So I kind of bought something by accident and just decided to roll with it.
One day, I saw this really cool stop action video, but I wasn't paying super attention. I remember it was the Light of something third party figure. Now I knew enough that it was a Magic Square figure. I remembered seeing an Optimus Prime figure and as far as I knew, they only made Legends scale figures. So I saw Light of Victory 2.0, figured the video was for this most recent figure, and went with it.
Well, turns out it was the Light of Freedom, a larger figure. But, by the time I figured that out, it was too late. So, I figured might as well see what their non Mukudo toys were like.
Like the Hybrid G1 Convoy of yesteryear, this set aims to cram as much G1 Optimus Prime goodness into a small package. No missiles for the Repair Drone or a Gas Nozzle/Hose, but you do get the usual Cab/Trailer, Ion Blaster/Blast Effect, Roller, Drone, Energon Axe, some extra hands (can't get around this one due to size), but also some other goodies, namely Jet Pack/Booster effects, battle damaged head, Starscream Head/Air Intakes from the MP Convoy 3.0 set, and larger smokestacks.
Unfortunately, due to.. I honestly don't know what, but I wasn't able actually swap out any of the heads for photographs. The thing just wouldn't budge off the neck post. The Air Intake and Jet Pack are pretty self explanatory with regards to installation, but that just leads me to another very important point.
The manual this figure comes with, does not tell you anything beyond how to transform the cab.
The core robot itself takes many visual cutes from the MP Convoy 3.0 release. and it looks really good. It's also kind of neat to have something this toon accurate in a tiny form, though as I learned, this isn't exactly without a cost. But until that time in the review, enjoy this lovely clean bot mode.
Of course, wouldn't be Optimus Prime if the chest didn't open up with a Matrix chamber.
The Blaster effect, Energon Axe, and Thruster effect are made of the harder translucent plastics rather than that soft stuff that Hasbro uses. It's nice not having to care about Child Safety laws.
Trailer does pretty much what you expect it too, though it's very much no frills in comparison to the real deal. This is evidenced by the lack of pretty much anything inside the actual trailer beyond some holes to dock the Repair Drone. The trailer also lacks the hole on the ceiling level that I think all legit G1 trailers have. Of note is that taken from the MP Convoy 3.0, the Repair Drone is now on wheels that fold to connect to the trailer. Roller posses the little swivel on its beacon that reveals a hole for the insertion of the Ion Blaster.
From that Articulation perspective, this figure is a beast. There are of course bulk related interferences but generally speaking you can put this figure into a nice variety of spicy poses. Having an ab crunch (used for the transformation of course) really opens up options. Shoulders are three swivel joints working in unison.
Having said that, the lack of proper wrist joints on the hands limits things there, with only the dedicate chest cavity opening hands having any sort of real wrist motion, and even then its limited to one axis.
Transformation into Cab mode is quite involved. I can't remember if this mimics the MP Convoy 3.0 exactly but if not it's pretty damn close. Quite impressive if you consider this figure is smaller than the original G1 Optimus Prime figure. The instructions aren't the greatest but they were better than the ones with Truck Boy and your reward to surviving the struggle is a pretty good looking Cab. Tires are rubber both on the Cab and the Trailer, though of course they're way too small to be branded.
Paint Applications are pretty good. I mean, while this figure transforms like an MP, it certainly doesn't have MP level finishes, which undoubtedly would have made things more expensive. On the plus side, that helps to minimize potential for paint wear. The primary Red, White, and Blue on the body are base plastic colours, and everything else is painted. There are some instances of finer paint work such as on the Matrix and parts of the Cab. It's solid work, but generally minimalistic.
So Build Quality is an interesting one. So first off, there was no way this was going to have the greatest materials. The plastic feels to me like that softer stuff that comes out of a 3D printer, the stuff they used in the early days of Unified Product, but thinner. The tolerances on the pieces are actually pretty good, as is evident by the tight seam lines of the many, many, many panels are actually quite small. But this material (or more accurately, its thickness) isn't exactly the best as many of these parts end up becoming warped, which makes transformation somewhat of a bear. A tab actually broke off my figure, and I think it left the factory that way.
Another issue that is due to the small size of the figure, there was no space for smaller secondary joints that create clearance needed to manipulate panels. As such, much of the transformation requires you to basically trust that the pieces won't snap in your hands because the material can take it.
The Energon Axe doesn't fit that snugly in the socket, and I think this is due to the smooth nature of that plastic versus the more typical Blue stuff. And speaking of loose, for whatever reason some of the parts aren't secured like you'd expect it to be. This includes the railing on the side of the Trailer supports and, for some reason, the top of the Repair Drone.
But perhaps the most frustrating thing about this figure is actually a piece of paper - the instructions. The document details, generally well, the transformation of the Cab from robot to vehicle. However, it tells you absolutely bupkiss when it comes to anything else. You can probably figure out how to swap out the fists and doing the secondary Trailer functions, but hitching the Trailer to the Cab is a pain, requiring you to pull out this piece from the underside of the Trailer, mounting it to the rear of the Cab, then rotating the Trailer and Cab such that you can actually connect it together.
Overall, not a terrible product. If you're not going to bother with the transformation aspects, maybe you'll have an easier time than I with regard to getting the head off and actually getting that Starscream mode to work. The Air Intake and Jet Pack are easy enough to get on the figure. But the transformation sequence and general flimsy materials may frustrate some owners either due to confusion or concerns it will break the thing.
But if you like your transformers tiny and complex, this is a solid starting point. There are others around this size, but I think the price only goes up from here.
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