Back in the 80’s, the Transformers G1 animated series premiered on national TVs all around the world, and needless to say, it has become quite an icon of the 80’s itself. The franchise has gotten so hot, that the powers that be decided that it was high time to make a movie out of it. The 1986 animated movie proved to be a huge Hollywood flop, although it has since then developed a cult following to this day. The movie was remembered for 2 aspects: 1) the deaths of many original G1 characters, most notably Optimus Prime and Megatron; and 2) the introduction of many new characters that were more futuristic, most notably, Galvatron, Ultra Magnus, Rodimus Prime, Cyclonus, and not to mentioned, the biggest Transformers of all – Unicron.
With Unicron, people back then went like, whoa, that’s a planet we’re talking about here. The transformation sequence of the big guy was best remembered, along with his iconic quote:
For a time I considered sparing your wretched little planet Cybertron, but now you shall witness its dismemberment.
At that point, people like us were hoping that Planet Cybertron itself would transform and even the score. But it was not to be and we all went home disappointed. It took almost 2 decades for those people in Hasbro and Takara-Tomy to come out with a Unicron action figure, but even by then, Cybertron was still only a planet.
Then all of a sudden, Hasbro/ Takara-Tomy began hinting a transformable Cybertron. Don Figueroa introduced a character named Primus, which was regarded as the equal sparring partner for Unicron, and he even depicted Cybertron transforming into Primus himself. The fans, including me, began to believe once more. Then came Transformers: Superlink/ Energon, where Primus was introduced as an entity governing the entire planet Cybertron, but was nothing more than a ball of energy situated at the core of the planet.
Finally, when Transformers: Cybertron/ Galaxy Force, the dream of seeing the planet Cybertron transformed was fulfilled, and I made it a point that I was going to own Primus, even more so the fact that I don’t have a Unicron.
So when Primus finally arrived in Jusco Malacca, there was no doubt that I was gonna buy it. What I got was a Hasbro version, complete with the disfigured Unicron head to boot, which was a pleasant bonus for me. But overall, would Primus match all the hype that surrounded it. Tune in…
Robot Mode:
Primus comes packed in robot mode, and what a huge bot he is. I’ve heard and seen comparisons between Primus and Unicron on the net, that the former was smaller, but I wasn’t about to complain. When I purchase it at the time, it was literally the biggest transformer figure in my collection and he stood towering amongst all the little guys. It was only when I finally gotten myself Cybertron Metroplex that he is finally dethroned of that title. There are 2 things about this figure that I absolutely love: one is the sheer regalia of the figure. Standing amongst the other giants in my collection, he has the most regal of looks – imposing, royalty, and commanding. Although Cybertron Metroplex is technically taller than him, but Primus is “packed”. He looks tough at best – almost emitting a commanding presence among others.
Secondly is the fingers articulation. Primus has the distinction of having the best fingers articulation of my entire collection. He has individual fingers and thumb articulation. You can point a direction with him; show the “finger” with him; if you have Unicron (which I assume he has similar concept of articulations), you could probably have a handshake or “pinky truce” with him; you could grip a pencil with him; and others more, depending on your imaginations. I only wish his thumb was on ball-joint, and then I would’ve been able to make Gai-sensei’s “Nice Guy Pose” (of Naruto’s fame).
For a God of Light, and the one who is supposed to be a symbol of piece amongst the Transformers civilization, he’s oddly armed to the teeth! The complete list of arsenals at his disposals is as follows:
1) A pair of shoulder-mounted Stellar Converter Cannons
2) A pair of Cyber Planet Key-activated Forearm-mounted Cannons
3) 4 bundles of legs mounted barrage missiles & cannons
Primus has to go down as one of the most heavily armed Transformer figure in history. He is also heavily articulated: the head turns; the arms rotate & move in all directions; the elbow works; then the marvelous fingers; the waist turns (albeit a bit awkwardly low); hips are articulated as well; and finally the knees.
The feet are unique too, which consists of a moveable flap. I’ve heard complaints regarding the flaps, saying that it causes difficulty for the figure to stand. I beg to differ, cuz as far as mine is concerned it actually helps the cause. However on the downside, the shoulder pads and the flap behind the lower waist tends to hinder articulation.
Battle Station Mode:
As fantastic as the robot mode may sound, the battle mode is literally one of the worst mode ever invented in the history of mankind! It’s literally a half-transformed figure lying face first on the floor!!! Has-Tak must be running out of ideas in creating this mode and this clearly proves it! Even in the animated series, there is no such thing as a battle-station mode, and even if there should be one, who the hell was gonna pilot the friggin’ ship?! Logically it’s just too big!!!
Maybe the people at Has-Tak thought that it may provide a method for Primus to travel, I guess that would explain it.
Planet Mode:
Many would argue that this is not the alternate mode. Since Primus spends most of his time in planet mode rather than in his robot form, plus his primary function is to provide a safe haven for the entire Transformers civilization. As the name on the box suggests – Cybertron Primus, he is first and foremost, a planet.
In planet mode, Primus is intricately detail. Back in the G1 days, Cybertron was always portrayed as having a lot of hollow inner-workings, and this figure clearly shows it! The planet in predominantly deep blue and light blue in color, with a little bit of yellow, deep gold and black. There are numerous cities on the planet, which I have absolutely no idea what they are called, since I’ve scarce access to Transformer comics. It’s worth to mention that each of the cities are so intricately designed that there are no two similar city designs. They are all individually designed. However, the designers may have miscalculated the gravity aspects of things, since some of the cities would seem to tilt sideways if you were actually standing on the planet itself. Still, that’s just a minor setback. In all, there are seven cities altogether – eight if you include Kaon, the only location that I actually recognize. For those not in the know, Kaon was the first sign of Unicron’s malice, and it was location where the Decepticons ruled from.
Gimmicks:
Cybertron Primus has got to go down in history as the greatest assembly of gimmicks in a single figure in history. Let me break in down to y’all here.
First of all, the most common gimmick of all – extra figurines. In this case, that would be Unicron’s heavily severed face. I was informed that the figure itself is only available in the 2nd wave Hasbro version, in limited numbers. I’m happy to say that I’m one of the lucky few who have the opportunity to obtain the bonus items. The 3rd wave would feature 3 Minicon figures instead. The Unicron head itself is intricately designed and I dare say, it looks more accurate to the animated Unicron rather than the Unicron figure itself. The severed head itself is worth collecting.
Then there is the Omega Lock, which is required to transform the entire figure itself, namely to start transforming the planet to robot mode; to transform the legs and also to protrude the head. The Omega Locks itself would activate 2 more gimmicks – the light gimmicks on the Omega Lock itself when inserting it to the available slots on the figure, and also the sound effects when protruding the head, which sounds like some laser firing-thingy.
The Omega Lock itself provides 4 more slots for you to insert the 4 Cyber Planet keys onto it, namely Earth, Speedia, Animatros & Gigalonia. I however prefers attaching the other 4 available special keys – the Autobot Key (included with the Primus figure set); the Decepticon Key; Vector Prime’s Planet Key (which represents the 4 planet Cyber Keys); and finally the Planet-X planet key.
Next gimmick is the Minicon gimmick. There are in total 9 available sockets for Minicons to attach to. This I consider quite absurd, since that would mean story-wise Minicons are way bigger than even Cybertron Metroplex! Then there are the firing projectiles on the Stellar Converter Cannons. The Cyber Planet keys itself is needed to protrude the arm-mounted cannons. On the legs, there is a pair of small extendable manipulator arms, which is too small to do anything else. And it’s also worth mentioning that each arm contains one attach point for Minicons.
Overall:
Primus clearly is one of the best figures available out there. It’s definitely a must-have figure for those Trans-maniacs out there. It is fun to play around with, and there are plenty of things to admire about the figure. You know that the people in Has-Tak clearly put their heart and thought in designing this wonderful figure (disregarding the Battle Station mode). If you already have a Unicron, it gives you the more reason to get him as a sparring partner. I on the other hand am looking forward to the Universe Unicron – a reissue of the Armada Unicron.
Final verdict: 10/10. One of the best figures ever.
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