Yeah it's not worth the money at all. I really hate how the promo pics make it seem a lot more yellow than it actually is, and it looks like all the pieces are painted (they're not). They even have the front hood designs painted in sliver, which was one of my favorite things about this new design, but it's nowhere to be seen here. Incredibly disappointed.

 

Hoping PF Studio Series BBM Prime doesn't suffer like Bee seems to be then.

 

Yeah it looks a lot better than bee, but I'm definitely watching reviews before purchasing that one, and this experience has certainly lowered my expectations.

 

Same I will probably get him since I sold off my custom BBM Prime a few months ago and I need a version of that figure for the reason of the BBM Studio Series cast. Also I wonder how close to final the paint deco is for Prime since he is coming out next month in Dec.

 

Cancelled my pre-order for PF Siege Optimus. I been cutting my budget down, and damn it feels good, lol.

Don't get me wrong, it looks great, but it was a borderline want for me at $54.

 

Got my PF Megs today. Maybe it's because he's mainly gray, but the paintjob looks better on him... except for his legs. For all the battle damage on his upper body, the legs are surprisingly clean. Once again it's my first time handling the siege mold and it's real good, it just doesn't feel "premium". Guess Ultra Magnus and Starscream will be the same...

 

At least with magnus it has the benefit of the inner bot having a pretty different deco compared to the retail release, so it's a little more interesting. Though yeah starscream is probably going to be a similar case

 

This Optimus Prime looks better than I expected.
Just when you're sure you don't need another movie Toy... Boom! Optimus Prime
Hope he shows for Christmas

 

That's weird, I still cannot get Premium Finish Bumblebee to tab properly together in vehicle mode. Seems even more difficult than the original Studio Series release.

 

Really? Odd was smooth as butter on mine. I find sometimes it’s if the legs are slightly tilted on the ball joint it makes things tricky until I straighten the leg out

 

I detached one of the legs and tried to slot the door peg straight in for the purpose of testing, and even that didn't work so well.

 

I would like to have him in hand... Like right now.
Then I'd know...

 

Got my PF WFC Optimus Prime in. It's a pity the red isn't painted but it’s still nicer than the red of the retail Siege version. And in robot mode I find that, together with the new battle damage and the softer blue of the legs and the head, it makes for a much nicer looking figure. These improvements don’t translate as well into truck mode; it’s still better than the Siege one, but the changes aren't as pronounced.

Whether this release can be considered 'premium' is debatable, but eh I am honestly pretty happy with it. I was not able to appreciate Siege Prime - due to the bare colors - and I didn't like ER Prime very much (with his non-visible eyes, non-transforming legs and less appealing proportions). But now I finally have my WFC trilogy G1 Prime.

 

Pretty much it. The colors do look better, yes, but the paintjob on the battle damage just lookks cheap. I've said it before, but there's no gradient effect that slowly changes the red to black to give a more convincing burn effect. It's just Prime's red with a botch of black paint out of nowhere. It's good, but I'm not sure it really deserves to be called "premium".

 

So the Hasbro Pulse version is apparently out, and I've made a minor discovery:


The photo on the left is the Takara release (photo by Effendee Samat), the photo on the right is the Hasbro Pulse release (photo by MadameVixen on the Allspark Discord server).

If you pay close attention, you'll notice that the Hasbro Pulse version has a Hasbro product code (#F5912) on his knee which the Takara version doesn't.


This proves that the Hasbro Pulse versions of these "Takara-exclusive" toys are not just random batches taken from the Takara production run shoved inside additional Hasbro sleeves.
They're separate production runs specifically intended for Hasbro's markets.

 

Eh it’s the same run just stamped with a number. Don’t think it means much.

 

Interesting! So they do indeed do separate runs. Do you reckon it’s the same for Masterpieces?

On a side note, I really hate how Hasbro always prints those codes in such visible spots.

TakaraTomy omits those on all mainline releases as well FWIW and for me it’s always well worth the wait.

 

I’m surprised I haven’t seen a Hasbro release with the stamp on a figures face yet. Seems like something they’d do.  

 

Haha, I wouldn’t put it past them XD

 

I checked my Selects Seacons. While I cannot find a product code on Kraken or Turtler, there are definitely codes on my Gulf and Lobclaw, whom I purchased at the same time from the same seller.