First Edition Optimus Prime is hitting the shelves at Toys R Us stores right now along with his assortment-mate Bulkhead, and, like Bulkhead, this figure appears to have been worth the wait. Mostly. I haven’t had a Transformers Prime in my display because I’ve been waiting for this guy to hit, so it’s nice to finally have an Optimus to round out the collection. Bulkhead was definitely the figure I was most excited for, but this guy is no slouch either, and, apart from some curious color choices, he would appear to be the best-fitting Prime for the collection.
His packaging is another handsome clamshell just like Bulkhead’s, and, just like Bulkhead’s, there is zero information about the character apart from his name and a few images of him in action. This is still something I’m having a hard time reconciling because I’m so used to seeing a short bio and the character’s tech specs on the packaging. This feels much more generic in comparison. It’s still pretty sharp in presentation, though, so it’s not that big a deal. And it showcases the figure beautifully.
As far as the sculpt goes, it’s a nearly perfect realization of the character in plastic form. It looks great, but what I’m having a hard time with is the brown. For whatever reason, his abdomen, hands, elbows, etc. are cast in a brown plastic that resembles… chocolate. Is that just me? It really does look like chocolate candy. The character doesn’t sport any brown on the show, so I’m not sure why the designers went with this. Is brown plastic… cheaper? It should be a steel-looking color instead. This isn’t a deal breaker, but it is definitely weird. Makes me want to bust out my paints, though, that’s for sure.
As far as weapons and accessories go, he comes with a blaster, pictured above, and a sword, pictured below. The blaster was a pleasant surprise because I expected something cast in just flat black plastic like just about every other Prime’s guns have been, but this one looks to be cast in what almost looks like a nice gunmetal color. It looks much more convincing than the usual Hasbro pack-in accessory.
The sword, however, definitely looks less convincing. It looks like it’s made of exactly what it is: flat, grey plastic. It’s still a cool accessory to have, but it’s really not much to look at. It’s too bad it couldn’t have been the Star Saber that was featured in the second season of the show. I guess if I squint, tilt my head, and look at it from just the right angle, then maybe I can trick myself into thinking it’s the Star Saber. It looks more like a sword from the Bay movies, though.
He has a very athletic build and his articulation is right in line with that. He’s easy to pose and easy to balance, so he looks natural in just about any position he’s placed. This makes him a fun figure to mess around with because he doesn’t feel limited at all in this capacity.
He’s about the same size as the other Prime voyagers, which seems to be about right for the character. He’s larger than most all the other Autobots, including Bulkhead, and he’s about the same height as Ultra Magnus. If show accuracy is what you’re after in terms of scale, then this Prime does work well to that end.
His alt mode suffers a bit from the brown “chocolate” problem as well, and it somehow looks even more out of place here. Aside from that, it’s a pretty solid alt mode in terms of mold and sculpt, but it definitely suffers from a lack of paint apps. It looks like a whole lot of unpainted plastic, which is exactly what it is. And like Ultra Magnus’s alt mode, it looks too much like a “toy.” It lacks any semblance of realism, especially the flat, grey grill. Mine is staying in ‘bot mode, so, once again, not a deal breaker (I feel like I’m writing that a lot here).
If you’re going to pick up a First Edition Optimus Prime, definitely pick him up for the ‘bot mode and then maybe add some paint to cover up all that brown. It’s a good figure, but I wasn’t as blown away by him as I expected to be, and I certainly don’t like him as much as I do Bulkhead. He is probably the best Prime currently available from the series, so he’s worth it in that regard alone. If you can find him on sale, then that would make his flaws that much easier to swallow.
Additional Links
-Buy him from Big Bad Toy Store