Like I've said on the SS34 (DOTM Megatron thread), DOTM is one of my favorite childhood movies so DOTM Optimus is pretty much an easy must get for me... and boy o' boy am I underwhelmed greatly.

Pros:
Firstly, let's go the the positives. They FIXED a ton of the complaints that I had with SS32. They added pins in the backpack so when you rotate them they don't fall out, and the back wheels that are in his thighs have much better tolerances. He is finally a fun toy to handle with and doesn't make me want to shoot myself in the face when I handle it.

The new orange gradient is a nice addition. I just felt that SS32 looked a bit bland in the alt mode because of that.

The grille doesn't require a fight to tab in and IT WILL tab in. Thank god.

I know that the painted chest piece is polorizing to the community but honestly I'm slightly apathetic to it. It's a slight positive, I guess, considering that means that his boobs won't yellow in the future and won't explode when you transform the toy in 10 year's time.

All and all, these minor changes make him an easy win and a huge step ahead in terms of his previous release. He's actually fun to handle with and doesn't make you want to hate youself to shell out your hard working money just to have an aboslute mess of a toy.

HOWEVER, the reason why he's priced as leader class does make me feel geuinely, and irrationally, angry at a children's toy.

The Cons:
The trailer and the guns is cast in this horribly cheap and wrong grey plastic, resulting in looking like an ugly mess. I don't usually repaint my toys, but I've gotten so disgusted by it to the point I took the unusual step of acutally repainting everything prior to this review. Moreover, there are some flaws that I cannot fix.

Let's break down on the gear that this leader class comes with:
1. The Ion Blaster:
A complete regression from how it's painted in his previous counterpart, and even my girlfriend, who doesn't even know a single dime about toys, Transformers, and paint, said it looked cheap.

2. Energon Axe
Unlike the renders, there isn't ANY orange paint on it! The sculpt is pretty nice and it tabs in to the trailer fine, but its a complete step down from the renders.

2. The Sword:
The orange for the sword too, is also painted in this orange that looks pretty bad. Really wished they used translucent plastic a la SS05 (don't own the toy though).

3. Shield:
Doesn't even work properly, due to the tab facing straight like a gun. In order to properly hold it, you need to warp the transformation joint, which looks abosolutely jarring when you look at it from the side.

4. Jetpack miniguns:
Decent sculpt but is absolutely hallow at the bottom. Reeks cheapness as well as looking 2D

5. Jetpack:
Hallow at the front, and lacking additonal thrusters at the back, he just looks flat. the wings are floppy as the transformation koint doesn't have anything to tab in too. Optimus struggles to balance well (at least for my copy) due to its weight. However, it tabs in nice and tightly to his back.

6. Trailer:
The trailer is passable. It's not accurate because, lets admit it, you can hide a ring with giant LED lights while fitting a jetpack and weapons in there, but it executes the idea of a "weapons holder fairly well.

The problem with the trailer is when it is transformed into its alt mode. The trailer looks fat and wide so it looks like a complete downgrade from the DOTM Mechtech trailer. This, again, is worsened due to the ugly grey plstic. Moreover, in the trailer mode, the rings stick out like a sore throat. I took the liberty of using the minigun cannons and tabbed it on their sides and pretended that it was mechanical bits that you see at the side of a normal trailer, and using the jetpack 5mm ports that are supposed to hold the miniguns to house the ion cannon because for some jarring reason the trailer doesn't actually hold it inside!

If the trailer was actually taller (perhaps an inch or so), a lot of issues would be actually fixed.

Finally, the first set of wheels are actually fake. Gotta keep the part count low, I guess.

Overall, as someone who loves DOTM Optimus's gear, its nothing but a tragic nightmare. Although he has improvements that allow him to be geuinely fun to fiddle with, but the reason why you have to shell out extra money is unjustifiable. Hallow accessories, wrong usage or grey, as well as a shield that doesn't work make him a fulminating disappointment and a reminder why Dr Wu and DNA Design exist in the first place. Grab it on clearance. This is the aboslute worst of Studio Series; with Hasbro ticking off the bare minimum checkmarks of this version of Optimus.

Score:
4/10

 

I love this figure, especially the truck mode with the trailer.

 

So reading through this I’m glad Im not the only one who seems to think the sword is loose in Optimus’ hand. However, does anyone else have the issue I’m having where the big cannons don’t stay in the ports in the trailer? Or are the barrels meant to sit in the notches of the ring? That seems to be the only way I can get them to not fall out when I pick up the trailer.

 

Yes, the notches in the ring are to make clearance for the guns. If the guns don't nest in them cleanly, swap sides.

 

Ah okay. I thought they were just meant to be for the weapon ring configuration

 

I never picked up the standalone Voyager, so this is my first experience with the new Prime. This toy is a lot of fun, and the Jetfire combination is badass. The hollow wings suck, but damn if there isn’t a lot of playability here. Were it not for the crappy truck mode (short stacks, missing lights, hideous clip-on wheels) this would probably be the ultimate Movie Prime.

The trailer is about as good as that stupid weapon ring concept can be without seriously complicating things. I always thought it was stupid in concept and in the movie, and it’s obvious by the numerous (failed) attempts across official and 3P why it’s a worthless gimmick. But hey, at least it officially exists?

 

What seems illogical to you about the weapons ring? I thought making it a ring that Optimus could walk through and grab whatever battle-specific gear he needs in an instant was a great and practical idea. Is it because it's unarmored? It's probably not meant to be a battlestation or stronghold anyway, just a weapons cache he and maybe another Autobot or two could run through to grab some equipment they can't keep on their person on the spot.

Also, the UFO Trailer didn't fail in its attempt at replicating the weapons rack. That other 3P one, and arguably this one may have, but the UFO trailer is baller.

 

A bit mixed. I like the orange fade on the front of the truck but the silver painted windows don't look as good as the previous one. Also I was hoping the Jetwing Guns were hollow so they go over Prime's arms to simulate the guns in the film. Clearly not  . Still I appreciate them making this. Needs more paint tho.

 

Compatible with SS #5;


However, the trailer hitch is larger than 5mm, so it does not fit on Bumblebee Prime. But....I'm going to Dremel that, as this combo looks great too;





All of the weapons can store in the trailer if you place them like so, the axe is opposite the sword;
















He comes with the same gun as SS32, so if you have both, then Prime has his proper double pistols. SS32 had the black paint on it though whereas the new one does not..not an issue if you are repainting everything like I am lol


The new sword vs one of the SS #5's swords


Here he is with the spare chest from Jetfire. It looks better in my photo than real life, the color difference is a little strange...but in combined mode it's not really noticeable.

I got him for $36 from target so, to me he was worth it and I'm definitely not upset that I need to paint him silver, it's easy enough. Tons of content in this set. I might make the "best" possible prime by swapping out the arms onto SS32 and the improved backpack, the one thing I'm not a huge fan of is the silver windows.

 

$36?!?! Ill bite at that..how did you swing that?

 

They had a 25% off a toy coupon last week, they might roll more of those out since Black Friday is coming. Plus I had an extra 5% off of that with the RedCard

 

I want to see if an aunt can grab one for me for christmas on Black Friday. Though they haven't said if Walmart or Target will have any deals for Transformers

 

Sorry for the bump, but how does the trailer/weapons platform look with Siege Optimus?

 

trailer doesnt fit in alt mode

 

Ah, that’s a bummer.

 

Two questions:
1. Is there a 3rd party set for weapons for this guy? It'd be nice to have all the weapons that came with the previous releases, but I also don't want to have to buy the previous releases.

2. Is this joint supposed to actually move? It looks like it should, but it's so stiff it seems like it would break if I push too hard.

 

1: Just the Dr Wu hooks, axe, and Ion cannon. (the latter two are included with SS-44, but the Dr Wu axe does look better)

2: It's just a clip for attaching the engine to the backpack, not meant to be articulated and doesn't move during transformation. Mine moves fine, but it doesn't accomplish anything so I leave it alone.

 

I tinkered with this more last night. There's something I've been feeling since I bought it. I feel like this release got the short end of the stick. Like maybe the budget was used for some of the other figures at the time. It just comes off as...unfinished.

This is aside from the sword and axe missing paint. The shield at the very least, should've had a handle. The wrists should've been tooled to extend forward a bit to make clearance when swiveling the wrist while melee weapons are attached.The sword peg should've been slightly thicker as its looser grip seems to be a common issue.

The hollow wings, I need to look at mine again, maybe they're hollow for transformation. I don't know. The hollow twin guns bother me more.

I do like the trailer transformation as it's intuitive and wasn't as fiddly as I expected. It's actually easy to situate and align. I was impressed that the curved braces can actually slot into the trailer wall panels.

Prime can move pretty well but SS05 has the better knee articulation. The knees on this Prime function well but the thigh needs to be swiveled to unlock full knee range. The backpack and chest are handled a lot better here than on SS05. The forearm panels aren't secured by a tab so that's another thing that remained unchanged from SS05; they rely friction alone.

Longer smokestacks would've been preferred. Also, if not more paint, better deco decisions could've been made. I'm all for using darker grey but the deco here seems like it's missing something. SS32 felt the same but in a different way. Maybe a dry brush of silver on the grey parts could've worked. Or maybe molding the grey parts in black and giving it dry brush paint apps of gunmetal gray and silver could've worked.

Overall I'd probably give this release a 7/10. A few small additions and changes could've made it substantially better. As is, I like it but it feels shortchanged.

 

Hit a target out of town today and they had 3 of these. No scavenger so I took it as a bit of a sign and picked him up. Really feeling like a sucker since I wasnt patient and bought the Mv1 Version. Pretty fun set, and this optimus is alot better than the previous. Only issue is as everyone else has said...the shield blows.

 

Well there is a 3rd party kit to upgrade the weapons and jet pack up for preorder.
DK-15 Upgrade Kit
DK-15 Upgrade Kit Deluxe Edition (With Bonus)