United Darkside Optimus Prime

Review by Laserwave13:

Prelude: Following right after the well known and beloved United 3-Packs, we now the second exclusive box set. This time it’s a 2-Pack consisting of War for Cybertron Optimus Prime and Megatron as Black or Darkside version. This set was, as far as I know, limited to about 5,000 pieces and sold primarily at the Tokyo Toy Show 2011 event. It was sold out within the first hour. A small number of them where also sold through the famous online shop eHobby. The box itself is pretty similar to the 3-Packs, meaning mostly black with little artwork. Inside is a simple plastic tray holding both figures with binders and a little plastic bag containing the instructions for each of them. Sadly no more than that, no collectors card or anything. But this seems standard by now.

Robot Mode: While the figure itself should be nothing new to any fan and seems to be well-liked in most cases, for me this is one of my absolute favorites of that particular year. Mostly because I just love the War for Cybertron designs. The figure is in the wrong size class, certainly, but considering this, it’s perfectly done for such a small scale. For differences compared to the normal versions you can say that everything that was red and blue is now black. Only the grey parts stayed the same. Could have been painted silver for an exclusive, but that might have softened up the overall very dark look he sports.

What else does a black version of Optimus Prime need? Right you are, the light blue or greenish blue paint applications. Not a lot but in the very right places, including Decepticon insignias on his shoulders. So this can be considered a Nemesis version of Prime. But whatever character he is supposed to be, the combination of design and paint job works just great and the figure looks strong, brutal, and evil. Especially when you look at the face with those stunningly evil red eyes.

The weapon is unchanged. Looks nice, but would have been a lot better without the spring-gimmick. Overall articulation is nearly perfect and all the joints are very tight. They may have reworked them in the production process, so be careful when moving them for the first time. Only the middle plate forming his belly does not hold in place perfectly, but still better than on the first versions. So to sum it up, a perfectly brutal and dark-looking incarnation of Optimus Prime without any particular flaws. Just sweet perfection!

Transformation: As usual for repaints, no differences here. The Transformation is very well engineered and probably one of the most complex ones you’ll ever find on a Deluxe scale figure. Not all the parts for the robot mode peg in, but nothing is particularly loose or in the way of poses. Danger of damaging something or even scratching the paint is down to a minimum, but as an exclusive it should still be handled with care. And don’t be shy about taking a look at the instructions or you might end up lost with many parts sticking out with nowhere to go. For me, complex and satisfying, as it should be. No complaints at all.

Alternate Mode: Prime is in his old-fashioned Cybertronian form. So no similarity to any know vehicle on Earth, but who cares? The design from the video game is just awesome and a sight to behold. Looking somewhat like an armoured tank, all black with some red windows up front, this is pure goodness! He looks nicely done overall, the black does not hide the seams any better than with the others, but it does not need to. Armoured tank, that’s all you need to know. When looking at it from the front, seeing those windows in red and slightly set into the back, this looks very bad-ass and dangerous. The grey parts in the back section are still there, of course, but barely noticeable. Chromed smoke stacks might have worked a little better, but might also have ruined the dark look. As compensation you get a fully painted and shiny front part and a vehicle that is not cut in two by using two different colours. All in all it’s everything you could wish for, I’d say. The weapon can still be attached to the top of the vehicle, but still looks silly and I would not recommend that. Otherwise, a fine vehicle mode with no real problems.

Conclusion: Yet another black repaint and again of Optimus Prime. But hey, this is an outstanding one! Thanks to design of War for Cybertron, which practically screamed „paint me black“! Whatever character he is supposed to be, he definitely looks brutal and evil and, of course, dark. The slight glitter effect on the painted parts looks beautiful and does not stand out as much as it does on the regular United version (though I never found it to be as bad as many other people apparently did).

Do need this figure? Well, if you love the WFC design as much as I do, then hell yes! Considering that he is only available as part of a 2-Pack which does cost around four times as much as you would pay for a single Deluxe figure can be a little off-putting, but it’s worth every cent. One of the best and most outstanding black repaints in years. No obvious flaws and just pure War for Cybertron. Unconditionally recommended!!

Rating: A