2010 was a very strong year for Transformers; we were still hot off the hype for Revenge of the Fallen while waiting for Dark of the Moon, IDW comics were stronger in writing, but the newest addition was the Aligned continuity, kickstarted with the release of War for Cybertron before the year ended with the epic but then-hard-to-access (because of The Hub being locked by a paywall for me at least) Transformers Prime. I've covered Prime toys in the past, but outside of FOC Grimlock and discussing them in the TF Fan Week from 2020, I haven't shown any real attention to the games made by High Moon Studios. Thankfully, Hasbro dips their toes into the games with the Studio Series lime, and while SS86 may have irritated me at first, I was happy to see the games get some love the moment they were leaked as listings. Let's see how Optimus Prime impresses fans left and right!
Here is Optimus Prime in his vehicle mode. The Cybertronic truck that he had only in the first game, it looks absolutely alien and sleek while still maintaining a couple of Earthly elements, like the windows and wheels. While the sculptwork is simpler than on toys from the Siege line, therr are some panel-lines to keep the altmode detailed enough. The rims are nicely colored even if they are a bit hollow. And I am happy to see the red paint matching the red plastic on this toy. Overall, the altmode is clean and has no issues, much like with the original.
His axe can be stored on top of the gun in vehicle mode. It's the typical weapon storage that feels ridiculous but not tbe end of the world.
Transformation is pretty involved, but not as annoying as the original figure from what I've seen in reviews covering it. The chunkier parts and larger size class allow it less restriction without having to feel as if there was no wiggle room to get from one point to the other. The plastic doesn't feel as nice as the original, though; it also affects the one stability issue I have with the arms not staying in place on the sliding rails. The robot mode, on the other hand, is much closer to the CG model, having the accurate proportions and design traits that the Deluxe didn't have. He's bulkier, taller, and probably around the same weight as the Deluxe. He does feel hollow in some spots, but I will at least say that it's not as bad as Beast Hunters Prime, who gad the misfortune of looking appropriately bulky yet had hollow forearms and legs. I guess my biggest criticism is that the leg kibble sticks out a little more, but one nitpick I have is that he loses the engraved Autobot insignia on his back.
Head sculpt is pretty spot-on to the game, being small yet having the longer antennae and a sleeker take on the G1 head design. Luckily, it's not buried in the upper body thanks to his head being blue while the torso is red. The articulation is standard for the line, with the ball-joint neck, shoulder swivels front and back along with hinges in and out, bicep swivels, elbow bends, wrist swivels, waist swivels, hips that move front and back, in and out, thigh swivels, knee bends, and ankle pivots.
His axe gets a few display options, being on a two-piece handle so you can either depict it like a Halberd-style weapon on the left, or you can remove the lower part and split the blade in two so you can instead give him the double-sided mode in gameplay, al beit with a shorter handle that I went with a la Dark of the Moon. I did wish it was translucent, though.
The right arm can be swapped with an arm cannon to convey the idea that his arm transformed into a weapon, which was pretty common for the Aligned characters. It does make his elbow feel incomplete when it's bent, but it does have an effect port if you still have those. You can store the forearm on his butt like with various Movie Bumblebees. There is no storage for the cannon, but hey, if Prime can swap forearms like Deluxe Bee, why couldn't ROTF Megatron?
And finally, he has a Matrix of Leadership stored within his chest. This is a feature new to this guy, and I am loving the paint apps it carries. It does appear to be accurate to the game design, which is a plus they didn't reuse the Earthrise Matrix.
The original Optimus Prime was alright for its time, being impressive with its engineering and being from a time where Deluxes weighed a bit more and cost $10-12. But the cumbersome transformation and shorter scale did pull him back in some ways, which makes happy to get the updated Studio Series version of the character. But regardless of which one you prefer, I'm sure both are vetter than the FOC Deluxe. Now THAT'S a toy that needs to be a Voyager. And we can say the same for Shockwave, Starscream, and Onslaught!
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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