"Evolution"
Optimus Primal/Optimal Optimus (Power of the Primes)
Optimus Primal/Optimal Optimus was the "fan vote" pick for the last "Evolution" Leader-class toy of the PotP line, hence why he seems a little out-of-place and is the only Maximal in the entire line. To make the whole "Evolution" gimmick, er... work, Hasbro kinda changed Optimus Primal's alt mode. Now he's a spaceship/hoverboard thing. In this mode, Primal looks... well... pretty darn poor. It's pretty blatantly just the entire robot mode folded up on the back end, while the front end is a LITTLE better, with Optimal's chest-cockpit forming the cockpit for this alt mode while there's a gray section behind it that is pretty obviously the top of Optimal Optimus' robot mode, with the head folded away. The stripes of orange on the side of the headsculpt in the middle of this section are kind of a dead giveaway, even ignoring the fact it doesn't fit shape-wise with the larger rectangular hole in the top surrouding it. Honestly, you REALLY have to squint to see this as any sort of spaceship-- the cockpit in the front is the only part that looks vehicle-y. That said, the mold detailing is pretty decent, with vents and ridges scattered quite profusely over the front half of this mode. The cockpit can open up and inside is a Matrix accessory, which you can take out and replace the center with a Prime Master to give Primal a different "Prime Power". I like how this placement fits with the explanation for Optimal Optimus in the Beast Wars show-- that putting the matrix in him turned Primal into Optimal Optimus, and the cockpit is where he stored the Matrix for about an episode. The back end of this mode has some angular and circular details on the top area that obviously becomes Primal's robot chest, as it's molded to look pretty much exactly like his chest details, but more mechanical and without an organic aspect to it. Same with the mechanical ab and crotch details. The rest of the back portion is surprisingly un-detailed for a Generations toy, with very few details beyond some pistons on the sides and very basic shapes. There's not even thrusters molded into the back end to make it look like this thing can propel itself. There's some foil stickers-- some angled red-and-silver stripe details on the sides of the front half with a Maximal symbol on the sides, and another Maximal symbol sticker on the piece that becomes the left shoulder of the robot mode. I rarely like foil stickers, though for allegiance symbols I don't mind them much. However, given that on the sides the stripes go between two separate pieces that often rotate past each other during transformation, this means the edges of them can become a bit worn down, which is one of the primary reason I despise stickers for decos like this. Outside of the stickers, the front half of this mode is mostly a fairly light milky gray, which-- although not the most exciting color-- isn't that bad, being dark enough to look like some kind of metal, unlike the really light bland gray plastic that's used often on other TFs. The back half is mostly a charcoal black-- not QUITE a pure black, but honestly this is one of the few cases I think this "impure" black works better. Why? Because Optimus Primal's alt mode has traditionally been a realistic gorilla, who is black but not THAT dark shade of black. Black and gray don't technically clash, but the way they're used here-- the black entirely on the back half, the gray entirely on the front half-- makes it even more obvious the back half is Primal's robot mode. There's some pale transparent light blue plastic on the cockpit window and Matrix, and some silver on the back portion that becomes the robot chest and abs. Some light red is used on the parts that become the abs, as well as on the pistons on the rear sides. White is used on the side pieces that become Primal's robot feet, and there's a little bit of dark blue in the middle of the crotch. Overall, he's got a decent amount of colors here, but they're just not at all arranged in an aesthetically pleasing manner.
It's pretty darned obvious how to transform Optimus Primal into his "normal" robot mode-- just unfold the body and arms from the back end, open up the chest and fold out the head before re-closing it again, and then fold down the cockpit section behind his back. Unfortunately this means that Primal has a REALLY big backpack in this mode, reaching down all the way to his knees and sticking out from the sides of his body a bit, as well. Definitely an eyesore! At least it tabs in securely back there. However, if you can accomplish the herculean task of ignoring that big hunka plastic hanging off of him, the rest of his robot mode is pretty good and proportional, looking very much like a "roboticized" version of his Season 1 Beast Wars design. He's got angular shoulders, arms that look more like roboticized ape arms (complete with gray on the hands), and legs with white-and-red paint on the upper legs, as well as the aforementioned red paint on the ankle pistons and white on the feet. There's actually a few organic-like lines molded into the upper legs, giving Primal at least that tiny hint of organic-ness in this mode. As already mentioned, the details on his chest and pelvis also mimic his Season 1 BW design pretty well, and his headsculpt is spot-on, being dark blue and very Optimus Prime-like, but with more curved antennae, a more circular forehead, and a slit in the faceplate for his mouth. He's got silver paint on the forehead vent, side antennae, and most of his face excluding the mouth, with some red paint on his eyes. Although he's rather back-heavy, Primal has some pretty good articulation; he can move at the neck, shoulders (at two points), elbows, hips (at two points), and knees (at two points). For weapons, the instructions show Primal using the two guns from Optimal Optimus as clubs, which is kinda... weird, but I guess it's better than nothing.
As for the "armor", it forms basically all of Optimal Optimus' gorilla mode. Just like the original Optimal Optimus toy, the proportions are just vaguely gorilla-like-- the legs are a bit too long, and obviously the upper robot legs are just folded up behind the lower legs. The arms are not as bulky as they should be when compared to the original toy, particularly from a frontal view. Optimal Optimus is supposed to be a big, beefy guy. He doesn't look so much like that in this mode, even with the armored up bits on his lower arms. His main body is fairly proportional, though due to the "evolution" gimmick it's all a front-- the inside is hollow, along with the back side, and this can be seen a bit by noting there's not much mass behind Optimal's gorilla head. Still, all of the essential details for Optimal Optimus are here, as he's covered with little vents, decorative armor panels, bolts, and the like all over his arms and legs. His huge gorilla feet with painted silver nails is present, and his hands-- while not QUITE as overly huge as on the original toy-- are still pretty big, with all the digits molded in quite accurately to how they appeared in the show. The chest looks a bit more organic, with a "ripped" feel to it, and is rather curvy with some pec details. His headsculpt is pretty spot-on, with some silver headcrests on the sides but an otherwise round head with a fairly large chinstrap and a dark blue monkey face, complete with large nostrils and tiny red eyes. The color scheme for this mode is pretty much taken right from the original toy, but with the vacuum-metallized plastic gone. It may not look as snazzy out-of-the-box, but it's not prone to chipping either, so there's that. Anyway, Optimal has a rather unique color scheme of a very dark, milky navy blue on the lower legs and part of the shoulders; fuchsia on the upper arms; light orange on the main body, feet, and hands; and some milky gray on the lower arms, wing bits, what becomes the upper legs in robot mode, and the interior of his upper arms. Again, I'm not that huge a fan of the gray, but it's better than the lighter shades of the color commonly used on other TFs. I love how the orange and blue contrast with each other, and the fuchsia also works with the blue to boot. I wish there was a tad less of the gray overall, but generally it's a unique color scheme that, while not jaw-dropping, looks pretty nice overall. Beyond the aforementioned paint apps on the face, there's not much paint in this mode; some silver on small parts of the blue part of the shoulders, silver and orange on the feet, and a couple of foil stickers. They're small, however; just small Maximal allegiance symbols on the fuchsia upper arms, little "bolt plates" on the knees, and some black foil stickers on the lower arms. Since they're not used much and are small, I don't mind them, and honestly Optimal's color scheme is varied enough where even the relative lack of paint apps doesn't really bother me (though a few more on the lower arms and legs certainly would've been appreciated). In this mode, Optimal can move at the neck (at two points), shoulders (at three points), elbows (at two points), wrist rotation, the base of each thumb, the base of the four fingers on each hand (all as one piece), waist rotation, at the hips (at three points), and ankles (at two points), this making him pretty articulate, excepting the lack of knees. It's also worth nothing that Optimal has the gun accessories plugged in at the side of his lower legs, where they're generally stored if they're not being actively used as weapons.
