Aloha folks, welcome to the 400th post of this blog and today's feature is none other than the Autobot leader Studio series 86 Optimus Prime. Without delay, let's get started!
Boxing and Contents
You get this nice artwork of OP springing into action after he runs over Thrust and Shrapnel. You get a backdrop of this scene and you get the weapon/laser/blast effects along with his trailer, roller, drone and the awesome looking rifle of his. Figure also included.
"Our Leader is back"
Initially, I wasn't too impressed with how the internet displayed his window colors. It look like the typical light blue we've been introduced to countless of times. Now having the figure up close, I like the darker metallic blue the figure displays. I wasn't a big fan of his white color thighs as I usually deal with his grey colored adaptations, but I got used to it. You get his battle axe from his More than Meets the Eye episode so that is nice touch and quite frankly, I enjoyed posing with it more than his rifle. Overall, color-wise, he looks very vibrant here.
I loved the re-enactment scene with Prime jumping into the air before he takes out Ramjet, Thundercracker, and Soundwave (Yeah, I'm a dork). I did not have my toy stand at this time and I had to come up with something to do this shoot and voila! Prime was able to hang on the back drop. Super amazing.
Most leader class figures have fingers and OP is no exception here. However, its not individual fingers so no flipping the bird if you attempt to. His thumb doesn't move only his pointer finger, and the rest of his fingers as a set, are flexible. His trailer comes with Roller and the Drone pod which allows you to place a small Headmaster in there if you have one. All my Headmasters are currently boxed up. Nice accessories to have.
Lots of pose-ability here. Nice joints and swivel throughout. This is needed to make the iconic jump shot look amazing. Though If I had to find something to complain about, it is somewhat his smokestacks. It's very loose and kinda spins all the time as you work on his shoulder/bicep area. Also, OP does have a little difficulty clipping on the Matrix for my figure. It took me a long time to have him grasp on to it and not fall off... just for one pic. The Matrix does come already equipped in his chest and there is even the compartment flap created for this toy as you saw in the movie. You can store the weapons in his trailer and a rectangular peg on his back to peg in his Rifle.
"You got the Touch!"
I will admit this transformation was a little on the difficult side. Instructions had to be used. It's a nice overall design on his cab and trailer. It was here I found out you can store his flame effects in the blue compartment near the underneath of his trailer. There is also a trailer jack that helps stack up your trailer alone. One of my flame effects couldn't peg on well but I managed to do a decent "ascend" shot based on the movie. However, when I reverse the properties (2nd pic), It pegged well. It looks like he has mini-legs popping out this mode.
Before I do go on about negatives, I do have the wrong heel version. Maybe if I am that bored in the future, I'll try and fix it but for now, I'm ok with it. Doesn't bug me too much.
Similar to 86 Hot Rod, Optimus Prime's grill (stomach) in robot mode is not the actual grill that is used to transform into this mode. In fact, its actually his back kibble that forms this part. And then you got to do all this twist and turn and yada and yada in order to get to this transformation. And then you got to contend with the moving smokestacks which isn't that much of a problem as well but its noticeable.
I'm ok with this mode overall. I just love the original G1 design on how it was so much more simpler to transform into his cab mode instead of an extra grill and all them twist and turns. Didn't really like the back look of the cab though its obscured for the most part if you plug in the trailer. Then again, alt mode was more of a bonus to me when I get these figures. So not really a complaint just not my favorite feature for this figure.
Finale
Must buy. If you got the $90, just get him. OP has lots of replay value and he handles very great overall. His transformation can get a little complex and I wasn't too thrilled by the transformation and look of the cab in a few areas in alt mode. I was more surprised that the wrong heels didn't bug me in the long run. But he is definitely worth a pick up for robot mode. Finger pointing action! Anyhow, see you next time. 400th post overall. And Jesus loves you once again.
