Omega Supreme


Omega Supreme was the first 'big' Transformers toy, something we've established no less than 65 times in previous X-E articles. I felt I'd be doing a great injustice to the fan community by not immortalizing the big pookyface with a little tribute of his own. After all, I gave a full article to Blaster, and all he's really good for is background music at Autobot pool parties. And he's not even too great for that, because all of the Autobot pool parties end up with someone electrocuting themselves.

Omega, essentially, was a city that turned into a giant robot. The city never seemed to be inhabited by anyone on the cartoon, but that's no big deal since most of the Autobots are fans of the ghost towns frequently found in old Western flicks. They like to think of Omega as a secret vacation spot - a place they can go when the stresses of Ark life become too much to handle.

While he tops the charts in strength, if we're talking about personality, Omega needs a little work. Everything he says is in this annoying monotone, and every thought he processes is based purely on logic. In other words, he's pretty damn boring and it's no wonder none of the Autobots want to live on him. He might be an android paradise, but if you had to hear Omega suggesting a daily oil check over the loudspeakers every ten minutes, you'd probably stay on the Ark too.


Still, it's got to be nice to have this guy on the reserve list if you're on the Autobot team. They didn't ask him for help too often, but when they did, the Decepticons really never stood a chance. How can you defeat a guy when you can't even reach his knees without flying past cumulus clouds? Decepticons hate cumulus clouds! Even cirrus clouds! Advantage: Omega. It's probably why Optimus was never too concerned that his squad lacked the power of flight. What does it really matter? They've got a walking continent on their side. Omega taking a shit probably carries more force than any Super Lazer Cannon Megatron can dream up.

One of the interesting things about Transformers toys is that while some of them were made because of the characters, some characters were made because of the toys. That's the case with Omega, written onto the show just to sell more expensive action figures. Not that I'm complaining, it easily ranks in the top 50 toys of it's entire decade. Sure, it didn't take much longer than half a minute to break him, but those 30 seconds were a sheer Babylon.


In fortress mode, Omega had a huge oval-shaped track which his electronic tankbot form rolled around on. Amazingly, it actually did this task successfully: most 'track' toys of this kind rarely worked, serving mainly to make little kids cry with such voracity that their parents go out and give Hasbro more money by buying them new, easier toys. In the center of all the rolling action was a rocket tower, converted from Omega's mighty 'claw arm.' I'm not sure what kind of playtime scenarios could be forged from a flying arm, though. I guess kids could pretend Omega was too lazy to fetch the morning paper himself, literally dislocating his arm so he wouldn't have to move the rest of his fat ass.

Jeez, the commercial for this toy was just so very wrong. Look at that picture above. Do you really think two kids could honestly play with this toy without getting into a fistfight and throwing tantrums? You're telling me that the kid on the right is satisfied playing with the stupid rocket while the other kid basks in the glory of the almighty electronic tank? If this was me and one of my childhood friends, the commercial spot would be a complete bloodbath, a war of wars that wouldn't stop till somebody was dead and groups of parents were suing Hasbro for promoting violence.


Omega, in robot form, was also a pretty impressive sight. Unfortunately, since he was composed of 80,000 smaller parts, he didn't stay together well. If you tried moving him over a few inches, you'd likely be left with a few robot limbs on the floor. Omega doesn't mind though, since logically, it just means he's covering more ground.

The famous 'claw' was probably his best feature. Three giant orange fingers that could clasp onto anything - villain figures, makeshift energon cubes, even a small child's wrist. 10% of all boys who grew up in the mid-80s first experienced the thrill of holding hands with their Omega Supreme action figure. It's a sad commentary, really, but on the flipside, the first person I technically slept with was an Alf doll. He didn't get past first base, I'm happy to report.

Okay, second base.


All in all, he was a landmark Transformer. I'm not sure why, but he's gotta be. You can't be this big and not have the right to call yourself a landmark. Every kid who had him still cherishes their fond memories. Personally, I just like him because he's an excellent choice of topic in my ongoing quest to write haikus about robots:

Orange robot claw
Reminds me of pumpkin pie
Is it edible?

Viva Omega Supreme.


- Matt
matt@x-entertainment.com