Power of the Primes Micronus

Prelude: After combiners in Combiner Wars and Headmasters in Titans Return, what would Hasbro give us to finish off the Prime Wars Trilogy? Targetmasters? Powermasters? Pretenders? Well, we got the Prime Masters who are, kind of, a mixture of all three, plus some kind of Transformer gods and progenitors of the Transformers race to boot. So… yeah, the Prime Masters are kind of a big deal. And really small. Especially Micronus (it’s in the name, see?), who was part of the first wave of Prime Masters released in Power of the Primes. Here we go!

Smaller Robot: The actual Micronus robot is basically identical to the Titan Masters from Titans Return, only instead of a face on his back he’s got a Prime rune, which kind of looks like a winged letter O. Micronus is as articulated as your average Titan Master, meaning he can move his arms at the shoulders, turn his head, and bend his joint legs. He can also fold together into ... well, I’m not really sure what to call it. An engine? A Matrix core? A head without a face? Well, it can work as all of that. It’s primarily (ha!) meant to plug into the chest armor of a larger Power of the Primes figure, which will then gain the power of the Prime (ha!). So… yeah, basically he’s a tiny robot that folds into a square.

Decoy Armor: Of the 13 Prime Masters, eight came with so-called Decoy Armors, really Pretender shells. In Micronus’ case it is patterned after the original G1 Pretender Cloudburst. Much like the original Pretender the armor opens up to store the smaller robot inside. The articulation is restricted to the shoulders, also very G1-accurate, but instead of a human-looking face the armor has a tiny opening where the inner robot can look out.

Unlike the original Pretenders, the Prime Master Decoy Armors can convert into a kind of weapon mode. Basically they lie down on their stomachs, unfold a handle from between their feet, and a weapon barrel from their back. Two barrels in Micronus’ case. The smaller robot can either remain inside in weapon mode or plug in on top in engine mode. The weapon barrels can also be removed and serve as hand-held weapons for the armor.

Overall I must say that Micronus’ armor looks good in both armor and weapon mode, so no complaints. It actually looks a bit better as a weapon without the engine on top, in my opinion, but you can have it either way. So bottom line: a fun little figure, actually more versatile than the original Pretender shells despite being about a fifth the size.

Remarks: The thirteen original Primes appear in various incarnations throughout Transformers history and Micronus was one of them in Prime and the IDW Comics. He’s the smallest of the Primes, but contains “boundless energy”. He is also the creator of the Mini-Cons in those two continuities and in the IDW comics he also created Microspace, the home of the Micronauts. According to the Power of the Primes marketing material, the Prime Master isn’t actually the Prime, but rather just a shell for his spark, hidden inside a Decoy Armor. When connected to a larger Transformer, he bestows upon them a unique power that varies from individual to individual.

To be honest I don’t have much use for the tiny Prime Master robots apart from mounting them upon the Throne of the Primes, but I do like the Decoy Armors and their weapon modes. Cloudburst is one of the Pretenders I never owned, so having him in this micronized (ha!) form is fun. So bottom line: recommended to collectors of Prime Masters, Pretender fans, and people with a certain fondness for wordplay.

Rating: B