The vehicle mode we have is back to the 2007 Peterbilt alt-mode, albeit with a couple of differences. The toy's colors are darker than normal, which might reference the iconic forest battle where him getting damaged made his colors darker, though they really weren't this dark, especially with the red! Some paint apps do look nice, but then there's a couple of inconsistencies, mainly with how some flame decals on the front aren't complete and the grill remaining a gunmetal gray like the sunshades and most of the gray plastic while the smokestacks were silver (and said smokestacks are unfortunately too short for the alt-mode). The foggy windows are not bad but I'd love to see them look further different from each other since there's not much that distinguishes the windows.
The side of the figure doesn't look too bad either, though it does have the feet exposed on the fifth wheel of the truck. The Evasion Mode Optimus Prime figure didn't look so bad since both the feet and the legs were blue. The legs and feet are colored differently here, and as a result, they don't really blend together well. The rest of the truck at least looks good, design-wise, save for the shortened smokestacks.
Here is the Studio Series Optimus Prime in between the HFTD Battle Blades Optimus Prime (on the left) and the DOTM Deluxe Optimus Prime (on the right). The former is actually a Walmart exclusive repaint made for Dark of the Moon while the latter is part of the Movie Trilogy subline made shortly after the DOTM line ended, although all retailers got was the Optimus figure. Everything else was canceled. I do feel that the HFTD truck mode has the best truck mode while the DOTM mold has the best colors in this comparison, though the Studio Series version does hold up fairly well. And while that version has no painted rims, neither did the other figures when I first got them.
The Movie Trilogy series Optimus Prime's trailer can be used if you want, though it does point upward somewhat, so the front trailer tires don't really touch the ground. There is a trailer for Optimus Prime to use later in the Studio Series line. Still, the smokestacks being longer would have added a bit more presence in the truck than leave it to look smaller than it should be.
Transforming Optimus Prime feels like a combination of the TFP First Edition figure and the AOE Evasion Mode incarnation of Movie Optimus. Between how the windows and chest transform on the former, and the way the legs transform on the latter, it's something that makes this toy stand out from the ROTF Leader Prime transformation normally associated with the Movie version of Optimus. Funny enough, the way the middle wheels transformed was a feature taken from the knockoff version of Evasion Prime, which was referred to as the M01 Commander.
The robot mode we have here doesn't look too bad. I do appreciate how the proportions are an improvement compared to the other Primes made with the same alt-mode The arms look great, the legs are not too thin or overly bulky (though the red parts on the tires and the lower legs are a bit weird), and the figure's generally cleaner in terms of kibble. The only issues I do have are the chest being a bit too stylized and the arms lacking some paint. Still, it's a marked improvement compared to some of the previous Voyager molds.
The side profile looks pretty good, though you could notice how the tires aren't lined up as they should. The back does have a flat but barely transformed backpack, where the headache rack and the rear doors of the cabin hang low along with the gas tanks and toolboxes. It'd be neat to see an attempt at recreating the backpack of the robot mode though.
The face sculpt is very nicely done! While there are some paint apps that should be added, the details molded on the head are nicely done! Especially the eyes, where there is some baby blue to distinguish themselves from the blue of the head and the gunmetal gray of the mouthplate. It's great to see that there's no light piping that obscures the details of the optics, and the paint isn't a big blob of blue paint that makes them look bigger than they are. Major props to Hasbro for that!
While we give Optimus his battle blades, his articulation consists of a ball-jointed neck, shoulders that can swivel 360°, a bicep swivel that also rotates 360°, elbows that hinge, and wrists that swivel. There is a waist swivel, hips that move forward and back, in and out, thighs swivel that are somewhat limited because of the tires, deep bends at the knees, and at the ankles, they hinge backward and forward and pivot decently.
Talking of those blades, these are my favorite part of Studio Series Optimus Prime. They attach under the hands and look amazing, making the illusion that they're deployed from Optimus than being held by him. They're a nice size, the translucent plastic is gorgeous, and they're my favorite take on the blades in the history of Movie Primes. Sure, the MPM version has a slot behind the wrist, but the wrists bent inward a little too much and they look a bit off with the yellow-orange.
After nearly half a decade since the Studio Series line began, this exact version of the mold was finally repainted in the movie-accurate colors for the Takara Tomy Premium Finish Series line. The doors are painted blue on the chest, the chest windows are better detailed, the truck mode looks much nicer. so why am I not a fan of it? Well, it's using the outdated tooling for the figure instead of the SS-32/44 version of the mold with the better-proportioned robot mode. Sure, the truck mode on this one's nicer, but I'm not a fan of how the robot mode looks because it doesn't look as accurate as the later version of the mold. And if the listings are anything to go by, the line will have a repaint of Studio Series Jetfire coming up, which will annoyingly be incompatible with this figure because it lacks the ports and tabs meant for the combination. At least he has the guns and the swords, but that's kind of sad. I guess since I got both versions of SS-32, I can get this guy, too...
For a size comparison, here is Optimus Prime with his Autobot wave mates, Bumblebee and Ratchet. They scale pretty well, with Ratchet reaching up to a part of Optimus's shoulder, and Bumblebee not being as tall as Ratchet, so he scales better with Optimus. This will be a scale we'll take a look at from time to time as we see more MV1-related Autobots.
Here's a comparison between the other Primes I have. DOTM Prime was a good figure, although a bit too short and there was a massive backpack made up from the front of the truck. HFTD Optimus may be more accurate in some parts, the fact that it was a shrunken down ROTF Leader Optimus with some differences may seem like its ambitious, but it doesn't age that well with the articulation and proportions. Those legs look pretty skinny compared to the bulkiness of the torso, and the arms don't look right. Also, this is where the comment on me customizing my HFTD Optimus shows what I meant since I heavily painted my figure to make him more accurate with decent results. Either way, Studio Series Optimus wins in my book!
Before the new figure was announced, I wanted the HFTD Optimus to be the definitive version of the character in my collection, so aside from repainting him, I took the battle blades of a DOTM Voyager knockoff in my collection and added some silver paint to make them look better. That lead to me removing the nubs of where the hooks would attach (since this release had hooks instead of blades) as well as removing the 5mm pegs of the knockoff blades so they can slot into the gap of the forearms. Yeah, the official method made by Studio Series Prime still wins.
Here is Optimus next to his AOE Evasion Mode self (which is the Evolution 2-pack version I customized to look more like M01 Commander) and TLK Premier Edition Voyager (which I also customized with more movie-accurate paint, which explains why the sword looks better). I kind of don't mind the difference in height between the Studio Series and TLK molds, but next to the Evasion Prime, Studio Series Prime does look weird. Maybe a new version of Evasion Prime with a better deco might work later down the line.
There was a hard to find variant of the figure that came with an unmasked head. Personally, I would love to get a hold of that alternate face, but the fact that it was so hard to find made me give up on the quest.
Overall, Studio Series Optimus Prime is a good recreation of the Peterbilt design that hasn't been seen on a Voyager scale since Dark of the Moon. The truck mode looks solid, the transformation is appropriately complex, and the robot mode has some fantastic proportions. The Energon blades are the cherry on top of the cake since they add so many display options with the poses you can pull off. While a retool we'll take a look at later may be superior for the most part, this is still a nicely done Prime that deserves a spot in your collection.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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