Optimus Prime appears as a long nosed truck - white cab with a red front and an orange & yellow stripe on the front leading some to liken him to a McDonald's truck. He's molded into a red flat bed at the back - a little more engineering would have been required to make it turn behind the cab like previous Primes. The white cab contains clear blue windows and the smokestacks are molded in blue plastic. He's a bit of a departure for western Primes being the first long nosed truck (though the Action Master Prime did drive one) and the first not to feature a red cab or blue flatbed. The red flatbed trailer section carries two white missile ending in a red rubber trip, a yellow air pump mounted on a white base which is in turn connected to a blue cannon (same colour as the smokestacks) that's got a blue gun mounted on it. A missile can be placed over the cannon's gun barrel and can be fired by removing the air pump and pushing down on it sharply. The cannon can turn but it's point of rotation is off the centre of the vehicle - so much so that when pointing backwards it will cover one side of the vehicle and not the other. He's got ten wheels - two under the front of the cab, four under the middle of the vehicle where the white flatbed becomes the red flatbed trailer and two more towards the rear.
The white cab should look odd on a Prime toy but somehow it isn't too bad - the red at the front might be helping me here. It's be interesting to see this mold painted in the traditional Prime colours of red front & cab and blue rear.
TF: Fold in the flaps on the middle of the front bumper. Pull the cab in two and fold forward - you might need to wiggle the cab halves a bit as the joint they're being folded on required them to move slightly to the sides. Remove the missile and the gun.. Look at the bottom of the vehicle, split the back of it down the middle and fold out to the sides. You'll be able to see the Prime chest and head clearly now and be able to see the backs of the vehicle will become the arms. Turn the arms at the shoulders till the stickers face front. Pull the forearms out to the sides and bend down. Push the fists out using the lever on the back of the forearms. Turn the forearms so the wheels are at the back. Put the missiles onto the clips now on Prime's back with the tips pointing over his shoulders like Smokestacks. Place gun in either hand or in the mounting hole on his left arm.
From the knees up he's a big chunky Prime toy, much larger arms than usual, black fists, dead on head with pale blue light pipe eyes, a chest that looks like Prime though spoilt by having the words Optimus Prime written Kevin & | sun visor style over the windows. The waist is in white and the upper legs are also. The lower legs aren't the traditional Prime blue, they're the white cab halves with the cab and smokestack end providing a large and stable foot base. He's stable either way round so I wonder if a little retooling could add on a pair of blue doors (like Cybertron Clocker) which would give us the blue legs to complete the look. What's really impressive about the toy is the articulation - in 1994 the message had got back to Hasbro that we wanted TFs that were poseable in robot mode. Prime bends at the knees, his hips move forward & backwards and to the sides. The waist and neck turn. The shoulders shrug up as part of the tf, move forwards & backwards and to the sides. He has bicep swivel joints and his elbows bend. In short Prime has more articulation that the average GI Joe figure did at the time and is easily the most poseable TF to that point - he's one of the first that can kneel down and aim his weapon. And this is the year before Hasbro really discovered ball joints (though Dreadwing and Smokescreen do have some later in the year) Prime is a little limited in this mode by his gimmick - for the air pump to be mounted as a back pack the hose coming out from the pump is on the opposite side to the side the arm carrying the missile launcher is which really limits the poseability of the arm. Some extra hose length can be gained mounting the pump upside down but a longer tube and/or mounting the out hole on the other side of the pump would have worked much better. The missile launcher still works in this mode and thanks to the articulation the arm can be rotated so the launcher - normally side mounted - is on top of the arm. If you get *really* bored with the missile launcher in robot mode it can be turned into an optional extra: Unscrew the lower arm it's attached to and then it's a simple matter of removing the screw that holds the launcher in place. The launcher has a peg at it's base so can still be mounted in robot or vehicle mode but it gives you the option of a more symmetrical Prime. I recommend you try this as it's one of the easiest TF customs you can perform. Overall: Do you get the feeling I like this toy ? It's one of my favourite Prime's ever. Yes I have some issues with the colouring on the vehicle mode, the colour of the robot mode's legs, and the tube on the air pump. But the air pump gimmick works and works well. The robot mode is superb and there's no mistaking that you're looking at a Prime toy even given the legs and if you can ignore the slogan on the chest windows. The head is superb, lightpipe used perfectly which is the main reason I became such a fan of lightpipes. You need to own one of these. Well actually you don't. What you need to own is.....