I’ve always wanted to do a group shot of all my Optimus Primes. I didn’t really have anything to do today, other than watch football, so in between halftimes and timeouts I dug out all my Primes from their various hiding spots and assembled them together for a group photo. During the process, even I became amazed at how many Optimus figures I have, and I don’t even have them all. This just goes to show what a popular character the Autobot Leader really is.
From left to right:
Bottom row: Alternator, 2007 Movie (First Strike Voyager class)
Middle row: Cybertron (Deluxe class), Titanium (War Within 1st version), Hybrid (THS-02), G1 (25th Anniversary Reissue), Classic (Voyager class), TFA (Voyager class)
Top row: ROTF (Leader class), Masterpiece (MP-04), 2007 Movie (Leader class)
Below are some of my un-opened figures of Optimus:
Clockwise from top left:
Classic Optimus Prime and Megatron Ultimate Battle 2-Pack (Deluxe class), Robot Masters (RM-01), Alternity (red), Alternity (silver), G1 (2002 TRU Reissue), Encore (01), G1 (25th Anniversary Reissue)
Here is a pic of the Movie Primes in their alt modes:
From left to right:
2007 Movie (First Strike Voyager class), ROTF (Leader class), 2007 Movie (Leader class)
Dune Runner snuck in there, watching from afar, wishing he could hang with the Primes 🙂
And in the words of Optimus Prime, Transform and Roll Out!
I’m normally not a fan of Scout Class figures. I think they’re too small and not worth the value. However the other day I came across this Youtube video by Peaugh. And just so everyone knows, Peaugh is probably THE reviewer for Transformers when it comes to Youtube TF reviews. His status in the TF community is now legendary and I always watch his videos if I’m deciding if I should get a TF figure.
The above video is mostly about Beachcomber. And I’m always excited about G1 characters in any TF toy line. As the video suggests, Beachcomber will appear in ROTF as a repaint of Scout Class Dune Runner. I will be buying Beachcomber as soon as he hits the shelves, but I have no idea how Peaugh gets the figures so early. I don’t think I can wait for Beachcomber, so the next best thing is to buy Dune Runner and check it out for myself, which is exactly what I did.
I’ve had some time to mess this mold now, and I will say that Dune Runner is very cool. He reminds me of Deluxe Landmine from the first movie, but in many ways he is more sturdy. I’ll start with the bot mode since that’s how he’s packaged. I like the overall colors, and he’s nicely proportionate. I think the two guns on this shoulders are very cool, especially for a Scout Class figure. These guns can be adjusted and angled in a number of ways. He’s got a decent level of articulation, he can stand up nicely on his feet, and he holds his poses well. I like his head sculpt too. Most movie figures have this “bug” look that I don’t like, especially in the head design, but I don’t sense that from Dune Runner. If anything, he looks more G1 than ROTF, and in my book that’s a very good thing.
In alt mode, Dune Runner is very nice as well. He is very solid as a dune buggy. The guns in this mode can be angled vertically to make it look like he’s aiming for some Decepticons coming from above. The vehicle mode rolls very nicely on a flat surface. He’s got a fair level of detail in this mode. I’m not sure what is the meaning behind the 0318 painted on the doors. The transformation from bot to buggy is nothing we haven’t seen before and the overall transformation is fairly simple, but keep in mind this is a Scout Class figure, so I’m not exactly looking for originality here.
I do have two minor gripes with this figure. First, from bot to alt mode, it can be hard to get the arms just right to make it fold in. It took me quite a while to figure out the arms are supposed to go exactly. If you don’t get it just right, and side of the buggy won’t line up well and you will see lots of seems on the doors and the roof. The other gripe I have is the price. Sure, at $7.49 he’s very affordable, but considering Deluxe figures only run for $10 and they are twice the size, I expect Scout class figures to be around $5. I guess this is more a complain with Scout Class figures in general and not Dune Runner, but still. If I was very budget conscious, I would not be picking up Scout Class figures. Certainly I would not buy Dune Runner if I already had Landmine (which I do).
But overall, Dune Runner is a very solid mold and I’m glad I picked him up. He is very highly regarded in all the Youtube TF reviews that I have come across, including both SEANxLONG and Optibotimus, in addition to Peaugh. This is the perfect mold to repaint into Beachcomber, because of the dune buggy alt mode, the small size, and the G1-like head sculpt. Dune Runner gets high marks from me and I encourage every TF fan to pick him up. And of course you know I will go out and buy Beachcomber when he appears on day 1.
Here’s to Scout Class figures… Transform and Roll Out!