Finally got round to having a fumble with this guy  

First impression: He's rather good but it just falls short of being perfection for me.

Obligatory movie pose:


He really does look fantastic. The build quality, paint applications and all-round QC levels are really impressive. Everything is solid, joints are tight (some are too tight).

Show accurate improvements over the MPM mold that I like are the shoulder kibble bits, forearms, chest doors, collar bone sun visors, the whole of his back assembly, and the wheels on his upper legs. The extending neck also helps the issue with all versions of this Prime having proportionally small heads.

The contentious abs... I'm convinced BA intended them to sit more compacted into the torso even after the initial prototype. This picture shows what I mean. The torso has actually been remolded from the MPM and seems to have a molded space (blue line) that matches the shape of the abs and folded headlights (yellow) to fit into (empty space in green), but they can't be moved back far enough:


Overall they are more screen accurate than the MPM, just not quite perfect still. The blue bits on the back of the knees again are more screen accurate but as has been discussed slightly reduces poseability.

The paint is extremely well done, like an upgrade on the already great LT02 deco. The chrome really enhances the look and adds to the premium feel (as Takara chose with MP44). Certain choices I don't like though. For instance the sunburst under the flames shouldn't be bright yellow and I don't understand why they didn't go with the correct orange/gold colour. I also don't like the battle damage sections. They're well done but I would've preferred either all clean or all battle damaged, not a few spots here and there. My last personal criticism is the height, purely because he's huge and I wish it was MPM4s height.

Overall I'm really happy with him, the upgrades over the MPM make it worthwhile and even if I'd prefer he was shorter, the height does give him shelf presence.

I don't have BMB Ironhide but here's BA Optimus with ROTF leader Optimus:

 

It would be great if a V2 of this fixed the ab issue.

 

I put a ball joint on his neck so that..

It can allow to move side to side

And do some awesome pose like this (with the bmb's head)

 

That's nice to know. It would be awesome if retailers would put information like that website at least on the shipping page.

Can it still transform with this modification? And how did you add a ball joint? Will the ball joint work with the original head?

 

Yes it can, by sanding down this part.

ctto

If you put to the original's head where's the ball joint can peg, then it will work the ball joint came from my G*ndam kits 1/100scale hehe

 

@ everyone

Weathering is not battle damage

 

That head tilt is what this figure was really missing when I was trying to recreate that pose. That looks so much better. I do want a bigger head for mine as well but don't want to buy a BMB figure just for the head.

That's the word I was searching for! It was late, couldn't get the hamster wheel turning fast enough. Again I still would've preferred a fully clean deco (like LT02) as opposed to clean vehicle parts and weathered robot parts. I'm sure I remember when we were starting to see painted development samples of this figure there were pictures of both fully "clean" and fully weathered versions. I'm guessing they went with something in between to try and satisfy both tastes.

 

Great comparison !

 

If a V2 will come out with the abs fixed I would get it for sure. I skipped this bot exactly for the abs issue.

 

I paid on August 29th and it doesn't even give me the option to track it yet. Do I need a notification/email that says it's shipped first? Right now my status says "all payments received waiting for release"

 

Yeah, they need to notify you they shipped it. Until they do, that means it hasn’t shipped yet

 

I paid July 17 and mine has yet to ship

 

Ah yes, the head tilt.
OPTIMUS BEST GIRL

 

As did I.

 

Sorry if this was discussed already but has it been confirmed that there is a V2 coming? I went to showz to finally cave and buy this only to see it's marked as a preorder for some reason. I put the $2 deposit down in case I change my mind but I don't think I will. Is this merely a second wave of production or is it a V2 of some kind? I really really love the look of this guy (although I definitely wish it was MPM size) but the abs and slightly too-small head are the only issues I have and it'd be awesome if one or both of those issues were addressed.

 

It's the third run

 

The third run of v1. The supply has been well short of the demand. Plan on waiting for a while... if there's another batch coming. Showz said that they don't know when to expect the next batch in their thread.

 

Thanks!   Judging by these pictures i'm certain he'll look pretty good next to BmBs Ironhide!

 

I don't understand why there aren't any upgrade kits utilizing these desirable features available or even just announced yet! How many would purchase a kit including a slightly larger head with built in swappable battle mask and LED's, battle axe, shield, and battle hooks? That's on my wishlist besides a Jetfire upgrade kit. A chrome matrix with blue LED would also be cool but I don't see how a battery would fit into something that small.

 

You can't really modify the base of the head without risking destroying it, so it'd scare most people away