Celebrating the last three years of Generations releases, the Prime Wars Trilogy of figures were some excellent and on the whole well-received releases that celebrated Combiner Wars, Titans Return, and Power of the Primes. The Power of the Primes part of these exclusive releases was jewel in the crown, Punch / Counterpunch! A completely new mold, Punch / Counterpunch is a faithful recreation of the original toy’s doublespy gimmick – so he can transform into both his Autobot and Decepticon identities, and each one looks distinct from the other thanks to some clever transformation steps on the shoulders. The transformation does mean Punch’s shoulders can look a little awkward from some positions, plus the shoulder pegs for Punch mode are flawed in their design (being too big for their sockets). The legs also feel a bit flat, being just solid blocks made from the back of the car especially in Punch mode, but it is overall a successful release that easily trumps the previous homage to the character.
The bonus Prima Prime is a nice way to get an extra Prime Master out there – but looking at this one (and Solus Prime from Repgnus) I’m left thinking – was this a missed opportunity to celebrate IDW’s Hasbroverse and throw in a ROM Spaceknight homage?
Overall – one of the most interesting toys of the year who might justifiably appear on a few top five lists, but let down by some design choices that may make him miss out on the top spot on some lists.