Alliance: Maximal
Identification: Gorilla

Comments: Optimus Primal is definitely the king of the Beast Wars (not to mention...the king of the gimmicks)!! What he lacks in transformational steps he makes up for in original attack modes!! He's nice and worth the price! He's also fun to play with (so much so that my girlfriend made me buy her one....kind of neat to share your hobby with your own girlfriend).

First thing you'll notice is the way he's packaged. They have him strapped to the insert with this hands, feet, and neck tied up. Reminds me of 1930's King Kong when he's strapped to the block on stage. Kind of a neat effect. He's a pretty nice looking gorilla. His fur is black with tiny pieces of fur etched into the plastic. He has gray on his face and chest as well as a little white on his legs. The robot form is also pretty good and maintains pretty much the same color scheme.

What would a gorilla be without the act of pounding his chest? Well.....when you pull up and down on the switch on his back you can make his arms pound his chest. Kind of a neat effect. But the actual gimmicks don't start until robot form. Transforming him isn't too complicated but makes you feel that you got your money worth. Once he's in robot form you can perform tons of neat stuff!!!! Let's number the actions:.

1. Pull back tab on left forearm to expose double barrel missile launcher
2. Load two missiles into launcher and shoot them away (missiles can be stored behind OP's head)
3. Open right arm to expose mace and place mace in his hand then press switch to spin his hand (and mace)
4. Press button on lower back to flip shoulder guns into firing position (I love this one!!!)
5. Load missiles into shoulder guns and fire away!!
6. Remove swords and place them into his other hand. Then press rear lever to rotate sword.

Wow.....lots of stuff. As I said....the attacks make the toy!! It's pretty awesome!! There's always something to do!! COOL!!

Optimus Primal comes in a larger package with a "see-through" window above. The box has a slick brown color to it. I like these bigger boxes. They're nice!! Inside the box is a packet with the instructions, four missiles, two swords, and a catalog of other Kenner products!!

Optimus Primal is a wonderful figure. His transformations are a little cheesy but the extra added gimmicks help to add to the figure's appeal. Highly recommended!!!!

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STRENGTH: 10
INTELLIGENCE: 10
SPEED: 10
ENDURANCE: 10
RANK: 10
COURAGE: 10
FIREPOWER: 10
SKILL: 10