Vrooooom Vroooom!

 

I did not like this prime at first but after some paint apps, he is now very cool. I painted the neck area to separate it from all the blue. I also added silver frames on the windows, painted the side mirror and some rivets. I used the gas tanks to fill in his backpack and it added some heft to his shoulders/back.

 

Is this some kind of mould error or done intentionally? I have it on mine and at first I thought i chipped it since it’s near where a tab slides in but I noticed it in a couple videos as well.

 

A brown gundam panel lining pen does a great easy job at filling in the Autobot insignia, looking at the pic I took I’m impressed how defined it is despite being so tiny.

 

I got this figure- almost reluctantly- to make sure I had Pulse's Premium service.
I was pleasantly surprised.

Transformation was pretty complex for a figure this size... but the arms / hood was definitely un-fun.

 

Feels a lot like the ROTF leader with the way it explodes into a bunch of panels and hinged arms but with the beautiful simplicity of the Evasion Prime's legs and faux windows. If the arms/hood were ratcheted it would be easier to feel when you've got everything lined up otherwise it's a lot of guess work and the tab into the cab doesn't go in smoothly at all, getting the legs positioned so the fuel tanks will peg into them is also annoying and again would be solved with ratchets.

 

I just nabbed the BB movie Optimus.
Quite a nice figure I must say.

But both of these Primes suffer the same problem: size.
They need to be a little bigger.
Too often are the parts too small... or instead of tabbing them in you are 'squishing' them together.

Sheesh- my MPM BB movie BB was TF'd into a VW more by packing it into a ball than by TFing it.

 

Does anyone else have a problem with the chest windows tabbing into the chest? On mine the tabs were too big and just kept popping out so they don't really lock in anywhere and just sit there. This might be an isolated factory defect since I haven't heard anyone else mention it. Tried using a needle file to widen the tab hole but somehow there isn't the right amount of tension to hold the chest windows in place.

 

If they are too lose now use a thin coat of super glue to thicken the hole and give it some friction for the tabs to hold onto. Probably should have filed the tabs instead, it’s easier to mange getting the right amount of tension from filing a tab than it is trying to get a hole filed evenly.

 

Darn. I actually did try a tiny bit of superglue to it to hold but the amount of friction or the shape of the tab hole is not right and slotting it in ends up just pushing it back out. Oh well guess I'll live with it.

 

Try wrapping a tiny bit of tape preferably masking tape around the tab, that should make it stay in.

 

While the original SS-05 Optimus Prime was and still is a fantastic toy, partly because we haven't seen such an affordable, screen-accurate toy in a long time before it came out, this new one is slightly better in every way.

Good

• The chest looks a heck of a lot more screen accurate and small tweaks like the forearm thickness, longer legs, and taller head position makes SS-32 look even better than before. The vehicle mode also looks better thanks to the painted grille, wheels, and the overall increase in size. Woot woot! Hasbro heard us and listened!
  
  
• Just like others in the series, SS-32 Optimus is as poseable as hell. The waist joint makes me happy every time, even though he is screaming out for ratchet join lets and arms because...
  
  
• He combines with Jetfire! OMG! I bet the darker colors of SS-05 Optimus would look much better with Jetfire's matte black, but SS-32 looks amazing in combined mode. He even maintains a lot of articulation and that sweet, sweet waist joint. For me, and I bet for many, the combined mode is enough to make this toy worth his price.

Bad

• That said, the top-heaviness of the combined mode can easily overwhelm the leg and arm joints. You CAN get him into a few cool poses but it can be a real pain for him to stand still for two goddamn minutes. Worse still, the blue back pegs on my copy of SS-32 back are already showing stress marks from the weight of Jetfire's kibble. Not good.
  
  
• Back to Optimus himself: I am dismayed with how robot mode features more accuracy in some areas but in others he takes a few steps back. The fenders, both front and rear, stick out even worse than the previous SS-05 toy in robot mode. Also, the wheels themselves are still poorly integrated in robot mode via weak pegs and cheap feeling plastics, and don't even get me started on those gotdamn smoke "stacks". That's right, SS-32 is another B- effort in long line of B- Optimus Prime toys. Great, I guess?
  
  
• While movie Jetfire was nailed on the second attempt (SS-35 Jetfire is GOAT), Optimus prime is still not quite there despite roughly three hundred different toys across 10 years. I'll happily give Hasbro $250 for a studio series ROTF Devestator that will just sit on a shelf until I literally die, but Hasbro still refuses to deliver a Prime that's vastly improved over his previous toys? You know you can do it, Hasbro! Remember MPM Optimus? Just like that but make him a small boy! Easy! Toss in the trailer, guns, and blades and I'll give ya $60 for him I promise; just do it! I believe in you!

Honestly, despite the super cool combined mode, if you can wait for the leader class Optimus that comes with his trailer coming out later this year, then do so. That toy will have more goodies that'll better make up for its faults AND he will also be able to combine with Jetfire. Or if you're not too picky, SS32 Prime will do ya just fine. He's still a good toy just... a bit stale of a design, I think, from the perspective of toys that minimally improve on their previous versions. Ugh I dislike being so negative. I really do like this guy it's just... anyway. On to the photos!

 

Mine had that same issue, despite everything being aligned correctly. There was either a small gap at the bottom of the grill, or at the top, and it would want to pop apart.

I took some flush cutters and trimmed off the two tabs on the forearms that slot next to each other for truck mode, and the grill now fits together perfectly. Those tabs were causing the forearms to want to pop apart.

I don't care about the combined mode for Jetfire, so I don't know if those tabs are used for that. If they are, and it's something you want to use, maybe just sand down the tabs a bit.

 

You mean these tabs?

 

Yup, those are the tabs.

 

Thanks.

I did it, and it helped partially, which is pretty good. Also, I can confirm that it doesn't affect the combination with Jetfire.

 

No problem. I'm sorry it didn't fix it all the way, but I'm glad it partially helped. Maybe there's some piece that's very slightly warped, or there's a piece of plastic flash that's getting in the way.

And thanks for the info on the combination with Jetfire!

 

Lookin good! I might have to use yours for inspiration if I ever decide to do any custom work on this guy. For now I pretty much have him exclusively to combine with Jetfire, so I haven't really looked at him much on his own.

 

Does anyone know whether the upcoming Leader version of this set comes with its own jetpack - or is it just the Jetfire parts shown in the press release?

 

The leader class version comes with his trailer that transforms into his jetpack as well as his weapons deck.