Optimus Prime with Lionblade [Beast Alliance/Beast Combiners]

We've reached the end of our look at the Beast Alliance toys from Transformers: Rise of the Beasts with today's look at Beast Combiner Optimus Prime with Lionblade. This is a rather fun toy as it draws strong comparisons to Lio Convoy, but also makes me think about the old Action Master Optimus Prime concept art involving him combining with a lion partner. This toy is a super fun idea.

The base Optimus Prime figure is a pretty decent representation of his appearance in ROTB in a simplified figure. It has a decent rang of articulation, not as much as a Generations figure, but decent enough for a basic toy. He transforms to truck mode fairly easily and mostly how you'd expect him to go... and can I make a comparison here?

When I returned to my look at Beast Alliance, it was just as the Transformers Wild King toys were starting to get shown off (I'm about two weeks ahead in writing posts, mind you) and I just cannot shake the mental comparisons I'm getting between this figure and Energy Master Optimus Prime. I wonder if there's some shared engineering going on. Energy Master Optimus Prime certainly has plenty of new parts and looks bigger... but look at the truck modes. They're very similar. Seeing a these toys are all designed in CAD these days, I don't think it'd be super hard to reuse designs. It could just be me seeing the similarities and coming to some wild (pun intended) conclusions... but I can't unsee it.

Lionblade, Optimus's animal partner is a new Maximal character who so far only exists as this toy. He's a nicely sculpted white mechanical lion with a gold mane. Yes, he's very similar to Lio Convoy in beast mode. I do wonder why they made him a separate character, but I'm not gonna argue with a new character. They're rare these days. Like the other Beast Combiner partner figures, he's large... but limited. Only his legs can move in a basic fashion. Actually, mine was loose right out of the box so I had to use some trickery to have him stand for the picture. Hopefully yours is better.

Transformation to armor is pretty much the same as the others. Remove tail and the top of the beast head, fit body onto the shoulders of the robot. The spring loaded gimmick modes parts into place whilst you plug that head onto whichever hand you chose and the tail becomes a melee weapon. Don't forget to position the bottom jaw from the beast mode as it's now a gun. In Beast Combiner mode, Optimus looks awesome. These toys feature a mixture of classic super robot and Beast Wars looks in a fun package. My only complaint is that the beast parts do limit Optimus's arm articulation some... but any robot toy veteran is used to limited possibility in combined forms. If I ever get those three Japanese exclusive Battlemasters, I'll make another return to Beast Alliance here on the site. For now though, our look at the line is done. It's a fun set of toys tied to a fun movie. The upcoming Transformers Cyberworld and Wild King feel spiritually similar and I'm looking forward to covering them here.

Arcee with Silverfang (Beast Combiners/Beast Alliance)

Arcee has gotten a variety of different figures in Rise of the Beasts. Each one based on the same design, but also coming out completely different. As a Beast Changer, she's a much more simple toy for gimmick compatibility and I kind of like it in this case. Beast Alliance as a whole brings up strong comparisons to past Transformers gimmicks and Arcee has Pretender vibes. Specifically because her combined form reminds me of Jazz's Pretender armor, or maybe even Dee-Jay from GIJOE. Both toys I've always liked from an era in which bother were really neat. During the concept art phase of this toy, Silverfang (her Maximal partner) had purple armor. This lead to a really neat combined look that was clearly  a victim of cost cutting.

Arcee turns into her ROTB motorcycle alt mode as to be expected. Like I said above and is the case with all the Beast Changers toys so far, she's a fairly simple toy. In Arcee's case, it works as she has a fairly generic robot body. I could see customizers turn this toy into just about anyone. Transformation is simple and combination is done the same was as other Beast Changers. Silverfang slips over he shoulders and select bits can become a gun or melee weapon and a bit of armor/shield. I think that simple robot toy makes it work well in this case as Arcee practically becomes a new robot in this mode. A better looking robot, the wolf armor is cool and that new super mode head are great. So far this is one of the better looking super modes in the Beast Combiner assortment IMO.

Silverfang is a pretty large wolf as is the case with these Combiner partners. Simple like the others as well with unfortunately no articulation. Part of me wishes they would have more features for a more impressive toy, however I'd rather not pay the price that'd come with that. As fun as these are, the lower cost is an incentive and as they are aimed more towards children... I think it'd be pretty detrimental. Not to mention, the old school robot fan in me appreciates the simple figures with a combining gimmick. There's quite a few more Beast Alliance figures still to go and two more Beast Combiners I've yet to acquire as of this writing (Optimus Prime and Scourge). I don't expect the sub line to go on after Rise of the Beasts dies down... but I'd love it too. It'd be super cool to utilize this gimmick with more traditional designs. I could see it working well in the Authentics line.

Optimus Primal w/Skullcruncher (Beast Combiners/Beast Alliance)

Getting back to Beast Alliance, Optimus Primal is the weird one of the bunch. The only Beast Combiner so far to be a Maximal main robot and a Decepticon partner. However this works out for one gnarly looking combined form that grew on me really fast. Skullcruncher returns from his Beast Battle Master toy, and his crocodile beast mode paired with Optimus Primal makes me draw mental comparisons to the original Beast Wars 2 pack. Just wish Primal had his bat alt form. Primal does resemble his original Beast Wars design a lot, however. Like the Beast Weaponizer toy, he's made from an earlier design for the movie. They've gave him Transmetal colors this time and that just makes me want an Apelinq from this mold now. 

Unfortunately, Optimus's mold isn't as great as his Beast Weaponizer toy. Beast Combiner main bots are more simple figures and there's just no ignoring it here. He's arguably more simpler than a Beast Changer figure and it's a little disappointing. Really though, you got the figure for the gimmick. Skullcruncher combines with Optimus just like all the other Beast Combiners including the tail becoming a melee weapon and an appendage folding out to become a gun. Obviously they all follow a similar template to allow for interchangeability between figures, so this is all pretty standard fair. Yet the vision of crocodile armor on simian robot mode is just so bizarre... this just might be the most original Beast Wars feeling toy of the new Rise of the Beasts toys. Not just because of the two beasts, but the overall look of the toy. He looks like Beast Wars box art and I freaking dig it.

Bumblebee with Snarlsaber (Beast Combiners/Beast Alliance

As we continue our dive into Beast Alliance, we should take a look at Beast Combiners. While the main robot figure is still compatible with Beast Battle Masters, the main focus is combining with animal partner figures. With my love of partner figures, there's no surprise I was instantly hooked. The armor aspect is fun and I love the super robot looks it gives to the movie style robots. It's a pretty cool concept and a fun little toy line. A set costs around $16 here in the states and to accommodate the low cost, the figures are a bit more simple than a normal toy. It didn't bother me too much, but is impossible to ignore. Especially after the pretty great Beast Weaponizers. It's meant to be a line for kids to have fun with, not for a middle aged robot nerd to put under a microscope. It's Beast Summer, so here we are. 

Bumblebee turns into his Camaro that we're used to seeing in the live action movies. The VW from the Bumblebee movie would have been preferred, but with the maybe it's a prequel/maybe it's not nature of these new movies, I get it. That's not me being a Geewuuner either. I like the Bug more and enjoyed his look better in comparison to the Camaro bot styling. However, they did work as much of that design into this new movie as they could, so happy middle ground. I love me some Bumblebee, but this isn't his best toy showing. While these figures are more basic due to the gimmick and price point, this could have been any generic bot. It just doesn't scream Bee to me. In car mode, sure. The robot could have used more character. As is, the figure is perfectly fine. Simple, but fine. Articulation is limited and transformation is simple that'll turn off some. It's not a deal breaker, just hard to ignore. 

Snarlsaber is a large black cat/panther who isn't Ravage surprisingly. Like with the Beast Weaponizers, the new character partners is very welcome. Ironically, even though he isn't Ravage, Snarlsaber makes me think of Panther. Who was Ravage in the Beast Wars Metals manga. Also, a Happy Meal toy. Putting aside my love for the McDonald's Beast Wars toys for a moment, this draws the obvious criticism. He looks like a Happy Meal toy... and that's fair. With the simple nature of the toy and plastic quality, that's a reasonable complaint. It doesn't bother me, but I'm not ignoring it either. Snarlsaber converts into Bumblebee's armor with a spring transformation and a little finagling over BB's head and shoulders.

In Beast Combiner mode, the toy looks pretty great. There's fun overall cat theme thanks to the big cat kibble and head. It's pretty adorable. Snarlsaber's tail detaches and becomes a bladed melee weapon and the top half of his head becomes a shield/gauntlet attachment. The beast leg kibble on BB's right shoulder can fold up to become a blaster for some extra firepower. This is a cool armored upgrade. I had made the super robot comparisons (and I'll swear by them), but there's some tokusatsu in this too. I'm strongly reminded of Gridman/Servo with his toy. The base robot and the way it works is similar to the original toy. Which was also designed by Takara. It's pretty neat. Snarlsaber as well as all Beast Combiner partners are interchangeable with other Beast Combiner robots. If you don't mind the more simple bots, there's a really cool toy here.