Looking at the original Evasion mold and M01 Commander, as well as the curent KO trend for Studio Series figures, I'm beginning to see HasTak figures as blank canvases for KO companies to work on.

HasTak releases an decent mold with OK paintjobs and some design issues. Then, KO companies bring out the full potential of that mold.

In that way, I'm really thankful even if HasTak releases a mediocre figure, as I believe a KO company would eventually come in and breathe new life into that toy.

And I'm equally thankful to fans who know how to appreciate HasTak releases despite their flaws. To be honest, if not for them, my favorite KO companies would have no canvas to paint their masterpieces on.

That said, although I never buy official figures brand new, this updated Takara Evasion Mold really gets me super excited! What a time to be alive!

 

The majority of what Hasbro/Takara have released? M01 Commander has much more limited figures it scales with.

The original Voyager Class Evasion Mode Optimus Prime also had ankle tilts, it's not new to this mold.

Which I find incredibly stupid. Yes, the flat-node truck was a reference to G1, but how about they make the actual truck used in the film, then they can retool/repaint/whatever to their heart's content.

 

A movie Prime that looks like G1 Prime in alt mode? Hopefully they make it real clear on the packaging who it transforms into, otherwise I'm calling this guy "Disappointment: The Toy."

#geewunninitforlyfe

 

i am baffled by the fact that among all the things they improved from the voyager evasion, that friggin\' smokestack is not one of them.

 

Optimus Prime in this body only had one smokestack in AOE.

 

Seriously! I get that the G1 vehicle had two smokestacks but the onscreen version only had one! The whole point is that it's MOVIE accurate not G1!

 

yes, i am fully understand that this suppose to homage movie, not g1, and yes, in AOE he has 1 smokestack. however, he has one smokestack in AOE because the truck was very beaten up that one of the smokestack is gone, result in that. this toy however, not suppose to homage AOE, but homage optimus in bumblebee movie, which sets on a time where all the events leading him in a beat up condition hasn't happened yet. so he should still has a pair of smokestacks, not just 1.

 

Link pls!!! I’ve always told myself I’d pick up the OS KO of evasion optimus if I could find it for under $70 ...

 

It hasn't fallen off of the truck - some models of the Marmon 97 have only one smokestack, and this is one of them.

 

i see. It seems i jumped to conclusion then. My bad.

 

We all realize that this is movie style, but it's colored to be a G1 homage, not the white rusted cab appearance of AOE. It's not a big deal for me, but I'd have prefered the double smokestacks to complete the traditional vehicle mode look.

As nice as this is, and I will probably buy it, the Optimus Prime you see in the Bee movie is even closer to G1 than this. Especially the chest design. I actually am more shocked that Takara didn't retool the chest to resemble that new movie model since this is being sold as the Bee movie's OP. No other part of the robot or vehicle mold would really have been impacted by the chest mold being resigned.

As others have said better than I, the HasTak toys are blank canvases for KO companies to use to make major improvements. The original release of this very mold was the turning point in that relationship between official and KO. People now expect higher quality from WJ than HasTak.

I've been tempted to double dip on the WJ Commander with their glorious Nemesis and Battle Damage repaints, but haven't pulled the trigger yet. The original Commander is my movie MP Optimus. He's just waiting for the MPM VW Bee to join him.

This Takara mold will be my mini versions along with Studio Series VW Bumblebee. I'm really okay with those four being my only movie toys.

 

Transformers Commander Oversize AOE Evasion Optimus Prime M01 | eBay

 

Also, a couple users here that have seen early screenings and behind-the-scenes stuff (one of which is a moderator) said that Optimus doesn't look like this in the movie,

Spoiler

he looks a lot like IDW Optimus Prime, but with the Movieverse head.

 

I think I'm gonna try to get this guy instead of Commander. Not because I think it's better. I like them both. But I've had Rendsora (that upscaled tlk Megs) for a while and I never mess with him because he's just too dang big to play with easily. That's caused me to hold off on getting Commander because he's the same height. So this guy at leader height is just about perfect for me.

The secondary wheels fold up to his hips and the little squares on his back are added. But those two are obvious and simple solutions. What other details are exactly like Wei Jiang's figure? The arms transform differently, the shoulder pads transform differently. The filled in back of the truck transforms differently. Most of these solutions are different from Wei Jiang's.

I'm guessing it's more of a case where the limited budget for the original Voyager caused those problems and Takara designers and Black Apple each simply followed similar paths for their upgraded version.

This part isn't aimed at anyone specifically but i would like to point out that this leader version has better hands, a swapping face gimmick, a transforming gun that doesn't completely suck, and better shoulder pads with a less fiddly transformation. Commander still does a few things better, such as the folding truck fender at his ankles, but I think it would be incorrect to blindly claim the Wei Jiang version is completely better.

 

I recommend LT2

 

I wanna get this and keep looking at the pics. Then I look at my WJ Evasion Prime and want WJ to release their version with this color scheme. I wonder if any other company will KO OS this dude. It's like Has/Tak is saying to WJ and other KO companies, we can copy your stuff too but we will make it inferior. This is a step back from the OS Evasion Prime. I guess people who didn't buy the WJ KO because they don't buy KOs for ethical reasons could get this.

 

I have WJ's but it's to big for my display area. I could use a smaller version of it