Dave's Transformers Legacy Rant: Evolution Commander Class

Armada Universe Optimus Prime (Truck)

Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Legacy/CArmadaPrime

Legacy's Commander was Motormaster/Menasor, and they stick with the
"truck and combiner" motif...sort of...with this update of 2002's Armada
Optimus Prime. As with that one, the smaller cab/robot combines with the
trailer to make a Super Robot. But unlike the 2002 toy, it's not a motorized
gimmick that generates a brick with arms.
Oddly, unlike a lot of Evolution toys by the end of 2023 and beginning
of 2024, the QR code for this one still worked.

https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Armada/Super1 - Original toy, since I
do compare to it occasionally.

CAPSULE

$80-90 price point (I got it on "sale" for $80).

Armada Universe Optimus Prime: Based on a $40 toy I only mildly
recommended, but largely due to disappointment with the gimmick. So, not a
huge hurdle to be a more satisfying toy. And given that the price I paid in
2002 would be more like $65-70 in 2023 dollars, it really only has to be
about 20% cooler to justify the price increase. Is it? Eh, a lot of the
appeal of the original was in play pattern stuff absent from this homage, but
as an actual toy to play with on its own (rather than a Mini-Con platform) it
is noticeably better. Still, I only mildly recommend it, primarily because I
find the animation design it reproduces to be aesthetically lacking (if
better than old Battle Pants).

RANT

Packaging: Big windowless box, very sturdy. 13" (33cm) across, 11"
(28cm) tall, 4" (10cm) deep. The front has art of the super robot mode
standing in a wide-legged Marvel Stance. The right side has the left half of
the Evolution diptych, the top shows a render of the vehicle mode and the QR
code. The left side has "MOTORMASTER" across the top in Cybertronian script,
showing that someone reused a template without double-checking that the
Cybertronian wasn't decorative gibberish. Anyway, below that are stylized
pseudo-painted renders of the small robot leaping outward on top, combining
with the battle base in the middle, and in full truck mode on the bottom.
The bottom panel has the usual legalese.
The back has renders of all the modes. Super robot in the upper left,
combined vehicle in the upper right, trailer to battle station in the lower
right, small robot and cab with an inset showing the Matrix chamber in the
lower left.
Inside, instead of a simple tray with a bunch of ties, there's a
structure made of corrugated cardboard that splits the space the long way
into three equal chambers. The top and bottom chambers are empty, the toy in
truck mode is jammed in the middle chamber with various spacers to keep
everything secure. The cab, trailer, cannon, and rocket launcher platform
each have their own compartment. The instructions start with ten steps of
finishing assembly of the vehicle mode (for instance, the smokestacks are on
the sides of the main cannon, because that keeps them more secure, and they
need to be moved). Most of the steps involve getting the rocket launcher
into the front of the trailer, which makes the trailer too wide to fit in the
box. (This also suggests an optional "more road-legal" mode where you just
leave the rocket pod out and leave the trailer narrow.)

Note, when I compare to animation I'm going mostly off the images on
TFWiki, I'm not about to spend the time rewatching. I mean, say what you
will about the somewhat crude CG of Energon and Cyberverse, they stayed on
model pretty well. Armada...did not.

AUTOBOT: ARMADA UNIVERSE OPTIMUS PRIME
Assortment: F6160
Altmode: Truck
Transformation Difficulty: 20 steps (cab to robot), 22 steps (trailer to
battle station), 71 steps (robot and battle station to super-robot)
Previous Name Use: None with the "Armada Universe," sooooo many without.
Previous Mold Use: None
Function: Commander
Special Unit: None
Origin Universe: Armada
Signature Weapon: Battle armor - Trailer converts and combines with Optimus
Prime into indestructible battle armor
Evo-Fusion: (None on webpage or on box, apparently the combined gun is
supposed to be it)

Optimus Prime leads as a force of wisdom and goodness, but shows his
powerful battle capabilities when facing enemies.

STR 10 INT 10 SPD 10 FRB 10

Packaging: As noted above, no strings or ties, just cardboard wedges and
rectangles. The box renders of truck mode use some serious perspective
cheating to make it look like the trailer is snug against the back of the cab
instead of there being a significant gap.

Vehicle Mode: Well, the whole thing is sort of a tractor trailer. But
the trailer has tank treads instead of wheels, and with the rocket pod piece
inserted there's blocks sticking out the sides like an RV that has stopped
for the night. The cab on its own is weirdly proportioned, flat and wide and
the back end is way too long and chunky with obvious super robot fists on top
in back. The cab area is almost a "sports car"-ification of a longnose
tractor. The trailer on its own has kickstand bars that come out of the
backs of the "RV pop-outs" and on its own the rocket pod is visible in front
(which are animation-accurate to the extent the show can be, although the
tabes sticking up on the sides of the trailer top need to be folded
horizontal to be show-accurate). Ultimately, there's a LOT of compromises in
this mode in favor of making the super robot mode work better, but fully
assembled it's...okay, I guess.
The whole thing is 11.75" (29.5cm) long in more or less traditional
Optimus Prime colors, but with a lot more blue. The cab alone is 7" (18cm)
long, 3.25" (8.5cm) wide and 2.25" (6cm) tall. The trailer alone is 7.75"
(19.5cm) long, 5.75" (14.5cm) wide, and 4.25" (11cm) tall without the rifle
mounted on top, 4.75" (12cm) with the rifle. The cab can turn 45 degrees
either way before the pop-outs hit the cab, the turning angle is better if
you go with the narrower trailer version.
The windshield and side windows are clear colorless plastic. Oddly, the
Autobot symbol plug on the roof is also clear colorless plastic, just painted
over entirely except for the peg (and if you don't know it's pegged on, it's
not obvious...that's something I learned from the instructions). The grille
and center bumper are light gray plastic, I think, but they're very
effectively covered in silver paint. The smokestacks are definitely light
gray plastic since their pegs are left unpainted. Light gray is otherwise
used for some visible robot bits but not intentionally used for this mode.
Most of the rest of the cab is a slightly desaturated red plastic, and most
of the back end is dark blue plastic (which is also used on the obvious robot
forearms on either side of the cab). The six wheels are black plastic.
Lots of silver paint: grille, center bumper, side bumper corners,
headlights, smokestacks, swoosh designs on the hood, all six wheel hubs.
There's red paint on the borders between windows. The Autobot symbol plug is
painted gold with a white center and red on the raised Autobot symbol.
There's gold paint on the back end, basically just on super robot details
(shoulderpads and fists).
5mm sockets on the rear top corners of the front fenders, two each on
either side of the top of the hitch area, and two on the back (undersides of
the robot feet). There's also spoken-for 5mm sockets on the roof (Autobot
symbol plug) and the sides of the cab (smokestacks). A 7mm socket is formed
between the robot legs in back for inserting the trailer hitch peg. The cab
section rolls VERY well on six pinned-axle wheels. Like, I have to be
careful where I set it down, or it'll roll off the edge of the table.
And now for the trailer.
The pop-outs and the thing in back that pretends to be the rear wall are
made of blue plastic, with a little red plastic in the middle of the rear.
The tank treads are black plastic, as are the little wheels under them. The
rifle stores on top, and it's also black plastic. Pretty much everything
else is medium-light gray plastic.
The sides have a lot of blue paint (a little lighter than the plastic)
in patterns vaguely approximating the usual side stripes. Raised panels near
the back have printed red Autobot symbols. There's some silver vent details
on the outer faces of the pop-outs, and red and silver paints on the weapon
pod poking out the front. The rear has some gold paint, but it's really
there for the super robot.
There's 5mm sockets on the outer faces of the pop-outs, on the
undersides of the pop-outs, as well as the underside of the hitch area
(usable when this is unhooked). There's three on top, including one on the
centerline intended for rifle storage. A pair of struts fold down from the
backs of the pop-outs, and are used to let the trailer stand on its own
without tipping over when disconnected from the cab.
More on the rifle under regular robot mode.

Dave Van Domelen wrote:

Fortunately, with
> a little folding, you can ignore the instructions and get that turret pod up
> on the back and pointed in the same direction as the ten-pack backpack
> launcher (this does cover up what TFWiki seems to indicate is a spot
> compatible with the decades-old Overload Mini-Con, and more importantly
> blocks the waist from turning).

This inspired me to dig out Overload (not a mini-con, by the way, the giant over the shoulder cannons), and I was kind of blown away by how well it works.

Here's some random dude's reddit post with photos

https://www.reddit.com/r/transformers/comments/13gnb5u/some_more_pictures_of_armada_overload_with/

The shoulder mount like things don't fit over the shoulders, and I decided they looked better turned sideways that being hidden right behind his shoulders.

I was initially confused by the Overload in the picture being so solidly red, but it turns out I have the Japanese color scheme with some nice contrasting darker bits. Was there a running change not documented on TFWiki? Did I somehow go out of my way to get the Japanese one? Both seem improbable, but one is clearly true.

He's a bit large for Legacy Optimus, but Optimus can handle the weight and though he is top heavy, he doesn't tip on his own.

All in all, it adds a bit of fun that the Legacy toy is otherwise lacking, and makes me like the toy a lot more.