General Information:
Release Date: November 2017
Price Point: $4.99 (depending on retailer)
Retailer: General (Toys R Us, Target, Wal-Mart etc.)
Accessories: Dual barreled blaster, Cloudburst Decoy Armor
Official images and text below in italics are from Captured Prey:
The next installment in the Generations series is Power of the Primes! The new series combines elements from both Titans Return and Combiner Wars. Micronus suits up for battle in his Cloudburst armor, and can serve as a power core or weapon for larger figures as well!
The trilogy that began with "Combiner Wars" concludes with "Power of the Primes". This line focuses on the original 13 Primes themselves returning. However, instead of gigantic beings storming the battlefield, the Primes have distilled their essence into Sparks that can be used by Transformers to gain all new powers. Depending on which Spark the Transformer takes on, they are powered up in different ways. From a play value standpoint these figures are an extension of the Titan Masters from last year. Instead of coming with beasts or vehicles, these mini-figures now come with "Decoy Armor" based on the designs of G1 era Pretender shells. The idea is that the Primes do not want just any Transformer to take their power, so they are "pretending" to be other Transformers, a wonderful play on words and concepts.
Micronus is the Prime who originated the line of all "Micro" Transformers such as the Mini-Cons. While small, he contains great power. This character most recently appeared in the "Robots in Disguise" series guiding Optimus Prime in training.
Packaging:
The packaging for the Prime Masters is similar to last year's Titan Masters. The figures are in a blister attached to a small card. Unlike last year however the card art on the front features Micronus in the Cloudburst armor in a very dynamic pose with all sorts of energy around him. This is a far better choice than last year where Fortress Maximus' head was on all the packaging for the Titan Masters. The back of the packaging shows a CG render of Micronus and how he interacts with the Decoy Armor. On top it shows the weapon mode. The side shows a cosell of Liege Maximo.
Robot Mode:
The basic structure of the Prime Master figures share the same core design as the Titan Master figures. They have the same tab on the back that allows you to attach them to vehicles and playsets from "Titans Return" and "Power of the Primes". The heads are also square in shape and while these figures do not form heads, you can attach them to the larger figures from "Titans Return".
Keeping with the premise of Micronus "pretending" to be Cloudburst, his robot form is based on G1 Cloudburst. Among the design elements the two share include:
- The head design includes a crest in the middle that slopes upward at an angle. The sides of the head also have ridged panels on them.
- The shoulders feature angled designs on them sweeping outward.
- The center of the chest has a rectangular box with horizontal lines in it.
- Each forearm has a raised line on it, similar to a raised, oval detail on G1 Cloudburst's forearms.
- The waist/hip area curves downward. This is based on the cockpit section in the same place on G1 Cloudburst.
- Each of the feet have small rectangles in the front.
I absolutely love that the inner robot is based on G1 Cloudburst's inner robot design. It adds a level of homage to the figure that I had not expected.
Micronus is cast in red and grey plastic. Both colors are based on the G1 Cloudburst figure, but the arrangement of colors is different than the g1 figure. The torso and lower legs are grey while the head, arms and thighs are red. His face is painted blue, a callback to the G1 figure.
The Prime Masters all have five points of articulation. This includes the head, arms, hips and knees. The legs move together since they are fused together. All the joints on Micronus are nice and tight on my copy of this figure.
Transformation to Spark Mode:
The Prime Masters all transform in the same fashion as the Titan Masters from "Titans Return". Swing the hips up and fold the lower legs in.
Spark Mode:
The Spark mode is basically the same as the head modes from last year's Titan Masters. Instead of a "face plate" however, there is panel with Micronus' ancient Cybertronian symbol. What's really neat is that the shape of the symbol is vaguely shaped like the letter "M". Nice touch. This piece is cast in red with the symbol painted metallic light blue.
The Prime Master Spark modes are designed to attach to Voyager Class figures directly or connect to the "Prime Armor" included with Deluxe figures in the "Power of the Primes" line.
Decoy Armor Mode
The "Decoy Armor" for Micronus is based on the design of G1 Cloudburst's Pretender Shell. In the G1 lore (outside of Japan) the Pretender Shells were bio-mechanical constructs designed to allow the Transformer robots inside to "pretend" to be something else (be it a vehicle, human, animal or monster). This Decoy Armor has the same general shape as G1 Cloudburst's Pretender Shell. It is very round in shape (keep in mind it was meant to be a human in a suit). It looks almost like the 80's idea of a futuristic space suit for an astronaut. Among the details from the G1 shell are:
- The top of the head is a round helmet with a vertical line down the middle.
- The arms are curved, looking more like a human's arms in armor than robot arms.
- The chest has a "Y" shaped design on it with curved edges.
- Both sides of the chest have an L shaped section leading up to the shoulder area.
- The mid-body has a trapezoid shaped section.
- The "belt" on the suit has a curved "U" shaped section in the middle and circles on the sides.
- The lower legs have line details running both vertically and horizontally.
- The knee armor overlaps with the thighs.
Overall the details on this Armor are awesome. I really appreciate how the designers kept a lot of the "human" looking elements of the shells in the design of this Armor.
The Armor is cast in red and grey plastic, calling back to colors of the original G1 Pretender Shell. There are quite a few paint details on this figure. The helmet, part of the chest and belt are painted blue. The "Y" shape on the torso is painted grey, as are the thighs. A fun tiny detail is an Autobot symbol on the top of the helmet. Overall these colors match up very nicely with the G1 Pretender shell, and for a figure this size it is great to see so much paint used.
Micronus comes with a weapon that looks like two giant gatling gun barrels. There is a small, 3mm peg in the middle allowing the Armor to hold the weapon. The 3mm ports in the fists mean that you can attach Cyberverse weapons to the shell's fists. This weapon can also snap onto his back for storage (and for his weapon mode). To complete the "Pretender" inspired play pattern you can swing the front of the Armor down to reveal an opening inside that Micronus can fit into in robot mode. Even better? Once you have Micronus inside, his eyes look through the helmet section in a similar fashion to the way the G1 Pretender shells had "human" faces looking through the same area! Also, like the G1 Pretender shell this Armor has two points of articulation: the arms. Finally, providing some backwards compatibility with the "Titans Return" bases, the bottom of the feet have ports to accomodate the small pegs on various Titan Master bases and vehicles.
Transformation to Weapon Mode:
- With the weapon attached on the back, swing the cannons forward.
- In between the feet, swing the peg down.
- Attach Micronus in Spark mode to the small pegs in the back.
Weapon Mode:
Micronus' combined Armor and Spark mode form one crazy cool weapon. First, it's huge as Transformers weapons go. It is probably sized best with a Leader Class figure, but any other scale gives this weapon an even more powerful appearance. The front has the huge weapon barrels including artillery bands at the base. The middle looks like a huge hunk of machinery powered by the Micronus Spark. The weapon barrels are red plastic with grey paint. The rest of the weapon is mostly grey plastic with red on the top and sides. Overall the weapon looks great in both color and sculpt.
This weapon form has a 5mm peg at the end allowing most modern day Transformers figures to wield it as a weapon. Because of the sheer size of the weapon some figures may have a harder time holding it up, especially if they only have ball joints in the shoulders and elbows. This will vary form figure to figure.
Final Thoughts:
Unlike many Transformers fans back in the day I never had a problem with Pretenders. I found the concept fascinating from a scifi fan perspective and I enjoyed how they appeared in the comic books. If you were also a fan of Pretenders, then you will like this figure quite a bit. It's not just that it is a fun toy, it is also a great way to bring the Pretender concept back but work it into the current storyline. If you want a fun little figure that can interact with your Titans Return bases and become a weapon to boot, this figure belongs in your collection.
Pros:
- Both the Armor and inner robot are great homages to G1 Cloudburst.
- A wonderful modern take on the Pretender concept that some considered goofy in the 80's.
- Really fun and impressive weapon mode.
Cons:
- If you are not a fan of the Pretender concept, this likely won't change your mind.
- The Spark "panel" is connected to the figure by a pin instead of a screw. Fans who liked to customize these figures with fan-made head panels will not be happy about this.
