I just can't bring myself to like this figure. The finish is absolute trash. The head is awful with the pegs sticking out on either side of the mouth. The poorly painted eyes and head details. The shitty packaging that leads to broken smokestacks. The loose ankles.

 

"Toy" might not be the right word for it, but it's the white outlined insignia with the eyes filled in and all the lines connected:


Toon is the Traced version where the sections are not connected, the crest flares out a little more, and there's no solid fill:



Which matches how they usually drew it in the cartoon (couldn't find a better photo):

 

What paint did you use for the reds and blues? I've been thinking about shooting at least a coat of gloss the red bits.

 

I was a big fan of the Legends scale Nemesis Prime that Magic Square made, so I decided to order one of these guys from them directly and I am not disappointed in the least. I would say that OP Leader looks and feels a bit better, which is why he's gonna continue hanging out with my "MP" Megatron. But this guy here is gonna be my big Optimus Prime desk toy.



Now of course, I have been keeping an eye on this thread and and am aware of the smokestack issue. But it was my hope that MS would have a solution by now given how widespread the issue is. And they did!



Their solution was to simply ship the figure with spare smokestacks already included. Thankfully mine arrived unbroken, but at least it's something!

 

I used Tamiya TS-18 metallic red and Testors Star Spangled Blue. I'd like to see your results if you decide to apply a clear coat as I think that could be quite stunning.

 

Did you paint the red body and blue legs too?
Maybe it's just the lighting but it looks really natural like it's been produced official!!

 

Question for those who have followed MS releases (Legends+ MP) what's the likelyhood we get a painted re-release of this in like a year?

 

Guaranteed.

 

That is an impressive fix. I thought of doing it but I was afraid of not drilling straight and ending in a straight but quirky smokestack.

Or follow my fix!  

I love MP-44 too but I think they are just two different takes at the character. Two iterations that are aimed at different collectors.

We'll see you in a year with our unbroken MS-02 then!

 

Agreed. Excellent looking fig, but looks and feels like a reeeally good Optimus cosplay.

And I understand that cost was one of the big drawbacks with MP44, but as these do dobblegangers continue to be released, I see more and more that the cost wasn't as crazy as some would like to make it. Every other Prime seems to have to cut a LOT of corners just to get their prices down to "tolerable", only to end up with their own set of widespread issues. Additionally, the wishlist I see from folks (like paint) seems to reflect what MP44 already has.

To each his own, but I don't see any of these 3p Primes as adequate replacements. Worthy figs to own, but not replacements. Maybe if MP44 didn't exist...

 

I don't think Magic square has cut corners with MS02 in terms of design, and i love it as much as MP-44, but you gotta admit you can see where the ¥50,000 yen went to ahaha

Yeah for sure, but i'd definitely recommend MS02 over the MP44 KO for anyone who can't afford the official

 

No, I haven't touched the red and blue plastic. I did paint the window edges silver and the shin vents gunmetal, which I think helps pops the plastic color in the pic.

 

Haha! I just imagined from that picture Hannibal from the A-Team voicing Optimus Prime in the 80s.

“Autobots! I love it when a plan comes together.” Holding a smoke stack stoggie. Lmao!

 

They look like the exact same sculpt in this pic. Just one is painted and one isn’t.

 

I will tag you whenever I see a reported breakage!  

 

Well, I'd just grabbed a bunch of Autobot cars that I had in vehicle mode.

And as far as Cliffjumper goes, specifically, unfortunately he's the last gap in my MTMTE lineup...

 

I perfectly agree!

Please do as that will make me worried about mine. But I have tried and tortured mine. That plastic is not breaking under some heavy use.

 

Love this truck

Ooh that modified head looks nice. I wonder if it would be possible to take a sharp exacto and carefully trace a channel around the outline of the eyes to give the feeling of separate eye pieces? It would give the eyes a bit more depth and a shadow outline so they don't look so flat

Oh thanks! I guess I've seen them both but never particularly paid attention to the difference. I think I prefer the "toon" outline version

 

I thought I was a detail person, but after all these years I’ve just finally realized what people were talking about with toon and toy versions. I agree. I prefer the toon. Once you get used to the toon one the toy one looks like it just got a close cropped haircut or something.