Here is Optimus in his truck mode. The design is certainly faithful to the way it looked in the TV show, though the proportions do look different from what they were in said show. I'll compare it to the First Edition (which I didn't do with Bulkhead since they weren't too significantly different), but focusing on this vehicle mode first, I love the molded details, what with the rivets added throughout the truck mode, and the figure rolls nicely with the pinned wheels compared to the snap-on ones most Primes have nowadays. I think the windshield doesn't look as bad in vehicle mode as I anticipated, though I have to admit, the size of the windows and the blue makes it look a little too cutesy. It's something I want to fix by adding some black tint to make it look less like its watery eyes and more like a cool truck. The proportions are different from the First Edition and more than any other Transformers Prime Autobot that has both a First Edition figure and a Robots in Disguise figure. The First Edition figure has smaller windows, a more sloped nose, and the rear wheels don't have any arches over them like on the PRID figure. I feel that there are some things that the PRID figure does better, like the stiffer smokestacks, the silver paint underneath the smokestacks, the rear-view mirrors, and the darker plastic for the grill not looking as cheap as the grill's almost white gray for the First Edition. I think the perfect TFP truck mode is in-between these two. Aside from the already added paint for the rims and chest, I'd honestly add some blue to the truck because the First Edition has some blue to make the legs feel more like they're better integrated with the rest of the truck in terms of coloring.
Here he is next to the other Autobots that comprise of the main portion of Team Prime. I've already reviewed Bulkhead, Arcee, and Ratchet, but on the subject of Optimus Prime, he looks great with the rest of his teammates, though Arcee should be her Cyberverse Legion figure, and I plan to buy that for the vehicle mode display. Don't worry about Bumblebee, I'll cover him some other time.
Transformation is also different from the First Edition figure, which is expected given how the engineering is simpler than that of the previous Voyager. The legs are mostly similar, though the wind vane becomes the shoulders instead of the heels. The arms are still made from the nosecone, but the way they transform is different. The First Edition figure uses a method that is later seen with the Studio Series Primes, where the nose mainly comprises of truck panels that attach to the forearms to complete the look. The backpack is simplified on the PRID copy, and the robot chest isn't a fake one since the windows are the same in both modes, something that the First Edition doesn't do since its truck windows are a lot smaller than the robot pecs.
The robot mode looks the part for Optimus Prime if you set aside the differences with the First Edition. While not perfect, the design looks accurate, proportions mostly match the show model, and nothing is really left out. This figure does have its own deviations, though. The windows do have fake sun shades, but they're a little too small compared to the ones stuck on the shoulders. The arms were originally the same blue as the windows, but they were painted red since they just don't look right. I've seen some fans customize the forearms to be a proper opaque red, but the clear red will do just fine. Compared to the First Edition, it doesn't look too bad, though the thing that pulls it back somewhat is how it doesn't quite have the wide torso of the First Edition figure (which is something I like about the character design) and the backpack ruining the silhouette. If the figure had hinges to make the backpack less noticeable, I'd like it a lot more. While we're at it, let's add some pins to the sun visors to make them less noticeable, eh? At least compared to the First Edition, the gray plastics match up better compared to the light gray of the thighs and parts of the chest next to the brownish-gray on the stomach, biceps, hands, and hinges for the shins and feet. The previous owner added some silver to the portions of the torso that house the yellow lights but didn't add it to the rest of the toy. Maybe I can do that some other time.
You can definitely see just how the backpack juts out a little more than I'd like. Like I said, if there were hinges to compress it up more, it'd be even better than it currently is. Talking about the legs, I kind of wish it'd be easier to pose the figure in a normal stance since the hinges used for the transformation combined with the ball joints make standing the figure upright a little tricky while also making sure the feet look normal.
Head sculpt looks great, and it's neat to see Optimus's design in the TFP universe have the more pronounced forehead horn. Light-piping is brighter than the First Edition figure, though I feel the eyebrows should be black while the eyes should be painted blue since the TFP optics aren't simply blue or red due to their added details. TFP figures having light-piped eyes isn't as bad of a thing as Movie figures having light-piped eyes (since those figures needed sharper details), but at least the eyes look nice in this shot.
Articulation is about the same as the First Edition. Head is on a ball-joint and actually moves better than the First Edition (unless the head is properly attached to the ball-joint). Shoulders aren't on swivels and hinges, but they move front and back as well as in and out on ball joints that are angled; it's something that makes something like a forward point look a little funny. Biceps swivel, elbows bend, and the hands hinge up instead of swivel at the wrists. There is no waist swivel, but the hips move front and back as well as in and out on ball-joints than on swivels and hinges. Thighs swivel instead of the knees, the knees bend, and the ankles move on ball-joints while also having hinges from the transformation. Those are neat, but they kind of make standing the figure upright a little tricky.
The one accessory I do have that originally came from this figure is the sword. It's nothing like the arm blades he had in the show, but it is based on a shrunken down, unpainted Star Saber. I doubt this would be the Star Saber he'd use, but hey, I can get a proper one from a third party company or find Hunter Optimus Prime and give the smaller sword to another Prime.
The gun that came with Arcee isn't 100% accurate, but Arcee knows her Autobot leader deserves a big gun...
...so on his hand, it goes! It works best as a hand-held gun than one that would come out of his hand, but it looks great on him until I get the third party weapons for this guy.
This figure got plenty of reuses. First up is the Arms Micron version of Optimus Prime, which has darker colors for the red, blue, and gray, including the clear plastic. These may entice fans that are 100% devoted to screen accuracy, but what you're about to read next will turn you away: The figure comes with no paint apps but instead has stickers for the shins, headlights, the truck grille's Autobot insignia, and the feet (since those were gray plastic painted black on the Hasbro version but are not left as a bare-gray without the black stickers). Some may find the stickers appealing if they grew up with G1 or love Reprolabels, but the fact that they come with a mainline figure rather than something from Generations is kind of odd, even though Japan enticed this line for model kit fans. Another thing that'll turn people away is the inclusion of Micron ports. This is sort of like the gimmick Dark of the Moon had with combining weapons and using them in vehicle mode, but here's the thing: those figures were made with the gimmick in mind, while the inclusion of the ports in the Arms Micron line doesn't benefit the PRID figures. There are worse examples in the line, but Optimus's arm ports look okay while the back ports and leg ports look out of place. The WFC line also adds gimmicks revolving around 5mm ports and weapons, but the figures from the line make proper use of where to add the ports rather than gluing them on random places. Funny how the Takara release is slightly worse than the Hasbro one.
This is the Lucky Draw version of Optimus Prime. It's a gold-chrome version of the mold. Not much else to say.
This is the Battle Shield version, which has more metallic colors than the regular release, darker grays, and has a proper red chest as well as clear black for the windows and arms. Still wish the arms were painted red, but at least it's a color that's not as bad as the blue. He comes with the sword, but O.P. is now in a gray that sort of matches the coloring of the plasma cannons. Also, he comes with "Pral G", "Sais G", "Jayz G", who are additional Microns that are included with this release and become a Cosmotector shield. Worthy of note is that there are normal Optimus colored versions of these little guys, and they're also themed after Prowl, Sideswipe, and Jazz.
This release of Optimus Prime was mostly made towards the Asian market rather than strictly be for Japan; the Year of the Snake version of the mold puts Optimus in glossy paint for the red and silvers along with ditching stickers for proper paint. While he does finally have the opaque hands, he lacks any red for the chest. At least his rims are painted silver. The snake insignia isn't accurate, but it's neat to include nonetheless. O.P. is also painted along with already coming assembled, and the two are released in a two-pack with Unicron. Worthy to note is that this version of Optimus Prime combines with Unicron, and it's something Megatron can do, but the result is extremely stupid, so don't bother doing so unless you either want to make a review of the mold or if you like the combination.
Going back to Hasbro releases, this is the Dark Energon version of the mold, and while it's not really a Dark Energon-infested Optimus like it would be in-universe, the deco is pretty unique, with the clear red, light blue, and fiery orange replacing the traditional colors of the mold. Worthy of this release is the face lacking a deployed mouthplate, and it sucks that this is the only version of the mold to not come with the faceplate. Given how Optimus didn't have the faceplate all the time in the show, I would love to get a variant of the figure to use the alternate face.
Now it's time to go over the characters that aren't Optimus Prime, even though this guy sort of is. This is Nemesis Prime, a Takara-only version of the figure. Of course, it's a repaint of the Arms Micron version of the mold, but the figure is mostly metallic black rather than the traditional black Nemesis Prime has in the show. His windows and arms are clear red, and hey, those clear parts of the arms should be traded with the ones that come with a normal Optimus! He can be either stock with minimal sticker detailing, or you can go further and add the teal details reminiscent of RID Scourge. This figure is not accurate to the show, as he isn't a Decepticon and has colors that are much dirtier and desaturated than Optimus's instead of the normal black and teal. His Micron, Giza, is a cycloptic saw shark that becomes his sword. I think this release is cool, but honestly, you're better off asking someone to repaint your TFP Optimus figures into Nemesis Prime.
For a size comparison with the rest of Team Prime, here we have Optimus with the rest of his PRID allies. I can't believe it took me this long to get mass-retail characters in the same line, but hey, I'm not complaining since, despite some of these figures not being First Edition molds, they look great together.
I plan on getting at least First Edition Cliffjumper, get some nicer swords for TFP Wheeljack, a new copy of Smokescreen, and both Hunter Optimus Prime and Adventure Ultra Magnus to have a complete Team Prime.
Here we have Optimus in-between, and from left to right, Armada Supercon Prime, Studio Series SS-32 Optimus Prime, Siege Optimus Prime, and Animated Deluxe Optimus Prime. He fits in nicely with the other Primes, as he's neither too tall or too short next to them. It's another plus on the PRID figure, as he isn't too tall next to the current figures I have.
Here he is next to my old Beast Hunters Prime and my PRID Megatron. You might wonder why I want to replace my BH Prime, and that's because my customizing skills in 2013 were not so hot, so my Prime looks amateurly sharpied. Same goes for Megatron, but with him, I can easily repaint him in a nicer silver and get a proper fusion cannon accessory that doesn't look stupid on him since the stock version sucks. You can expect him to be reviewed once I finish painting him up.
Finally, here he is next to my first copy of PRID Optimus. I did try to paint him nicer, but as previously mentioned, my customizing skills in 2013 were not so good. The arms are nicely painted red, yeah, and the attempt to paint the gray parts in silver was neat, but the rest of the toy didn't fare too well, as the skills weren't quite done right. I did add some black to the windows, but the end result doesn't look too good in-hand.
Worst of all, I tried to add some blue to the truck but ended up having these awful dark splotches on. And THAT'S what made me replace this version with a new figure. Don't worry, I won't throw it away as I do plan on making it as my own Nemesis Prime one day. Setting aside these comments, I have to say it's neat revisiting the PRID version of Optimus Prime, as it was a figure that still holds up despite it not being quite a good as the First Edition. The truck mode looks fine, the transformation isn't too bad, and the robot mode looks the part. I just wish some paint was added, the clear blue plastic wouldn't be too distracting, and the weapons being better than they were. I don't feel confident in modifying the backpack unless someone actually made new pack pieces that replace the panels. With that said, Powerizer Optimus Prime, despite its flaws, is still a nice take on the figure, but if you don't want to get this figure, get the First Edition or the knockoff replica of the First Edition from APC Toys that came out last year.
...but now I want to know what happened to this figure. This was a prototype version of Optimus that was made long before the series came out. Setting aside the colors it has, the toy does look proportionately accurate to the CG model, so I'm wondering if this is what the figure would have looked like for a gimmick line that has accurate robot modes. Yeah, the DOTM truck mode is there to present a gimmick of the line, but there is no sign of transformation pieces on the robot mode. I think this figure would have had the best accuracy in the robot mode, though I have to admit and say it'd also be a lot smaller, too. Maybe one day, more info on this prototype will be unveiled.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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