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Transformers Combiner Wars Optimus Prime Toy Review

That's just Prime!

It turns out there are three sure things: death, taxes, and a constant stream of new Optimus Prime toys. One of the latest from Hasbro has the iconic Autobot leader shoehorned into 2015's Combiner Wars assortment. Thanks to the fine folks at Entertainment Earth, I'm pleased to crack one open and see how it stacks up. Cue the pictures!

Why hello there.

Combiner Wars Optimus is obviously meant to tap right into the deepest of our nostalgic veins. The design leans heavily on the old-school G1 aesthetic with a generous helping of bulk to keep it fresh. (Seriously, this dude is about as broad-shouldered as they come.) The overall proportions are slightly hampered by the length of the arms, but it's not as big of a detractor as I expected.

While it's certainly a blast to have the big man stand about all sassy-like, there's still so much left to explore! An entire world of action figure posin' adventures await, and all you'll need to take part are two big ol' guns.

Those clay pigeons are in for a goddamn reckoning.

The iconic ion blaster is in full effect alongside a long-barreled little number I've decided to name Stephen. Don't ask. Paired with the personally unanticipated amount of articulation littering Prime's hulking bod, the door is open to a wealth of battle-ready configurations. Gaze upon them!

I'm pretty sure I've seen this before.

Ah, yes. The patented "lunge shot."

John Woo would be proud.

Okay, now you're just showing off!

For some crazy reason, you can even combine the armaments into a big bad sumbitch that would probably make even Rob freakin' Liefeld blush. Continue on at your own risk.

When you absolutely, positively have to kill every Decepticon in the room...

...accept no substitutes.

There's a bit of room to venture into "fan-mode" territory as well. Going slightly off-script is always one of my favorite parts of messing around with new Transformer toys. Here are a few quick examples:

My, how practical. Shout-out to Momaw Nadon!

Errbody loves shoulder-mounted guns. Regardless, tread carefully when trying this sort of thing.

You can futz with Op's back as well. It's pretty much the height of tantalization.

With so many moving parts, you're bound to stumble across some interesting new arrangements. One guy even found a random base mode! Toys can be pretty fun. Who knew?

Oh, you're still here? Well, there might be a few more juicy tidbits to share. Let me think about that for a second.

Hold on. I'm still thinking.

Ah, I've got it! Optimus can transform into a truck! After a fold here and a dislocation there, you end up with something like this:

BERSERKER!

I seriously doubt this would pass inspection.

It's a perfectly serviceable little vehicle, all things considered. It holds together nicely and the conversion is a breeze. I don't really care what type of cab the designers go with from release to release, but I guess it's nice to be able to add another to the "flat nose" column.

I know there's at least *one* more bullet to hit on this guy. What ever could it be?

Mystic voodoo wherein little to no change makes all the difference.

Y'know, I was pretty underwhelmed when I saw the first promo shot of this guy. He just seemed so friggin' flat. Surprisingly, the final product is quite an attractive robot warrior-man despite seemingly having gone unchanged. Thanks to differences in lighting, sweet selective Myspace angles, and the absence of funky digital edits, sometimes our beloved hunks of plastic look way better in-hand. In the end, I'm pleased to report that Combiner Wars Optimus Prime turned out to be a worthy addition to the ever-growing pantheon of Autobot leader toys.

Thanks again to Entertainment Earth for helping me give this fine piece of transformin' plastic a look. They're currently in the midst of a huge summer clearance sale featuring plenty of want-inducing action figures and collectibles. If you happen to have some spare cash burning a hole in your pocket, you should definitely check it out!

More reviews should be right around the corner! If you'd like, you can keep an eye out for 'em via the CGS Twitter & Facebook profiles!

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