Toy Review

BEAST WARS: TOY REVIEW

Name: OPTIMAL OPTIMUS
Allegiance: Maximal
Function: Maximal General
Alternate Modes: Mecha Gorilla, Ground Assault Vehicle, Hypersonic Jet
Average Price: 80 AUD

BEAST MODE

Optimal Optimus measures approximately 21cm in height (head to foot), making him even taller than Lio Convoy. He has a shoulder span of about 16cm, over 40cm if you include the wings. Being a Transmetal toy, the name 'Optimal Optimus' is scribed on his right breast, although, for some *whacky reason, in different fonts from eachother. As the largest Beast Wars Transformer ever made, there's a lot of hype about the Optimal Optimus toy. Optimal Optimus retails around Sydney for about $70-80. Seeing the toy on the shelves is a pretty impressive sight. The box itself is 37.5cm tall 27cm wide and 12.5cm broad. The toy is packaged in a close-to-beast mode state (like Scavenger) with the arms tied up, making it look like it's on some kinda torture rack. To transform Optimal Optimus into full gorilla mode, just flip the back section up and take the wings out. The photo on the side of the box also shows the arms with the shoulder joints exposed and legs bent in a sitting kind of position. This can also be achieved quite easily. The moulding itself is great. A *lot* of detail went into the plastic moulds, including vents, grills, flaps and other such do-hickeys. There are four moulded Maximal insignias on the arms which are somewhat similar to the one on Laio Convoy's left chest panel because it's enclosed within a circle, although it's not separately coloured. The colouring is also quite awesome. The gorilla chest, hands and head are dominated with a metallic orange accented with metallic maroon (except for the face) - the photographs of the toy on the box show that these orange parts are yellow, a possible variant perhaps. In fact, all the non-chrome colours are metallic. Those of you familiar with model/miniature painting with be familiar with the term "metallic paint" - for those of you who don't, it's basically paint for plastic parts with metallic "filings" throughout. That's the best way I can describe it. If you're still not sure what I'm talking about, ask a model/miniature enthusiast, or just pop into your local hobby store and look at paints with names like "metallic red" etc. Where was I? Oh yes, the face of the gorilla is metallic blue with some silver bits on it. The teeth are silver and the eyes are transparent, which glow orange with the electronic gimmick. The upper arms (shield receptacles) are chrome maroon. Attached to these are the wings, which, along with the rear wings (located behind the lower legs), forearms and thighs, are metallic grey. The thighs and forearms have a few black panels though. The shoulder panels and lower leg sections are chrome blue. On the outer sides of the lower legs are two metallic orange/maroon panels. The back of the gorilla is dominated by the primary weapons array which is mainly metallic brown and grey in colour. One of the best features about this toy's paint job was that it was airbrushed onto the plastic, something new for a Transformer toy (airbrushed paints are usually associated with action figures such as MacFarlane Toys). The toy also has an electronic gimmick, where you have to open a panel by loosening a tiny (and I do mean tiny) screw. As one can very well imagine, this is a real big inconvenience, especially if you don't have a miniature screwdriver set, 'cos believe me, a Swiss army knife is futile. Even with the mini screwdriver, it wasn't easy. My screw was placed in very very tightly - I had to use a LOT of excessive force to unscrew that sucker. Once opened, two AA sized batteries are placed inside and there you have it. The light mechanism is activated by pulling on the back of the weapon pack. Warning! Since this switch is also attached to the springs which launch the missiles, take care that you don't pull it all the way back and launch the missiles by accident (especially if you're staring at them). My advice for younger fans is to remove the missiles first, before admiring the pretty lights. I've counted some 25 points of available articulation in this toy. The eyes light up to an amber colour. Again, be careful not to pull the switch all the way back. In this mode, the missiles are also pointing in the same direction as the eyes, so if you're looking at the blinking eyes with missiles loaded, there's a risk that the missiles may launch into your face. The missiles are blunt and too long to present a choking hazard, but still - having the missiles launch into your eyes would not be the most pleasant of experiences. Because of this, I strongly recommend caution for younger fans. The forearms panels have a spring loaded gimmick which 'blasts' the panels away when you press a button on the inside of the forearm. I'm not sure whether or not this is suppose to simulate battle damage or not, but on my toy, the spring is way too sensitive. The hands have articulation! All four finger digits are joined and move in and out in unison. The thumb moves from one end of the hand to the other! An opposable thumb, woo! Mind you, it's far more opposable than the thumb of a real gorilla (which only reaches the third finger). For that matter, it's more opposable than a human thumb (which cannot go past the fifth finger).

*Rumour has it that Optimal Optimus' prototype name was Fotress Optimus. At BotCon 97, a fan approached the Hasbro stall and made a snide remark to the Hasbro reps mentioning how lame many of the early names were and remarked, "What's next? Fortress Optimus?". Apparently, the reps just gave each other a worried look and made no comment. Hence the name was changed at the last moment to "Optimal Optimus" (which is why they're both written in different fonts).

GROUND ASSAULT MODE

To transform from gorilla to ground assault mode, open the shoulder, flip out the gorilla chest then flip out the wheel. After that, close the shoulders again. Now, here the instructions don't say exactly how far you should take the gorilla chest. There are two ways of doing so - and both ways seem to leave this ground assault mode looking rather... well... silly. If you pulled it out all the way, then the arms would have to 'struggle' to attach onto the wheel brackets. You have to use excessive force to get the suckers around, and when you do, it's obvious that the wheel and shoulders are starting to oppose each other. Not good for the toy, and it gives you the sinking feeling that something is going to snap off. A somewhat safer version, is to close the shoulder with the gorilla chest pins (the ones that attach to the inside of the shoulder) still in range of the shoulders. In other words, it's like flipping up the gorilla chest without needing to separate the shoulders at all. The problem with this is that it lifts two of the rear wheels (there are four in total) into the air, giving the vehicle and arch in the middle. Looks pretty silly too, but at least it doesn't feel like it's going to tear itself apart. Both the wording and illustrations on the instructions do not give any clear indication of how to really transform the toy into this mode. (or maybe I'm just dense - if anyone knows the real way to do this, lemme know) In my opinion, the transformation scheme to get to this mode is cumbersome and clunky. Dimensions wise, the toy is about 33cm long, 12cm high and about 17cm wide. The ground assault and hypersonic attack modes don't really have much in the way of articulation, but then again, I don't believe articulation is terribly important for vehicular modes. This would have to be my least favourite of all of Optimal Optimus' modes.

HYPERSONIC ATTACK MODE

Some people have criticised this mode as being nothing more than a slight variation on the beast mode. Basically, yes, it is. However, it's simplicity is also it's merit. From beast mode, all one has to do is pull the arms away from the shoulders, turn the weapons pack around, pull down the canopy and reposition the wings. That's pretty much it! But boy does this mode look cool. Sure, it's not as cool as Galvatron's drill tank mode, but it's sure a helluva lot better than the ground assault mode, and a darn good intermediate mode, especially when compared to other Transmetal intermediate modes. In this mode, the toy is about 29cm long, 50cm wide (wingtip to wingtip) and 11cm high.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

Quite a few rather complex steps are required to get Optimal Optimus from gorilla to robot, but no where near as frustrating nor disappointing as the ground assault mode. Separate the shoulders, flip up the gorilla chest, take out the wheel and separate the brackets. Then flip in the gorilla head, close the gorilla chest, turn the shoulders 180 degrees then close them. Pull the arms away from the shoulders (as in the transformation to hypersonic attack mode), turn the thumbs 180 degrees (ah ha! This is really why his thumbs are so ridiculously opposable!) and rotate the waist around 180 degrees. A hint to doing this is to first turn the weapons backpack thingy 90 degrees, then turn the waist, then turn the weapons pack an additional 90 degrees (you need to turn the whole thing 180 in total). That way the pack won't get in the way of the legs. Ooh. Me is smart. After having pivoted the whole weapon pack 180 degrees (the canopy should be facing the feet now), lock the canopy down onto the robot naval (don't ask). Then fold the weapon back down 90 degrees and pull the robot head out. Yay. Pressing the forearm buttons activates the blast-away panel gimmick. Pick up the pieces and reattach them onto the shoulders. There ya have it.

ROBOT MODE

Mould wise, the robot face looks quite similar to the way Optimus Primal did in Season One (i.e., it has that whacked out mouth). The main colours of the head are metallic orange and blue with some silver accents. With the electronic gimmick, the eyes light up green. The missile launchers light up red and the chest has an amber light. Nice. One very noticable thing about this mode is that Optimal Optimus certainly does look very bulky and chunky. But I think that's part of the novelty of the toy itself. Mind you, the toy has pretty darn good poseability for it's size and bulk. With 22 points of available articulation (not including the wings), I've been able to make this toy strike some impressive poses. The weight distribution of the toy can also confound some poses, especially the good old side kick pose. In robot mode, Optimal Optimus is unable to stand on one leg alone. Striking single leg poses such as the side kick, can be aided by bringing one hand down to the ground; effectively taking place of the mid-air leg. The trick to making it look less obvious is to make the hand just contact the ground, so the arm looks more like a counterweight, rather than a supportive strut. This technique is great for making Optimal Optimus strike roundhouse kicks. But unless you're into striking these kinda acrobatic poses, it toy has quite good stability for it's weight distribution. It's definitely top heavy in this mode, but unlike Galvatron, it doesn't have a tendency to fall over all the time. This is because the weight is distributed evenly, unlike Galvatron who carries all his weight (mostly the drill) on his back. Dimensions: 23cm tall, about 50cm wide (same as hypersonic attack mode) and about 19cm from front to back (not including missiles).

RUB STICKER LOCATION

Under the gorilla head. This is one of the most idiotic locations for a rub sticker they've ever come up with (alongside Apache's horrid location.

OVERALL

It's a great toy and in most respects, it certainly lives up to it's reputation. The size is undeniably awesome (when I took him out of the box, the first thing I uttered was "size matters") and the excellent moulding and superb air brush colouring (along with the cool metallic and chrome pallette) makes this a beautiful toy. The articulation is exceptional for a toy of this size, especially compared to other recent giants such as Machine Wars Starscream. Speaking of which, for those of you who are wondering, height wise, MW Starscream is about a centimetre above Optimal Optimus in terms of head height, but Optimal Optimus's huge shoulders definitely tower Starscream, and in terms of mass; Optimal wins hands down. It's also not the easiest toy to transform either, so fans of extra-hard transformations will love this piece. The illustrations and wording in the instructions are unclear at times, and I often found myself using the photos on the box as reference. I think most fans will find something to love about this toy, but the price is the most obvious drawback from purchasing this sucker. But then again, Optimal Optimus was designed as a pricing experiment for Hasbro anyway (they wanted to see how far they could push the price limit for the Beast Wars line). A brilliant toy.

BEAST TRIVIA

The gorilla is the largest of the anthropoids (humanlike apes). Belonging to the family Pongidae, gorillas are forest dwellers native to equatorial Africa. There are three different races within the species Gorilla gorilla:
1. The western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla), found in the lowland forests from Cameroon to the Congo River. 2. The eastern lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla graveri), found in the lowland tropical rainforests of the eastern Congo. 3. Mountain gorilla (Gorilla gorilla beringei), found in the Lake Kivu region.
The gorilla is a stocky, powerful ape with black skin and hair, large nostrils and a bare face and chest. It is larger than its relative, the chimpanzee and has flaring nostrils, smaller ears and a less boisterous disposition. The adult male gorilla has a prominent bony crest on top of the skull and a "saddle" of gray silver hairs on the lower lumber back region (which is why the males are known as silverback gorillas). It is about twice the weight of the female and may attain a height of up to 1.7 metres an a weight of 135-275 kilogrammes (captive gorillas in both sexes tend to be much heavier).
Despite the gorillas reputation for ferocity, studies indicate that it is an unaggressive, shy animal unless unduly provoked. Gorillas live in small groups that are led by a silverbacked male. The groups are composed of young females, infants, juveniles and young adult males (blackbacks).
The gorilla is diurnal and primarily terrestrial, usually walking about on all four limbs, with part of its weight supported on the knuckles. Females and young climb more than males. The diet is vegetarian and includes such foods as leaves, stalks and bamboo shoots. Much of the day is spent foraging and resting. At dusk, branches and foliage is used by each gorilla to build a nest. A new nest is built each night and is constructed either on the ground or in the tree.
Although the gorilla is a relatively quiet animal, it has a variety of calls including grunts, hoots and the roar given by an aggressive male. The well-known chest beating is performed by both males and females. When performed by males, it is a ritual which may include running about, tearing at vegetation and slapping the ground. This may be done in order to intimidate outsiders (gorilla or human) or to maintain dominance within the social hierarchy.
There is no fixed breeding season for the gorilla and the gestation lasts for about 250-290 days. Births are usually single. The life expectancy of a wild gorilla is about 30 years.
Humans are the greatest single threat to the gorilla. Due to habitat destruction and illegal hunting, the gorilla is becoming increasingly rare, with the mountain gorilla already classified as being endangered. Damn... we suck.

Bibliography:Encyclopaedia Britannica

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