Power of the Primes Vector Prime

Prelude: Time for the third of eight Power of the Primes Prime Master reviews. This time we’ll take Vector Prime. Remember Vector Prime? Big white/grey sword-wielding ancient warrior guy from the Cybertron series? Well, now he’s a very small blue guy. And who here knows who Metalhawk is? Anyone? Well, if your answer is that very Japanese Pretender guy from Masterforce, then congrats, you are correct. So we have a Prime Master who looks nothing like the previous holder of the name inside a decoy armor based on a Pretender barely anyone knows. Will that work?

Smaller Robot: As mentioned above the inner robot, Vector Prime, looks nothing like Cybertron Vector Prime. He does bear some resemblance, though, to the inner robot mode of the original Pretender Metalhawk, so there is that. Otherwise he is your standard Titan / Prime Master figure, folding in half to form an engine that can attach to the chest armor of Power of the Primes figures or the neck socket of Titans Return Headmasters. The Prime glyph on his back is more or less based on Vector Prime’s sigil from the Aligned novels, looking like a star map inside a watch. So bottom line: he’s a Prime Master, same as the others basically. Moving on.

Decoy Armor: Like most of the Pretenders Metalhawk resembled a human wearing futuristic combat armor. The decoy armor based on him is the same, just without the human face. Instead you have an open visor through which you can just make out the tiny little face of the Prime Master, if he should happen to be inside at the moment. Articulation is the same as the classic Pretender shells, he can move the arms at the shoulders and that’s that. The armor can also flip open to reveal the robot hidden inside.

Just like the other decoy armors Metalhawk, too, can “transform” into a weapon. He becomes a single-barreled blaster of some kind, the barrel being on his back and removable to be used by the decoy armor as a hand-held weapon, too. The Prime Master can either remain inside or attach on top in engine mode. Metalhawk makes for a great-looking weapon and his blue and red coloring is an awesome fit with Power of the Primes Optimus Prime, for example. So bottom line: another great decoy armor that offers plenty of play value despite its limitations in size and articulation.

Remarks: Of all the various Primes / Prime Masters, Vector Prime is probably the one with the most extensive backstory. Yes, that includes Alpha Trion, who has been around longer, but hasn’t had nearly as many appearances. Vector Prime first appeared in Galaxy Force / Cybertron as a warrior from ancient Cybertron, who travelled through time to tackle the threat of the black hole. He has since been established as one of the original 13 Primes, his specialty being time travel powers, which he also bestows to those who make use of his Prime Master.

Metalhawk, on the other hand, was the original leader of the Seibertrons (Autobots) in the Masterforce series. He eventually surrendered the posting to Ginrai and faded into the background along with the other Pretenders when the more powerful Godmasters began to take over the fight. Metalhawk was a Takara-exclusive Pretender and is, to this very day, one of the hardest-to-find G1 toys of them all.

Leaving aside why one would combine the name of the best-known of the 13 Primes with that of probably the least-known Pretender, Vector Prime with his Metalhawk decoy armor is another pretty cool toy. Granted, the Prime Masters are more about the Pretender nostalgia and somehow managing to collect all 13 of them, but even so. The decoy armor is cool in armor and weapon mode and the Prime Master is a Prime Master. You know what you’ll get here. So bottom line: nice. Probably my favorite of the Autobot-Pretender-inspired Prime Masters.

Rating: B+