Here we have Amalgamous Prime in his vehicle mode, which is a unique frog-like spider tank of some kind. While altmodes like these are usually going to look bizarre on any other character, it makes perfect sense for someone like him, who could almost turn into anything if he puts his efforts into it. As such, he manages to be even more unique amongst his siblings than Quintus Prime, who looks more like a somewhat common spaceship in TF history in comparison. Amalgamous Prime is hard to compare with anyone else when you consider there is no one else like him, and we can't even say his altmode sucks or that it looks like nothing because his abilities are the point of his bizarre aesthetics. That being said, getting his Scythe in place can be annoying, especially while trying to get it in place.
We can even split this figure in different, smaller vehicle modes, with one example being a mini tank with an almost nitro powered witch broom on the back, a really long car with hands on each side, and a mini drone comparable to what we had with Megatron's diagnostic drones in Beast Machines.
The fun doesn't stop there as those smaller vehicles themselves can turn into a slightly larger tank, while the rest of the toy can be used as some sort of weird aquatic vehicle for search and rescue purposes. Not necessarily a traditional submarine but moreso a vehicle you'd find fitting for the Gungans in Star Wars to use if the Bongo is anything to go by. There are so many more alt modes you can come up with, and this is the tip of the iceberg.
Transformation is fairly involved for an unconventional design such as his, but more importantly, it still fits overall. The double shoulder swivel system used for the four arms is a clever way of doing a bit of the transformation, while the legs manage to do even more than expected with the way they fold, rotate, and tab in place like a weird yoga exercise. The resulting robot mode is a far less Bayverse-inspired take on the character, which I knew Hasbro was too pussy in trying to recreate given how much it would stand out from the rest of the line. Still, what we have works fine enough for the character. And it was at least inspired by his TF One design, which as much as I hated that movie, the designs for the Primes were one of the few things I did like, Amalgamous included. This hunchback, four armed robot may be easy to compare with General Grievous, yet the similarities end with how much he captures a modular robot look that contrasts the more "traditional" aesthetics of the other Primes, at least the figures representing them in the line. I kind of get some old robot toy vibes from the color scheme to a blend of Lego Technic-esque builds and the look of R.O.B the Robot, not to mention a head that greatly resembles Shockwave's. Not sure if that was intended, but it is shaped somewhat differently from the other cyclops.
His articulation has a slightly higher count than what we normally get with other Transformers. The head is on a 5mm peg for looking left and right as well as a hinge for looking up and down but there is also a swivel on a mushroom peg for tilting his noggin. Very close to what can be done with a double ball joint yet more robotic. Shoulders rotate yet are fairly stiff, while the four arms can hinge in and out. The forearms can rotate on their 5mm ports as well as hinge at the elbows; all hands swivel and can hinge in and out to better hold the Scythe. The waist swivels, the hips are universal, rotation is found above the knees via 5mm ports, and their knees are double jointed. Finally, the ankles to pivot. The Scythe has a sweet bit of clear plastic on the blade, with the blaster filling in the back; on the bottom is one of two T-Cogs, with this one representing how they appeared in Transformers Prime.
His other transformation cog is stored within the head, and in fact, Amalgamous's eye is made of the 5mm port meant to keep it in place. Ironically, his own T-Cog wasn't taken from his corpse from Alpha Trion in TF One, not like it matters. Speaking of TF One, you can take the head off and hide parts of the neck and back piece to represent his TFOne body. I also swapped a few limbs to add some extra fluidity to his design.
Here we have Amalgamous next to Quintus Prime. Don't worry, I'll get the other 8 Primes I covered in 2025 for a group photo once the line is finished. After all, space has been taken up immensely in my review set up, especially to the point Star Convoy can't fit. With how simple Quintus turned out (moreso than I expected), I love how wild and creative Amalgamous turned out by comparison; yeah, his design is likely going to get Reddit Clowns on YouTube making titles like "Erm, this is the most weirdest Transformer design ever" with words like "WTF" and "SO HECCIN' WEIRD" in the thumbnail, but if anyone can get away with all that muck, only he can. The same can also be said with having a $44 price tag, and it's all thinks to the infinite possibilities fans can come up with for his alternate modes and even his robot mode versus the typical 2-mode offerings we get. From the first 2026 waves of Studio Series and Age of the Primes, Brawl was totally not worth it even compared to the Constructicon legs, Wreck-Gar was only a repaint and barely that different from Trashmaster, and Thundercracker had QC issues on some copies but was otherwise mostly acceptable, and that isn't saying much. Before I rip TF One Alpha Trion a new screw hole, I'll just conclude it here by saying Amalgamous is totally worth the full price. Hell, but 2 or more and mix and match with either copies of himself or any Weaponizer, Modulator, Fossilizer, Junkions, or Armorizer to create clusterfucks far bigger than the ship Wheelie and Brains trashed in Dark of the Moon. Transformers prices may be high, but hopefully your imagination can go even higher.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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