Ha, did the same thing. I was keeping that axe with Impactor , looks cool on his back.

Those Constructbot parts have been coming in handy. Especially the pistols, wing pieces , thrusters , swords and missles.

 

This figure is perfect but, I dont like his chest. His head and legs are identical to Siege Prime's head and legs. The trailer is too small. Sadly, he doesnt have Roller

 

This one hits it all squarely for me. More like this please.

 

Can we get a 360 comparison between Seige and Earthrise, nice clean shots of all 4 sides?

 

So, now that I've finally got mine, looks like the head is either glued together or their stuck by the paint on the back half. Anyone have any luck separating them? I'd love to paint the eyes yellow.

 

I did. I soaked it in near boiling water a few times. I took one of those X-Acto knives and worked it apart between baths. Rock it back and forth gently and it should eventually give way.

 

I just picked this guy up, even though I've trashed it on other threads. Boredom is a powerful thing. Anyway it looks better in hand then it photographs. Everything seems right and well balanced but more pins so that makes me nervous. The pins on siege optimus have not aged well, and while I still dig it, it's a floppy mess. Hopefully this one ages better. The trailer is a miss if you ask me, and would have rather the money going into cleaning up the truck mode which I also feel eh about. The robot mode is nice, and the blue in the eyes pops more in person. I suspect Hasbro will milk this mold and we will get future editions with better paint. Still a fun figure overall, soft recommend from me. Can't wait for the nemesis repaint.

 

So I finally got Earthrise Leader Prime and I have so many mixed emotions.

I'm going to get it out of the way upfront, like all the WFC leaders, you are not even remotely getting $50 worth. he's barely a voyager in bot mode and he (rather impressively, mind you) compacts down so much in alt mode that visually he's borderline sub-deluxe. he feels maybe 10-20% too small (I don't care about any Sunbow scale charts, he just looks a bit too small) Some of this would be mitigated if the trailer was great or even average, but it's distinctly below average.

The Good:
My gosh, is he beautiful. The sculpting is downright exquisite, the level of detail is absolutely perfect (no tacky overdone greebling like Siege). He's the first TF in a while that really reminds me if Don Figuero's art, it's like his drawing of G1 Prime walked right off the page. The head sculpt is perfect.

The colors. the grey is a nice neutral grey, shows off the detail much better then the nasty flat grays that the Siege Megatrons got, the blue is rich and dark and borderline metallic. The red, I'd have preferred just a touch more primary, it's slightly pinkish/cool, but still good.

The chest transformation is absolutely jaw-dropping in it's combination of complexity AND simplicity. He really feels like a mini Masterpiece.

the paint apps that are there are nice and crisp with great colors. The contrast between the gunmetal and the silver is particularly striking.

Yay! Flaps to hide the hand hollows (remember when deluxes used to get those?)

Aside from the wheels and a little bit of bleed on the silver paint, the QC seems fantastic. Joints are tight, and he pegs together cleanly all round (<--I can't remember the last TF I bought I could say that about, possibly pre-Thrilling 30.)

The Matrix chamber - I didn't even realized at first there was a seem between the windows.

The Bad:
I don't hate the wheeled fanny pack from a looks standpoint, but it's a major bummer that it hinders waist articulation so much.

As with many of the WFC figures, the lack of upwards toe articulation really hampers things. Seems like it would have been particularly easy to add to this mode

The articulated hands. It's really cool, but I'm not seeing any particular advantage created by it, and just gives him a tiny joint and a thumb that feel like they will break far to easy. the way it creates a curved palm makes it weird looking opened up, and he can't point or anything. EDIT: it was pointed out below they are for holding the matrix. Which totally makes sense. They still make me nervous (and look weird otherwise)

As stated in the intro, he's just a touch too small feeling and his proportions seem just a hair "off" ~ I think if he had slightly larger shoulders that sat just a bit higher, it would help him to have a more "heroic" silhouette.

The missing paint apps are frustrating, especially on what is essentially a $50 voyager ~ the truck running lights, the middle yellow square on his pelvis, the Triangle with 2 bars on the forearms...

(as most everyone has noted) The eyes should have been yellow. the blue ones look great if you can see them, but t's so dark and recessed in there, it's pretty hard too. or he should have had light piping, which would have solve the issue and let his eyes be blue.

some sort of skirting that covered the thighs from the sides in alt mode and helped stabilize the gas tanks would have been nice (Classics Prime executes this well)

The Ugly:
Those grey calf pieces. should have figured out how to gang mold those with the trailer drone so they could both be blue. Given the lower legs do almost nothing in the transformation, would have been nice if they could have figure out a way for the tires to rotate inside.

The wheels are just terrible. they are too thin, they barely roll (one of his leg ones takes actual force to turn on my copy), wobbly as all get out. AT least they used pegs from the wheels going inward instead of popping out from the rims like the deluxes, but c'mon, if I expect pinned wheels on a $20 deluxe I'm sure not happy with them on a $50 voyager. The painted silver hubs on the black are awfully clash-y with the grey plastic hub on the front.

The smokestacks, while better then Siege, are still pretty ug-o. The 5mm ports just feel out of place there. and the molding seem across the top makes him look unfinished.

The Chibi ion cannon. Why can't they ever get Prime's gun right outside of Masterpiece. it's so freaking iconic!!!

The gap in the truck mode for the Ion Cannon. love that they tried to incorporate it, think stowage in the trailer would have made more sense, and made for a better looking one piece cannon AND let the truck mode have a better execution of filler bit.

The trailer is just bad. bad and ugly. I love that they finally made a G1 Prime with his trailer, but am just so disappointed with the results. too small, too short, too undeco'd. the fact you could tote around deluxe-equivalents in G1 Prime was one of my absolute favorite thing as a kid, there was so much detail and play value with it. This effortt doesn't even feel half-@$$3D. Maybe quarter-@$$3D.

The Wrap-Up
Classics Prime has been my gold standard since he was released, and while I feel like this guys is technically better, I'm not sure yet if I actually LIKE him more. That said, he's the best pure G1 Prime ever, I prefer him to MP10 (better proportions) and FAR prefer him to MP44 and all his Sunbow nonsense. (I still dig MP1, but he's fragile and doesn't really scale with anything.)

I'd give him an A- except for the cost:value ratio, which I'd knock him down to a B. If he ends up on a decent sale, I'd give him a hearty recommend, at full price, I find him a little hard to give a full-throated thumbs up. (I got him at a slight discount off of MSRP from a board member)

 

the hands are for holding the matrix.

 

thank you! I made an edit for that one  

 

If Siege Optimus never existed then I would have probably liked this. I think that figure handled some things better than ER.
I ended up returning it. And t just wasn’t worth the $50.

All they had to do to make me happy was to tweK Siege. I liked the upper legs way better on Siege. I detest the wheels on the back of ER. I do not like being able to see the arms in truck mode. I actually appreciate that roof flap that folds down the back of Siege, and it wouldn’t have taken much to turn that Cybertronian truck into an earth one.
But I did like ER shoulders more than Siege’s.

they just need to splice the 2 together.

If I find it again on clearance then maybe. But otherwise I think I’m done buying Optimuses.

Or stick with Classics Prime.

 

I've been having a ton of fun on this one, only thing I dislike on him is the wheels on his legs: they were pinned on Siege OP and on this one they never seem to keep a straight angle. I still like Siege Optimus though, both toys have very enjoyable and creative transformations.

I'm using the trailer to store some Autobots' weapons so their vehicle modes look cleaner too, mostly the sports cars.

 

That’s a good idea. It even works as a stealth-homage to DOTM Prime’s weapons depot trailer.

 

I am working on breaking down the legs of both Earthrise and Siege Prime to see what I can combine to make a more flush and blue leg. It may just come down to printing and future 3D printing more cartoon accurate replacements. They are just too kibbly and there is too much grey and silver.

 

Personally IMO, Siege Is Just A Better Figure, Ah Sure, ER Prime Has The Matrix & The Trailer & Blah BLAH blaH! But To be Honest, I COULD CARE LESS...The Siege Prime Has Better Proportions, I HATE ER Prime's BULKY Chest And His SKINNY Abdomen, Plus, ER Prime's Trailer Is WAY Too Small, And It Feels Uncomfortably CHEAP, Another Thing Is Weapons, Siege Prime's Shield/Axe Is WAY Better Than Earthrise Prime's PATHETIC Shield, So Overall I Give Earthrise Optimus Prime A 7.5 Out Of 10 And Siege Optimus Prime 10 Out Of 10

 

Seige definitely has the better bot mode. If only the vehicle was just a smidge better

 

I'll take ER Prime's slightly too long legs any day and twice on Sunday over Siege Prime's ridiculous backpack, arm kibble, even stumpier smokestacks, goofy looking windows, spatter paint "damage" and bizarre ugly-beyond-belief alt mode. (and did I mention the backpack? because it's like he's running around with a sheet of plywood on his back)

the only points I can give Siege are painting the running lights (which he shouldn't even have as a "Cybertronian" truck) and central yellow block on his crotch piece.

 

EarthRise Prime fixes some or the issues I had with SIEGE Prime, without carrying over all of its strengths and creating new issues in the process unfortunately. No forearm kibble and no backpack = good! Less knee range, hips that go 90 degrees but no more than that, barely any transformation for the legs = eh....

Both have great transformations(aside from EarthRise Prime's legs).

 

Weirdly, the minimal back kibble on ER Prime bothers me more than the backpack on Siege Prime. I think the backpack on Siege Prime meshes well as part of the look of the figure. The grill and wheels hanging off ER Prime though seem to stick out a lot more as he otherwise has a clean silhouette.