Ocular Max PS-17 Probus, is now up for pre-order!

Ocular Max PS-17 Probus

We now have the pre-orders up for Ocular Max PS-17 Probus, the 5th member of the  All-in-One Combiner Assaultus. Reserve yours early by following the links! Shop Smart with The Chosen Prime!

X-Transbots toys MX-13T Crackup, is now in-stock!

X-Transbots toys MX-13T Crackup

X-Transbot Toys MX-13T Crackup is now in-stock! Get yours by using the links. Shop Smart with The Chosen Prime!

Transformers G1 Reissue Autobot Girafu & Noizu, and Decepticon Frenzy 3-Pack Cassettes, is now in-stock!

Transformers G1 Reissue Autobot Girafu & Noizu, and Decepticon Frenzy 3-Pack Cassettes

Get your Transformers G1 Reissue Autobot Girafu & Noizu and Decepticon Frenzy 3-Pack Cassettes. We've got them in-stock and ready to ship. Order yours today! Thanks for choosing The Chosen Prime!

Ocular Max PS-16 Volatus, is now up for pre-order!

Ocular Max PS-16 Volatus

Ocular Max PS-16 Volatus, is now up for pre-order! Reserve yours by following links. Thanks for choosing The Chosen Prime!

Ocular Max ReMIX RMX-06 Furor & RMX-07 Riot (2019 Reissue), is now in-stock!

Ocular Max ReMIX RMX-06 Furor & RMX-07 Riot (2019 Reissue)

 We got the stocks in for Ocular Max ReMIX RMX-06 Furor & RMX-07 Riot. Pre-orders are currently being processed. Get yours by following the links.

Takara Transformers Generations Selects King Poseidon: Turtler (Snaptrap) & Gulf (Skalor), now up for pre-order!

Takara Transformers Generations Selects King Poseidon: Turtler (Snaptrap)

We have the pre-orders up for Takara Transformers Generations Selects King Poseidon (Piranacon): Turtler (Snaptrap) & Gulf (Skalor). Just follow the links and reserve yours today. Thanks for choosing The Chosen Prime!

Fans Toys FT-31C Spoiler, is now up for pre-order!

Fans Toys FT-31C Spoiler

Now up for pre-order is Fans Toys FT-31C Spoiler. Reserve yours today by following the links. Shop Smart with The Chosen Prime!

Ocular Max ReMiX Series figures Transformation Sequences.

Check out the transformation sequences for Ocular Max ReMiX Series figures. Thanks to our TCP Family member peolesdru. Then follow the links to order yours. Shop Smart with The Chosen Prime!

Movie Masterpiece Barricade

It's hard for me to objectively review Bayformer figures because I'm just not that enamored with the aesthetic. It's slowly growing on me, but there will probably be figures I'll never pick up. Barricade turned out to be a surprisingly satisfying find.

As a Saleen model squad car, Barricade looks really good. All the painted decals are cleanly applied, as are most of the metallic paint for the various turn signals and lights. On mine, one turn signal has sloppy edges. I like the translucent plastic for the roof lights, but wish it were a little thicker. The windows could have been tinted much darker to hide the robot bits. Unfortunately, unsightly panel lines mar the door panels, and the doors do not open. Robot hips and legs are visible in his undercarriage. He rolls just fine on plastic tires.

Not surprisingly, transformation leans toward complex. I do not like having to flex the door windows to get them to rotate past the windshield. His torso clip is not very secure. It's almost as loose as the chest clip found on KO Masterpiece Sideswipe figures. His forearms also tend to come apart. Going back to vehicle mode is a pain. With the number of transparent plastic hinges involved, I won't be transforming him again.

He pretty much nails how Barricade looked in the first movie, down to the gorilla length arms. The details in his face are done very well, even if they aren't as intricate as those found on Optimus Prime. I love the metallic blue paint that is revealed in this form. He has a piece of Die-cast frame in the middle of his torso, which gives him a little heft.

What is it with the Movie Masterpiece line and their cheap paper manuals? Perhaps less excusable, Frenzy is not included. He only comes with his rotor blade weapon. It spins, but it is simply colored plastics stuck together. Unfortunately, it doesn't attach very securely and is prone to falling off. I don't think it stores anywhere in vehicle mode. Too bad it doesn't split apart and attach to the wheels.

Barricade will be standing on my Movie Masterpiece display. I'm still not a big fan of the Bayformer aesthetic, but I do like Barricade enough to keep him on my shelf. Hopefully, Takara will see fit to bring out a Movie Masterpiece version of Megatron in his spaceship form.

Ocular Max Riot and Furor - Rumble and Frenzy (or Frenzy and Rumble)

Ocular Max Riot and Furor - Rumble and Frenzy (or Frenzy and Rumble)

Although I like the Masterpiece minions for Soundwave, I've always thought they were a bit on the small side. They had to be, of course, to facilitate the tape storage gimmick. With the Ocular Max minions, we can now have the best of both worlds. Furor and Riot are the latest offerings that let me happily replace official Masterpiece figures.

Their cassette modes are back to the unpainted finish of Jaguar instead of the semi-painted finish of Volture and Buzzard. Like all the others, they are line-filled messes. This time, provided stickers let you cover both sides. I'll never have them in tape mode again so I will definitely not be bothering with the stickers.

Transformation to either mode is pretty simple. There are a lot of tabs, but everything lines up fairly easily.

Their heads are on ball joints. They can look up and down a decent amount. Their shoulders are on hinged ball joints that let them raise their arms straight up into the air. They swivel at their biceps, waists, and thighs. They do not have wrist swivels. Their thumbs are fixed and the rest of their fingers articulate as a single unit. They have double-jointed elbows and can almost perform full curls. They have an ab crunch to facilitate their pile driver gimmick. Their hips are on universal joints. They can preform full front and side splits. Their single-jointed knees only let them curl their legs to 90 degrees. Their feet are on ball joints.

Their accessories include a pair of rifles each, a pair of pile drivers each, a display base each, a spare head each, and a cassette case each. Their rifles are covered in metallic silver paint. They hinge at the barrels and wings to facilitate storage in tape mode, but drive my OCD crazy because they are always flopping to odd angles. The hammers slot over their arms and are motorized. Unfortunately, batteries are not included. Their spare heads have a more serious expression than the default smirk faces.

These guys will stand on my Ocular Max shelf and sub for Masterpiece minions. I'm really glad someone is giving us properly scaled figures for robot mode. I am more than content to leave a couple of the official ones in tape mode in Soundwave's and KFC Transistor's chests. Only a few more minions to go. I'm still crossing my fingers Blaster's minions will get the same treatment.

Planet X Pluto - Megatron

The High Moon games were what rekindled my interest in Transformers. I love the design of the characters and was disappointed that the official figures, except for two or three, are all on the smaller side. Thankfully, Planet X came to the rescue with their Dinobots and have spread into the other characters. Pluto is their latest offering. Not surprisingly, I love this figure.

Hovertank mode is not hateful. There are a lot of gaps in the form, but the overall shape is very interesting. Spikes and sharp edges adorn the vehicle. I'm surprised by how well he actually holds together. The small handful of tabs keeps almost everything tightly positioned. With his knee spikes and feet folded out, he reminds me of a Zerg Guardian. Unfortunately, his cannon does not articulate. His head is clearly visible in the undercarriage.

Transformation to robot mode is not difficult since you are essentially unfolding him. However, going back to vehicle mode is not fun. I kept knocking off the spikes on his back and his feet assembly have no real clear places to peg to. Not surprisingly, his cannon requires a bit of parts-forming, but is integral in holding the tank mode together.

He has a very striking presence. The metallic purple paint applications and purple translucent plastic look absolutely stunning. He has the same bulky torso as Neptune and Vulcun and is covered in spikes. His face could stand to look a bit fiercer, but otherwise is great. I don't like how his chest is a bit flappy though. Also, his feet are a fiddly, kind of like how Vulcun's were.

His head is on a ball joint. He has a decent range of motion, but nothing great. His shoulders are on ratcheted swivels and double hinges. Despite his shoulder spikes, he can raise his arms up and out parallel to the ground. He swivels at his biceps, wrist, waists, and thighs. His elbows are single-jointed and ratcheted. He can only curl to 90 degrees. His thumbs are fixed. The rest of his fingers are single-pinned and articulate as a single unit. His waist swivel requires you to move his crotch plate out of the way first. His hips are on ratcheted universals. He can perform both front and side splits to rival Van Damme. His knees are double-jointed and ratcheted, but he can only curl his legs about 90 degrees. His feet are on hinged ball joints while his toes and heel spurs are on their own hinges.

His accessories include his fusion cannon, a sword, a bunch of spiky bits, and a some screw hole covers. His fusion canon is quite large and nicely detailed. It can peg to either arm. Like his fusion cannon, his sword is also large. It is covered in line work, but no paint. He holds it very securely, but it is a bear to force into his grasp. As usual, the self-assembly bits are a pain to push into place. They fill out his back with spikes and cover screw holes in his shoulders, back, and thighs.

Pluto will stand on my Planet X shelf. Despite a couple of flaws, my enjoyment of this figure is not dampened in the slightest. I do not regret putting my official War for Cybertron and Fall of Cybertron figures into storage and am content to wait on Planet X to fill out my shelf.

Maketoys Meteor - Starscream

The Masterpiece Seekers and Coneheads are my least favorite Masterpiece figures. Increasingly bad engineering and lack of posability limit my enjoyment beyond having them stand in a line behind Megatron and Soundwave. While not perfect, Maketoys Meteor is a worthy alternative.

Jet mode looks alright. There are more panel lines than what I remember being in Masterpiece Acid Rain and Sunstorm. His underside has some gaps, but is fairly clean for a jet Transformer. He has three retractable landing gears, that may as well be struts because the "wheels" do not spin. The cockpit does open, but there is no cockpit detailing. His nosecone does not open so he probably does not have a radar dish inside it. He also does not have a deployable airbrake nor engine detailing. His vertical and horizontal stabilizers have one too many loose hinges that aggravate my OCD.

Transformation is involved, but not too complex. The legs are very reminiscent of Combiner Wars jets. Unfortunately, the nosecone and bits of the wings are prone to popping off. I do wish his horizontal stabilizers would tab to the back of his legs in robot mode. They tend to flap about when you manipulate his legs. Going back to jet mode is typical of Maketoys, with a last step of futilely lining up a bunch of little tabs. I wasn't able to get every panel to line up perfectly. His null rays cannot stay in place through transformation.

Maketoys seems to be aiming for that clean cartoon look. He's missing some details found in Masterpiece Starscream, like the linework in his shoulder pylons and the nipple fans. The body lines are a bit messy in a few places; most noticeably the forearms and hips. The back is not very clean, with all the visible hollow bits. I would have appreciated one more hinge in his butt flap so it could fold up smaller. My rather nitpicky complaint is that his head seems a bit small. His face is really dark. The red paint on his torso is nice and shiny, almost like Masterpiece Ironhide. The gold of his cockpit is simply beautiful. He has Die-cast in his back and pelvis. I believe his thighs are also Die-cast.

His head is on a ball joint. With the default head, you get a wide range of motion, except upward. His shoulders are on hinges and swivels. The swivels are not ratcheted, but there are hard stops on the four cardinal directions. As expected, his wings limit his reverse swing. He can raise his arms up and to his sides all the way up to 90 degrees. His double-jointed elbows can perform full curls. He swivels at his biceps, wrists, waist (yay!), and thighs. His thumbs are fixed. The rest of his fingers are single pinned. His pointing fingers articulate separately from the wrist and have an extra knuckle each. His waist swivel has a couple of hard stops. He has a forward and reverse ab crunch. His hips are on universals with ratchets along the front-to-back axis. He can perform a full side-splits and a full front splits. His knees are double-jointed with ratchets in the upper halves. They can curl well past 90 degrees. His feet are on rockers while his toes are on ratcheted double-jointed tilts.

His accessories include his null rays, two alternate "barrels", two alternate faces, and an alternate head. Despite not having any paint, his null rays look fine and can swivel on their pegs in his arms and wings and extend on double hinges. The alternate tips make the null rays resemble bombs for jet mode. His faces include his default neutral expression, a smirk face, and a scared face. The alternate head has the scared face, along with Despotron's hand choking him. Unfortunately, you have to pop the heads off the ball joint in order to use any of the alternates. Also, the choking head gimmick doesn't work that well because Despotron's wrist bangs into Meteor's chest. I suppose I can make it work with some creative camera angles.

What do I like more about Meteor over Masterpiece Starscream? He has much better articulation in his torso, legs, and feet. His alternate faces and heads are fun accessories. I also like his more cartoon driven aesthetic. His paint application seems more premium. His neck panel is even with his shoulders, which is something that really bugs me about the official Seekers. However, the panel gaps in his forearms are a bit unsightly. He doesn't come with a coronotion set or a mini-Despotron gun. Like the Masterpiece Seekers, his abdomen will detach from handling, albeit in a different way. Masterpiece Starscream has a much better head sculpt. Maybe it’s worth seeing if the heads are swappable. From what I remember of Acid Rain and Sunstorm, the Masterpiece jet mode looks and holds together a bit better.

Maketoys Meteor will go on my Maketoys shelf. It's a great stand-in that addresses some of the issues I had with the official Masterpiece version. Is it worth getting if you already have Masterpiece Starscream? For me, it is because I'm a huge fan of Maketoys figures. I'm definitely all in for the inevitable Skywarp and Thundercracker repaints and Coneheads remolds. If I had room to display jets, I'd display the Takara figures as jets and the Maketoys figures as robots. I hope Maketoys goes all out and gives us actual Tetrajets for the Welcoming Committee and Rainmakers.

Generation Toy Tyrant - Megatron

When Generation Toy Gravity Builder came out, I was excited for the styling of the individual figures. Even if I never got around to combining Devastator, I would have six new toys on the shelf. Generation Toy Tyrant is another great edition to their line and a wonderful upgrade to the official Deluxe class IDW Megatron.

Stealth bomber mode is impressive. The purple energon lines that run throughout the wing and body is a detail that I wish more figures had. The translucent purple in front and behind his wings complement his metallic thrusters. His undercarriage is amazingly clean for a jet. Unfortunately, he doesn't have any landing gears.

Transformation is very fun and not at all frustrating. The wing tips do have to come off to form his fusion cannon. Several panels of his shoulders don't lock into place and are prone to collapsing from handling. More annoying is that his neck panel is on a very loose connection. Going back to vehicle mode is not difficult.

Robot mode is stunning. His paint applications are done very well. Much more of the metallic silver and gold are exposed in this mode. His head has a light-up feature for his eyes and he has Die-cast in his feet. I'm a little torn on his fusion cannon. I think it's too short and too tall, but I do like the styling and the translucent purple. The panels sticking out of his back really mar his very clean silhouette.

His neck is on a swivel and hinge that provides a wide range of motion. His shoulders are on swivels and double-hinges. He can raise his arms out and to his sides. If you move his shoulder panels out of the way, he can raise his arms a little past horizontal. He has single-jointed elbows that can curl a bit past 90 degrees. His thumbs are fixed and the rest of his fingers are single-pinned. His pointing fingers articulate separately from the others and have an extra knuckle. He swivels at his biceps, wrists, waist, and just above his knees. His thighs are on universals with ratchets along the front-to-back axis. He can't do front nor side splits. He has ratcheted single-jointed knees that can only curl to 90 degrees. His feet are on rockers and tilts. His toes have their own swivels and his heel spurs have separate hinges.

His only accessory is a flight stand that comes in two pieces. The armature is extendable and has a locking swivel where it plugs into the bottom of the jet. In robot mode, the stand plugs into his crotch. Alternatively, you can use the claw attachment that clips to what would be his tail bone.

Tyrant is an impressive piece that I will be displaying on my IDW shelf next to the Constructicons and TransFormMission Stunticons. I'm excited to dig Op Ex out of my garage.

Maketoys Galaxy Meteor - Starscream

It didn't bother me much when Maketoys cancelled Galaxy Meteor. This was not an incarnation of Starscream that I was all that familiar with, and all I had to pair him with was a $2 thrift store find of Armada Megatron. Now that he's finally arrived, I'm glad that Maketoys was able to produce him after all.

Spaceship mode has an interesting look. It's not my favorite design, but I can see how it is more or less true to the source. The paint application is fantastic, as is all the molded detail. The guns next to his cockpit are on their own swivels. He rolls along just fine on non-retractable landing gears. The front and back of the craft could be held together a bit more tightly. The pegs have a tendency to come undone, but it's not as if he will come apart. Ratchets for his null rays would have been much appreciated because they are constantly swiveling out of alignment. His rifle attaches to his nosecone.

Transformation back and forth is pretty simple, but still fun. There are a couple of buttons to release spring-loaded panels, like the blades and the back of his calves. Nothing was hard to maneuver nor required much finagling to get into place.

This is probably one of Maketoys best painted figures. He is covered, head to toe, in very cleanly applied paint accents. Different colored plastic is used judiciously to break up large sections of grey. The line work is plentiful and I especially like the working pistons in his back that correlate with his ab crunch. The translucent purple on his cockpit and fold-out blades look wonderful.

His head is on a ball joint that gives him a very wide range of motion. He can raise his ratcheted shoulders straight out to his sides. His shoulder pylons are on separate hinges. His null rays are on their own swivels and double-jointed hinges. He swivels at his biceps, wrists, waist, and ratcheted thighs. His single-jointed elbows can curl past 90 degrees. His thumbs and pointing fingers are on separate ball joints. The rest of his fingers are fused onto a single ball joint. Except for his thumbs, his fingers have a single articulating knuckle. The cannons on his torso can swivel forward to make room for his waist swivel and ratcheted ab crunch. His hips are on ratcheted universals that allow him to perform full front and side splits. He has ratcheted, single-jointed knees that can perform full curls. The back of his calves have collapsing panels that make this possible. His ankles are on tilts and ratcheted rockers.

His accessories include his rifle, two alternate faces, and a key. His rifle is gray plastic with no paint. It slots very securely into his hands with a mechanism that I wished would replace Masterpiece-styled tabs. Besides his neutral face, we also get a smirk face and a laughing face. The face-swapping mechanic is simple and does not require messing with screws. The key has a translucent purple piece. He can hold it in his hands. It can also slot into a space behind his thrusters/head.

I'll display Galaxy Meteor on my Maketoys shelf. This is an awesome figure that I'm glad survived its initial cancellation. I hope Maketoys will continue filling out the cast from the Armada/Energon/Cybertron. Their G1 version of Starscream can't arrive soon enough.