Lately, Hasbro has demonstrated how not even Micheal Bay can slow the incredible progress being made in the Transformers brand. Whether it be demanded deluxe figures like Rattrap, Waspinator, or Arcee, or fantastic upgraded voyagers like Rhinox, Roadbuster, or Whirl, it can be very easy to forget that 2014 was actually a movie year. You know, if you didn’t go down the toy aisle.
2015 is looking to be just as impressive. Following up one of the best damn leader-class figures in years with Jetfire, we are getting two versions of Megatron, Thundercracker via retool, and now the word is slipping out we might be seeing Ultra Magnus as well!
The inclusion of Megatron, and especially Magnus, is big news for folks like me with collections that run across the multiple Transformer “tiers”– I’ve got a mix of Masterpiece, Classics/Generations, and third party on my shelves — and it serves as an alternative to what can be very expensive Masterpiece versions.
And that’s the crux of what I’m getting at here. It’s very likely that next year we’ll have the choice between two official Ultra Magnus figures, and we might even be able to choose which squadron of Seekers best fits, between Masterpiece and Generations. But I don’t think we should stop there…
… yeah, that’s right. I think we need a new leader class Optimus Prime.
Don’t leave.
I’m serious. I’ve got a few reasons for saying this, and while I know how ridiculous it sounds, asking for another Optimus, but there’s some method to it, I swear. When we exclude Micheal Bay (which is always a good idea), the upcoming voyager is the first G1/IDW Prime we’ve had since 2006 that’s not a legion or deluxe.
There is, of course, this guy:
But he’s kinda the reason I feel this way. MP-10 is a fantastic feat of engineering, with some of the best-looking modes in the business, and the Hasbro version was absolutely the equal of its Takara predecessor. But as the stage-setter for the new MP scale, he’s a little odd. Bigger than Grimlock and the Seekers, Prime is a big figure. And that means MP Magnus and Star Saber have to be huge to balance that out. which is bad for Grimlock and the others, I think. But beyond a first-world problem like overscale, there’s the more irritating problem: a lot of folks didn’t catch this Prime before he disappeared. Secondary market prices are just short of brutal, and other options like Faith Leader, Orion, or even the knock-off are not much better. So that means if Generations and Masterpiece have finally convinced you to jump on Transformers, you might not have a leader for your Autobots.
How would I rectify this? Well, a leader-class leader, of course? Jetfire and Megatron both look to have a nice mix of big, articulated robot modes and simple-but-effective vehicle modes, and that’s what I really love in a good Prime. Back in the Classics days, Don Figueroa designed this G1-update as a possible MP-01 design: — and I still love it. Some of the sensibilities did make it into the Classics Optimus that he also designed, but there’s something about the tough, boxy proportions of this original that would make it a perfect bridge between the traditional MP figures and the new IDW ones.
And there’s always the IDW version, which has held pretty consistently in the comics for some time now. Orion nailed the look, if a little short and extremely complicated, and the legion-class version made for a great small-scale figure. If they could avoid the temptation of over-complicating the design, it would make an excellent leader figure and would serve as a perfect complement to his brother-in-arms and greatest rival.
Best of all, the leader class has become a lot of bang for your buck. When even the smallest of the Masterpiece figures run at least $60, having a big figure at $45 is a breath of fresh air. I suspect Jetfire talked a lot of people off some expensive 3rd party cliffs, and Ultra Magnus might even pull some from the MP version and its tripled price. My nephews recently watched the real Transformers movie from 1986, and they have been harping at me to get “old school” Optimus down from the shelf to play. That ain’t gonna happen. But at leader-class retail, hell, maybe I’ll get ’em their own.
So, there you go, another wish-listing masquerading as an editorial. But we all know there are going to always be new Optimus Prime figures, so why not get the most we can for the money… and not break the bank doing it?