Power of the Primes (franchise)

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Power of the Primes is a 2017-2018 multimedia branding used by Hasbro and TakaraTomy encompassing Transformers toys, comics, and other merchandise. Capping off the Prime Wars Trilogy, Power of the Primes follows the Combiner Wars and Titans Return sublines. Unlike its predecessors Power of the Primes does not spotlight any one particular gimmick, instead featuring a plethora of reverse-compatible play features based off the previous two installments of the trilogy while highlighting Primes featured across the Transformers mythos. This line is notable for representing the first fruits of Hasbro and TakaraTomy's labor to streamline their distribution of collector oriented product via one uniform global franchise, a practice that more or less persists to this day.

Toys

Main article: Power of the Primes (toyline)

Following the conclusion of the Generations toyline's Titans Return subline imprint, the Generations line was refreshed with Power of the Primes branding, and featured a line-wide gimmick: "Prime Masters", small Titan Master-type figures that represent the sparks of the Primes. Unlike Titan Masters, Prime Masters are available only in their own pricepoint, where they are packaged with Pretender-style Decoy Armor, but can interact in some way with all larger assortments. Legends Class figures retain the ability to seat a small figure in alt-mode, whilst the Deluxe and Voyager Class pricepoints see the return of Combiner Wars-style Combiners. The combination joints remain unchanged, whilst the hand/foot system is tweaked: all Deluxes now include a hand, and all Voyagers a pair of feet. These accessories also facilitate the Prime Master integration for those size classes: Deluxes can use their hand as chest armor, into which a Prime Master spark mode can slot, and Voyagers can use their feet as forearm bucklers, which similarly fit a Prime Master. All Voyager Class figures also include an Enigma of Combination, shaped like a Prime Master spark mode, that can fit onto their combined mode chest. Finally, Leader Class figures feature an "Evolution" gimmick, wherein each toy includes a Deluxe-sized character who can "evolve" into a Prime by combining with additional armor. Each Leader includes a uniquely-colored Matrix of Leadership, the central crystal of which can be removed and replaced with a Prime Master.

Cartoon

Main article: Transformers: Power of the Primes (cartoon)

Picking up where the two previous series left off, the Power of the Primes cartoon premiered on May 1, 2018 and ran for ten episodes until July 3, 2018, bringing the trilogy to a close.

Notes

• A survey commenced on January 23, 2017, to choose the next Transformer to be made a Prime in the story.^[1] Fans initially had to choose the leader of three personality factions, with the highlighted winners going to the second round:^[2]
  • Honor: Arcee, Ultra Magnus, Hound
  • Order: Shockwave, Megatron, Star Saber
  • Chaos: Thunderwing, Optimus Primal, Unknown Evil (wild card)

• Optimus Primal won the final round,^[3] resulting in the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con exclusive Throne of the Primes Optimus Primal toy. A redeco of his Power of the Primes Leader-class Evolution figure, it also pays homage to his victory in the poll by featuring the faces of the other participants on its included cardboard throne.^[4]

• Power of the Primes did not have a tie-in "event storyline" comic from IDW Publishing, as tentative plans for such an event were scrapped. However, by coincidence, John Barber wrote an overarching storyline in The Transformers vol. 2 and Optimus Prime featuring Onyx Prime, and also guest starring Alpha Trion, Liege Maximo, and Optimus Primal.^[5] So there you go.

Foreign names

• Mandarin: Biànxíngjīngāng Tiānyuánzhīlì (China, 变形金刚天元之力, "Transformers: Primes' Power")
• Portuguese: Poder dos Primes (Brazil, "Power of Primes")
• Spanish: Poder de los Primes (Latin America, "Power of the Primes")

References

1. ↑ Hasbro announcement (copied via Tumblr)
2. ↑ [1]
3. ↑ [2]
4. ↑ Toy News: SDCC 2018 Optimus Primal CONFIRMED, bwtf.com, 2 July 2018
5. ↑ "I don't really know anything about POTP. At one time the TF comics were going to do a tie-in with the then-not-yet-named third Prime Wars thing, which worked out because RID/TF/OP had been building to the Onyx Prime story since issue, what, RID 28? Something like that."—John Barber, Twitter, 2018/03/01