Got mine release day over the weekend, pretty pleased, but I want to give some words of warning for those who are also getting him.

As amazing as this "toy" is, it’s probably 80% plastic, and most of its panels, especially the ones in the legs, are pinned or shafted on really thin bits of plastic, so Takara’s essentially resorting to “3rd Party” construction, which is to say, they’ve created an amazingly intricate and complex transformation, but using thin/subpar construction methods, and so the stability over time will be a huge issue. A lot of the rotating bits in the legs I could easily see cracking or getting “un-pinned” after multiple transformations. That said, once it’s in robot mode, it’s quite sturdy, and I don’t seem to have any problems with my copy’s knees.

The all-painted finish looks gorgeous, though, and I particularly like the slight metallic flake finish on the chest windows—gives a cool reflecting effect from certain angles.

Also, the antenna are super thin and fragile so be careful!! I’ll probably take the head off when transforming back to vehicle mode...

All-in-all, a 10/10 for what Takara’s accomplished and this is the TV Optimus Prime, no two ways about it. However, I’d have to say 6/10 for the construction, and the overall “fear factor” when operating this guy. There’s a bunch of “hooked” tab pieces for example which lock on pretty forcefully in the chest, and I’m dreading having to pull those out to get it back into vehicle mode.
I’m awestruck by the engineering, but I’m disappointed with the dread that fills me whenever I touch this toy   

 

Just received confirmation from Amazon that my order shipped! Says it will arrive here(Seattle) in 2 days—Wednesday.

 

Me too! Wednesday! I’m Psyched!

 

Same. Was starting to get real worried there for a second.

 

Looks like us Canucks should be receiving it in the next day or two, instead of the 10th. Package has already left the Cinci, OH hub. My previous orders from AJ usually show up the next day once it lands in Ohio. Dunno if DHL delivers on stat holidays though.

 

My experience is that 3rd parties like FansToys, Maketoys, Perfect Effect use very rugged plastic for their figures. I wonder why TT would settled for such thin and questionable plastics in critical structures (like the legs) considering the price and their engineering experiences.

But yeah in terms of paints, look and articulation this figure is fantastic.

 

Me four!!! Arriving in WV on Wednesday! Guess I’ll buy some shock oil tomorrow, and get the ole JIS screwdrivers out in case I need to perform some knee surgery.

So PSYCHED!!!!! It’s finally happening! Here’s hoping everyone else gets a shipping notice in the next few hours.

 

Just got shipping notice from Amazon!!

 

Going through and collecting my favorite pictures while catching up.

Holy cow this guy is fluid. Prepping a knuckle ball in that last picture.  

To me he looks completely different with the Starscream parts. They got them so right that it really looks like Starcream in a Prime suit than Prime with his head swapped.

Awesome job man!

 

I wonder if @Sam has gotten his status changed to shipped too...I suppose we’ll have to wait 4 or 5 hours to find out.

 

SHIPPED! ARRIVING WEDNESDAY!

 

Same.

 

Wheeeeee

Amazon jp shipping status for my us order finally updated!

 

Such a handsome fella at all angles!
Tingly sensations all over!

 

And me . . . finally!! First time an AJP order hasn’t shipped immediately on Friday/Saturday. Was getting a bit nervous, but for naught!

 

Mine still says arriving Friday, but it still hasn't shipped.  

 

Same here, but I was looking foward to transforming him at least once to change the head to the season 1 head. I must admit I'm a little scared now. All we can do is wait and see what our fellow members come up with...

 

Since it's midday there as I type this, I expect a ton of Amazon Japan users will be seeing notices that theirs has shipped as it appears mine has as of 12:04pm their time. That being said, i can't deny that this knee thing has dampened my enthusiasm somewhat. It'd be nice to have such impressive engineering without consequences. On the bright side, as much attention as this issue is getting now, I'm optimistic (no pun intended) that someone will figure out an effective preventative fix for the issue (which hopefully won't occur during the first transformation). I appreciate all the members who've been doing what they can to figure things out for us.

 

yeah.

mine got shipped, too.

just hoping my copy don't have the knees-issue...

 

Man, this is so cool guys. This is the first figure I’ve followed all the way from inception to release. It’s been a freaking year and a half, and I still remember staying up till 2 am in June 2018 to see the first prototype pics from @Gamerlingual . It really feels like I’ve come full circle. And I just wanted to say it’s been lots of fun riding the train with the rest of the regulars.