I have thoroughly enjoyed the Prime Master line thus far for several reasons. 1) The cheap $4.99 USD price point and 2) I actually enjoyed the Pretender toys from the Generation One line. Landmine here is one of my favorite Autobot Pretenders so I was excited to see that he would be getting the Prime Master treatment.
Alright, so let's address the glaring flaw right off the bat. Do you see the problem? The Landmine armor has two right arms. I can't believe I didn't notice this in the store. Again, I was so excited (and surprised) to find anything new at Target that I snatched him up. Usually I'm grabbing all of the same figure and closely scrutinizing them all to find the figure with the best paint apps. Well this time Landmine was all alone on the peg and now I know why!
Two right arms aside, the toy is just as impressive as the previous Prime Master I reviewed, Metalhawk. The level of detail put into the Pretender armor is amazing. While limited, the paint apps are also applied quite nicely. The designers did a great job at capturing the likeness of the original G1 figure, of course with modern updates. I find these little $5 toys a lot of fun and they are some of my favorite modern Transformers.
To remove or place the Prime Master figure inside the armor, you simply fold down the front portion. I kind of wish the armor opened up like the original G1 Pretender armor, but it still gets the job done. The Prime Master figure fits snuggly inside the armor.
The Prime Master figure itself is basically a Titan Master figure from the previous Transformers series, only with the robot head/face replaced with a Cybertronian symbol featuring one of the 12 original Primes. In this case, this is Alpha Trion.
For added play value, the armor can also transform in a gun for larger Transformers to wield similar to a Targetmaster. As I was typing this post, I realized I failed to photograph the weapon mode. However keep reading as you'll see what it looks like if G1 Landmine were to "wield himself".
Before we get to the G1 comparison pictures, let's take a look at how Landmine stacks up against Metalhawk. Side by side you should be able to see that the same base mold was used for both figures, however there are plenty of different sculpting differences used to help create two unique characters. The arms and legs are basically unchanged, but the torso and chest sections have been modified to resemble their G1 counterparts.
I was amazed when I pulled out my G1 Landmine from his glass display case and put them side by side as the similarities are spot on. From the small designs on the gray utility belt to the red section on the armor's abdomen, you can tell the designs took the time to add in charm from the original toy. This is obviously a nice touch for older fans such as myself and one of the reasons I've enjoyed these new "pretenders" as much as I have.
As aforementioned, you can combine the Prime Master figure with the armor to form a larger fun. The armor features a 5mm peg that most Transformers can wield, even the original G1 Pretenders! While I display mine in their robot form, this is a nice added feature that I'm sure enhances the play value for the younger fans.
I currently own all of the Prime Master figures as I just found wave 3 a few days ago as of the date of this post, however I have a bad tendency of taking my sweet time opening new toys...for some reason. However I eagerly await my next opportunity to open and photograph the next Prime Master. Perhaps the next one will be a Decepticon?
For G1 fans, even if they didn't like the Pretender concept or the toys themselves, this is fantastic to see Hasbro and Takara Tomy digging deeper into the Transformers lore and history and giving new toys to characters seldom used. Even if you aren't a G1 fan or didn't grow up during that time frame, these little toys offer a great deal of detail packed into a small toy and offers different wants to play and interact with other Transformers toys.
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