General Information:
Release Date: October 2021
Price Point: $29.99 (depending on retailer)
Retailer: Released via Diamond Select Toys Retailers (Amazon, BigBadToyStore, Entertainment Earth etc.)
Accessories: Axe (Optimus Prime), Rifle (Optimus Prime), Blaster (Bumblebee)
Official images and text below in italics are from BigBadToyStore.com:
The greatest generation of Transformers is now the next generation of Minimates!
Capturing the armor details of 4 classic characters—Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Starscream, and Shockwave—each 2-inch mini-figure features multiple points of articulation and is fully poseable.
Designed by Barry Bradfield, each set of 4 has been painted in a metallic color scheme to mimic the original 1980s toy release and comes packaged with weapons on a blister card.
Minimates are a line of mini-blocky style action figures first introduced to the market in 2002 by Art Asylum. Nowadays they are released by Diamond Select Toys after their acquisition of Art Asylum in 2007. Most collectors likely know Minimates from their long running series of Marvel Comics based figures. Minimates have also released figures under licenses such as Star Trek, KISS and The Walking Dead. Now at long last, Transformers has joined this long list of licenses with its first wave of Minimates released in October 2021.
Packaging:
This four pack of figures is packaged on a traditional bubble card. The four figures are set in a 2x2 formation so you can see them clearly along with their accessories. The background of the card features a retro grid pattern with an orange to red and purple gradiant (depending on which side you are looking at). The top is black. The Minimates logo is on top while the insert on the bottom features the G1 logo with an image of Optimus Prime. The back of the card features artwork for Starscream and Bumblebee along with photos of the prototypes of the figures (at least one featuring a very different color scheme than the final product). The packaging is well done and has a wonderfully retro vibe while the character art is from the modern age of Transformers stock art.
General Design:
Minimates are blocky figures that generally feature a cylindrical head, round hands and proportions that feature "chunky" body parts. These figures generally feature fourteen points of articulation, though that can vary from figure to figure. Some Minimates have the capability of recycling humanoid bodies across different characters, relying on deco to differentiate them. With Transformers however, the body types of many characters are quite distinct, so their use is a bit more limited. The designers thankfully chose to create very distinct body sculpts for these figures.
Each figure includes a display stand with a peg that connects to the feet on one of the Minimates. These stands are clear plastic.
Bumblebee's design is based on his cartoon appearance in the G1 show. This includes having blocky shoulders and forearms, circles on his back and some parts from his VW Beetle alt-mode showing on his torso and feet. Like the cartoon model, his thighs are thinner than his lower legs and they widen at angles. The design is distinctly Bumblebee and looks fantastic.
In an interesting design choice, Diamond decided to mostly use black and gold colors for this figure even though the prototype was painted with a bright yellow color. It would be easy to just say "Well, this is G2 Bumblebee." except that the red Autobot symbol on his chest is distinctly a G1 symbol. My guess is that this color was used to keep with the "metallic" theme of the colors used in the set. It looks fantastic, mind you, but I do kind of hope they release one in yellow "cartoon" colors down the road.
Bumblebee includes a blaster that is based on the one he used in the first G1 episode. His other accessory is actually an alternate head! Pop off his helmet and you can swap out his "cartoon face" head with one that has visor eyes and a mouthplate to resemble the G1/G2 action figure instead of the cartoon model. I love this touch!
There are twelve points of articulation on this figure including three in each arm and two in each leg. Contrary to how it may look, he does have waist articulation, but it is hidden under his robot mode bits which is pretty cool.
Optimus Prime features one of the most iconic designs among the G1 Autobots and it is rendered in "Minimate" form wonderfully. This design has it all including his distinctive head design (complete with a mouthplate on his "helmet"), arms with smokestacks on them and a torso featuring his vehicle mode windsheild windows and grille. His legs have the tanks on either side near the knees and the familiar vent like pattern on the front of the lower legs. From a sculpting standpoint he looks fantastic.
Metallic blue, red and silver are the primary paint colors on this figure. He looks fantastic and is only missing some yellow on the rectangular and triangle shapes on his waist area.
There are twelve points of articulation on this figure. I think if you wanted to be ultra generous and consider the ball jointed shoulder two points (outward, up and down) then sure, fourteen but I'm going with twelve.
Optimus has two accessories. The first is his rifle featuring the traditional design that includes a vertical section in the back and a long barrel with wide segments that narrow then go wide again. The rifle is black plastic and snaps right into his hand. His other accessory is his axe weapon. You can pop off his hand and replace it with the axe to mimic his classic scene from "More than Meets the Eye: Part 2". This piece is painted a beautiful metallic orange.
Shockwave's design is one of the few that came out of G1 that remains distinctively "his" to this day. His distinctive single eye and "ears" on the sides of his head, his angled chest panel and blaster arm are all iconic design elements that fans associate with the character. This figure has all these elements and the "gun grips" on the sides of his lower legs complete with greeble designs in them. His back even has hinges suclpted into the bottom to show where the "back pack" would swing up against his back during transformation. This sculpt is fantastic. One interesting note: if you look at the prototype/promo images of this figure in the gallery below, you'll note that he had a rather long neck but here the head rests right on the torso section.
The early prototype images of Shockwave show the character painted with a more animation-inspired lavender color. This final product however is a dark purple, resembling the G1 action figure more than its animated counterpart. Another nice deco note: the hands are translucent purple, another bit that emulates the G1 action figure. Other bits like the "ears", thighs and feet are painted silver while his eye is painted gold. A beautiful metallic purple is used on his chest and both arms feature Decepticon symbols. From a deco standpoint this is a beautiful little figure.
Shockwave features twelve points of articulation including waist articulation that is hidden by his torso and waist armor pieces. His right hand is designed to hold weapons if you want to loan him one of the blasters in this set. He does not come with any accessories but he doesn't really need them. He's awesome all by his lonesome.
The treacherous Decepticon Air Commander will no doubt serve as the first of at least three versions of this sculpt since the distinctive "Seeker" design can be reused for a ton of characters including Skywarp and Thundercracker. This sculpt has all the distinct features of that design including the blasters mounted onto the arms, wings on the back, a cockpit on the torso flanked by air intakes and rectangular blocks on the feet. In a real nice attention to detail, there are thrusters sculpted into the bottom of the feet as heel pieces. Overall this sculpt looks great and I look forward to seeing it in new decos as the other Seekers.
Starscream features a few metallic colors including silver, blue, red and yellow. His face has a slightly disconcerting smile on it befitting the character. Other paint colors include white on the wings and purple for the Decepticon symbols on the wings.
This figure features twelve points of articulation. Since his weapons are attached to his arms, he does not have any accessories to hold (though I could imagine a future version coming with Megatron in gun mode maybe).
Final Thoughts:
This is a fantastic introductory set to Transformers Minimates. I appreciate the set having four very distinct designs in it and the decos are beautiful. If you're into Minimates and Transformers this is a no brainer. I do recognize however that these figures are not for many fans who absolutely need a transforming component in any Transformers figures they buy. Recommended!
