Intro:
Optimus
Prime – the legendary leader of the Autobots – many have tried to tell his
backstory.
The
first attempt to actually tell Optimus Prime’s backstory was through the
original G1 series back in the 1980s, where Optimus Prime was originally known
as Orion Pax. Not much is known about Orion Pax, except that he idolized
Megatron and the Decepticons, because of their abilities to fly. After the
Decepticons attacked an energon storage warehouse, Orion and his girlfriend,
Ariel were mortally wounded and was subsequently reconstructed by Alpha Trion
into Optimus Prime and Elita-1 respectively.
The second
attempt to tell the backstory of Optimus Prime was through the The War Within
limited series – differs significantly from the earlier storyline – where
Optimus Prime was originally known as Optronix – an unassuming archivist, whom
after the death of Sentinel Prime, was incepted by the Council of the Ancients
as the new Prime, taking up the name Optimus Prime. Here, Optimus was portrayed
as a reluctant, but capable leader – in the veins of Ultra Magnus in the
original G1 cartoon series.
Fast
forward to Transformers: Prime; Optimus Prime’s backstory was again revisited.
His backstory here is an amalgamation of both earlier backstories. He was again
given the name Orion Pax, and he was also an archivist. It was said that before
he was Orion Pax, he was one of the original First 13. At some point, his life
was lost and was reborn into Orion.
Alternate
Mode:
As
with most, if not all, of Optimus Prime’s reincarnations, Orion Pax also
transforms into a form of truck. I have to say, Orion kinda looked like some
sort of a small space pickup truck.
I’m
actually quite surprised that he didn’t transform into some kind of
Cybertronian-esque truck like he should. The truck is, rather quite Earthly, if
you ask me.
The
Autobot insignia is located right inside the cockpit, thus making it impossible
for anyone to drive this truck.
The
truck is quite small and light. Flipping the truck over, you could see a huge
gap underneath the hood.
Orion
Pax’s color scheme screams Optimus Prime. In fact, you can have him called Optimus
Prime, and this alternate mode would still work.
Orion
also comes with his signature Ion Blaster, and also the Energon Axe – both of
which can be mounted on the side of the trucks.
Yes,
it looks kinda silly, if you ask me, but that’s the official way to store his
weapons in his truck mode.
Anyways,
it is still a neat little truck mode.
Robot
Mode:
Transforming
Orion from truck to robot mode is very intuitive, that you might not even
require the instruction manual. In fact, I’m beginning to think that most newer
Transformers figures are easy to transform, as compared to other Transformers
figures from the same size class, from the older series or generations.
The
robot mode really looks good, and he’s recognizably Optimus Prime, even without
his signature faceplate.
Mr.
Pax’s articulations are as follow: the head is on a tight ball joint – it will
be rather difficult for you to rotate his head, if you have huge fingers. The
inner shoulders rotate on a vertical axis, while the outer shoulders are on
ball joints. The ball joints serve no purpose here, as the design of the
shoulders would only allow outward motions similar to a swivel.
The
arms rotate slightly below the shoulders and bend at the elbows. The fists
rotate and they can also move inward and out, due to transformation joints. There
is also a waist joint present. The hips are on tight ball joints.
The legs rotate
slightly below the hips and the bend to slightly more than 90°; and finally the
feet are on ball joints and swivels.
The combination
of these joints really makes Orion Pax a fun figure to play with. You can put
him into various different poses, and with his rather wide feet, he won’t
topple over that easy.
Overall, a very
nice little figure.
Overall:
As with most, if
not all Optimus Prime-related figures, they tend to be one of the best, if not the
best in their respective lines or series. Orion Pax is no different. Both the
robot and alternate modes are good, and you could really have much fun fiddling
with him.
Highly recommended.
Final
verdict: 9/10.
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