INTRODUCTION
In 1996, Hasbro/Kenner launched a new line of toys under the Transformers brand that revolutionized the entire franchise: Beast Wars. It aired in 1996 and quickly established itself firmly in Transformers history. It introduced a new generation of characters without forgetting its roots from Generation One and Two. The well-written storyline of the cartoon episodes (which spanned three seasons) and the amazing toys that came out satisfied old and new Transfans alike. Although there was an initial shock from the older fans, many soon realized the exceptional work done on both the show and the toys. There are only two words that best describe the Beast Wars toys: ball joints. Beast Wars became an instant hit.

Beast Wars Optimus Primal is one of the first ultra-sized Beast Wars Transformers released for the line. It is important to remember - and Hasbro also explicitly stated this - that this is NOT the same Optimus Prime of Generation One fame. He is, however, since his first day on the job, has been closely associated with the great Autobot leader because of the name and physical resemblance. Fans liked his character development in the show, and soon, became a name upon himself and established himself as THE great Maximal leader. His ultra toy is also proof that he is one of the best Transformer toys to come out from the Beast Wars line.

Optimus Primal came packaged in his beast mode: a black gorilla. He stands in a hunched position with a few visible robot parts particularly in his front and rear limbs. The gorilla face shows a convincingly angry face - too bad his eyes were not painted red to give him a more badass munky look. The detailing I liked most for this Primal is the fur. One can see and feel the "fur" lines running all over his body. The details on his face are also excellently done. Even the area below the eyes are given extra care towards detail; and the sculpt on the mouth and teeth can be seen even from at a distance. The forearms are a bit huge which kinda reminds me of artist Rob Liefeld's forearm syndrome in his comics (there's a reason for this - read on below).
Even in his beast mode, Optimus Primal already packs a cool feature: chest thumping. Pull a lever located in his back and bend his elbows at an angle. Move the lever and watch him do his best Tarzan imitation as he thumps his chest with his arms. A pretty cool combination with his facial expression. This munky is ready for war!

Changing Optimus Primal from beast to 'bot is pretty easy. Pull out his legs from hunched to standing position. Flip back his gorilla feet and pull out his robot feet. Rotate his legs 180 degrees to reveal the robot's waist and legs. Flip up the upper arms to form his shoulder pads, as well as reveal two small black switches on each arm. Holding the gorilla head by the ears pull it down to reveal the robot mutant head. Flip around the gorilla face while pulling it down to form the robot's chest. Pull down the mutant head and raise the mutant tusks to form the robot's antennae. Rotate the entire head to reveal the head. Optimus Primal is now in robot form.

This Optimus Primal's face bear's a striking resemblance to the original G1 Optimus Prime: blue front head, head crest in the middle, antennae, and the faceplate (Interestingly enough, his cartoon counterpart has a mouth). The back of his head is painted red to match the mutant head's face; and it also has some nice details in its sculpt. The crest part of the head's back looks pretty nifty, too, when Primal wears his mutant head on. His head can move sideways and can tilt up and down a little to accommodate more angled shots. The only difference and a little disturbing are his red eyes. Now in Transformers history, good guys usually had blue eyes and bad guys red. What went wrong with Optimus Primal? Did they mixed up the beast and 'bot's eye colours? However, if you look at it, it blends pretty well with the face's colour scheme. It would have been dull if his eyes were the same color as his head. Plus, the red gives him a more badass munky-bot look.
Looking at his body, you get the impression that this is one heavy-duty tough-bot: his large chest and muscular limbs give him a very Ah-nold look. He reminds me of G1 Grimlock in a way. Again, the detailing in this mode is awesome. The fur lines are still there, plus the sculpt on his upper arms and legs are very cool. The various bulges in his limbs simulate muscles, with a good colour combination of red and white. The piston/hydraulic look in his lower legs are a good addition, too, to simulate the combination of the organic and technological. Even the chest panel, with its simple pattern of holes of various shapes, does very well to complement the overall look of this robot. In a sense, a combination of simplicity and complexity to create a stunning piece of 'bot work.
If the beast mode had something to offer, Optimus Primal's robot mode has more. Push the grey button in his back and out comes flipping from his back up to his shoulders is two missile launchers ready to fire.  There are also a couple of holes behind his head to store two extra missiles for his missile launchers. Not only does his back button reveal those launchers but also pair of blue curved swords securely placed in their compartments also placed beneath his back. Again, one can see and appreciate the excellent detail put into these blades. They can be placed on each of Primal's fists for some close combat action. However, his fists also have holes in the bottom part so one can have him holding both blades with just one hand. Move the switch on his upper arms, pull again the lever in his back and watch Optimus slice and dice his enemies with his swords - either with both hands or just one. And those blades aren't his only weapons for melee combat: flip up the top of his right forearm to reveal a badass mace. The sculpt on this mace is really great: a spiked skull that is really intimidating and threatening. This mace is connected to a handle by a short rope. Place it on his hand, pull back the lever again and watch him do some mace-swingin' action this time. And if you think his missile launchers are enough, think again: push the tab found on his left forearm and out pops a double-barrelled arm cannon. Take the extra missiles stored behind his head and you have another set of weapons for the big-bot for long-range combat. If you want, you can also pull the lever to watch him shoot anyone in his path with this canon. (Ha! No wonder those forearms were pretty bulky!) Hmmm... looks like the term heavy duty isn't enough to describe this particular Maximal: this guy's a one-man army! My personal favourite all-out combat look for this Optimus Primal is to have him hold his mace on his right arm's top hole and a curved blade in the bottom hole; and his arm cannon sticking out with both missile launchers sitting on his shoulders. Now this guy's ready to rumble in the jungle! Throw in the mutant head "mask" (you can either rotate his head around to have him wear his mutant head with red crest or just rotate the mutant head to the front and cover his robot face in this mode - it doesn't matter, it still kicks butt!), and you've got one of the most kickass Primals this side of Cybertron (or Earth). If there was one more thing to add to all his cool features, I would've wished Hasbro added a little detail or feature to simulate his rocket pack as shown in the cartoons. But hey! I'm not complaining!

RATING: This is definitely a great Optimus Primal toy. No wonder Beast Wars was such a huge success. This is a good example of how excellent a Transformer toy can be when given a lot of attention and care. It has a good transformation scheme, a mold with an excellent attention to detail, and fun play features to make this toy a highly recommended addition to anyone's Transformers collection. If you still can't get over the beast Transformers concept, you're missing out a lot - especially with this Optimus Primal. He may not be the same Optimus Prime we all came to love - and he isn't - but he's still a Prime in his own right. And that's just Prime.

A great piece to display especially in vehicle mode, but if you want a more exciting optimus Prime to play with, this is not one I would recommend. If you're a die-hard Prime fan, get it regardless of the departures and flaws. If you want a Thunderclash replacement, this is good enough. If you feel like getting it but turned off by the toy's lack of interesting features, kitbashing may be useful.

This review was written on 08 April 2005.