Perfect Effect: Beast Gorira

 

This figure represents a couple of Coffin firsts. It is the first figure from Perfect Effect that we’ve ever looked at; and, it is the first Third Party Beast * era figure to make its way into the Coffin collection. And let me tell you, it’s just a prime example of how good such a piece can be.

Beast Gorira is a pretty gigantic Third Party version of Optimal Optimus, or Transmetal II Optimus Primal, from beloved Transformers series Beast Wars. An updated official figure for the character was released in the Power of the Primes line last year, but even photos of that toy prove that it can’t compete with this. Beast Gorira is exceptionally screen accurate, and is also very accurate to the original Hasbro toy from the late 90’s, as well. A quad changer, the figure can convert between robot, gorilla, car/tank/truck thing, and jet-type vehicle. It comes with one accessory, a nicely molded and painted blaster, and has no other removable parts, which basically means that it lacks the missiles and removable forearm armor that the Hasbro original has. That is absolutely fine, as 3P figures rarely come with missiles and the arm armor was basically just partsforming kibble anyway.

Robot mode is big and strong looking, thick and round in the legs and thick and angular in the arms. The model for the character has always been this bizarre study in opposites, something that always has caused Optimal Optimus to be somewhat visually unpleasant to me, personally. Well, that and the primate feet in robot mode, which is the one thing that breaks up the otherwise really strong robot look. But the robot mode does capture the gorilla alt mode well, resulting in what is a kind of mash up or mixture of the humanoid robot and primate alt modes, which I think, now at least, is a real triumph of character design. The Beast * era of Transformers occasionally gets criticized for showing too much alt mode in robot mode, due mostly to the limitations of mid-90’s manufacturing and design leading to the inability of toy designers to truly disguise their robots. How many Beast Wars figures are there where the robot chest is just the animal head from a slightly different angle? Some of the Transmetal figures got a little further from this condition, but probably none more so than the original Optimal Optimus, while simultaneously broadcasting loudly what the beast mode was. And truthfully, even here, on this expensive Third Party version of the character, the modes that really stand out are the robot and gorilla modes.

Since this is the first offering from this company that we’ve examined here, let’s talk about the build quality and stuff for a minute first. Beast Gorira is a giant toy, and comes in a huge and colorful box. The box art feature computer rendered drawings of the figure in action poses, with the words “Perfect Beast” at the bottom in a very stylized font that makes me think of the font that “Beast Wars” was written in on packages back in the day. Or maybe it looked this way on packages from the Japanese Beast * series. I don’t know, but I know I’ve seen this before. The plastic feels thin yet strong, and the figure has a lot of mass. So, ‘thin’ here should not be taken to mean Hasbro thin, but rather a lighter plastic that does not feel cheap, and does not feel like it is easily stressed. The colors are super vibrant, and the figure all around is simply gorgeous. It is a little bit fiddly in robot and beast modes until you get the hang of him, and certain steps in the transformations can get a bit aggravating, but truthfully, these are things that are basically par for the 3P course by now, and we’ve all learned to deal with them.

The robot mode is well jointed and posable, having knee, ankle, hip, wrist, elbow, and shoulder joints, along with individually articulated fingers and a balljoint-mounted head. More complicated arm movements can be attained by popping the inner shoulder joint out of its holding area, something that is done to facilitate transformation, but that inner shoulder part is an accordion type hinge that does not support the weight of the arm. So, while a little more range of motion becomes possible this way, the figure can’t maintain a pose. But in general, the figure looks excellent in most poses. The wings that hang on the sides of the shoulders are really, really big, nearly reaching the ground the figure stands on. The joints are strong, toothy ratchets, and sections that move, such as the knees and shoulders, click into place in a way that you can feel and hear, so they are not just simple friction joints, but rather have some kind of impediment to keep them from wearing or not holding on when moved into position.

The blaster has a fold out handle with a tab on the grip that plugs in to a slot on the palm to keep it secure. The backpack of the figure has two cannons that swing up and over the shoulders, giving Primal his twin cannons. The robot head sculpt is perfect, but does not have a mouth plate, which the character didn’t have, but always looks like it should be a mouth plate.

Beast mode is fine, but true to Beast Wars original, it’s kind of mainly the robot crouched over with a different head. Conversion involves a lot of twisting and scrunching, arms and legs, hands and feet are basically twisted 180 degrees around and poof! gorilla. The beast mode is very nice though, and is also very expressive. The gorilla head helps a whole lot with this, having an opening mouth and being very nicely painted. The over the shoulder cannons are accessible in beast mode as well, and the huge robot shoulders slide down to lengthen the gorilla arms in a way that can only be described as satisfying. Beast mode has an appropriate squatness to it, and is really, really fun. This from someone who normally dislikes animal alt modes, with a few exceptions based on what the animal is, and hates primates in real life, with no exceptions.

I HATE this part. HATE IT!

Conversion between these two modes is fairly intuitive and simple, with the exception of one step. The backpack, which the over the shoulder cannons are mounted on, covers the large wheel of the vehicle mode, which itself sits halfway inside the back of the beast mode, in a cavity that, in regular robot mode, holds the beast head. The backpack part is a large, hollow box, which just sits over the top of both wheel and part of the gorilla head. But there is not enough room for both wheel and head inside the torso, so the head goes inside, and the wheel kind of folds up and then sits on the back of the head; the entire thing is then covered by the large, empty box of the backpack. Aligning all of these parts is an absolute pain in the ass, and is the one part that never goes as easily or smoothly as it really, really should. I don’t even know how to successfully complete this step, as I have never once completed it without being blinded by frustration at the apparent necessity of getting the head and wheel just right without pushing them in to the torso, which would be the intuitive thing to do, and the logical one, but not the thing that must be done. To further aggravate me, the instructions are not clear about this step in the slightest bit. EVEN WORSE, there are some clips on the sides of the torso here that need to be closed when the figure is in beast mode, and that makes one think that they are always intended to be closed. But no, the backpack block covers the pieces and the opening on the torso, which seems to fly in the face of so many years of toy experiences. Holy shit, I can feel my face getting hot as I type this.

Never has a figure I so thoroughly enjoy and admire caused me so much frustration. It sort of makes me not want to transform it, just so that I don’t have to deal with this absolute buster of a step.

The ground vehicle mode is what appears to be the official vehicle alt mode, with the jet being only a slight modification of it. True to the original character model and toy, but still. Ground mode is pretty strong, and jet mode is pretty weak, but both are compromised by the giant orange hands that are so prominent. The ground mode is very imposing though, and is the vehicular highlight to be sure. The cockpit opens, and even has a little seat molded inside, although this is purely decorative. There’s not much to really say about the jet mode. It’s mostly just there, and a little bit of fiddling truly can make it pop, so it’s not a wasted or throw away mode. It’s basically just the jet mode of Optimal Optimus.

Beast Gorira was one of my TFCon 2018 buys, to go along with its companion piece, Mega Doragon, which arrived in the mail the Friday evening of TFCon. Two other versions of the figure exist, or will exist in the future: a red Primal Prime version, and a black version, called “Nemesis Gorira,” which is just this figure in standard Optimus Primal colors, which looks very nice, and is an interesting choice to go with. I do not think that this is a figure I would purchase again, as in, I am not planning on getting the repaints, even as good as it is. The black version looks really nice, and maybe it would have been a difficult choice to make between this and that one, but I don’t need this mold a second or third time. I would totally buy this figure again, like if I went back in time to TFCon 2018 and was shopping around again, but I’m not in on this for repaints.

This is not a figure for every collection, for a number of reasons. Maybe you’re not into the Beast * era; maybe you don’t want something this large; maybe you don’t like the generally unsettling color palate, or you don’t like the character or whatever. But if you have an inclination towards this figure, it is very pricey, but it is a toy that truly does feel like it is worth what you paid for it. And it is real expensive. That seems to be the direction prices of higher end pieces are going in, but had I not had a few hours of in-hand time with Mega Doragon before buying this, Beast Gorira would not be in my possession now. I’d been looking at this online for a bit before, trying to make up my mind on an eventual purchase. I am very glad that I did go for it, as the figure turned out to be absolutely worth it.

Now to see what other figures Perfect Effect has released. . . .