Toy Review: Transformers Dark of the Moon Optimus Prime – Cyberverse Preview

The Geek Bits
Name: Optimus Prime (Sneak Preview)
Name: Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Subline: Cyberverse
Released: March 2011
Availability: General retailers (Target, Walmart, Toys R Us)
Price: $7.99 – $9.99
Includes: Optimus Prime, jetpack, two weapons, 3-D glasses, instruction booklet
Worth the price? 3 out of 5 – Get it on sale if you can, don’t pay $10 for it.

When I first saw pictures of the Cyberverse line from Toy Fair 2011, I got excited.  Legends-style toys with more articulation and playsets?  Autobot Roller and the Ark?  Awesome!

So now that a preview figure of the Cyberverse lin is in my hands, I have to say that it seems like a bit of a mixed bag.  It’s pretty good, but there are a few niggling things.

The Good

I love the fact that Optimus has accessories, namely two guns and a rocket pack.  This immediately adds to the play value, as opposed to the old Legends/Scouts which usually didn’t have much in the way of anything but the main toy.

The sculpting detail is impressive!  While you can’t get the full detail of the larger Optimus toys in this small one, little touches here and there evoke the bigger toys.  I especially like the sculpted grill in robot mode.

The transformation is dang slick.  The cab portion slides back and forth to allow the vehicle mode to have an elongated look, adding to the realism of the truck mode.

Articulation?  Optimus has got it — shoulders, elbows, waist (as part of the transformation), knees, hips.  Perhaps he’s a little too poseable, as I had troubles getting him to stand, but you certainly can get action poses out of the guy.

The new Cyberverse class seems to be taking over the space of both the Scout and Legends classes, and this feels like it could be a Scout toy.  He’s definitely got more to him than a Legends toy.

The Bad

Unfortunately, my toy seems to have some niggling issues with pieces snapping together in vehicle mode.  No matter how hard I try, when the feet transform into the engine section, I can’t seem to get them to snap together with the cab section.  Perhaps I’m not transforming it right, but I hear the clicking of tab pieces, and I still see a bit of a gap.  This also leads to the truck not rolling on the floor/table/smooth surface as smoothly as it should.

The Final Rewind

As an indicator of the upcoming Cyberverse line, Optimus Prime shows promise. I look forward to playsets with interaction with all these new toys, but I hope that the quality control issues are the exception not the rule. It’s frustrating when such a small peg can ruin a bit of fun with a toy.

The Gallery