The latter. Obviously.

 

Optimus has been packaged that way with every other version of him, so I imagine that will be the same here too.

Most large Masterpiece figures come in their robot mode rather than their var mode.

 

This figure is impressing the hell outta me. Ridiculous price or no, I can't wait to have this guy on the shelf.

 

I am impressed. It is growing on me but that price tag kills it. I like how the grill is real this time around, and how the panels on the side of the truck form into his legs.

 

It's the Prime I've always wanted... slightly evicerated. I knew Prime had guts but geez Louise, that's a little grim. And I don't know that the humans needed that much articulation though, poor Sparkplug has moobs for days.

Definitely onboard though. Facinating to see that they got the cab sides folded into his legs now.

 

The grill is different between modes. The truck grill ends up in the robot mode's backpack. Also, this time around the gas tanks in robot mode are different from those in bot mode too.

 

holy crap that is one impressive transformation 

 

It's nice looking enough, transformation seems a bit "involved" but still, a nice addition to the cartoon centric way of doing business. Kinda wish they had gone with a solid one piece human figure, like Raoul and Chip. At that size, articulation points make the human figures look awkward.

 

Seems pretty darn over engineered.... And even with all the folding around he has a massive backpack. I find it rather odd that 3rd parties are able to do a more accurate, clean prime for a 4th of the price....

 

Oh wow yeah that transformation is super clever. But that does raise the question for me why the backpack is so big. It looks like it could collapse wayyyy more then it does right now. And as clever as the leg transformation is, I'm not sure if it makes up for how much of a mess the rear of the truck is. But I'd probably be a lot more forgiving of all of these issues if it wasn't for the pricetag.   Still not seeing the value here. Even with the preorder discounts.

 

Looks like the chest windows rotate? Genius idea.

Accurate and cleaner is subjective but yay for options right? At least there is something you do like.

 

There is a lot that is very neat here but also so much that is just wrong. Such as
- top of trailer hitch area is a mess
- weird mix of toon accuracy and real world details in alt mode. This is what kills me the most. Super bland trailer but chrome bumpers?

All that said, a Hasbro release at a lower price with a more cohesive deco and I’d be in.

 

like it usually happens in real trucks.

 

Great pics. I love that transformation. I\'m really looking forward to this guy. Thank you to everyone who posted them. Kudos.

 

Only way this can be better after seeing these pictures is him being disassembled into parts of him being used for different things, including the robot alligator to recreate the episode "City of Steel." I like the battle damage but wish you could change out the front cab windows with more battle damage.

Time to do lay away, pan handling, and lots of begging before this is released....

 

Masterpiece Carly, with Optimus Prime accessory.  

 

I hate the Raoul figure. He stays in a box permanently. I like Chip though. I don't care that he lacks articulation, as he either sits in his wheelchair, in Sunstreaker's hand or on his shoulder.

 

now they’ll make a zombie Optimus....I’d buy that version

 

That huge backpack is an even bigger eyesore from the side view, and I really don't see why the description on the transformation says the waist does not even have to twist like in the toon. That never happened in the toon he transformed just like the G1 toy. The only time he had a twisting waist for transformation happened in video games.

 

Transformation looks insanely involved. They skipped quite a few steps in the magazine like how the truck's front grill goes into the backpack somehow.