All of me is now very, very scared.  I... I... oh, what's the use.  I've been dreading this review ever since I bought him weeks and weeks ago.  I'm lucky I even got one -- my Walmart had two at the time, and I grabbed the first one.  I was even explaining to some guy who hadn't been keeping track of Transformers all these years as I have what Armada was all about.  He wasn't too impressed.  I can't say I blame him.

But, I think I've finally figured out part of what has had me so ill at ease with these toys.  This isn't a return to G1.  It's a return to something alright, but not G1.  No, this is a return to G2.  Yes, that's right.  Part of the confusion was for me was that G2 started out with G1 molds (some repainted horribly and given awful stickers to boot), but was latter supplanted with original molds as the line wore on.  These new molds had greater articulation than their re-released counterparts, and gave rise to many great molds that have since made comebacks -- Star Scream and BB from Beast Wars: The Second and Scourge from Robots in Disguise.  In fact, that's exactly what this Optimus Prime is -- a new Laser Rod Optimus, only not quite as good.

Dwarfish Robot Mode:

Just look at that cab.  The vehicle itself is more squat, but the transformation is nearly exactly the same.  But rather than imitate the classic Prime window chest, grill abs combo that even RiD Prime was able to pull off, this guy has a slightly different take that wouldn't bug me so much if it weren't colored so badly.  I found the Toy Fare painting acceptable, but somewhere down the line the chest was molded in gray, and it stuck.  It's like that in the show, too.  It has this unfinished feel to it that really throws me off, even now.

It's obvious that this whole mode is geared towards the combined mode (which I'll get to in a minute); the larger robot's hands stick out in Vehicle Mode.  There's absolutely no excuse for this.  There's plenty of room in those hollow legs to fit those hands.  So much for the disguise aspect.  To paraphrase Space Ghost, "This isn't my truck.  This truck has hands.  I'd better go find a new truck..."  Like many Primes before him, this rear wheel section forms the legs of the smaller robot, but also has the unfortunate hindrance of becoming the arms of the Super Robot.  As a result, the legs can't move about in any meaningful leg-like fashion -- movement to the rear is hampered by what will become his shoulder pads in the larger mode.  The arms are strangely limited in movement, and there's really no reason why joints could not have been put in place to make this possible.

Big-Ass Wannabe Mode:

Make no mistake -- in his combined mode, Prime cuts a pretty mean figure.  But that's not surprising since it's pretty much the same figure as RiD Prime.  Even the shape of the shoulder pads is the same.  I do like how the smaller robot's arms fold up with their smoke stacks to form the more classic Prime look, but it's really wasted on this inferior design.  Because the trailer's REAL alternate mode is a rather rigid base, there's not much room for any sort of meaningful joints.  We're back to the brick that was Powermaster Optimus Prime.  We've come a long way in the last 15 years in terms of toy design and related technologies.  You think we could have gotten something better, especially in the wake of Robots in Disguise.

Other than that, I've come to like the color scheme.  I bet if he were colored more like the traditional Prime he would bear a little too much resemblance to the Fire Convoy / RiD Prime figure.  You know, that's something I liked about that toy and Powermaster Prime -- the larger robot modes were like the smaller ones, only bigger and more tricked out.  But, also like in RiD, this form is used gratuitously in the TV show.  There's only so many times that Prime can form the larger robot and save the day.  Staying with the color scheme, I am VERY grateful that the formerly yellow parts are now painted in glossy gold.  I just wish the show would do something similar.  That glaring yellow color is starting to get on my nerves.  It just looks bad and out of place.

The auto-transforming gimmick doesn't work for me.  It says that if I transform the cab the base will automatically follow suit.  This hasn't happened.  Ever.  I have batteries in both, and the trailer is turned ON.  The batteries all work.  The trailer makes noises in combined mode, and the cab's hand lights up if you press that nifty little button.  Is that bulb in the cab supposed to be an IR transmitter?  Is that little window in the trailer supposed to be a sensor?  I've lined them up and still nothing happens.  I don't get it.  And the instructions don't go much beyond "it just happens; it's magic!" so no help there.  The big gap behind the chest no longer bothers me -- the smoke stacks fill up the space nicely.  But, in contrast, the legs just don't want to stay together, and I have to be very careful when I set him down or else he'll collapse into a heap.  I never had that problem with RiD Prime...

Oh, and his Mini-Con sucks.  Well, he's actually a pretty sweet Mini-Con, but he doesn't complement Prime at all.  He's just a car that... sits there.  Almost all of the other Transformers have a Mini-Con that combines with them in a meaningful way, or at least goes well with the theme or alt mode of the Robot.  But Leader-- I mean, Sparkplug?  Nope.

Conclusion:

Mostly, Prime suffers from being too many things at once, and a good balance is not achieved.  It's merely a toy, so one can't expect it to be all things to all people.  Even RiD Prime had his drawbacks -- mostly, his "base" wasn't really much of a base at all, but then I never really cared too much for the tricked out Optimus Prime Base Trailer gimmick.  Characters who were themselves bases as their primary alternate mode -- Trypticon, Metroplex, Fortress Maximus, etc. -- were the really impressive ones.  Why put so many things into one toy when you can have two toys at (presumably) a slightly lower price for each?  Let Prime be Prime.  The Autobots are a team, and each member serves a function.  Prime doesn't have to be the biggest, best, AND strongest.  He just has to be the guy to get the job done.  I think his artistic interpretation leaves a few things to be desired, but Pat Lee at least got that much about this character right.

So, in short, over-zealous transformations, a poorly matched Mini-Con, an unstable super robot mode and glitchy gimmick... I can't really say I'm impressed.  Because, honestly, I'm not impressed.  Fire Convoy impressed me.  Powermaster Prime imressed me as a young child, but now I like him (the Japanese God Ginrai version, anyhow) because he's so very Prime-y.  This guy?  Fleh.  Maybe I'll like the smaller, Super-Con version better, but I doubt it.

Wouldn't it be great if Prime couldn't form a larger robot without a Mini-Con?  I don't just mean that his trailer won't unlock to form his robot legs without a Mini-Con to activate it.  I'm talking about the legs actually BEING a Mini-Con, say for instance if Jetfire were a Mini-Con instead of an Autobot.  I guess that wouldn't make him so Mini, but on the other hand it would be something of an ironic name.

Think about that.