Power of the Primes: Moonracer
Since the closing of Toys R Us, I haven’t had a reliable brick-and-mortar store to go to for my toy hunting. Not that TRU ever had an amazing selection, but it was bright and colorful and not Walmart.
So I was at Walmart and found this special lady!
I remember being so excited about Moonracer getting a toy that I was vibrating in my seat. Then I remember waiting months and months and lurking in forums to see if anyone had actually seen her. I was expecting that she’d be someone that I’d have to buy at double the price on eBay.
The back of the box shows us Moonracer’s 3D mock-up art, which is certainly a decision Hasbro made, and gives us this short blurb:
How will the joyful AUTOBOT sharpshooter wield the POWER OF THE PRIMES(tm)?
So from that, we’ve basically learned all there is to know about Moonracer.
Like others in the POTP line, she comes with herself, a stat card, and those awful long instructions that I hate. She also comes with a gun and some pregnancy armor.
On the front we get Moony’s powerful thighs!
On the back we get
Quintus Moonracer
Fills the metal of dead worlds with life-giving energon.
Maybe if I read the Optimus Prime comics or watched the Machima series this would mean more to me. Sounds like she’s some kinda planet necromancer.
From the front we can see that they were going for a very sleek feminine silhouette. With gun-gripping hands.
From the side we can see that she is EXTREMELY back heavy! I can not stress how much she wanted to fall backwards at all times!!!
The back view doesn’t properly convey the hugeness of her back kibble. But it does show that her knees are hinge joints and offer no rotation, which would have helped stabilize her for some poses.
Her face is very cute! Except her lipstick. Hasbro just painted an oval around her mouth and called it good. There’s no lip definition at all. Having no lipstick may have been a better choice and she’s already shapely enough that she really doesn’t need many “WOMAN” markers.
She can of course hold her gun and try and be a sharpshooter while her back kibble makes her almost fall.
Her gun can also peg into her forearm while she fights gravity.
For added stability, her gun can even peg into her left foot! (Note: Doesn’t actually add much stability)
Or, for less stability, just peg the gun into her back kibble. Just keep putting stuff there.
She also has this “Prime armor” which I always thought looked awful. It looks like she’s wearing a maternity shirt, a very ugly one.
Of course, it does add more bulk to her front, but is it enough to balance all that car in the back? No. She stands a little better, but she still just wants to fall down and nap.
I mistakenly believed that the armor was a needed part of her final car form. It does ruin the sleek design, but I don’t think it looks as bad on her car form as it does on her robot form.
She does have a very nice silhouette that looks fast. Plus, I’m a sucker for teal.
You can see her hands when she’s a car, but they’re less noticeable with all that armor in the way.
Her face doesn’t peek out of the front window and I always appreciate that.
As I said, without the armor, it’s a much smoother look. This is a car you would pretend to be interested in buying so you could drive it on the highway for a few minutes before saying that “you’ll consider it” and then never going to that dealership again.
Of course, what good is a car where you can’t shoot people ahead of you?
Or people above you?!
You know, like nya!
Overall: If you’re very picky about how many cool poses your robots can do, Moonracer may not be a good choice. But, if she’s only ever going to stand in one pose and just needs to look pretty doing it, she’s a great choice! All of her colors are nicely broken up in car and robot form so she never feels like a chunky block of teal and white, and her face is adorable! Not to mention, Hasbro needs to be rewarded for finally making a toy of Moonracer after about 30 years of her existing!
Thought she might need a stand for all that junk in the back.