I'm one of those sceptics too but after I saw it in person at the various toyshops in my area, I was like...WOW!  

But since I've alrdy custom painted the original ROTF Prime, there's no need for me to get another one (would be redundant). nevertheless still an awesome looking piece, really improves the look of Leader Prime mold by leaps & bounds.

 

sorry for crappy phone camera. digital cam got busted just yesterday.

he's taller (and IMO, better looking) than MP Grimlock, but he's almost half the price! (now i'm doubting the validity of my MP purchase. not really)

you can unscrew just the front of his head to swap. he's awesomer with face plate on.

 

Thanks for this pics man. I think I am going to do the swap. I love the new head, but this dude is ready for battle and not peace negotiations, so he needs to protect his face.

 

I am surprised how good the new head look in person. Wasn't a fan of it and was intended to swap the head as well (especially I detailed my old one). But now that I have it in person, the new head looks really nice and very precisely painted. No overspray and all the shapes on the face and mouth are very 3 dimensional. Not all wash out or flat as many pics suggested (thanks to the flash on the camera). Might touch up the eyes with some silver so they don't look like big blue triangles, and its good to go. And one thing I really appreciate about this Prime is that, all the silver paint stays on much better than any custom paint you paint on. Stay on nice with no rubbing or smearing even if you handle a lot. Can't beat that!   Thats the major selling point on Buster Prime for me. Its not that you can't custom paint the old one to look as good, but it won't be as playable as this, with the major difference on the paint adhesiveness.

 

you're welcome!

very true. movie prime is on when his plate is on!

so as much as i like the open mouth face also, the parts of the movie that i remember and like the most is when he is in battle mode

 

Here are a couple shots of the head swap and new hands. And I put in a color difference pic, that's the back of Buster's and front of regular. Without the flash though, you really can't see a difference in the blues. I too felt that it didn't even need the head swap after I got it in my hands, but ended up doing it anyway. The pic with the HA team is just to show how shiny he is!

 

anyone notice how his ankle ball joint is much stronger?
looks like my jetfire mod has potential now

 

When we first started hearing about this thing, I figured Hasbro would eventually find an excuse to release a Prime with the new gas tank that turn into a gun, and maybe even the faceplate-retracted new head as well. Then I found out about the pinstriping and other dramatic paint improvements, and I know that Hasbro will never put out anything that can compare. Even the Movie 1 Premium leader Prime has some paint apps removed compared to the original in order to compensate for the improvements elsewhere on the toy. So I broke down and ordered one from BBTS. This only a week or two after finally pulling the trigger on the Amazon.jp black leader Prime, which is also oh-so-pretty but ranks ohgod-what-have-I-done on the price meter.

 

The packaging for Buster Prime is way better too:
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/trans.../281376-rotf-takara-v-hasbro-comparisons.html

 

What hands did you use, and where could one acquire them?

 

Someone in the Sales and Trade thread is selling them for $89 shipped. (best deal i've seen)http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/items-sale-trade/280620-rotf-buster-prime-89-shipped.html

Unfortunately, they came from the Gundam Perfect Grade Wing Zero Custom. Alot of people on the boards have called me crazy cuz that thing cost a lot of money, but I have had it for a long time and the finished model was just collecting dust in my closet, so to me it was justified. I have heard the Strike Gundam 1/60 model has good hands as well. It's only around $45.

 

hands can be bought here
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/creat...ther-interest-tftm-prime-hands-rotf-mold.html
they are the older movie1 primes hands modded to fit rotf

 

A perfect grade is at least 150 bucks without shipping.

 

He's talking about the 1/60 "Real Detail" Strike Gundam, which is only about $45.

 

Oh, it's not a perfect grade then?
(I've just finished my PG raiser 00, it looks great   )

 

No. The Strike Gundam in question is pretty much just a blown-up HG model, with a few minor improvements, mostly the articulated fingers and some extra molded details.

 

I see, thanks!

 

I finally received him, and he really looks gorgeous! I don't really mind the lack of faceplate, everything else is really great with that guy.

I'm just afraid of potential damage to the chrome/silver paint if I transform him.

 

I transformed my newly acquired Buster Optimus Prime twice so far with no bad results! Just go slow, and make sure no parts scrape against the others.