General Information
Release Date: August 2025
Price Point: $24.99 (depending on retailer)
Retailer: General Release (Amazon, BigBadToyStore, Entertainment Earth, Target, Walmart etc.) - Preceding links are sponsor/affiliate links
Accessories: Weapons/Lenses x 2
Official images and text in italics are from Amazon.com:
- THE THIRTEEN ALCHEMIST PRIME ACTION FIGURE: This 5.5-inch (14 cm) Alchemist Prime action figure toy features deco and detail inspiration from the Transformers universe
- 2-IN-1 CONVERTING TRANSFORMERS TOY: Transformers action figure converts from robot toy to Cybertronian armored car toy in 17 steps
- AWESOME ACCESSORY: The Thirteen Alchemist Prime Transformers figure comes with a 2-piece Lenses Artifact that attaches to the figure
- ARTICULATED FOR PLAY AND DISPLAY: Transformers figures feature articulated heads, arms, and legs for action poses
- GIFT TRANSFORMERS COLLECTIBLES: The Thirteen Alchemist Prime action figure toy makes a great collectible figure gift for any Transformers fan
- THE THIRTEEN ALCHEMIST PRIME: The Thirteen Alchemist Prime is a passionate defender of justice, focused on those who need help the most
- AGE OF THE PRIMES: The Thirteen Primes are the very first bots in Transformers mythology. Every battle, bot, and power in the Transformers universe can be traced back to them
Unite your favorite characters from across the world of Transformers robots into your collection with the Transformers Age of the Primes Deluxe Class The Thirteen Alchemist Prime action figure! This 5.5-inch The Thirteen Alchemist Prime action figure converts between robot and Cybertronian armored car modes in 17 steps. Includes a 2-piece Lenses Artifact accessory. The Thirteen Alchemist Prime figure is inspired by the character from the Transformers universe and features articulated head, arms, and legs for awesome action poses. Transformers: Age of the Primes opens up the world of the Primes, the very first bots in Transformers mythology, a pantheon of Thirteen beings, each with a unique ability and personality. Every battle, every bot, and every power in the Transformers universe can be traced back to one of The Thirteen. Collect and combine different characters to create your ideal Age of the Primes lineup. TRANSFORMERS and HASBRO and all related trademarks and logos are trademarks of Hasbro, Inc. © 2024 Hasbro.
Background:
The 2025 Generations line kicked off the Age of the Primes sub-line featuring some of the original Thirteen Primes in toy form. Unlike the previous Power of the Primes line, these figures would feature the Primes in forms inspired by previous portrayals of the characters either in animation or print. One of these Primes is Alchemist Prime. The character began as nothing more than a mysterious name but would eventually involve into various incarnations including one of the Thirteen Primes (you can read more about him on the excellent TFWiki). Alchemist Prime (or Maccadam if you prefer) has appeared in the Transformers toy line before. Previously he was a "build-a-figure" in the Cyberverse line, representing that character from the cartoon. He was also released as a Prime Master in 2018. This figure is a brand new design and sculpt for Alchemist.
Packaging:
Unlike the unique packaging design of Legacy, the Age of the Primes packaging is more aligned with the look of the Studio Series line. The boxes are now rectangular with a flap on top to hang on pegs. The background color is a flat black. The front features a new series of icons giving information about the figure. This is set to the left and is colored gold featuring a faction logo, calling out how many steps are in the transformation (17 in this case) and the age recommendation (8+ on this box). To the right is artwork featuring Alchemist Prime holding his lenses as swords. Beneath him is artwork of his vehicle mode. In between is the figure with a window cut away with the return of a plastic window! These had been removed the last few years but Hasbro heard the fan outcry (and probably got sick of figures getting damaged in box by vandals) so they're back and I'm really glad about that. Below the artwork is the "Transformers" logo now set horizontally for the first time in about a decade. Under that is the "Age of the Primes" line looking a lot less stylized than the Legacy logos of years past. The bottom features Alchemist Prime's name, symbol and the Hasbro logo to the right.
The back of the box features the figure in both modes calling out the 17 step transformation. His Lenses are shown in a small window combined. The bottom half features legal information in multiple languages and an "Authentic Transformers" logo. The box is definitely going for a premium appearance and it aligns the look more with Studio Series but it definitely does not feel as special or unique compared to previous years.
Accessories:
Alchemist Prime includes two "Lenses" which double as sword weapons and blasters. Each has the same basic design, with a large lens in the middle with smaller lenses on top. The left lens (if you were wearing these like eyeglasses) has two small circles on top while the right side has one. The right side lens features a sculpted design on the smaller lens based on the "ancient Autobot symbol" seen in the G1 animated series. The left side lens features (of all things) the Blentron symbol from Beast Wars Neo! The symbol looks like Unicron's head, a nod to the Blentrons serving Unicron. With this figure, the idea was to express an evil counter point to the "good" represented by the ancient Autobot symbol. The right side lens has Alchemist Prime's symbol painted on the large lens in silver. Both lenses are made of translucent blue plastic.
Each lens features a sword end and a blaster end. The sword ends are used to connect the two pieces together. The blaster end doubles as a 5mm peg for Alchemist to hold the lenses like swords. There is also a 5mm peg on the back of each lens allowing Alchemist to wield them as blasters. The front of the blaster barrels allow you to attach Blast Effects. You can also combine the two lenses to form one giant set of...eyeglasses. No, really. These are meant to act as a callback to Alchemist's own goggles, which is kind of silly and fun at the same time.
Robot Mode:
Alchemist Prime's design is largely based on the Cyberverse animation model with some modifications to pay homage to his previous incarnations (and of course to accommodate his transformation). In general, Alchemist is a chonky bot. He may not be super tall, but with wide shoulders, a wide chest and very thick legs he looks like a bruiser. Among the details carried over from the animation model are:
- A "collar" like design on the top of the chest area.
- Panels that wrap around the chest from the top to the middle in "L" shaped patterns.
- An abdominal area with overlapping horizontal patterns that look like a truck grille.
- Raised circle designs on his forearms.
- Six sided knee armor.
The head design blends design elements from the Cyberverse cartoon and some previous interpretations of his G1 incarnation. The eyes are the carry over from the show, looking like old fashioned, Steampunk-inspired goggles. The "helmet" section of the head is round and seems almost like an Old Skool flight helmet. His face has a handlebar mustache and his chin has a goatee on it. The face design comes from his older portrayals. I love this very distinct head sculpt and I appreciate the designers paying homage to a couple different versions of the character.
Alchemist Prime is made out of green, silver, black, gunmetal grey and translucent blue plastic. Paint colors include silver, gold, black and blue. While his sculpt is mostly influenced by the Cyberverse version of the character his colors are more based on his G1 interpretations such as this illustration from the Transformers: The Ultimate Guide book. I'm glad they went this route. Not only do these colors do a nice job of nodding to the past, but they also help distinguish Alchemist visually from his fellow Primes.
There are twenty two points of articulation on this figure. This includes five in each arm and leg. I am very happy that despite his chonky torso he does have waist articulation! Alchemist has seven 5mm ports, two on each arm, one under each foot and one on the back. I'm really happy figures continue to have ports on the bottom of their feet. It's a nice carry over feature from the Siege era. As mentioned above, Alchemist Prime can hold his accessories as swords or blasters. You can also combine them by connecting the sword blades and have him hold them in front of him by using the weapon barrels as handles. The arms on this figure are designed so they can turn under the shoulders, allowing him to hold the lenses in front of him.
Transformation to Vehicle Mode:
- Detach the accessories and set it aside for now.
- Straighten out the arms and legs.
- Swing the chest panel forward.
- Push the head down into the chest, then close the chest panel.
- Move the arms up so they are pointing up.
- Swing the arms down at the panels connecting them to the torso.
- Swing the green panel the shoulders are connected to down.
- Rotate the upper body around.
- On the back, swing the windshield piece down.
- Swing the front panel on each lower leg out.
- Move the feet up into the lower legs.
- Push the legs down so they are out of the way of the arms.
- Swing the arms all the way back and connect them together.
- Connect the feet together and swing the legs up.
- Swing the lower leg panels in and connect them.
- The robot fists can be pushed part way down, so they will sit at an angle. Pushing any more may stress the plastic (which I did accidentally in my photo shoot for one hand).
- The accessories can be attached to the top of the vehicle.
Vehicle Mode:
Alchemist Prime's vehicle mode is an armored SUV, looking like a futuristic military vehicle with a strong looking front end featuring angled headlights and a cage in the center. The back of the vehicle has a bulky section which one could imagine being a place to store supplies or transport troops. The sides feature all sorts of cool detailing including "steps" to get into the vehicle and armor lines on his wheels. This is a new/made up alt-mode and not one seen used by the character previously. I really like the sculpt of this vehicle mode and it is generic enough that this tooling could easily be retooled into a different character down the line.
This mode mostly shows off Alchemist's green plastic with a metallic blue-grey color used for the wheels. Black, gold and silver paint are used for detailing on the figure including the front cage and the headlights.
This vehicle rolls on all four wheels. The top of the vehicle features two 5mm ports, allowing you to attach his lenses for storage or as weapons.
Final Thoughts:
Alchemist Prime is a solid toy. He looks great in both modes and I dig the deep cuts in his accessories. That said, the fists not swinging fully into the forearms is...very odd. This is something most Transformers figures do complete with panels to close off the forearms. Looking at the design of the forearms and fists I'm unclear on why the decision was made to have the fists angle outward a bit. I would have also liked a bit more deco in vehicle mode but overall this is a cool figure and well worth adding to your collection. Recommended.
Pros:
- Good sculpt that is unique and pays homage to previous versions of the character.
- Nice (read: not incredible, but good) deco.
- Cool accessories that have a couple of nice callbacks worked into them.
- Relatively simple and intuitive transformation.
Cons:
- Could use a bit more deco in vehicle mode.
- The fist thing in vehicle mode is very strange.
