Solus Prime of the Thirteen Transformers Age of the Primes Deluxe Class Item No.: Asst. G0474 No. G1022 Manufacturer: Hasbro Includes: Forge Hammer (according to packaging) Action Feature: Converts from robot to space truck Retail: $24.99 Availability: March 2025 Other: Her third toy, if you can believe it
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I forgot to order Solus Prime at work, so I picked it up while running errands - eventually. Multiple copies of this figure were opened, missing parts, rattling around in the box - someone seems to be a little weirdly interested in this fairly great little figure. As a deluxe it's on the small side, particularly in truck mode. Given what is sure to be a year of inflation, combined with smaller toys, it is still remarkable that we got something pretty good here.

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Of note, the eyes on the box art are all pink. The toy itself has green eyes. I like her a lot more than Prima Prime.

To call Solus Prime's robot mode "admirable" is an understatement. The head has just enough style to look like it came out of one of the better comic books. The kibble is mostly tucked away - or turns into something interesting - with the exception of the shoulder pads, which are just odd. The wheels tuck behind the calf area, some other small flaps serve as gap-fillers. The wrists have ball joints and are, easily, some of the very best wrist joints on any Transformers toy, making it pretty easy for her to double-grip the hammer accessory. It's a great robot action figure, with generally decent sculpting and unimpressive deco. It's one of the few places Hasbro seems to be cutting corners in the budget - there's a little silver and gold, plus blue eyes. That's it. I wouldn't mind seeing something else to make the toy "pop" a bit more, but she's not bad at all. I mean they actually added paint to the three-piece hammer accessory, that's something.

Her design is a mishmash of many incarnations of the character, who is mostly famous for dying in nearly every appearance at the hands of The Fallen, Megatronus. She has curly-toed shoes and a quasi-skirt/dress, plus a halter top. As far as the dress part goes, it's a departure from the typical lower bikini zone we usually get on female-presenting robots, but the bikini top is more or less the norm. I understand why you want a quick visible signifier that the customers will go "yes, this is a lady" but I don't know what a robot created (in-fiction) without the consultation of Man needs with breasts. Or slightly more pronounced lips, for that matter. The sculptors did a perfectly nice job with both, and the eyes are a bit bigger and more expressive than I would have expected.

As the character is something of a nothingburger for long-haul fans who didn't exist until the 21st century, I wonder how she and her cohorts in the Thirteen will perform. Not being in the original comics or cartoon can be a challenge to success, but at last she looks interesting. Heck, she's even got what looks like hair coming out of her helmet! I generally like the robot figure, but I am a little sad that she's so good. Why? It probably means we'll never get a new Nautica - Solus Prime is very similar in appearance and I assume Hasbro might not want another purple girl-bot any time soon.

My favorite aspect of this toy is the head - the face has just enough personality in it to look good, with proportions that remind me vaguely of the best IDW gave us in their comics, and the helmet is really nice. I'd love to see whoever did this one do more heads.

I found the transformation difficult even with instructions. The toy clearly was built around making an amazing robot, and the truck mode is fine. I almost wish they tried less hard, because it looks a lot like a crumbled robot with very few truck-like elements bolted on... and it took a ton of twists and turns to get her. The middle segment of her skirt rotates, the shoulder pads become the front fenders, the backpack is the top of the truck, and the legs make up most of the rest of the truck. She's a great action figure who can turn into a truck-flavored vehicle.

Her robot shoulders become two very clashy elements on the front of the truck, which is so odd given that they don't look good as shoulder pads and they don't look good as car bits. At first glance it looks like feet on the sides of the truck, but they aren't feet. Due to its small size, you can see where the money went - visible robot bits make up the back half of the vehicle, which looks acceptable at certain angles. There are painted gold windows (which, for a space vehicle with no driver, may not have been necessary) and painted silver wheels. I like the sculpted greeblies and vents, as all the choices seem to be not-too-over-the-top and you can tell it belongs in the same continuity as Kup or many of the other sci-fi vehicles. It won't convince anyone that it's a real vehicle, though.

You can mount the hammer on the sides - there are specific rectangular tabs for this in addition to 5mm ports - which is a good thing to do. It obscures some of the visible robot elements.

During the 1980s, most Transformers emphasized the disguise and made the best robot possible without giving up on that realism. You had a toy car, truck, plane, or gun and it could turn into a perfectly nice robot - with the occasional trigger crotch. Here, you have a superb robot figure with a decent personality, an articulated outfit, and faux hair - it's great. It's just that it's not a great truck. Having said that, I'm not disappointed to have spent $25 on it. I wanted a cool robot with a hammer, and I got one - I just wish they did something better with the shoulder pads. Recommended if you're into the idea of new characters and the Thirteen, but if you're a Sunbow (or Marvel) kid? You probably didn't even read this review.

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