Transformers Prime Sergeant Kup (aka Hound)

First off I must apologize for my absence, things have been super busy lately. I actually got this figure at the same time as Ravage, but have not had the time to talk about him until now. Originally I had ordered what was supposed to be Prime Ironhide from BBTS because I thought he looked like a really good Fall of Cybertron Ironhide. Unfortunately Hasbro changed their plans and released Sergeant Kup instead.

Arms Micron Breakdown (with friend)

I'll be honest, I didn't like Transformers: Prime when it first came out. It had way too many "movie" elements to it for my liking, especially the mute Bumblebee. But the more I watched the show the more it grew on me. However I still wasn't completely sold until the folks at Botcon 2011 previewed an upcoming episode for us featuring this guy: Breakdown. The episode was appropriately titled 'Operation: Breakdown' and it really fleshed out Breakdown as a character giving him more than just a "Decepticon SMASH" personality. It was after viewing this episode that I was hooked on Prime as well as Breakdown's character. I've always really enjoyed bad guys that aren't evil just for the sake of being evil but actually have histories and motives for what they do. I had been looking forward to seeing Breakdown released domestically ever since then, but apparently it was not meant to be.

Prime Vehicon, like the elusive Aardwolf

Not an Aardwolf

If you've never heard of the Aardwolf, don't feel bad. They tend to be very difficult to find in nature and resemble a hyena crossed with a wolf. Apparently they are called Aardwolfs because their diet consists of almost nothing but termites, much like Aardvarks. But the point is, they are ridiculously hard to find in the wild, much like the Transformers Prime Vehicon.

Orion Pax is getting a lot of attention lately, why not a little more?

Ever since Transformers: Prime has been on the air it has been exploiting a new refined and updated continuity that Hasbro has decided to use to unify its different Transformers properties instead of having a bunch of different aspects of the same property in different 'Universes". In effect what this means is that every fiction to come from Hasbro since 2010 or so has been with this new continuity line. Fortunately for fans who enjoy G1 this continuity borrows heavily from it, and that means before Optimus Prime there was Orion Pax. This was showcased heavily in the recent three-part TF: Prime serial, the aptly named "Orion Pax: Parts 1, 2 & 3".

Transformers Prime Bulkhead, alone in America

This was not an easy purchase. Just finding someone off eBay willing to sell me a Bulkhead was a chore in itself and then the task of trying to decide if I wanted to pay a little extra for this version or just go with the darker green Takara release. In the end I decided I'd rather go with what was supposed to be the domestic release since I already had all of the other domestic First Edition figures. I also tend not to like the Takara stuff as much since it is usually a lot flashier with sparkling paint, chrome or whatnot and I didn't want my Bulkhead to stand out like a sore thumb. In the end I didn't really pay that much more than what the Takara version would have cost me anyway and I'm really happy with 'ol Bulky here. He is definitely one of the better engineered figures I have seen recently. My only gripe is that he isn't a leader class (or larger) figure because he is barely taller than any of the other deluxe figures due to his stout nature. However this is a Transformers figure I am talking about and even just mentioning scale is an effort in futility so I'll just leave it there.

He has some awesome pose-ability which I am not showcasing very well.

I put Prime Bulkhead up against the last Bulkhead figure I bought: Animated Leader Class Bulky! There is an interesting dichotomy between these two: Animated is a large vehicle that compacts down into a smaller (but still sufficiently large) robot mode. By contrast the Prime figure is a very compact vehicle that expands into a larger robot! The Prime vehicle mode is barely larger than a deluxe, but his robot is very robust (heh, robust robots; sounds like a Daft Punk song). But look at that, I'm getting into that whole scale mess again.

My favorite part about the Prime figure has to be that he is so 'round'! I wasn't a fan of the Bulkhead character when he first appeared on Animated; but throughout that show I grew to love him and the Prime version just takes him to a whole new level. In fact, I find myself wanting a Classics version of Bulky to retcon back into the G1 universe like Lugnut or Drift. Even though he was probably the most expensive Voyager figure I have bought, he was definitely worth it.

Maybe the scale isn't so far off after all :)

Transformers Prime Cliffjumper: Make your Decision

So I was going to do a nice side-by-side on the differences between Prime First Edition Cliffjumper and Prime Robots In Disguise Cliffjumper since I got them both in the mail the other day. However it seems that Scotty P has beaten me to the punch with an excellent post showcasing the differences between the two. All I will say is take his advice: get the First Edition if you can and leave the RID version for the kiddies.

On a somewhat related note I now have multiples of two characters: Cliffjumper and Bumblebee, and I am at a loss as to what I should do. I've really never had this problem before because I have often refused to buy different molds of the same character ever since that crap started back with Beast Machines. I wonder how other people deal with multiples? This is especially difficult because they are of the same size class! Ah, tis such an onerous existence we transfans lead!

Transformers Prime....uh Prime.

What a stupid name for a series, I don't even really understand the rationale behind it. I mean, Prime is probably the least featured Autobot in the show thus far, everyone else has gotten a lot more screen time and characterization. But I digress.

So apparently Optimus here never came out in the U.S. I had to get mine from a seller in Canada due to the whole First Edition debacle, along with pretty much every other First Edition toy. Although I got Bulkhead from a seller in Singapore. I've had such a hard time attempting to wrap my head around why Hasbro would go to the trouble of designing an entire line of figures and then scrapping those figures after one run and releasing another set of (some say inferior) molds of the exact same characters! Then a friend of mine pointed out that due to the rising costs of petroleum in the world market Hasbro may have decided that it would be too expensive to continue to produce the 'First Edition' line of figures since they are more complex and from what I have heard slightly larger. Hasbro may have already had the first run of these figures in the works by the time they made this decision so they decided to release them as First Edition only and they would use the less expensive molds for the mainline. Unfortunately this theory fits all the known facts and if it proves to be true, some of the First Edition figures could end up being some of the rarest figures that have had a semi-mass release. Three figures, Bumblebee, Starscream and Arcee, were released in the U.S. and were pretty easy to come by around the holidays but have since disappeared. The other figures in the First Edition: Optimus, Bulkhead, and Cliffjumper only saw release internationally. The two remaining figures: Vehicon and Zombie Cliffjumper have not even seen a release yet and may never reach any market. Only time will tell.

The gun is just an add-on and doesn't fit into the figure anywhere which is just fine with me.

The same goes for the sword which is super bendy and flexible.

The truck mode is very impressive, the arms fold up in a very unique way.

At any rate, from what I hear the First Edition Optimus is superior to the general release version that is coming later in the year. I don't have them both to compare side by side, but I can say Optimus is a very sold figure by himself and fits the animation model quite well. He also scales well with Bumblebee and to some extent Arcee. Since he is the first Voyager class Optimus I have purchased in a while I thought I would show him with the last Voyager class Optimus I purchased...back in 2006.

Pretty much the same size figure.

I feel pretty lucky to have gotten this guy at a good price, eBay just about exploded the day after the First Edition cancellation announcement was made. Although I am hoping this figure does see a wider release so more people can get their hands on it since it is a very faithful and fun interpretation of the character.