Originally written April 2019.
First, a quick lesson in terminology: In the Transformers collector’s world, “third-party” figures are the colloquial term for unlicensed, unofficial figures. Really, that’s a bit of a misnomer, as true “third-party” product, by definition, is actually items released by non-Hasbro companies operating under official license from Hasbro. With that out of the way, this is an official third-party product in the actual definition of the word, made by Toys Alliance, the first in their Mega Action Figure series. The idea behind the line seems to be this: Just make big, giant, detailed, poseable figures of the classic Transformers characters, starting, of course, with Optimus Prime, the go-to character whenever a new line begins. Photos in this post were taken by Venomously Addicted Photography, who you can follow on Facebook and Instagram (still taking great shots in 2022!)
Let’s get this right out of the way: This guy is 18 inches tall. He’s the size of a Titan-Class Transformer. So when I say he’s big, I mean he’s REALLY big. Like, the size of a toddler big. He’s entirely plastic, with no metal in him outside of the screws holding him together, but he’s still very hefty. Let’s also get this out of the way: He doesn’t transform, and is simply a giant action figure of Optimus Prime’s robot mode. Even if that’s an instant no-sell for you, I urge you to hold on a moment. Non-transforming-Transformers aren’t usually my thing, but this guy makes me take a long, hard look at how often I actually transform the figures I own, due to how much work they put into crafting this release. They basically set out to make the best giant Optimus they could.
His specific design is very reminiscent of the second version of Masterpiece Optimus Prime, MP-10, first released in 2011. In fact, comparing the two side by side, it feels like they took the design files for MP10 and blew them up, adding details as they went (including, bizzarely, the extra mass on the sides of his lower legs that contained vehicle parts on MP-10). To give you a sense of scale, MP-10 Masterpiece Optimus Prime comes up to this guy’s mid-thigh. To give you a sense of value, depending on which version and where you get both of these guys, they cost roughly the same price.
The Masterpiece figure’s design, and this guy’s, by extension, are that of an extremely cartoon-accurate classic Optimus. So, basically, you know this design if you know anything about Transformers at all. Proportionally, he’s a little squatter than the small figure, with thighs and arms that are shorter. Still, it’s a good interpretation of his classic look, replicating the high points of that sculpt at a larger scale. He’s got a particularly great-looking head, which manages to look friendly, rather than menacing. This is the Optimus that played basketball with his comrades in that one episode, instead of the grim face-taker of the films.
However, they didn’t just blow up the Masterpiece design. They added tons of extra detailing to it. Formerly featureless surfaces are now dotted with panel lines, rivets, small bits of technology, and general visual business. A common complaint in the fandom about both unofficial and official third-party products is an obsession with making toys too detailed, adding tons of panels and lines, or “greebles” as they’re called, making figures too visually busy, and messy looking. On this figure, I think they found a good balance. He has a lot more panel lines and small details on him, but I feel like they work at this scale, as he’d look really plain if he only had MP-10s details, but blown up.
More importantly, all of those tiny tech details are painted. In fact, the paint work on this guy is incredible, with every little extra bit of tech on him given a splash of silver, gold, red, yellow or blue. As for his overall color scheme, they chose to do him in metallic versions of his classic colors, which means that he comes across as somewhat darker in coloration than his usual portrayal, with his red being much more of a copper/rust shade than its usual vibrant primary self, and his blue being a lot darker. They also went out of their way to still give him transparent truck windows, which was a nice touch.
Optimus has got a ton of articulation in his legs, arms, waist and head. Essentially, he’s got the same joints as MP-10 (minus the transformation bits), but with the addition of an ab crunch, and individually articulated fingers. Most of his limbs are clicky ratchet joints that are, mercifully, not too stiff to pose easily, but stiff enough to hold him in place. To help with his shoulder articulation, you can actually stretch his arms away from his body a little bit, exposing sculpted and painted mechanical connections. Combine this with a great sculpt, and you’ve got a figure with a ton of expressiveness and personality. He’s also very stable, and can hold a split-legged pose, with his gun forward, without falling over. I’m not eager to drop him off a shelf, but he feels sturdy enough that he wouldn’t be damaged.
Speaking of that gun, it’s one of his two accessories. It’s a gigantic version of his trademark laser rifle, cast in black, also with tons of painted silver and gold details. It stays in his hand through a combination of pegging in, and his fully-articulated fingers outright gripping it. His other accessory is his Matrix of Leadership, concealed behind a series of fold out panels on his chest. It’s the only thing I take issue with on this guy, for a couple reasons. Firstly, it doesn’t want to stay put in his chest, as it’s not really secured, it just hangs off a couple of plastic projections, and is prone to falling out when you open him up. Secondly, it’s really undersized, meaning he can’t hold it in the iconic “about to open it” position. It’s even got sculpted finger holes that are many times smaller than his actual fingers. Still, it looks nice, is well-painted in silver and gold, with a clear blue crystal, and he can hold it in one hand well enough.
His other gimmick is light-up eyes, and a light up Matrix. To make these features work, you need about six tiny cell batteries, which you need to purchase yourself. One set goes in the back of his head, and another set goes in the middle of the matrix itself. The light up gimmick is well-thought-out, in that each turns on and off with a simple button press.
Overall
So, is this guy worth it? He’s about the same price as a large Masterpiece figure, and for that cost, you’re getting something way bigger, way more detailed, and very solid and stable, but it comes at the cost of an actual transformation. There’s something refreshingly straightforward about this guy, though. He’s just a big Optimus Prime, but one where it feels like they set out to make the best version of that idea possible. It feels like they started with MP-10, and decided to try and improve on it. It impressed me, and I don’t usually collect non-transforming-transformers. He’s good looking, well-engineered, and if you’ve got the space and funds, well worth giving a shot.
(2022 notes: This is still definitely well out of the sphere of what I collect, Transformers-wise, but my opinion hasn’t really changed: If you’re into something like this, it’s a well-put-together version of it, though the aftermarket on it is pretty ridiculous. I’d rather spend my cash on multiple transforming Transformers, but I can’t knock this guy for what he is.)
