljacks just have a thing for dinos, either subtle or just all out obsessed. I like to think regular old TFA WJ lowkey wants to rebuild the big purple T-Rex, but doesn’t “cause he’s not very nice.” SG Wheeljack just did it anyways, cause he could. 

[therobotmonster]

Been awhile since I've done a digibash, but #Transformers Studio Series Jazz brought an old favorite to mind, and I think he's a better choice than yet-another-Stepper.

[vexwing]

G2 Cyberverse Shockwave may not have been the logical next choice, but I wanted to get a comparatively boring one out of the way. Derived from the Combiner Wars G2 Bruticus set version, his G2 deco is basically Action Master colors + red. Colored from the line art posted by @TF_pr on Twitter.