Transformers Studio Series Optimus Prime (Bumblebee) review

Many praise the Bumblebee movie for making Optimus Prime a lot more classic than he really should be. There's using a similar altmode (while already having classic assets like the head design, chest windows, and having a truck be his altmode) like with Evasion Prime, and then there's making a DeviantArt redesign official. While the design looks good at first glance, there's this annoying aspect of the midriff looking naked compared to the upper torso since god knows why it looks like it's missing pieces. Also, those legs look really skinny compared to the upper torso. Then there's the logic behind how this guy will somehow change his appearance in 2007. It didn't make sense for WFC Optimus to become his TFP form due to their proportion differences, and it doesn't make sense here either. While this can be seen as me disliking how G1 aesthetics are put into another universe due to fanservice, I want to really know how this blockhead is supposed to become the long nose truck robot with flames. Even the concept art did a better blend of the two, and it sucks that it wasn't used. Anyways, perhaps the toy can redeem this blatant nostalgiawash of a redesign?

Here is Optimus Prime in his truck mode. It's a nicely done take on Optimus's G1 altmode, although with some liberties to make it look more realistic. That being said, it's not screen-accurate to how the actual truck mode looks (especially if you look up the images of the truck mode online). For one, the front of the truck mode doesn't match the slightly rounded proportions of the truck mode, and the rear wheels are farther from the gas tanks than they are here. While it has more of a Motormaster vibe than an Optimus Prime vibe, I kind of like this truck mode better. Its smokestacks are weird, but it has better beef than the previous G1 Primes, and I feel this is the best G1 brick of a truck that Hasbro has ever done.

The truck weirdly looks like it's cab is slightly leaning forward, and most G1 Primes don't have the back of the smokestacks covered up, but it's still a cool truck in my eyes. Honestly my favorite Optimus Prime alt modes along with both Peterbilt and Western Star Optimus Prime, Cybertron Optimus Prime, and RID Firetruck Prime.

The gun can be stored on the trailer hitch. There is a method of storing it from underneath, but it'll require you to untab parts of the altmode first before you store it.

Here is Beewun Optimus Prime next to the other Studio Series figures. I think Optimus's truck modes in the first two figures are supposed to be bigger, and while I like the way the 2007 truck looks, the Beewun Prime feels more complete in my eyes. At least it doesn't have shortened smokestacks and more complete gas tanks.

Here is Optimus next to the other forms he'll later take in MV1-AOE. It scales decently with the truck modes he's known to brandish, and for those wondering, my AOE Optimus is a Toys R Us exclusive version that gives him flames (I also added more paint apps).

Here is Beewun Optimus (along with Evasion Prime) next to some of the other G1 styled Optimus Primes I own. Siege Optimus's truck mode has been ridiculed by a few fans for its odd rooflights, but it's not too bad if you look past those and realize it's somewhat Cybertron esque. G1 Optimus Prime's a bit closer to the truck mode he takes form of in the Bumblebee movie. POTP Optimus sucks because of how chubby it looks compared to the other truck modes.

Here is Optimus next to VW Bumblebeetle. They look good next to each other, though I feel the Beetle's supposed to be a lot smaller.

Recreating a scene from the Bumblebee movie (insert that Don't You song yourself), here he is with DOTM All-Stars Prime's trailer next to the first Studio Series Bumblebee. I should mention that the only thing I don't like about the truck mode is that a portion of the grill is not properly aligned, and I'm not sure if other fans ran into that problem. More unfortunate is that the silver paint has a tendency to chip off, which sucks because it looks very nice on the truck and adds a bit more to the design (which I hated how the cartoon truck lacked the silver detail, which most other incarnations contained).

Prime's transformation is surprisingly involved, and I'm happy that it's more than just copying the traditional G1 transformation. Even the legs feel fairly involved, what with the way they headache rack makes up a portion of the inner legs. The torso spins around to face the front to some extent, but at least there are a few more steps that don't entirely mimic how the more involved G1 Primes transform. Given how Optimus never transformed in the movie, this is the closest we'll get of an idea on how he could transform, though I'm sure a Bumblebee 2 of some kind will fix that. If we get one soon, that is. In terms of things that I don't like, the neckpiece popping off when you try to adjust it to the robot mode position can be annoying, and you have to make sure the hinges for the back are properly oriented so they can tab on nicely.

Optimus in his robot mode is noticeably bulkier here than he does in the movie, mainly due to how the back covers up the silhouette of the torso while the forearms have a bit more bulk due to the truck covers on the sides. While it is indeed accurate to the robot mode seen in the movie, I've got some real annoyances with the quality control of this figure. The figure's joints are fairly stiff (especially more than necessary with the head), but the hips are very loose when they move out, which would get really annoying when you're trying to put him in some decent poses. This is a problem that happened out of the box, but to make matters worse, the pieces holding the feet, the shins, and the back of the lower legs together dislodge fairly easily when you try to have him stand up properly. The robot mode does look good, setting aside my G1 fatigue, but it's a shame that the legs have some unfortunate QC problems, which I don't know if other fans mentioned in their reviews. I don't mind that there's no paint for the forearms or the back, because the paint included with this figure does look fairly good.

Head sculpt is fairly accurate, and I do appreciate the bright blue eyes that stand out from the rest of the head's blue. That said, I think the silver paint should be a bit brighter for the mouthplate so it can stand out better. Also, I think the antennae should be longer.

Articulation is no different from almost his recent Voyager figures. Head is on a ball-joint, but it's super stiff to the point where it feels like I'd break it by mistake. Also, because of the way it's shaped, it's harder to make it look up and down than it normally would be. The shoulders move front and back, hinge in and out (the shoulder pieces can be hinged up for extra range), swivel at the biceps, the elbows bend, and the wrists swivel. The waist swivels, legs move front and back, in and out, swivel at the thighs, bend fairly deep at the, and the ankles move back while also pivot sideways. I suggest trying to hold everything together because the legs would likely get undone if you try to hinge the ankle forward or if you move the legs repeatedly.

Optimus Prime comes with his Ion Blaster, his only weapon in the Bumblebee movie. It makes sense for him to come with that since he never had any blades or axes in the movie. It's a decent size and feels more hardcore than his traditional G1 blaster. It can be stored on the back with the side pegs if you like.

Surprisingly, Hasbro didn't go all out and make a ton of variants in all sorts of G1 flavors as they somewhat did with Siege Optimus. Takara did make a slightly more G1 accurate version of the figure to go along with a Japanese release of Walmart's G1 Prime reissue. It has an even more G1 accurate/movie accurate deco with brighter reds, Autobot insignias, and a bit more red than the previous use had. It looks good for those that can't get enough from this mold, but I'd rather not get it since this and the G1 Prime reissue it came with are very expensive, even when put together, more so than they have any right to be.

And here is the Premium Finish Optimus Prime, with weathering and paint apps that further complete the look that he has in the movie, including gunmetal gray that breaks up the solid red on his forearms.

And after various knockoffs from Aliexpress, we get an official version of Studio Series Nemesis Prime announced by Takara as part of their new promotions with Rise of the Beasts in Japan. He's going to be impossible to obtain, but at least we can use the worse version of the tooling ad the bad guy and the heroic one with the ROTB version.

Here is Optimus Prime next to the non-Walmart G1 Prime reissue. Times have changed, look how far we've come, yadda yadda yadda, it's still neat to have more Primes from different time periods.

I'm fine with having both figures because I don't need to get a figure that's twice of what these figures should go for combined, and ironically, I paid $110 for a reissue of G1 Prime on Amazon back in 2014 because I always wanted to have one (and in hindsight, it was pretty steep even in that time period).

Here is Optimus with his Siege counterpart. I felt that Beewun Optimus is kind of redundant due to the fact that we already got a G1 styled Optimus Prime that was pretty good overall, though I'm glad that they're not really sharing too much similar engineering. Still find the fact that we got two G1 styled Primes close to each other fairly annoying, but more annoying is that Beewun Prime got hard to find.

While Beewun Prime's truck mode looks better, I prefer the robot mode of the Siege figure for the most part. While not as cool as the Beewun Prime design (despite me not liking the Bumblebee robot designs much), he's at least easier to pose because his lower legs don't become undone annoyingly.

Here he is next to Power of the Primes Optimus Prime. No real reason beyond adding anther G1-styled Prime in the mix. Classics Prime isn't here because he's designed differently from the rest, and don't ask me about Deluxe Prime, Combiner Wars Prime, or Titans Return Voyager Prime.

Here are the G1-styled Optimus Primes that I own (minus Classics because he's not quite like them as I said). Quite the red and blue blocks people know from the 80's, eh?

Here is Beewun Prime next to his other Studio Series counterparts, this time in robot mode. He's slightly taller than the other guys, though it's mainly due to the bulk of his robot mode. Ironically, the movie has this version of Prime look a lot smaller than he normally should be, so he's supposed to be around the size of the line's Bumblebee!

It's funny seeing how we have two figures that would traditionally be in a Movie line while the Beewun guy shows up out of nowhere, where he's the odd man out.

Here is Beewun Prime next to his other forms. This time, he's shorter than both the TLK Voyager and the AOE Evasion Prime (who I also custom painted in robot mode).

I guess he can do all the explaining regarding how he'll somehow become the design in the 2007 movie, though he's not so sure as to how he's the odd man out.

Here is Beewun Optimus next to Beewun-Twenty Seven himself, Bumblebeetle. The scale looks fine between these two, though their appearances together are ironically brief. It's not like Optimus and Bumblebee weren't close to each other at all times in the older movies, but at least it's moreso in comparison to the Beewun movie, where Prime went "Hey go to the Earth despite already being there, bye!" to show up and say "thanks for standing up to yourself all by yourself!" at the end. Also, Bumblebee wasn't in his Volkswagon design when he's with Prime, as he was in his Cybertron design and a worse version of the Classic Camaro design.

I'm sure both figures may be what Geewun fans would be more into because of their altmodes, but while VW Bee at least retains most of his old design, Optimus almost looks like he stole from an artist without permission.

Here is Optimus next to Classic Camaro Bumblebee, and now I'm starting to wonder why ILM didn't reuse this model instead of having Bumblebee switch tops. Anyway, moving on with the other figures from the Beewun series.

Here is Optimus and Bumblebee next to the Decepticons of the Beewun flick, who are known as Dropkick and Shatter. Considering how I was mixed on Bumblebeetle due to it looking decent yet has weaker quality and engineering while Dropkick being a steaming pile of shit, Optimus is the best figure in the Studio Series line to be based on the Bumblebee movie, though I wouldn't say he's the best figure of all time due to the issues I have with the figure's tolerances. And before you ask, you're in for a treat when I review Shatter.

Curiously, due to how their transformations feel in some instances, it's almost like these Studio Series figures are supposed to be pseudo-Masterpiece toys. In fact, I've got the MPM versions of Optimus Prime and Bumblebee here, and the scales are about what I expect from them! You would expect Optimus to be close to the height of the MPM figure or Bumblebee to be slightly shorter than Jazz, but it's not the case!

This is a mash-up of scale charts made for MV1 and the Bumblebee movie. The heights are what count since they've been used in the movie scale for the past 12 years. Optimus remained 28 feet while Bumblebee was 16 feet (18 feet in TLK), and while I can somewhat see where the size difference between the two Bees lies, the size difference between the Optimus Primes are ridiculously inconsistent with each other.

To add to the ridiculousness of the size discrepancies, I've decided to present how much of a disadvantage Beewun Prime has against his 2007 form if they are meant to be separate characters (God knows if they are or aren't). I know some will say "size matters not", but given the experience of training Optimus and his battles against the Decepticons, it's possible he'll lose against his Peterbilt self. 

So what do I really think of Beewun Optimus Prime? I think he's the best Bumblebee movie Studio Series figure, though it's really by default since Bumblebee was not as good as I thought he'd be, and then there are the Decepticons that just suck. The truck mode looks cool, transformation is not too bad save for some problems I've had with it, robot mode looks good but it's got some QC issues with the legs and a stiff neck. This is me setting aside my dislike on the GeewunBeewun redesign of the Transformers in the movie because had these issues not be present, I'd say this figure is better than the other Voyager Optimus Primes, but while those had aesthetic problems (one didn't look accurate while the other's altmode was somewhat compromised for the robot mode), this figure made me have to tighten the hips with super glue when I first got it.

Then there's the distribution. I've seen this figure in stores twice at a Walmart near me, and then it never popped up at any other store I've been to. Much like with Siege Soundwave, I had to resort to getting him online and for a more reasonable price (thank God). Ironically, this Optimus Prime popped up twice after I got mine, though it's safe to assume Hasbro gave out free Beewun Primes and Siege Soundwaves to older Transformers fans that run fansites or Youtube channels. I'd say that I recommend getting him, though be prepared for either crappy distribution, prices higher than they need to be, and some quality control issues.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐