Bot Reviews: Transformers: Authentics Bravo Optimus Prime

The thing about selling these cheap little Authentics right at the grocery store is that they make great impulse purchases, especially at $8 Canadian. That’s why I picked up Optimus Primal (reviewed here), and that’s what led me to check out Optimus Prime. To be upfront, I knew this one wasn’t going to be as good as his beastly cousin. This is one of the original Authentics toolings, from 2017, and didn’t come with the same reputation as the Boss Monkey. But, you know, I wanted to see what the baseline for this whole toyline was anyway, downgrade or not, and if there’s one thing Optimus Prime toys are good for, it’s getting a sense of what a toyline is all about, even if the point of Transformers Authentics is all about deliberately cheap figures to stock in the kind of nonstandard retail locations knockoffs would normally go in. So, let’s have another look at an instance of Hasbro actually cheaping out (for real).

Robot Mode

So, this bigger-than-a-Core-but-smaller-than-a-Deluxe version of Optimus Prime is based on his “Evergreen” design, which refers to a set of pseudo-G1 Transformers designs created by artist Emilio Santalucia specifically for use by Hasbro on miscellaneous merchandise, including stuff like this. Here’s Optimus Prime’s Evergreen design, as per the Transformers Wiki:

If this looks vaguely familiar, it’s probably because Cyberverse Optimus Prime used this design, albeit with a different head. And this tiny Authentics Optimus is also based on this look. But while Cyberverse Optimus’s differences were down to artistry, this guy’s differences are down to his lack of budget.

It’s unfortunate to say, but unlike Primal, right out of the box, you can tell this figure was made on a small budget, because he really does look kind of messy. The big X-factor is his arms. While they’re sculpted as proper, humanoid arms, the sculpt disappears between their ramrod-straight shape, and the truck-mode panels on the outsides and front of them, and really makes it look like he’s got two red planks of wood, instead of proper forelimbs.

That, and they kind of hang off his torso on two really skinny rods of plastic, instead of proper shoulder connections. I could see that he was built this way in the stock images, but it feels way more evident in person.

The same goes for his lower legs, which aren’t just hollow, they’re really clearly made of only two flat surfaces. Even adding a third side to them would have made them look better.

On the upside, his torso is nicely-sculpted, with details like headlights, and windshield wipers, even if it’s clearly all a fake truck front, with the real one behind his head on his big backpack. He’s also got a nice headsculpt, that communicates a Sunbow-style friendliness, while having enough unusual angles to look a bit different from your typical Prime mug.

But the good bits can’t really draw the eye away from the obvious shortcomings of the sculpt.

For another upshot, he’s actually colored pretty well. He’s cast in four kinds of plastic, bright red, deep blue, light gray, and a bit of black, and he’s got hits of black, silver, blue, and white paint across his body in surprisingly generous amounts.

I’d say that his arms could have used a bit more paint, mainly to make the sculpt stand out more, but that didn’t even click to me at first. What I did notice was how odd the Autobrand on his shoulder looks, like the paint app was too big for the sculpt, and got cut off around the edges. All of the Optimuses I saw on the shelf were like that. 

For his materials and build quality, he is, again, noticeably not up to Optimus Primal’s standards. The plastic itself is fine, it’s that glossy Prime Wars-era feeling stuff, but it’s so thin around his limbs, that it makes him feel kind of fragile. I don’t seriously think I could squeeze him to pieces in my hand, I’m not that strong, and he’s not that flimsy, but to be honest, I did feel the urge to try once or twice (until I remember I paid money for this guy). At least all of his joints feel nice and tight, something not even Primal could manage. That, and he stands up better than you’d think for someone missing most of his feet, and with a big backpack (that backpack, meanwhile, annoyingly doesn’t like to stay pegged in, and comes undone if I squeeze it a little bit). He has taken a topple backwards once or twice, but less often than you’d think. Still, I definitely feel like they could have engineered a more significant heel spur.

His articulation is another thing where he falls short of Optimus Primal’s bendiness, and comes with some real limitations. Let’s go bottom-to-top: He’s got ball-jointed knees and hips, all well and good. No waist, but that’s fine, at least his neck’s on a swivel. His arms, of course, only articulate at the shoulders, and he’s got no elbows. Those shoulders, meanwhile, are oddly restricted, thanks to the way the plastic on them is sculpted. They’re on ball joints, but it’s really hard to get them to do anything but swivel forwards and back, and red projections from the shoulders are constantly bumping into those thin struts. Basically, it’s hard to make him do very much.

And while his hands are sculpted in a semi-open pose that points to accessory use, he doesn’t come with any, and for some reason, his hands are too small for 5 millimeter compatibility, but too large to use Core-class weapons, or even Optimus Primal’s guns.

Transformation

This is one area where the figure actually gets clever, as I’ve never seen an Optimus transform quite like this before. Basically, you raise his arms above his head, close them together, and then slide his backpack upwards, constructing an entire truck cab, before you flop him on his stomach, and fold his legs in. Actually, you should probably fold those legs in first, so they don’t have to squeeze around his shoulders to fit into place.

It’s simple, and fairly satisfying to do. 

Truck Mode

Okay, this is a weird one. Yeah, he transforms into the standard flat-nosed Optimus Prime Truck Cab, but its proportions are kind of wacky. The front of it isn’t a perfect cube, it’s an unusually longer, more rectangular thing.

Meanwhile, the truck bed is taller and thicker than you’d usually see on an Optimus.

Despite the very front of the truck being sculpted like his typical G1 vehicle mode, the whole thing gives an impression of being some kind of gigantic construction vehicle, the kind of heavy-duty rig that hauls larger machines around, a bit like that Rise of the Beasts Optimus Prime design they made the Smash and Battle Changers out of.

I’ve got no idea if this was what they were going for, it might just be the transformation warping the proportions, but damned if it isn’t interesting. I think the sculpting helps sell it as a different kind of vehicle, he has an impressive amount of rivets, and general greebling all down his sides. 

For colors, the whole front of the truck’s got a goodly amount of silver and blue paint, on the bumper, grill, and windows, and he’s still got black on his truck bed from his legs, but otherwise, this is mostly unpainted red and blue, with solid black wheels, and another janky Autobrand on the left side. While there’s sculpting there for side windows and such, I actually think the lack of paint helps sell this as a different sort of vehicle. 

In terms of construction, the way he compresses in this form means that he’s a lot more solid-feeling than his robot mode, without that sense of fragility, and everything tabs together pretty well, even if I can lift the top of his cab off a bit too easily. But it turns out that when you lift that cab up, you can unintentionally turn him into a kind of actual Monster Truck.

This was 100 percent unintentional, but hey, I’ll take it as a homage to those Attack Pack vehicles that Hot Wheels did in the 90s.

Also, his pegged wheels actually roll pretty well, too, which is all I was expecting from a figure this size and price, which sort of brings me to my conclusion here.

Overall

See, this is what I was expecting Authentics to be. I don’t know that I’d call this a bad figure, but I would call it an obviously cheap figure, a case of “you get what you pay for.” He’s got an interesting vehicle mode, and a unique transformation for an Optimus Prime, but his robot mode is really obviously marred by his low budget, and he winds up looking and feeling a bit like the knockoffs that he’s designed to compete with. Optimus Primal was clearly an outlier in this line in terms of quality, though he’s a recent release, whereas this is a six or seven-year-old release that’s still in circulation. Still, I can’t help but look at the older Reveal the Shield Optimus Prime minifigure, with its more traditional transformation and design, and wonder if Hasbro could have just blown that up to this larger scale, and made a better figure using that. 

I can’t exactly hate this, because it’s really clear what the whole mission briefing was, but it’s a bit underwhelming. So, yeah, if you’re interested in getting an Authentic, get Primal. But if for some really specific reason, you want a cheap, small Optimus, I guess this can do the job?. He’s like ten whole dollars cheaper than the Core-class Kingdom/Legacy one.

Heck, I might stick him on my Christmas Tree, he’s a whole four-ish dollars cheaper than the recent Optimus Prime ornament that’s also based off of the Evergreen design, and this one actually transforms!

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