Takara Tomy Animated Sons of Cybertron set.

Warning, 1892 words are in this post.

The Sons of Cybertron pack consists of clear versions of Animated Rodimus and Optimus Prime in the deluxe size. There is another version featuring the Classics Rodimus and Optimus both Deluxes as well. Why? Eeerm, to celebrate 2010 when that episode of Headmasters had the 'Birth of Double Convoy' I guess. Not sure really. Why they are translucent plastic, who knows. Who cares? I just thought they looked nice.

They do look very nice. Bugger any reasoning as to why they are see through I say, just get them if you want them.

Packaged in robot mode with both of them standing nicely next to each other you can see how clear the plastic is. The Optimus toy is the Earth mode one that for the Hasbro release was packaged with the deluxe Cybertronion mode Megatron. He comes with a nice big axe that sits on the back of the truck.

Rodimus, hmmm, well, as far as I know, since the release of normal Roddy and this Roddy were very close, and I have a feeling that this version was out first, then we could theoretically say that the other Roddy is the re-colour. Nevertheless, this Roddy is a version of the deluxe Roddy that features in the Transwarped episode of Animated.

Both are very nice. They come with a card that can be used in some arcade game that seems popular in Japanese department stores for the kiddies. The card has their stats, (strength, intelligence etc etc) and a small quote.

Optimus:オールスパークは私が守る。"I will protect the Allspark"

Rodimus:わたしの魂のエキゾーストノートが聞ているか！"Can you hear my spirit's exhaust note!?"

Knowing transformers, use spark instead of spirit.

Robot Mode.

Woooo, what nice new clear plasticky goodness. Such beautiful clear plastic lest you see right into Optimus' chest. Holding up to the light, he glows with leadership power, although not the supreme commander power he once held in other series. 総司令官(Soushireikan, supreme commander)　部隊司令官(Butaishireikan, Corps or unit leader).Hmmm, going by the logic that in the english version of the cartoon, 'prime' was a rank, since Optimus and Rodimus are both the same rank, does that mak him Rodimus Prime?  I don't think it does, since Sentinel is called 'Autobot Sentinel" instead of Sentinel Prime so I would assume that in the Japanese version, Prime isn't a rank. Oh well.

 This figure is a good figure, he comes with a spring loaded waist for a bit of punchy punchin' of Decepticons. Lots of ball joints on shoulders and double hinges for the elbows, knees and wrists allows for lots of cool poses as well as the ability to wield his sexy axe with two hands.

And what a sexy axe it is. nice colours of red for the main body and a fantastically clear plastic blade. All in the same piece of plastic! Amazing! It is by far the best of the Optimus' axes available, better than the Cybertron mode and better than the Voyager size too. He has a nice Autobot insignia on his shoulder (as he should), good clean paint applications on his groin, and head. His mask is well painted and even has a little gap to allow for the blue look is cool. Naturally with the type of plastic of this figure it has cool light piping that is really easy to kick off.

On the back of his fore arms he has the truck smokestacks which can be swivelled around and made to look like some form of small cannons. mucho coolio. His thighs and waist are a solid coloured plastic, I assume as it might be there for strength, as these places are likely to be put under extra stress. The tires fit nicely into his ankles and the ones one the front of the truck fit nicely into the shoulders. The aesthetics all over are generally very good and Primey enough to fit the bill.

Rodimus. Wow. Rodimus, wow. Cool figure. Short sentences required. Nice and sleek legs, cool looking feet, he has some nice boot markings on the bottom and the shape of the legs look pretty sleek too. Lots of joints in them allow for cool posing possibilities and the exhausts of the car fit nicely in his thighs. He has a twist in his waist, ball joints in his shoulders as well as a hinge joint attached to the ball joint. The only real issue with the shoulders is that they kind of hang on, not really attaching to the chest at all. They are attached via a small black plastic piece. From the front of the toy, it's barely noticeable, but from the top it looks a little weak.

I really like this toy, he as all the elements that a good Roddy needs. Flames on the chest, possibility of having either Autobot symbol or engine on the chest, big spoiler sticking out of his shoulders, and an appropriate crest that although quite different, still channels Hot Rod quite nicely. Like Optimus, Roddy has light piping in his noggin' and it's even easier than Op to get some light through. Just the smallest source of light pours through really well and his eyes are a nice clear colour that just channels a hint of red through them. Its very nice indeedy.

Roddy's Energy Bow gun is a cool weapon, it has spots for two missiles and fits nicely into his hand. there are two bits of plastic that clip up and down depending on whether or not it is loaded, which looks really cool. the only real draw back is the panelling on his fore-arms, they seem to get in the way of the bow just a little bit. you therefore have to be careful with his posing when holding the gun. It can still be made to look very cool though.

I guess bows for Transformers have always been awkward to use though. I remember Arcee from Energon series was really hard to do as well. Admittedly she was a scout size figure, but still the size alone of the weapon gives it various disadvantages. Hmm, as I think of it, I think Rodimus would be the first Autobot with a non-melee weapon (not counting leader Bulkhead and his missiles). I might have to check that though.
Hmm, do Prowl's shuriken count?

I was playing with the Hasbro one and discovered a storage option for the bow in robot mode(sorry low quality phone pic):

Not the best as the missiles have to be taken out, but not too shabby.

To really top off the toy is the transformation. I can't quite describe it, but after transforming him, I very much had a wow minute. It's just so elegant. transform it and admire it's engineering.

Vehicle mode.

Optimus has his nice g1-esque truck mode of just the cab, not trailer looking thing to place on his back. The Axe is stored in a little peg holder behind his groin and plugs the ends into his feet. The truck needs the axe plugged in otherwise the rear wheels, being attached to his feet, seem really loose. The feet stick out the back, but it looks fine. the cab has silver highlights and blue windows on the side as well as a nice Autobot insignia on the left side where his shoulder is in robot mode.

On the back are a couple of short smokestacks which give him a very G1 animated looking truck mode. the windshield is beautifully clear plastic which allows you to have a good old peek inside the cab. very nice. the sirens are clear as well, which I found a bit of a surprise, but since everything else is translucent red, I guess they wouldn't be so nice if they were as well. One thing that stood out for me was the wheels, they are a translucent plastic as well!

It's a really solid vehicle mode and although the axe is rather large hanging off the back of the truck, it doesn't look completely ridiculous. The grill area and parts of the legs are the only non-transluscent and the elbows, which are only able to be seen through looking through the siren's lights.  Eeer, seems I skipped a heap of pics for Prime. There are a couple down the bottom.. for now

Now, lets have us a look see at Rodimus. Wow! Nice vehicle mode. It is very close to the original Hot Rod, the spoiler on the back, the exhaust pipes, which have been moved from the side from the G1 to the top for animated. It still has the same style of windshield as well, with it all looking like a single piece. Oh and not forgetting the engine in the hood. What I really like about this Animated version, is you can choose to have the engine on the hood or flip it over to reveal an Autobot symbol. this works in both modes as well! Nice touch!

 

The wheels are translucent as well, just like Prime. From the side, he looks very low down. What I really like about this toy, is the exhaust pipes that are on his thighs in robot mode fold up a bit and his hands kind of mesh in with them really nicely. I was most impressed by this, as it allows the pipes to fit snugly into the thighs, yet gives them some chunk to the vehicle mode.

The feet fold very neatly into the front bumper of the car to add a bit of texture and interest into the front of the car. One more thing I just noticed was that you can open the front window of the car, like in the movie when Daniel climbs in for a ride! NIIIIICE!

The spoiler is a golden colour, but it isn't shiny. it is the same colour as the flames on the hood of the car, and the headlights are plain old yellow paint, which although different, looks nice and separates them front he rest of the decals. I do have one small whinge about this figure though and that would be the view from the back. he has a massive gap between the wheels. It can only really be seen if you look at it from the floor levels, from the top or on an angle it isn't all that noticeable.

His Energy bow Gun can be mounted on the top of the car. It can be mounted quite solidly, but you have to be careful as when the missiles are mounted in the gun, they can get hooked up on the spoiler and managing to clip the bow gun in can be a bit tricky. The Bow gun still looks pretty cool even without the missiles. the missiles themselves have some nice detail, such as the jagged ends of the tip of the missile.

Overall these two figures are very nice. Rodimus slightly is better than Optimus, Since Optimus is limited by the punch feature as a play option. Plus Roddy has the advantage of being a new figure for me, but even taking that into account, the transformation of Roddy is very nicely done and made me go 'wow' and just sit back and admire the figure for a while after transforming. A rare occasion indeed. However both figure are very good. Can I recommend them if you have the normal ones? Not really, though the plastic quality is very clear and nice. get them if you like see through figures, otherwise the normal ones should probably be adequate.

Box shots below

 

Finally, a shot of Rodimus from the cartoon