Here, finally, we have the last of my ancient Draft posts for this blog, now with the advantage of sparkly new photos because the originals (taken in February 2011!) had the same busy background of shelves that all the other images from that era had. Looking back, it's kind of bizarre that it's taken me more than 14 full years to complete this post considering Primus is such a significant figure in TransFormers lore and, in the Cybertron/Galaxy Force continuity amongst others, literally the home planet of the TransFormers.
Also, when Galaxy Force/Cybertron rolled around, Unicron had become a black hole (in the TV show) and a tank-thing resembling The Ark from G1 (in the Hasbro toyline), and the revelation of Primus became a plot point, so it was pretty much inevitable that he'd appear in some form.
So, with a still semi-recent, colossal Legacy Unicron toy thanks to the HasLab crowdfunding scheme and a smaller Third Party rival already available, let's - finally! - take a look at the second TransFormers planetformer Hasbro actually released. The only real question was whether the design and engineering teams had learned the right lessons from the reception of Armada Unicron...
Planet Mode:
Well... it's mostly spherical, so it's already an improvement on the 2003 take on Unicron. There's definitely a ball in there somewhere, but it's been embellished with massive towers in the polar regions of both hemispheres (those of the southern hemisphere acting as a stand for the toy, while those at the northernmost point being passive Mini-Con ports), rows of spires are dotted about the equatorial regions, and the outer surface is broken up to reveal cityscapes and roadways, some parts of which actually rise up beyond the level of the outer shell.
There are also oddities where robot parts aren't entirely obscured. One would have to wonder, for example, what the inhabitants of Cybertron thought of the city-wide, segmented monoliths that lead into the interior of the planet which, at this scale, are clearly fingers. Perhaps they're always too distracted by the nearby massive cannons - larger than the tallest spire on the planet - each of which are host to twin city-states, split along the equator, with some kind of massive docking station. Then there are also weapons the size of continents embedded in massive valleys running about three quarters of the way around the northern hemisphere, while the southern hemisphere features four colossal leaning towers, spaced equidistantly around the pole.
What's really cool is that there's some semblance of identifiable geography for those who were sufficiently invested in the G1 TV show and comics - Iacon's great dome is present and identifiable, and the horrific scar that is Kolkular, capital of Kaon, sits on the equator. Even the outer shell features sculpted detail of raised roadways and recessed buildings, but the handful in internal cityscapes are both brilliantly designed and cleverly realised in plastic - the only downside is the rather half-arsed paint job, where gold paint has been sprayed in bursts (some of which are too heavy) or covered, bizarrely, with yellow paint. In a certain light, the gold paint is quite effective - looking like sunlight hitting the taller parts of inner levels while the planet's outer shell keeps the surrounding blocks in shadow. The yellow paint looks too stark and incongruous and, frankly, either more gold or a dark gunmetal to contrast with the lighter blue-grey plastic would have been better. Certainly, the Kaon crater could have used darker paint to emphasise that it is damage to the surface of the planet, not simply a stripping down to bare metal.
But, ultimately, this is just a ball... isn't it? While his weapons can be deployed in this mode - the blasters, at least, if not the missile launchers - there's a sense that they're not supposed to be... so, aside from making a mockery of scale by plugging Mini-Cons into the towers around his north pole, there's not a great deal of play value to be had. Its overall appearance is rather too patchy. I sometimes wish I'd waited another few years, and picked up Takara Tomy's 2010 'Creator Primus' re-release, with a more consistent gunmetal plastic used for Cybertron's entire outer shell. It's strange to reflect, as a Collector, how unexpected some re-releases have been... Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say "how predictable some re-releases have become"?
One thing he has over Unicron, though, is that he has built-in 'legs' to keep his planet mode upright and stable. These are made of the same semi-rigid rubber that has been used for the slimmer spires that jut out at and above the equator. On the one hand, it's a convenience that I appreciate: there's no need to contrive a way of keeping Cybertron at a particular orientation, he just sits there... On the other hand, because of these legs, he looks less like a planet and more like a Bayverse McGuffin or a steampunk cauldron/reactor of some kind.
Battle Mode:
As it turns out, some bright spark decided to partly transform this figure and try to call it another official alternate mode. This isn't especially unusual in the TransFormers line, and is a particularly popular pastime in the fan forums... but for that to work its way into the official toyline and be officially documented is still a bit strange. The results, I think, speak for themselves - it looks crap.
Being generous, there's a certain Super-Deform Star Trek vibe to the 'bridge' section on a neck extending from the portly body, and the missile launchers at the back lend the swung-back chunks of planet a certain resemblance to the nacelles of the Enterprise, but I don't see why this was ever considered a proper transformation. On the upside, at least it isn't a 'base mode', which would have been utterly ridiculous for a toy whose main mode is a planet.
Battle Station Mode:
I genuinely only found out about this at some point earlier this year, when refamiliarising myself with the toy for the purpose of this write-up... but it's basically just the result of starting to transform Primus into robot mode, then stopping halfway through, and doesn't look significantly more coherent than the so-called 'Battle Mode'.
Robot Mode:
Clumsy and blocky as Armada Unicron may be, he has a certain goofy charm, shared by many of the toys in that line. Primus is broadly more successful and well-proportioned as a robot - not least because his planet mode is more-or-less spherical, where Unicron's was very much incomplete. There are some significant caveats, though. First and foremost, he has a lot more planetary mass hanging off his back, and an inverted T-shaped flap hanging awkwardly off the bottom of a large block sticking out behind his pelvis. If that weren't bad enough, Unicron also has one over on him because Primus doesn't really have feet, as such. Each leg has one curved panel that folds out of the front, below the shins, and another that functions as a heel. Nonetheless, given how little surface area actually makes contact with whatever he's standing on, he remains fairly stable. This, also, constitutes an improvement over Unicron whose massive feet were nonetheless supporting the body via rather loose ankle joints.
Aside from the fact that he's significantly shorter than Unicron (3-4cm between the top of their respective heads, not including Unicron's horns), and has a kind of build-in halo effect, thanks to the planet chunks on his back having spires along their rims, he's quite a nondescript 'bot. His forearms and hands are huge, and he has large planet segments on the outsides of his lower legs but, if it weren't for those, he wouldn't look particularly interesting. It's not through want of trying, though. Most of the sculpted detail is the sort of armour panelling and mechanical detail of indeterminate function that one would tend to expect from TransFormers toys. However, the robot's shoulders and the large chunks of planet shell suspended above them - I hesitate to call them pauldrons - feature curly, almost organic-looking engravings that reminds me a little of G1 Megatron's filigree chest stickers.
By contemporary standards, the paintwork on robot mode is positively opulent but, considering the size of the figure, it's proportionally quite limited. The odd choice of colours in planet mode make a lot more sense in the context of robot mode, with the flat, greyish blue plastic supplemented by a brighter, more cyan - one might even call it 'AllSpark Blue' in this context - for much of the torso. Paintwork comes in the same colours seen in planet mode, with silver and metallic yellow on the pauldrons, more silver on the shoulders, chest and thighs, dark blue paint at the waist to match the plastic of the pelvis, then spot applications of a dark, bronzy gunmetal on the outsides of the chest and waist, as well as at the collar. Plain yellow highlights smaller details on the forearms, just below the elbow, in the middle of the pelvis and at the point where the pauldrons connect to the shoulder. It's interesting to note how much of the sculpted detail has gone unpainted but, considering the depth of the sculpt and the colour of the plastic, none of that detail is lost, regardless.
Battle Mode:
As it turns out, some bright spark decided to partly transform this figure and try to call it another official alternate mode. This isn't especially unusual in the TransFormers line, and is a particularly popular pastime in the fan forums... but for that to work its way into the official toyline and be officially documented is still a bit strange. The results, I think, speak for themselves - it looks crap.
Being generous, there's a certain Super-Deform Star Trek vibe to the 'bridge' section on a neck extending from the portly body, and the missile launchers at the back lend the swung-back chunks of planet a certain resemblance to the nacelles of the Enterprise, but I don't see why this was ever considered a proper transformation. On the upside, at least it isn't a 'base mode', which would have been utterly ridiculous for a toy whose main mode is a planet.
As it stands, though, it fits in quite well with Megatron in some continuities wanting to transform Cybertron into an intergalactic dreadnought... even if it does look decidedly silly.
Battle Station Mode:
I genuinely only found out about this at some point earlier this year, when refamiliarising myself with the toy for the purpose of this write-up... but it's basically just the result of starting to transform Primus into robot mode, then stopping halfway through, and doesn't look significantly more coherent than the so-called 'Battle Mode'.
Robot Mode:
Clumsy and blocky as Armada Unicron may be, he has a certain goofy charm, shared by many of the toys in that line. Primus is broadly more successful and well-proportioned as a robot - not least because his planet mode is more-or-less spherical, where Unicron's was very much incomplete. There are some significant caveats, though. First and foremost, he has a lot more planetary mass hanging off his back, and an inverted T-shaped flap hanging awkwardly off the bottom of a large block sticking out behind his pelvis. If that weren't bad enough, Unicron also has one over on him because Primus doesn't really have feet, as such. Each leg has one curved panel that folds out of the front, below the shins, and another that functions as a heel. Nonetheless, given how little surface area actually makes contact with whatever he's standing on, he remains fairly stable. This, also, constitutes an improvement over Unicron whose massive feet were nonetheless supporting the body via rather loose ankle joints.
Aside from the fact that he's significantly shorter than Unicron (3-4cm between the top of their respective heads, not including Unicron's horns), and has a kind of build-in halo effect, thanks to the planet chunks on his back having spires along their rims, he's quite a nondescript 'bot. His forearms and hands are huge, and he has large planet segments on the outsides of his lower legs but, if it weren't for those, he wouldn't look particularly interesting. It's not through want of trying, though. Most of the sculpted detail is the sort of armour panelling and mechanical detail of indeterminate function that one would tend to expect from TransFormers toys. However, the robot's shoulders and the large chunks of planet shell suspended above them - I hesitate to call them pauldrons - feature curly, almost organic-looking engravings that reminds me a little of G1 Megatron's filigree chest stickers.
While Primus' overall proportions look pretty good, his upper arms and thighs are tiny compared to his forearms and lower legs. Part of the reason for this is the built-in weapons - key-activated dual-barrel blasters in the former, miscellaneous guns and launchers in the latter - all of which requires additional mass to accommodate. On top of that, there's the chunks of planet hanging off his lower legs which, granted, feature even more weapons, but it really feels like they're there because the designers couldn't figure out anything better to do with them. The proportions are also odd because of the way they chose to align the pauldrons with the forearms to form much of the planet's equator, while the upper legs have to be completely enclosed within the southern hemisphere.
By contemporary standards, the paintwork on robot mode is positively opulent but, considering the size of the figure, it's proportionally quite limited. The odd choice of colours in planet mode make a lot more sense in the context of robot mode, with the flat, greyish blue plastic supplemented by a brighter, more cyan - one might even call it 'AllSpark Blue' in this context - for much of the torso. Paintwork comes in the same colours seen in planet mode, with silver and metallic yellow on the pauldrons, more silver on the shoulders, chest and thighs, dark blue paint at the waist to match the plastic of the pelvis, then spot applications of a dark, bronzy gunmetal on the outsides of the chest and waist, as well as at the collar. Plain yellow highlights smaller details on the forearms, just below the elbow, in the middle of the pelvis and at the point where the pauldrons connect to the shoulder. It's interesting to note how much of the sculpted detail has gone unpainted but, considering the depth of the sculpt and the colour of the plastic, none of that detail is lost, regardless.
As is to be expected, the built-in weapons come into their own in this mode. The over-the-shoulder spring-loaded rocket launchers put me in mind of some of the original Diaclone toys, while the leg-mounted weapons are closer to Armada Unicron. There are no active weapons on his lower body, just sculpted missiles on the leg-mounted planet chunks, a group of five miscellaneous weapon towers in each shin, deployed by the Omega Lock as part of his transformation, and then claws that extend out of the planet chunks alongside the knee. The forearm-mounted blasters are activated by his pack-in key. In theory, they are supposed to pop up out of his forearms, and the twin barrels are supposed to extend... but, as a result of age and wear, the blaster barrels on my copy no longer clip into their stowed position reliably, so they're pretty much always extended.
The only other accessory, the aforementioned Omega Lock, is an integral part of Primus's transformation, and the only way to complete certain steps. In and of itself, it doesn't do much - not even its built-in LED feature is triggered by plugging in four Cyber Planet Keys (ideally, but not necessarily, the one packaged with the leaders of Speedia, Animatros, Gigalonia and Earth... or possibly Primus's own key, or the unique key packaged with Vector Prime?). In fact, the light is only activated when it's plugged into one of the dedicated ports on Primus. The Omega Lock activates sound and light effects within Primus - the usual sort of 'power up' effect and flashing lights in his eyes at the final stage of transformation into robot mode - but only has a red LED in and of itself... And, considering it's set behind translucent cyan plastic, that looks pretty strange. The two arms extending from the body of the key are molded in rubber, and I'm not clear on what they're supposed to achieve. They're too low down - and too soft - to act as support for keys, not that support is even necessary... and the fact that there's only two of them means it's only symmetrical on one axis... but maybe it's just me who finds that strange...
One could be forgiven for expecting the head sculpt for Primus to be something like the Autobot insignia but, unfortunately, it's rather more bland than that. They clearly tried to create something unique and somewhat regal... but it ends up looking like a powered-up version of the Prowl-Bluestreak-Smokescreen head sculpt. I guess that's somewhat fitting - those Diaclone cars being pretty much the foundation of the brand we know today - but it feels like a missed opportunity nonetheless. His silver-painted face has a pretty blank expression, and what little his face has in terms of sculpted flourishes is immediately overshadowed - quite literally - by his enormous protruding crest, highlighted in metallic yellow paint. Certain details - such as the stubby antennae - almost look like nods to Optimus Prime, while the subtle filigree on the sides of the helmet could almost be predicting the Cybertronian engravings on the heads of all the robots in the live action movies... but the end result is sadly quite disappointing for such a key figure in TransFormers lore.
In some ways, Primus's transformation is quite similar to Unicron's... perhaps even simpler. The deployment and collapsing of the feet is far simpler, since each one is just a flap on the end of the leg. The legs themselves simply fold up over the torso, but here that happens after a 180° rotation of the pelvis. The arms simply flatten in to the sides, with the hands compressing into the forearms, and then the not-pauldrons and backpack close up to complete the planet mode. The main difference is that Primus comes with an accessory - the Omega Lock - to facilitate the first and last steps to the transformation into either mode. It's required to swing the planet chunks that make up the 'halo' on his back into either position (accompanied by a wibbly sound effect of indeterminate purpose), and to bring the head up out or drop it back down into the chest (the former accompanied by flashing eyes and what sounds like a barrage of gunfire, the latter remaining silent), both of these actions accomplished by plugging the Omega Lock into a large port and dragging it either up or down. Additionally, it is used on either leg to deploy or stow additional weapons for robot mode by plugging it into the ports on the outside of the lower leg and twisting, with the final step being to manually extend the sculpted missile launchers by pushing the sunken city chunks forward from the back. The fact that the Omega Lock is required for transformation is an extension of the G1 Powermaster gimmick and the Unicron Trilogy's Mini-Con gimmicks, but also a huge gamble, considering accessories just like the Omega Lock are often lost over time.
For a figure this size, there's certainly nothing unusual about his articulation, except for where the equatorial non-pauldrons get in the way of the arms due to the weirdly short bicep sections, and the backpack curtails their backward swing. In theory, the ratchet joints in the shoulders would allow 360° rotation but, in practice, you get only a little more than 90° swing - mostly forward - at the shoulder, and a similar amount out to the sides before the chunky pauldrons get in the way. The elbows, meanwhile, bend through 180°, which isn't even necessary for transformation, but the joint occupies almost the entire bicep, and then the forearms can freely rotate just below the elbow. The wrists aren't articulated, but the thumb and individual fingers are all pinned, the former getting a small range of rotation, while the latter can each bend at two separate joints. The waist can rotate a full 360° with some clashing between the legs and the butt-flap. Likewise, the legs are unimpeded when swinging 90° forward, but quickly clash with the T-shaped butt-flap when swinging back, though they can get 90° out to the sides before the lower legs hit the backpack. The knees can bend beyond 90°, but will probably be clashing with something by that point, and they can also bend slightly forwards. Since he barely has feet, here's not much room for articulation, but the 'toe' plate can tilt slightly to give him a more solid stance when his legs are splayed. Most of the joints are ratcheted, too, so they're not prone to sagging or slipping. His head, being wired for LEDs behind the eyes, doesn't turn a full 360°, but nor does it need to. Unlike Unicron, his head can't tilt up, but it's not as if that joint on Unicron actually looked good.
In some ways, Primus's transformation is quite similar to Unicron's... perhaps even simpler. The deployment and collapsing of the feet is far simpler, since each one is just a flap on the end of the leg. The legs themselves simply fold up over the torso, but here that happens after a 180° rotation of the pelvis. The arms simply flatten in to the sides, with the hands compressing into the forearms, and then the not-pauldrons and backpack close up to complete the planet mode. The main difference is that Primus comes with an accessory - the Omega Lock - to facilitate the first and last steps to the transformation into either mode. It's required to swing the planet chunks that make up the 'halo' on his back into either position (accompanied by a wibbly sound effect of indeterminate purpose), and to bring the head up out or drop it back down into the chest (the former accompanied by flashing eyes and what sounds like a barrage of gunfire, the latter remaining silent), both of these actions accomplished by plugging the Omega Lock into a large port and dragging it either up or down. Additionally, it is used on either leg to deploy or stow additional weapons for robot mode by plugging it into the ports on the outside of the lower leg and twisting, with the final step being to manually extend the sculpted missile launchers by pushing the sunken city chunks forward from the back. The fact that the Omega Lock is required for transformation is an extension of the G1 Powermaster gimmick and the Unicron Trilogy's Mini-Con gimmicks, but also a huge gamble, considering accessories just like the Omega Lock are often lost over time.
For a figure this size, there's certainly nothing unusual about his articulation, except for where the equatorial non-pauldrons get in the way of the arms due to the weirdly short bicep sections, and the backpack curtails their backward swing. In theory, the ratchet joints in the shoulders would allow 360° rotation but, in practice, you get only a little more than 90° swing - mostly forward - at the shoulder, and a similar amount out to the sides before the chunky pauldrons get in the way. The elbows, meanwhile, bend through 180°, which isn't even necessary for transformation, but the joint occupies almost the entire bicep, and then the forearms can freely rotate just below the elbow. The wrists aren't articulated, but the thumb and individual fingers are all pinned, the former getting a small range of rotation, while the latter can each bend at two separate joints. The waist can rotate a full 360° with some clashing between the legs and the butt-flap. Likewise, the legs are unimpeded when swinging 90° forward, but quickly clash with the T-shaped butt-flap when swinging back, though they can get 90° out to the sides before the lower legs hit the backpack. The knees can bend beyond 90°, but will probably be clashing with something by that point, and they can also bend slightly forwards. Since he barely has feet, here's not much room for articulation, but the 'toe' plate can tilt slightly to give him a more solid stance when his legs are splayed. Most of the joints are ratcheted, too, so they're not prone to sagging or slipping. His head, being wired for LEDs behind the eyes, doesn't turn a full 360°, but nor does it need to. Unlike Unicron, his head can't tilt up, but it's not as if that joint on Unicron actually looked good.
On balance, one can't expect much from a TransFormers toy that deliberately only changes into an approximate sphere... but, personally, I can't help but feel a little disappointed by Primus, especially in comparison to Armada Unicron from three years prior. He's smaller, his electronic features are perfunctory to the point where they may as well not have bothered, and his other play features are limited to a pair of spring-loaded missile launchers, spring-loaded arm cannons and the truly bizarre leg claws. Both were re-released as repaints in 2010, as part of Takara's Welcome to TransFormers 2010 campaign, along with six other, similarly disparate molds. However, even with the new paint jobs, and resculpted head for Unicron, it was abundantly clear the two planetformers had originated in very different toylines.
Something that really surprised me about this Supreme class figure from the tail end of the Unicron Trilogy, was that he's substantially smaller than Armada Unicron in planet mode. Given the inconsistent scaling of the 1986 animated movie, that may or may not be 'accurate', but it seems a little arbitrary. Both toys have electronic features, and Leader class toys in the Cybertron/Galaxy Force line - such as Galaxy Convoy and Master Galvatron - were comparatively huge, while the likes of Megalo Convoy seems larger, and isn't significantly less complex in his engineering.
Certainly it feels as though Hasbro could have done more with lights and sounds, but that might have come into conflict with the Omega Lock features, requiring a complete re-think of the entire toy... Adding sound effects to the Cyber Key features would have required running wires down the arms unless each was powered by its own watch battery, since there's really not enough room for anything else. Then again, I wouldn't have thought gunfire was the most appropriate sound effect for the Creator figure for all Cybertronians... and one has to wonder why Primus is bristling with so many weapons.
All things considered, though, I'm not sure what else I might have wanted out of a Primus figure. To be fair, the geographical features of Cybertron were enough of a selling point to some, even though some might quibble their accuracy. While he has Mini-Con ports, the Mini-Cons themselves were no longer an important part of the toyline by the time Cybertron/Galaxy Force was in full swing, with the Cyber Keys replacing them as activators for the spring-loaded features. Additionally, while it might have been nice to have, say, a miniature Vector Sigma stashed somewhere inside Primus, the ancient computer wasn't a feature of the accompanying story.
So, perhaps the real question is... was a Primus figure really necessary? Much as I might like this figure, I don't think its absence from the toyline would have caused any sleepless nights back in the day, let alone now. Weirdly, Primus feels more dated as a figure than Unicron, despite broadly improved proportions in robot mode, a more complete alternate mode and a more extensive paint job.
I suspect this is a figure aimed more at the lore devotees than the casual fan and, while the 2010 repaint was a bit of a shelfwarmer at the time - if it even made it to the UK as anything other than an unofficial import - it's likely to be an expensive acquisition these days, while this Cybertron original and the frankly baffling repaint that turned up as part of the toyline for The Last Knight appear to be more reasonably priced on the secondary market.
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