King Glurch is correct: starting with Power of the Primes, all Hasbro and Takara releases are identical (so this goes for Studio Series and Siege as well). They're even in the same boxes, just with a Japanese sticker on them.

 

Okay, I'm just gonna say it...gonna lay it out on the table here, and address the big white elephant in the room nobody's talking about...

But first, a disclaimer of sorts: I'm one of the collectors that have been gushing over these Siege figures...I'm all excited and I'm thoroughly enjoying hunting them in stores and finding them, getting them home, and opening them up to appreciate them in all their loose glory. I'm not usually a buzz-kill, or an overly-obsessive, analytical critic that takes a fine-tooth comb, as it were, over every little detail and aspect of each new release...I have honestly been enjoying recent Transformers like I did when I was a kid; I've just been taking them as they come, and appreciating what we get, warts and all...

However, having said all that, something has been bothering me about Siege Prime, and up until now, I hadn't fully realized it, or maybe it's just now dawning on me as to what exactly the deal is, and I finally figured it out: He suffers from Classics Optimus Prime's unfortunate condition...FPS (Forearm Panel Syndrome). (lol) I love this figure, I really do. I haven't opened mine yet, and depending on one's love and appreciation for Classics Prime, this may even be seen as a homage, however subtle and possibly unintentional, to that particular figure, if one wants to look at it that way, but...he has those panels that kinda just sit there on his forearms, sticking-out like he couldn't completely transform into robot mode all the way...

In addition, there are times I look at Siege Prime's forearms at certain angles in pics, and they look like he wearing a ruffle-sleeved shirt or something, as if the "cuffs" are flaring-out down around his wrists. (lol)

I really hate to sound nit-picky, especially for such a new and exciting figure, but I thought I'd add my two cents on the matter. I can still look at these things from one perspective, one that's objective and that is honest about any short-comings, but also from another stance that says none of these issues are deal-breakers, so to speak, and they do not diminish my excitement in the least.

 

The only Optimus to get around the problem of FPS is CW and he only did so by having massive forearms. It's that or use a completely different type of truck and transformation.

 

Yes, you're absolutely right...incidentally that's a version of Prime I still want badly; he just has such a stylized look that I love...

Well, I've been studying pics of Siege Prime (Still haven't opened mine; I'm so bad about that lately. I even have figures I bought back in the spring and summer of last year I've not opened...), and the forearms aren't quite as bad as I've glanced-at in some pics. So perhaps I simply don't know what I'm talking about and should just shut up. (lol) Seriously, they don't seem to be quite as prominent as Classics Prime's forearms, like I initially thought. It's just a cool transforming action figure that has issues and is not perfect, just like every single other transforming action figure that's ever been made.

 

Since POTP and Studio Series, HasTak have been selling the exact same molds with the exact same designs in their respective markets. Its a cost cutting measure, but also allows them to focus more on stuff like QC.

 

wait, when is that going to happen???

 

I mean QC is better than it was back in '07, but it still depends on the person.

 

Yeah I saw in the previous post. I actually thought that was starting with siege. Didn't know it started with potp. Thanks.

 

i was mostly thinking about everyone's glued-hip Flywheels.

i think QC's been in the crapper since production moved to Vietnam, around the time T30 was going on???

 

...and it is a dang shame we didn't get UW versions of Dinobots and Terrorcons or Rodimus Prime with a Legends-level paint job (maybe some remolding???)

 

Just got blinded of your portrait of lots of red and blue paints.
I thought i have a lot of primes.

 

I don't have that kit.
From what i remember from reviews, i thought he's in perfect scale with siege prime.

 

what's the weird movie Prime next to the Takara (?) tannish-grey Evasion-mode one and the teeny one between Titanium War Within Prime's legs?

 

Movie Preview Protoform Optimus to the right (your left), DotM Voyager Optimus to the left (your right) and Q-Transformers QT-19 Convoy between the legs.

 

That must be the one... this isn’t Battle Blades Prime is it? He’s so small and his chest/torso seems just tiny.

 

No. It's not BB Optimus.
I actually like the DotM Voyager.
Plan on tracking down the Reveal the Shield variant from TLK and the Fireburst one because AXE.

 

I've grown to like the DotM Voyager Optimus mold quite a bit.

I didn't care for it at all, at first, because there are so many aspects of the design that are totally unlike the movie model.

But, when I bought the "Streetside Bot Brawl" pack I quickly changed my mind.
I started to appreciate the differences, especially the solar-panel surfaces featured so prominently on the truck mode.

I decided this is Optimus reconfigured for a mission on a satellite orbiting the Earth. He's still a truck, but modified to convert solar radiation into small quantities of Energon and fitted with magnetic wheels and feet to maintain his footing on the satellite's metallic surface.

~L~

 

Siege OP's forearms are a call-back to G1 OP's wheelwells.

 

Next to Takara Exclusive Rusty Optimus - Proto Prime.
What IgnikaMarcus said  

The Protoform Prime is supposed be how he looks when in the crater

Q-Transformers QT-19 Convoy

That's probably only 50-60% of the Primes I've got, the display needs an update.