Transformers Studio Series Jetwing Optimus Prime review

One of the things I loved so much from Dark of the Moon was another jetpack for Prime to use, a trend that since Cybertron if you ignore Ginrai's Godbomber, Sideswipe's jetpack, Optimus Primal in general, and the combinations revolving Jetfire (Armada and ROTF) and Wing Saber (Energon and Cybertron). He then got a jetpack in Animated, and after DOTM, he returned with a flight mode for his Beast Hunters design as well as in RID15 when linked to Minicon Aerobolt and in Cyberverse when he had Spark armor provided by Cheetor and the Allspark in Season 2. The Jetwing Armor and the Armored Weapons Platform, despite appearing in one movie, felt like peak Movie Trilogy Optimus (until he got his AOE upgrade). That said, the toyline was quite weird in 2011 when it came to how it was handled. The Cyberverse Commander figure had a decent figure with the jetpack, but the trailer became a weird base. The Takara Voyager Prime had a trailer, but there was no jetpack and the trailer instead opened up like the G1 version without a drone head on a neck. The centerpiece of the line, Ultimate Prime, had a trailer that became armor for Prime, but not only was it expensive, but it was also stupidly inaccurate; Takara's Jetwing Prime was a pretty cool reuse of the ROTF Leader figure, but its armor wasn't quite screen-accurate when you compare the wings and guns. Finally, the Chronicle/Movie Trilogy subline had a trailer that opened more like a treasure chest than anything else. Also, none of the trailers became the ring like in the movie. With the Studio Series line going for screen accuracy, will it manage to be the best offering of the Jetwing Prime release, or is it a little too soon to release this after the regular Voyager release?

Since we already took a look at the original version of Optimus a few months back, this review will mainly go over the cosmetic differences for now. As you can see, the nose of the truck mode has a gold fade as it should have gotten in the first release, and the windows are painted gray. That's pretty much it. You don't get any extra silver for the bottom part of the smokestacks, there is no extra silver paint for the gas tanks, the figure doesn't add the missing lights on the roof, there are no retooled smokestacks to make them look better in truck mode, there's no red for the Autobot insignia, which is something the 2018 version got right, and as nitpicky as it sounds, I wish the blue was darker. Considering how this figure is going for the Leader Class price point, it sucks that there's very little added to make it stand out.

The gun gets a downgrade in terms of the paint apps. At the very least, it could have earned a coat of silver paint, because it instead looks more like it was just taken out of the factory sprue tree.

Now we can go over the trailer he comes with. Is it neat that we have a trailer? Yes. Is it the best looking trailer Hasbro made? Not really. The problem is just how dull it looks. I get that Hasbro isn't going to dunk this into a vat of silver paint and add any extra details, but it's still pretty underwhelming how it's a gray rectangle without any shine that would make it pop. I can forgive the lack of a trailer hitch or how parts of the ring are visible from underneath, and I can also forgive how there are holes in the sides along with the front tires of the trailer not rotating (even though it kind of should since most of the budget is saved from reusing a figure with minimal changes), but is this really the best tat Hasbro can do? Even the blue looks bad since the shade it's in doesn't go too well with the rest of the dark gray.

All in all, it's kind of a mixed bag. I sort of feel like Thew Adams when he first reviewed Universe Ironhide. I can honestly hope that Earthrise Optimus Prime's trailer is better, though the $55 price tag is not going to make it a smooth ride.

From the bottom, you can tell how most of the accessories are stored for the most part. At least it helps fill in an otherwise empty box.

Here we have Optimus with the trailer. It's close to being perfect; all it needs is a darker blue, silver for the trailer, longer smokestacks, and a bit more silver for parts of the alt mode. Maybe it's something I can fix, since Hasbro doesn't seem too confident in using the money saved from reusing a figure to make their toy look sharper.

In sum, this looks 80% complete.

Here it is with the Movie Trilogy All-Stars Optimus Prime. I like the Studio Series figure more, and the functionality of the trailer, but if you took the colors of the Movie Trilogy version and take them to the new figure, you'd get a sweet entry in the Studio Series line.

Here we have Optimus scaled next to Megatron. I am quite content with the scale, especially when the old Voyager Megatron looked smaller than it should be.

The transformation is the same as with the previous version, so I won't go any further on it. I still would love to see a few more differences in the transformation to make it feel slightly more worth the Leader Class price point. As for the robot mode comparison, I do like how the abs are different, though it is a removable piece instead of being fully integrated with the figure. The windows are gray like in vehicle mode, and that's it. The lack of extra paint apps on the robot mode makes the figure feel more like a running change than a more worthwhile version of the toy. It's almost like making Seeker repaints by barely changing Starscream.

I guess it's neat that the faux windows are not painted over, as they're blue plastic with silver paint for the windows and red for the outline to make them accurate. It makes you wonder why some parts of the figure couldn't be painted to look accurate since the vehicle mode windows should have red paint for the outline than be blue. Also would love to see some silver for parts of the shoulder and red flames for the shoulder pads.

This image certainly sums up how the paint apps work, if I'm being honest.

Optimus does look cool with both guns in his hand. I have him posed as he was in Revenge of the Fallen when he shoots Megatron in slow-mo, and it's not too shabby if I say so myself.

You can switch the abs if you want, which is neat if you want to have the MV1 abs with the gold fade on the arms.

I forgot to show this in my review of Jetfire, so let's bring him back! His torso has storage for an extra pair of abs for Optimus to wear.

The abs could look good with this figure, but the shade of red is too bright compared to the abs. I guess a metallic shade of red would have helped it look more worth the money.

Now we have the Armored Weapons Platform. Transforming that was not as hard as I originally thought, though you do have to keep the circular frame stable with the outer trailer panels. As far as I can tell, there is no real way to display it properly with the jetpack, but this is one way of doing it, I guess. Alternatively, you can display the weapons on parts of the trailer. It's pretty neat for a first official attempt at making the ring design in the movie, but it's not 100% correct. It should look more circular than it currently is.

The new weapons Optimus comes with are not the best. The sword looks fine despite it having orange paint than be made of translucent orange plastic like with the 2018 version's blades. The shield's okay, but you really can't get the proper look that the movie gives him, The ax is the worst offender, as it doesn't come with any orange to speak of. It looks more like it was turned to stone than be a weapon powered by Energon. At least the Batman-esque shape to the ax is there.

Now it's time for the armor...and, for the most part, it looks fine. The design is certainly more accurate than it previously was on other figures, and the wingspan is impressive, and even the guns look good. The only problem is just how hollow the accessories are. Again, since we're saving money by reusing a new figure rather than make a new one, why not use the extra money for the extra paint or have its parts more filled than they are? Also, while the wings can hinge somewhat, they really can't go down like on the box art, even though it helps with not taking too much space up.

It's not really the best look from the back. Understandably, the wings look nicer along with the thrusters, though the part connecting them is pretty primitive. Also, the guns look hollow from this view.

This is a pretty decent pic I can come up with for the pose of this figure, though it is proof that I need to get a flight stand.

Here we have Jetwing Prime next to Jetpower Prime. This is another thing about Jetwing Prime that I'm kind of 50/50 on; we already got a version of Prime that can be displayed with flying extremities, even if it's from another figure. While I'm not against the release of Jetwing Prime, I feel it was a little too soon for it to come out. Maybe it'd be neat to release it in 2020 to go along with Leader Shockwave and Voyager Sentinel Prime. Plus, it'd let Hasbro better plan out how they could work on how the budget should be spread out properly. At least you can have both versions of Prime displayed as such.

Overall, Jetwing Prime is somewhat of a mixed bag. While the extra accessories are neat, it feels a little incomplete, what with the lack of silver for the trailer and the filled-in parts for the jetpack and guns. It also would look better if Optimus had a few extra paint apps and differences to justify the price tag. I'd even accept alternate hands for him to be neat for a Voyager Class figure with accessories in a Leader Class box. I can only get him at around $35 dollars, which is the price I paid for mine.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐