Beast Battle Masters Optimus Primal It's Just Prime Transformers Rise of the Beasts Beast Battle Masters Item No.: Asst. F3895 No. F4603 Manufacturer: Hasbro Includes: n/a Action Feature: Transforms from gorilla to blaster Retail: $6.99 Availability: May 2023 (but actually was meant for August) Other: It's clever, I'll give it that
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Due to some weirdness about how Hasbro is handling release dates these days with "kid" items, Optimus Primal showed up in stores months before its targeted release date - and some major online stores did not adjust accordingly. Never mind the fact I saw these buggers all over Targets near me for a couple of months, that's just how this stuff goes some times. The Beast Battle Masters are easily my favorite thing about Rise of the Beasts toys. $6 or more stings - but you get a cute little cyborg animal that turns into an accessory that's compatible with most of the bigger Transformers toys you already own. That's a pretty compelling proposition, especially given that Optimus Primal is one of the better figures.

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It is long assumed that Hasbro and its partners at Takara-Tomy don't really know what they can get away with in a first wave of a new type of toy. You'll get some good releases, but sometimes the real gems come in waves 2 or 3. (And some turkeys, but that's another conversation.) Optimus Primal comes packaged as a gorilla with five ball-jointed limbs. The head swivels, the arms and legs move, and the sculpt looks great. Sure, you can get a bigger, better, cheaper Authentics Optimus Primal [FOTD #2,557] for under $5, and should, but this guy isn't bad if you want another gorilla or enjoy jokes about muffled sounds of gorilla violence.

I love how the ball joint for the neck restricts movement just a tiny bit. He can look up and down a bit, and swivel fairly freely. Each arm and leg is also on a ball joint, giving him the ability to stand on his hind legs or all fours. The sculpted cyber detailing looks great and with the sparkly brown coloring, gives the hint of something in between organic and metallic. The only thing I don't like about him is that he's got a big ugly hole in his sides. Otherwise he's a fun gorilla that somehow has a sense of weight and motion despite being a tiny sub-2-inch tall gorilla when he's walking on his hands.

Transforming the figure is pretty easy, but there are pegs and slots you should keep an eye on as you go. The legs sort of hang freely, but everything else has a specific place to go. The body opens up to give you some sort of a shield, the barrel of the blaster folds out from the hands, and you definitely get the feeling this one had the most love and care given to it. Not that Arrowstripe isn't fun, but this is the better of all of these designs.

The blaster looks like a blaster. It's big, round, and fits in the hands of most figures I had within arm's reach to test it. The flip-out screen-like things that fold out from his belly have flat surfaces that look like they were meant to have stickers or painted elements, but they're blank except for the weird SKU and date stamp placements. I would have preferred they have been left blank, but aside from that I have no real notes. This is a fun accessory and figure.

If - let's be honest, when - this guy shows up for $4 or less, I'll probably buy a second one. I'd recommend buying all these little guys if they hit decent clearance, mostly because they're the kinds of toys that make you fish out your old toys and play with them. That's the best kind of purchase you can make in the toy world, because it's hard to go back and appreciate what we've got when we're being showered in new pre-orders and deliveries every week.

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