Optimus ends up being a mildly stylized, fairly standard Optimus, borrowing a lot of inspiration in engineering from other recent Optimus toys, making a few steps a little harder to do as you have to get some big constructed panels into place by moving two joints simultaneously. The plastics used are all slightly softer, which makes the tight clearance issues a bit more doable. No parts want to pop off during transformation.

At each point in transformation, I was reminded of another toy, either specifically or I just had a sense of deja vu to the point where I am positive I'm just forgetting what toy has the sides of the cab wrap around the forearms, or have the shins reverse direction to put the feet against the back of the passenger area. It's like they put all the common techniques for Optimus toys into a hat, and just pulled them out until they were mostly done and fit the set together.

I was also staring at the head sculpt for ages, trying to remember where I had seen an Optimus design with such narrow eyes and such a large faceplate. I could picture the cover of some comic book as clear as day, except for the title (which I am willing to bet just said "Transformers" in big letters and then had some other things).

It might have been this. Greebles are added for the toy, but the shape matches. Devil's Due GI Joe vs. Transformers -- which was a surprisingly fun story, and the omnibus had been sitting on top of a stack of books waiting to be put away for a very long time before I just moved the stack and put it on top of the bookcase, because it was better there than on the floor next to the bookcase.

https://tfwiki.net/wiki/File:Gijoevstfomnibus.jpg

Robot mode is a little beefy. A powerful looking beefy, rather than an Energon Optimus beefy. On a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is G1 and 10 is Bayverse, the various greebles and bits put him at about a 3 -- a little bit of busy details, but still very G1. He has gray hands, which don't look out of place, or wouldn't if there weren't other things that are a bit aggressively G1 inspired.

I would like to never see another Optimus Prime that comes with a Matrix. It’s not that I have a deep hatred for the Matrix, but in an age where every toy is struggling with tradeoffs, and when we have had so many Matrix accessories, I’d rather the budget get used on anything else. A few extra paint operations, a metal pin, another parakeet like Beachcomber… just anything.

It was nice and special decades ago with MP-01, and each time they do it again, it just feels less special and more like a box getting checked off that brings no joy.

I have similar feelings about Energon Axes that fit over the hand and point straight out as a forearm extension. The design is less good than a normal ax, so unless it is meant to be Sunbow Cartoon Optimus, maybe just mold a normal ax.

And yet another G1 styled rifle, which doesn't bother me, but it might have been nice to reach into the history of various Optimus toys and look to a different rifle for inspiration. Perhaps the G2 Laser Optimus double barrelled gun (which might then be taken from him, and he gets someone else's...)

While the idea behind the game is that the Transformers were rebuilt, Optimus shows no real signs of any damage or repair work. There's some silver paint that might represent this, but it is entirely symmetrical.

Vehicle mode is very good. There is a massive front bumper with spikes, and there are no side windows at all, and there's a lump behind the passenger cabin that is feet, but as a whole, it's a very good vehicle mode. Lots of greebling, but beyond the surface level details, this is a very clean alt-mode. Given the conceit of the game, I can accept no side windows. They may also be there, but have armored slats covering them for protection -- but there's no protecting the Matrix that is visible in the front windows.

It was the bumper and the shoulders that sold me on this toy, along with the general patched together look... I just wish the patched together look wasn't symmetrical as it breaks the suspension of disbelief a little. I suppose I could get some silver paint, and make a few more parts on one side look like they had been replaced with sheet metal.

There is no trailer, nor is there a spot for a trailer to attach. Robot mode does not have 5mm ports everywhere. I think that's a shame, as it limits play value. A trailer with missile batteries or something would really help the toy (or any toy, actually)

I would say that this is a very decent, utterly unessential Optimus. If you were choosing between this, Siege, Earthrise and Legacy Laser Optimus, there would be no reason to pick this one, but not really any reason not to pick this one -- each has its flaws but is generally a good toy.

Actually, when was the last bad bigger-than-deluxe Optimus? I didn’t like the PotP toy, but I don’t think he was bad, just not as good as the other two toys with that upgrade gimmick, and the gimmick was fun. The Powermaster Optimus before that was a little off. The Movieverse had some stinkers.

Maybe one of the ROTB Optimus toys sucks.

Soundwave is an armored communications truck, with guns on top. Some form of SUV, mostly dark blue, with black details and windows, but someone painted a yellow box on the hood to represent a cassette door. There are several slightly different shades of blue, due to different types of plastic, and there are visible panel lines and hinges at weird angles.

There is not a lot of battle damage, and nothing particularly asymmetrical on the alt mode. Given the theme of ReActivate, that's a little disappointing. Perhaps he is either not rebuilt in the game, or just rebuilt better. The mismatched plastics, panel lines and visible hinges still fit the overall aesthetic, though, as this is a heavily modified vehicle with slats across the windshield, crash bars on front, etc. It's not a clean look, but it's a very intentional look. There are molded rivet details along the fake panel lines -- it might have been good to put them along the real panel lines as well.

My copy has a few spots with the fenders that don't quite want to line up right, but the battered look of the alt-mode covers a lot of things that would be defects on a smoother intended design.

The overall effect screams "cop car" to me, but that might just be because the People's Democratic Republic of Seattle has a lot of "undercover" police vehicles that are dark blue, with blacked out chrome and tinted windows. Or I am being stalked by the FBI or something. (I saw three of them while I was walking to my Physical Therapist the other day, two driving west, and then one driving east, while I was waiting for the light to change).

There are also red headlights, and small red lines on the sides of the roof.

Soundwave gets full points for creepy, oppressive vibe.

He is something of a shell former, with arms and legs just squirreled away inside the vehicle, and only the robot chest and backpack being made from car parts. But, the shell balls up nicely on his back, with a few flaps on his lower legs, so he's a well done shell former at least.

Interestingly, he uses the shell effectively in both modes. One rear wheel is tucked into each leg, but the front wheels are effectively folded together backwards (hubcap to hubcap), and then tucked under the shell that is now a backpack.

Robot mode is a little spindley for a Soundwave, which is a choice. TF:Prime, and Earthrise make the same choice. And he has a pretty hefty backpack, so if he had an entirely different deco you might not recognize him as Soundwave. The forearms are closer in shape to the Bumblebee movie Soundwave rather than the rectilinear solids that we know and love in G1.

Head sculpt is … I get that designers might want to do something different to put their mark on the character and justify their existence as designers and sculptors, but head sculpts are a spot to be more conservative.

Do you know how for many years it was believed that putting an ape on the cover of a comic book would boost sales, so writers were always looking for some ridiculous way to make the main character an ape, resulting in things like JLApe instead of the JLA? It’s like that. The faceplate is pushed forward to accommodate a big ape jaw underneath, while the forehead slopes back. The visor is small and looks like a visor that would cover deep-set, close-together ape eyes. And then the whole thing gets added greebles. It’s really weird. BM Jetstorm had a similar facial structure in the cartoon.

The proportions are all more human than ape though, and at this point I’m thinking that’s a missed opportunity. Specifically, they are the proportions of a formerly skinny man, who has shoved himself into pants that are too small -- a bit thick above the waist, but with thin arms and legs, but by golly he will tell you that his waist size hasn't changed since college.

Deco favors black for robot mode parts like biceps, hands and thighs, rather than the more traditional gray. There's a little bit of silver paint to give him some much needed contrast, but he keeps the really dark shadowy cop color scheme. There is no effort to give him tape player buttons.

Weapons (usable in both modes) are a shoulder mounted gatling gun, and his classic harpoon gun.

Overall, a perfectly fine toy, but not particularly exciting.

Fascinating. I haven't kept up with the video games since Devastation, the cel-shaded one that looked like a lost G1 episode and starred many of the original voice actors. A great sendoff to the G1 era. It's nice to see something other than slavish devotion to Sunbow accuracy (of course, I am a gigantic hypocrite, since G1-fidelity is something I've wanted for decades) - this gives me a strong Classics 2006 vibe. Glad they're doing something different with the main cast.