Transformers Generations Cybertronian Optimus Prime & Megatron review

To this day, the two High Moon Studios Cybertron games are some of the best pieces of Transformers media you could ever come across. It's not because of the G1 fan service, but due to the weight the stories carry, showing the consequences of the war and the risks the Autobots took to ensure the Decepticons would never gain victory, no matter what they ran into. While it sucks that we don't have any proper current-gen versions of these games, we do at least have the toys to revisit. Studio Series had versions of the characters from the games, at least the first one, and they generally felt more like a mixed bag than any other series represented throughout the line; I was lucky to get Optimus in an auction, and Megatron for a reasonable price, so now it's time we ask ourselves if the originals are beter than the new versions. Sure, they may be Deluxes in the past compared to the Voyagers we got 3 years ago, but there may be plenty of things the 16 year old toys do that are superior. While I normally keep these kinds of figures in separate reviews, it's best to bring them together given there is less to say for each of them individually after covering the designs with the Voyagers.

Here we have Optimus Prime in his vehicle mode, a Cybertronian truck or some kind that feels more comparable to a Nolanverse Tumbler with sci-fi elements. While making a futuristic version of a familiar vehicle has not been anything new for today, this was the first of its kind where it is meant to be a pre-Earth altmode as we started getting back in 2007 with the first movie and Animated. This and the FOC design as attempts to look as unique as possible while retaining the classic Optimus elements are honestly better than what we ended up with for Siege and TFOne. I always loved the Tron-like rims, and it could be implied that the whole alt mode is shaped like the light cycles commonly used in that franchise; Bumblebee is obviously closer to that shape, but G1 Chromia did go full circle in the IDW comics. I like that the smokestacks are at an angle along with the color separation between red and blue. Sure, it could be easy to joke that he looks like a mouse, but come on, at least he isn't close to resembling something Earthly.

His gun, while folded in half, can peg on top to simulate a bit of a battle mode. Not much else to say but I like the fin on top.

For a size comparison, here he is with the 2023 Gamer Edition Voyager, which is barely bigger either because the old Deluxe was fairly substantial or the newer Voyager was a victim of shrinkflation despite pulling a Beast Hunters Optimus and pretending to look filled in and solid despite being hollow from the inside. Both do a good job at matching the source model, but the Deluxe looks more cohesive at the front. And it never had its fists exposed on the back. While the original one has nice, pinned wheels that rolled smoothly, the Voyager's snap on wheels still roll but have an awful squeaky sound that makes it feel cheap.

Transformation is fairly similar to the Voyager it inspired, though the back kibble transforms differently with the front section and blue piece, the arms are now part of the alt mode rather than being underneath it, and the wheels being on hinges rather than part of a shoulder assembly. The robot mode is pretty close to the CG model, though the proportions are different in some areas; the chest sticks out more from the side yet looks narrow from the front, the shoulder pads are normally boxy and not round at the tops, and the waist is now separate from the hip joints and crotch, which means that the bumper gets in the way of hip articulation. The robot mode still looks good, but at a Deluxe scale, I always felt it was hindered by its own bulk. Granted, we have seen some figures hold up worse than others with similar proportions, but I always wished this figure could have been a Voyager had it not been for Generations restricting themselves for some reason as solely Deluxes at the time.

Head sculpt is accurate to the series, being a stylized take of the G1 design, though the ear length makes him closer to TFP than the FOC head. Yes, the Cybertron games are prequels to Prime, even with the aesthetic clashes. Articulation consists of a ball jointed neck, shoulder rotation, outward arm movement, bicep rotation, single jointed elbows, wrist rotation, ball jointed hips, thigh swivels, hinged knees, and ball/hinge combo ankle movement. Because his gun is spring-loaded to unfold into his Ion Blaster, this all predates the forearm swap gimmick that Gamer Edition figures had. While that was neat in concept, I would rather the cannons go over the forearms so they don't end up looking like they had to use spare parts in place of their robot parts. Plus, I bet many figures will end up with right forearms missing, which makes me somewhat relieved the left arms don't have that feature.

Pulling the back kibble down reveals an Autobot insignia that is meant to be accurate to the game model. It's soft in the etch work department but it is kind of neat.

As far as reuses are concerned, this is the Rage over Cybertron repaint included with Bumblebee and Megatron. The figure not only has translucent plastic for the red bits, but the highlights are yellow along with the EMP-generated effect on the front section, which represents an in-game mechanic. Out of context, it does feel like a vague homage to the flames on Bayverse Prime.

The TakaraTomy version was released in the United line, no not the Legacy subtitles version. Optimus has his red coated in metallic paint, cooler grey parts, and brighter pink highlights. The windows are black to match the game, and they even added the red in the lines. The blues are not changed, though. Of note, the United fiction labels this as a G1 version of Prime, probably because the games never made an official release in Japan. They wouldn't even get anything involving the Aligned continuity until 2012, 2 years after War for Cybertron made its release in the summer of 2010!

Naturally, a Nemesis Prime repaint wouldn't be far away, but this is titled Darkside Optimus Prime. He is not an evil clone but a manifestation of the inner darkness of Prime himself. Yeah, I prefer the idea to make him an evil clone, and it's ironic that he has Decepticon insignias yet still has the Autobot symbol on his back.

And finally, this is the Tribute version that came with an Orion Pax retooled from Titans Return Kup. The blacks and grays have a bluish shade to them, in addition to the highlights now replaced with light blue. We have just about 4 different colors representing the highlights on the mold with pink, then yellow, followed by teal, before we have blue.

For a size comparison, here he is with the Studio Series version so you can get an idea of the difference in engineering and scale. The heights are not that distinct from each other, and it leaves me wondering who is to blame given Deluxes used to be taller and Voyagers today aren't as tall. Ad for which of the two is better, I'm kind of stumped. I think the old Deluxe has better engineering and plastic quality, yet the size made him feel restricted when it comes to articulation and even being in a vanilla pose. Likewise, the Voyager is closer to the CG model and he features both more accessories and slightly better articulation , but his engineering is barely an improvement, and he feels like a 2013 Voyager more than a current day one. While the ROTB characters we got in that price point weren't 100% perfect, they sure did feel more like proper Voyagers than this. I feel you'd get the perfect WFC Prime if you were to mash them together, as I usually say in some of these Transformers reviews where I feel conflicted.

Regardless of which one is better or worse than the other, at least we have options for this design, unlike the FOC counterpart then only had one puny Deluxe. I know the mold is better as Ultra Magnus, but man did it give me flashbacks to the FOC figures being worse than PRID.

And now we have Megatron in his self-propelled gun mode, or a space tank. It's a whole lot less descriptive in terms of shape or detail compared to Optimus, mostly because it's not easy trying to make a G1-centric design while remodeling it so it would fit well with the game aesthetics. That being said, the barrel is huge in comparison to the rest of the altmode, so much so that you can make the rest of the altmode smaller than leaving it on there. On the plus side, Megatron has a spring loaded missile launching gimmick, which is appreciative to see after it was abolished years ago, but one cool thing is that loading it pushes back some inner panels that give the weapon a pulsating glow from within. It was a similar trick Animated Swindle had, and it works here, too.

The tank treads can fold away to give him a hover tank mode, which you may as well given tank bots usually had poor wheels anyhow. 

Here he is with his Studio Series counterpart, where I kind of have to admit it's hard to decide which one is more accurate to the game. While Prime's altmode was easy to reimagine in toy form with how simple the design was, Megatron felt like a much harder one to decipher in terms of accuracy and overall shape. The old one, however, leans more towards the size of the cannon taking up most of the altmode mass while the new one tries to make it more tank-like...albeit without a proper tread mode like on the old toy. Both, however, retain that Armada Megatron-esque claw at the front.

Transformation is much simpler than sometimes, due to the figure already being based on a non-descript design we know as the G1 Megatron robot mode. You mostly fold the legs out, have the asymmetrical arms in line with the torso, and relocate the cannon from one part to another. The forearm transformation is cool, though, especially when it comes to the hand halves sandwiching with them. The resulting robot mode is less restricted than Optimus when it comes to his bulk distribution, and we get a very dynamic sculpt. I always loved the design for how much of a gladiator influence it has, especially given this Megatron was once in that role in addition to being an Energon miner. The red on the forearms works as a bit of a G1 toy homage, though the rest of the red on the right shoulder and chest is new for him. The spikey knee pads almost add a sense of a statement to anyone who would dare fight him. This is less of the Megatron with Saturday morning plans and cliches and more of a proper tyrant with fascist ideas far worse than the system he was against earlier in his life. And hey, unlike Prime, at least his back tattoo insignia is present at all times.

Head sculpt is a good reimagining of the G1 design, all without trying to make it a direct copy and paste by giving it a more aggressive look. While most of the figure has light grey all throughout it, at least the face is painted a darker color to distinguish it from the rest. Articulation consists of a ball jointed neck, shoulder rotation with limited outward arm movement, elbow bends with rotation below the joint due to the tank tread gimmick (no bicep rotation), universal hips that stop at certain points, even when leaving him in a vanilla pose where he has an A-stance, rotation at the knees, very deep knee bends, and ankles that hinge as well as pivot somewhat.

As for his reuses, the same Rage over Cybertron 2-pack gives us a Dark Energon-infused Megatron that only makes sense for the Aligned continuity given it never existed in G1, and while AI know some would want to ditch the clear purple cannon and maroon thighs, at least the greys are darker than on the regular version. In case I never get to covering the old Bumblebee figure from the same line, but he was repainted with an overshield mode.

The Takara United version  doesn't coat him in silver paint, per se, but he has much darker yet warmer shades of grey that almost have a very light brownish tint. Far from a premium version that the United line usually goes with metallic decoes as we saw with Optimus.

Despite already being evil, Darkside Megatron self explanatory like with Optimus. Would be cool to see a version of this mold in heroic colors like a pseudo Shattered Glass tribute and call him Lightside Megatron. I dunno, something that contrasts the Nemesis recolor because this is closer to his FOC colors. And yes, you can swap the cannon on either arm via the square knob instead of 5mm ports.

And finally, the most random reuse of them all in the form of Knights of Unicron Megatron. This punk rock/heavy metal band motif adds a deco far less subtle than the G2 paint schemes and it doesn't help that he has optional wig and scarf accessories that further make this set worthy of a thumbnail from some modern TF-tuber's HECKIN' WEIRD TFs video. The same FOC Prime shown above was included with the set along with repaints of Soundwave and Jazz. I kind of feel torn on getting either Deluxe or Voyager Soundwave, especially since the former scales better with the old Deluxes and the latter with Gamer Edition (probably). Jazz sucked then and still sucks now.

For a comparison with his Voyager counterpart, we once again continue the lack of a size difference, but we have radically different approaches to the same design. The Voyager feels more like it's aiming to double as both the regular WFC figure and a possible FOC retool due to the proportions leaning more towards his redesign. Granted, Hasbro has yet to do any proper FOC characters minus Cliffjumper because it's an inevitable retool, but we only did characters from WFC, and yet the cast consists of characters who could be retooled into other robots bar Sideswipe and I guess both leaders if we count Security Officer Orion Pax and Marvel continuity Flame. I know the new version is slightly more poseable and has a better shade of grey that is less white, but the lackluster engineering, weird ass fusion BBCannon, and those stupid lower leg spikes that get in the way of any useful knee articulation severely made it one of the worst 2023 purchases. 

Overall, these two manage to make good revisits as the War for Cybertron game turns nearly 16 years old. While there are things the Voyagers do better than the Deluxes, so have to give these two credit for being better engineered or at least less compromised by the corporate higher ups involved with the handling of Gamer Edition. Seriously, you couldn't get any worse with how much the subline fumbled early on compared to the regular Movieverse and 1986 figures. Even if Ratchet and Ironhide turned out better than everyone else, while Sideswipe was mostly good, it didn't save the WFC characters from being shoved aside by the equally mediocre representation of Devastation figures. Other than the Decepticon repaint 2-pack that was actually cool and the two Sideswipe and Wheeljack repaints that aren't that different from their past releases, we had a shitty Optimus and a Bumblebee that would have been fine if it weren't for Hasbro pitting it against SS86 and the Retro version of the VW tooling from the Earthrise Cliffjumper mold. These two are at least part of a simpler time when Transformers media wasn't influenced by Geewunners and Steven Universe-type fans, and the Deluxes shall be part of my Optimus Prime/Megatron shrine while the Gamer Edition releases are either going on another shelf or put in a storage bin. Also, the color correction is getting on my nerves...

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (for both)

Transformers Studio Series TLK Barricade review

Nearly 10 years ago, Barricade joined the redesign gang of Optimus Prime, Megatron, and Bumblebee as he ditched his signature black Saleen Mustang with a modern version of the altmode. While the motifs are still there, the use of blue instead of black as well as a more humanoid robot mode made him less alien than we previously saw him as. While he doesn't have the same iconography that his old self or the new designs of the Autobot Cash Cow duo has, it does at least make narrative sense where he was under eyeful watch of the TRF. While we have a decent Premier Edition Deluxe from back in 2017, this marks the first in a long time where the dude had a new Studio Series figure that was not a reissue of his 2019 Deluxe. Granted, there isn't much to do when a guy has the same design for 2 movies (though we still need a version of Frenzy, Hasbro), so it only makes sense we just now get his TLK figure as we seemingly finish Megatron's crew yearly. Until we get there, let's see how well this bad cop turned out!

Here we have Barricade in his vehicle mode, which looks closer to the on-screen model yet I feel the decals are not only inaccurate still but also incomplete. We'll go over that in a moment, but I will give the vehicle designers credit for not straying too far from the traditional Barricade alt mode. The blue does make him look more like a potential Autobot, almost like Bluestreak mixed with Prowl, but the white on the doors, the black stripe, and the white doors are Barricade enough. That being said, he is missing the infamous "to punish and enslave" decals and I'm not sure if the POLICE don't is 100% accurate either. The front section and spoiler are at least closer to the movie than what the old Deluxe went for, so credit where it's due.

The weapon storage has everything on the back rather than placing some of the weapons underneath the car like the old Deluxe, but at least this has a pseudo Stealth Force look.

For a vehicle mode size comparison, here he is with the old Deluxe. While it is smaller than the original, it at least isn't as genericized and better matches the on-screen vehicle. The original one wasn't bad, though it could be from outdated concept art.

While the new figure is closer to the film, I can see there being defenses for the old figure being a slightly lesser victim of shrinkflation as well as having a more fitting shade of blue for a villain. For me, the decals on the doors and rear spaces further help.

The back does at least match the movie proper with the covered up rear windshield, spoiler, and model-accurate taillights, but the old one wasn't too awful. Feels more like what would be on an Autobot.

Transformation is similar to the old toy, only a little more involved to make the robot mode look less stocky and turtle-like. We get a more broken up chest, wheels closer to the shoulders that sticking higher up, and an attempt at making the legs look more alien as one would expect from a Bayverse design. The resulting robot mode mostly works from the top, mainly because it doesn't look as basic and toyetic as the old Deluxe did. While I would like to see some color break up on the arms, at least they are segmented and not as smooth as on the 2017 version. The chest especially doesn't have that unchanged look that we saw on many a G1 carformer, and while he has a backpack still, it isn't as huge as it was in the old toy. That being said the proportions on his limbs are inconsistent going top to bottom; the shoulders and thighs seem fairly reasonable on his torso, yet the solid blue forearms and the two-tone, lacking in paint, pancake shins look less like they belong on a different toy. Not helping is that we used to have separately-molded hands that were on swivels, and what is going on with the feet? I can't help but feel if this was left as it was in case Hasbro was willing to hold off on a TLK Barricade back when they first began the Studio Series line, and after being pushed back by ROTB, One, and the Geewun crap of the 1986 movie and Devastation, only now they bring him out but forgot to improve him to better justify the new price tag Deluxes go for. I don't want to hate this figure, especially knowing how long overdue this figure is in spite of the distaste people have towards The Last Knight, but there is a lot more that could be done.

His head sculpt is at least what we got in the movie with that exposed face and two-color set of eyes that make him look like a siren, and we even have something sticking out the side as well. His articulation consists of ball joints at the neck, shoulders, elbows, hips, and ankles, while the waist and lower legs are on swivels. The knees are on hinges and that is one consistent aspect from the old Deluxe. Regarding the weapons, he has an arm mounted taser and the 6-barrel arm cannon that is now a two-piece accessory rather than wrapping over the forearm. 

The other weapons he comes with twin pistols that we just saw holstered on his hips before getting whipped out for battle.

For a comparison with the old Deluxe, here he is in all his stocky, hunched-over-turtle-shell, beige parts glory. You can see how much better the newer version is when it comes to matching the CG model, whereas the old version was more comparable to an Alternator with how clunky he ended up. That being said, it was a decent toy for the time, just plagued with the alleged fragility and floppy shoulder wheel assembly (mine haven't experienced that yet thank god), but the beige still sucks. Besides, it's not like the new one is a total slam dunk.

And here he is with the rest of his crew members. Nitro Zeus is elsewhere finding the remaining Cons. I heard Megatron will receive the Studio Series treatment, finally making every version of his film appearances and that one scrapped design Beewunners cum in groups over; unlike our current Barricade situation, the TLK Megatron mold is actually really good, and the first time he had a figure that didn't need any major changes for a pre-Studio Series line. Honestly, Barricade isn't the worst figure for the line so far (cough Orion Pax), but as I always say, there is room for improvement. If he came out in the first two years of the line, I would have liked him more, but as we've seen plenty of figures do better than this, even in the Deluxe scale, where is all the money going for the overall package? Charging nearly $30 for a Deluxe, $10 more than when the line began, will start to make one wonder if it's time to call it quits before the day comes where Hasbro ends the line. I mean, nearly a decade ago, the first stab at this design had wrist rotation and those Protect and Serve knuckle dusters; why can't this figure have them, too?

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Baiwei Star Leader & GYHTOYS Vanguard (Studio Series Optimus Prime & Hot Rod KOs) review

The world of bootlegs continues getting representation one way or another, from TFP knockoffs with improvements to the Masterpiece Megatron KO that is cheaper than the original yet somewhat worse in quality. For the first time, proper Studio Series knockoffs take the spotlight, and they're each of different calibres altogether. From the company that slowly gets better with subsequent releases is the SS-32/44 Optimus Prime courtesy of Baiwei. And from an even harder to pinpoint company with letter gibberish for an excuse of a title is TLK Hot Rod from GYHTOYS. One is renamed Star Leader, the other is named Vanguard. Let's see if getting these knockoffs is worth the risk, even if we have both a reissue of SS-32 exclusive to Walmarts AND another version of classic Bayverse Prime in the works.

On the left is the original SS-32 Optimus Prime, and on the right is Star Leader. I'm going to say this straight up: the mold with these improved paint apps on the KO are generally what the Takara Premium Finish should have been. While SS-05 looks better than its original release, the addition of silver on what used to be gunmetal, combined with the more broken up detailing on the hip armor, the red near the inner ankles, the gold on the circles, the flames on the wheel arches, faux chest doors, and shoulders, among other details, adds so much more to the retool. This is easily what HasTak was missing overall. BaiWei even added a few sculpt improvements, such as making him slightly taller, extending the length of the smokestacks, properly restoring the SS-05 rear wheel arch bit, and separating the red pieces on the abs (though they have a worse grip individually than without a dab of super glue). It could still be slightly better, mainly the faux window pieces could have been opaque since the DOTM and 15th anniversary versions have done just that. I also know that the lower legs may not be compatible with Jetfire's own components, though I'm not sure if this KO is meant to work with him to begin with. That being said, if we just focus on this figure specifically, wow. We even have die-cast in the feet, which helps stabilize him during posing AND adds some extra weight on a fairly light figure.

What makes him unique is that the Energon Blades he comes with are not only copied from the SS-05 tooling, but he also comes with translucent versions of the handheld blade that came with Jetwing Prime. If I'm honest, the traditional blades look worse when it comes to there being fewer paint apps and the holes in the wrist guards. The other blades thankfully look better than the stock Hasbro versions with the flat orange paint and gray plastic not matching the gunmetal paint apps. Sure, they could use more paint, but they easily replace what we had previously. Given how SS-32/44 lets me do what I always wanted all definitive versions of classic Bayverse Prime to do (specifically ROTF Leader and MPM) without heavy retooling is the option to swap the abs, and we can go a step further with a swappable exposed face. The mouth is slightly lost in the sculpt and appears to be hollow, but that's also something I appreciate. I hope the eventual 2026/7 Leader Prime can do a face swap gimmick since I hoped AOE Prime would give us that.

The truck modes may not seem all that different, but we gave the orange fade from the Jetwing version, more silver paint on what was unpainted, gunmetal grey, and opaque windows also found on SS-44. The red around the windows has been long overdue since it not only completes the altmode, but it's also screen accurate. I never understood why Hasbro left the trim blue. They even filled in the headlights on the front at the cost of removing the Autobot insignia. His wheels are inexplicably the same ones that were on the back, but I can probably get the proper front ones from a junk copy. The flames on the back are facing the wrong direction, but that's at the fault of the figure reusing the engineering of First Edition Prime than one more fitting for the Bayverse design with its part layout.

As far as variants are concerned, skip the original Star Leader, both with the outdated chest and the version you see here. The colors are the same as SS-32 apart from the small deco additions here and there, and the plastic quality is just terrible. They inexplicably left the neck unpainted, which is as bad as Hasbro leaving Mirage's forearms clear. Three repaints were made, one based on Ultra Magnus and two black Decepticon recolors. The teal-flame version makes me think of Nemesis Prime/Scourge (no not that one, dumbass fan theory echo chambers), but the purple-flame version is probably themed after Menasor. I wish the version I have came with the weapon pack since it gives us the two Ion Blasters, two axes (one opaque and one clear), the Mega Striker, and his shield.

As for GYHTOYS Vanguard, I'm not really sure how to feel about it. For a brief moment, I want to discuss how there are some Studio Series figures that should get enhanced knockoffs before this character; not saying Hot Rod doesn't deserve any attention, but I'd argue that doing better versions of DOTM Megatron, both versions of the Deluxe Ratchet mold from the first year of the line, and any of the Wreckers (especially Topspin and Leadfoot). I checked his aftermarket value, and this mold usually goes past $50. Not too expensive, but still a decent bit higher for a Bayverse character who had purists triggered because he didn't look like a gaudy magenta robot who killed off their childhood hero. That being said, the main differences include the oranges being less vibrant, there being no paint apps for the headlights, and the plastic quality is worse than the Hasbro version. Normally, the recent Generations figures would have decently substantial durability and density, and while this figure is far from cheap (at least the left hip doesn't pop off too easily), but the finish feels rougher than the polish Hasbro products usually receive. Honestly, for all the issues Hasbro products usually have, at least there is a consistent feel that makes them have the right smoothness or texture. Not only that, but Vanguard has some poorly cut areas where the pieces were originally on their sprue trees. Even a few flashes were left behind, requiring me to snip them off. Honestly, this is a weird midway point between discount store trash and APC Toys being better than the Hasbro TFP figures.

In addition to his signature "Stop The Time" gun, Vanguard also comes with swords that were obviously never shown in The Last Knight but they fit him decently. After all, G1 Hot Rod had a "totally-not-a-lightsaber-from-our-blatant-Star-Wars-plagiarism-excuse-of-a-movie-pre-JJ-Abrams" while he would later have the Sword of Primus in the Regeneration One comics; it inspired one of the accessories of his Kingdom figure AND sort of the one that came with his Core Class counterpart. That being said, these swords come not from any official design (not even FOC Grimlock despite similar appearances), but they instead come from Mastermind Creations' Terminus Hexatron, specifically the Shadow Emissary repaint! And wouldn't you know it, but even this unofficial Six Shot got bootlegged at some point! I don't know what's funnier, Hasbro taking inspiration from third party companies or bootleggers stealing figures based on Hasbro IPs. Regardless, TLK Hot Rod rocks the swords perfectly, almost giving Drift a run for his money.

As for the vehicle mode, another paint app omission is the tiny badge meant to represent the Lamborghini logo. Reminds me of how incomplete some realistic carformers look without a proper manufacturer brand a la the Autobot Brothers from RID or DOTM Dino since a Ferrari license isn't in Hasbro's grasp. The car mode otherwise looks fine apart from missing those details on the front, though it doesn't roll as nicely as the official version. Maybe it does on some other copies, but that depends on how the tolerances are on the bootleg. Transformation was already involved in the real deal due to how small some of the parts are on what felt like a mini-MPM, but the worse tolerances and plastic finish made it feel a little worse for my tastes. Not like it's going to infect me with micro plastics that break down from the toy shattering into a million pieces, but I know it could feel a bit alien to anyone who only touches Hasbro stuff and never messed with anything slightly lower than their standards (though to be fair, they aren't perfect anyhow, and I know many Has Bros who are downright against high quality bootlegs and knockoffs).

Overall, these two figures are an example of duality between bootlegs. Baiwei have come a long way from their earlier Star Leaders, while Gibberishtoys gave us a Hot Rod that, yes, is inexpensive yet is slightly worse than the Hasbro version. Studio Series knockoffs have proven to be inconsistent with how they're produced compared to other knockoffs, whether it's from having near identical reproductions with little to no documentation on them, upscaled knockoffs meant to fit with the MPM series, and higher quality versions of main Bayverse characters with the occasional upgrade kit stolen from DNA Design. Baiwei's knockoff makes sense given Optimus Prime usually sells, and his knockoffs manage to go even further in quality than the official versions; I'm waiting for someone to knockoff the AOE version so it can look nicer than the Hasbro version! As for Hot Rod, my guess is that some smaller KO companies were willing to take a shot at a less-prominent character and and see if anyone is willing to buy from them, hence the slightly-lower quality and more vague name choice. While Star Leader is a cool addition to your collection, Vanguard can be skipped unless you never got the official one, you don't want to spend $50+ on the real version in the aftermarket, or if a custom is something you want to do. Funny that, I still have an ROTB Optimus Prime waiting his spotlight with the DNA Design upgrade kit, but who knows when that will happen. And just as I finish this review, the ROTF Megatron KO is on its way.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Star Leader/Optimus Prime)

⭐⭐⭐ out of (Vanguard/Hot Rod)