I am utterly in love with this set.  I know that comes off as biased, but frankly, they did such an amazing job with this thing, I can’t help but fawn over it like a little school girl!  Coupled with the fact that I actually really like the 2012 BotCon SG Prime, this was just such a no brainer.   You can see just how well the matched up the purples, greys and chrome (okay so the tanker chrome is a little brighter than the stacks).  Topping it off with the “‘Till All Are Gone” on the side…what a great touch!

The trailer itself hitches onto the cab perfectly and allows for turning (if you’re inclined to drive it around your desk…) and even though its close, the tires clear the bottom of the trailer just fine so that nothing is sliding on the ground.    The set comes boxed in a simple, yet well designed package, featuring the parts included in on the cover:

And the cab greyed out – and a picture of Prime himself on the back – you’ll notice the line-art of Prime in the background on both sides:

Now, I’m not going to sugar coat this – for those of you who don’t like parts-formers, this thing will be your worst nightmare.  Unpacking the box, everything comes in a simple clam-shell protective case, easy to take out, but we see our first glimpse into what is all included:

But there’s actually more, when we take everything out:

Luckily its’ all quite easy to attach and assemble.   There are a few parts missing here because they’re a “one and done” situation.  We’ll get to that.  You also get a nice colored set of instructions as well as little addendum page for the “new parts” like the chest plate and head:

Herein lies one of the most important things I can stress about this set – you DO have to unscrew the head and attach the new head with a screw, however this is specifically designed not to damage the figure and is very easy to do.  There is a new, adjustment chest plate as well that you clip in to keep the cab windshield section held up higher than it normally sits, however, again, this just clips in and can be safely removed as well:

For that matter, the new shoulder pieces also simply clip onto the existing shoulders clearing the plastic in a way that you don’t have to worry about scratching the figure in any way. Basically, this set is set up so that anyone worried about damaging their exclusive toy will have nothing to worry about.

So, finally, let’s take a look at the big guy himself:

Oh my…(Like George Tekei) Again, this is just a superbly crafted set.  The colors are matched so well and this really adds so much size & bulk to Prime that he’s an entirely new figure.  The head sculpt, above all the other parts, is simply amazing:

The red eyes, cracked face plate, more squared head, it’s simply on an entirely new level from the original.  There have been some concerns that if the head is looking ‘up’, the ball joint in the neck is extremely obvious.  I don’t have too much trouble with this however, as I rarely have him looking “up”.  Also, as you can see from the picture, you can tuck the head panel into the chest a little which helps alleviate the problem a bit.

As far as articulation goes, his legs are just as poseable as ever, and the new feet have great ankle joint that are nice and stable. The arms, however, are a little bit limited just due to the figures design, but he still has all the rotation and flexibility in his elbows and wrists.  The shoulders not being on ball joints are the only thing that really hinders his arm movement.

In terms of weapons, well, he’s got a lot to choose from:

While the old G-Metal sword needs to stick around so that the trailer can attach, he gets a HUGE G-metal sword as well as dual blasters, chain hook spears (ala Scorpion in Mortal Kombat) and of course, the Dr. Wu Broken Blade (which I reviewed here) goes great with him as well.

The Blasters look very nice:

And the Hook Spears are a really cool touch too:

But really, I like him best with his swords – either both G-Metal blades:

Or just both big Swords, as the old G-Metal blade can still store on his back:

Of course, if all these aren’t enough to murder those goodie goodie Decepticons, the main weapons are contained in the tanker trailer itself:

The target finder screen also lowers:

The figure is amazingly sturdy in this mode as well, due to the genius of the back support system:

I was absolutely on the fence about this set and I can’t being to describe how happy I am that I went ahead with it (and the Magnus set too, but that’s on pre-order for now).  There’s just so much well done aspects to enjoy here.  Look at how well the missiles are painted in the launchers!

If you have the 2012 SG Prime, I simply cannot recommend this more.  The price is steep, but you’re getting such great quality here that it’s hard to argue that it’s not worth the price.  Honestly the only down side I see to the whole thing is that the smaller, spear head pieces in the shoulder have no where to store in alt-mode.  I have a feeling someone will figure out what to do with them, but for now, its just a minor, piddily complaint.

As I mentioned, I do have the Magnus set on Pre-order, for some reason they sold out like hot-cakes.  Once that comes in, I’ll post again, but I think at the moment, I’ll be trying it on my Combat Hero Prime.

Finally, as I teach myself more and more about photoshop, I’ll be adding “wallpaper” art to the site for download.  I’m going to start with Prime here, so STAY TUNED!