Originally written February 2019.
Even if you barely know Transformers, you know who Optimus Prime is, which is why when Takara started making Masterpiece Transformers, the high-end, collector-oriented, super-accurate-to-the-80’s-toon line, it makes sense that they started with a version of him way back in 2003. In 2011, they made a second version of Optimus, MP-10. Despite the stated mission of the line to create the best-possible version of the Autobot leader, MP-10 still left a bit to be desired. In 2019, they tried trying again, with a third version of Prime, aiming to be the most detailed and accurate yet, MP-44. There’s a few catches though, the biggest being that MP-44’s going to retail for about $600 Canadian dollars, the single most expensive Masterpiece product ever created (for comparison, MP-10 tended to go for about $250, give or take, and many of the smaller Masterpieces typically retail for just over $100). Not only that, but MP-44’s taken some unusual design choices, opting to imitate Optimus Prime’s original cartoon animation model as much as possible, resulting in a surprisingly skinny, frail robot mode, and insanely complex transformation that creates a figure assembled from what looks like tons of tiny tabs. He also comes with a massive pile of accessories, and includes a soundbox with voice clips. Needless to say, a lot of fans aren’t sure if the figure’s worth the buy-in. This review isn’t about him, though. It’s about one of the alternatives.
Magic Square is one of many “third-party” companies, the fan name for groups that produce unofficial, collector-oriented robot toys based on the Transformers. As if in response to MP-44, they created “Light of Freedom,” their own take on a new Masterpiece Optimus Prime. Importantly, he only retails for about $160 Canadian, depending on your source. But aside from that, he just aims to be an even better version of the Autobot leader we know and love, one that captures the spirit of the deep-voiced, paternal warrior of the 80’s cartoon and movie, and fits on your Masterpiece shelf.
Between MP-44, Light of Freedom, and a third unofficial figure coming out, Transform Element’s TE-01, we’re looking at a three-way war of the Primes. Let’s see how this entry stacks up, and whether it’s worth the upgrade over MP-10.
Robot Mode
Light of Freedom, at first glance, is a hyper-detailed rendition of Optimus Prime as he appeared in the 80’s cartoon and movie. My first impression of him is that he’s extremely clean and cohesive, with few to no seams or tabs on him. He’s a little bit bulkier than Prime’s official character model, but still more accurate than MP-10 was, and that bulk looks good on his frame (Also, check out Optimus Prime’s cartoon entry on the Transfomers Wiki for an idea of how inconsistently he was drawn in term of mass. The header image alone is bulkier than this guy.) All of the little oddities of that cartoon model are faithfully replicated here, from the odd yellow patterns on his pelvis, to his improbably slim-for-his-transformation legs (unlike MP-10, he manages to hide his truck wheels inside his legs).
I’m really fond of his excellent headsculpt, which, in face and shape, perfectly captures the cartoon character’s odd mixture of kindness on top of the bravado. That’s a face you can trust. He’s pretty much the same height as MP-10, a bit taller than a leader-class Transformer, and it’s the perfect size for a figure like this: Big enough to be impressive, but not so big that he takes up too much space.
His looking like he leapt from the cartoon’s screen is bolstered by his color scheme. He’s rendered in a bright, primary, cartoonish red, white and blue, with bits of clear orangey-yellow, and silver chrome. Helping his cartoonish appearance is the fact that his chest windows are actually tinted blue, instead of being left clear. Magic Square made a unique choice with his colors, though, and that was to primarily render them in flat, pastel tones, instead of the shinier look we tend to see on most Transformers, Masterpiece or otherwise, giving him an even more cartoonish look, but one that doesn’t clash too badly with other official Masterpiece toys.
Nonetheless, the unique way he’s colored might turn some off. Something else unique about this figure that contributes to his flatter colors is that he actually doesn’t have a lot of paint on him, with most of his colors having been created by the base plastic he’s constructed from. He’s not completely barren of painted details, though, and he certainly doesn’t look plain. This is a welcome change for someone like me, who hates quality control issues that come with tons of paint, like scratches, chips, smudges, or sloppy applications.
Speaking of his construction, something you’ll immediately notice when you pick him up is that he’s made from a different kind of plastic than most official Transformers. Unlike their smoothness, he feels almost grainy in your hands. It’s not a bad plastic, and it still feels very durable and solid, as well as slightly flexible. It’s just different, and that may, again, turn some people off. Speaking of what he’s made of, there’s not a lot of die-cast parts in him. I’m pretty sure the silver bits in his abs and chest are metal, and that’s it. I’ve never cared much for die-cast, but some collectors do. Another thing they care about is the weight of a figure, so I’ll say that while he’s lighter than MP-10, he’s still heavier than most standard Voyager and Leader-class transformers, so they didn’t cheap out on his materials.
One aspect of his construction that does bug me, though, is his chest windows. They’re designed to be able to pop out of their frames and be swapped out, so they aren’t glued or bolted down, but the tiny tabs meant to keep them in place don’t secure them as well as I’d like. They’re not going to spontaniously fall out during display or posing, but nudging one with your thumb while you’re transforming him will make them come out, which gets annoying after awhile.
Now, let’s talk poseability, because boy, does he have a lot of it, far beyond that of MP-10. In fact, I’ve even successfully gotten him to replicate some of MP-44’s stock photography poses, as you’ll see later on. His individual fingers are articulated, including his thumb, and, in a testament to his solid construction, none of them seem like they’re going to fall out, like MP-10’s sometimes do.
His shoulders need to be extended out from their sockets in order to pose, which can look a bit awkward, but is a concession to his arms needing to work in physical space. His pelvis splits up like a skirt, in order to allow his legs to move. One slightly awkward aspect of the figure is his waist, which separates along a jointed arm for transformation, and can easily be lifted and detached, though it’ll never do so accidentally. Aside from that, he’s got all of the high-end articulation you’d expect, and in spades.
Now, let’s look at his accessories and gimmicks. Firstly, his chest windows swing open, and let me just say, after my Second North American Run MP-10’s terrible, non-shutting, mis-aligned chest doors, it’s so satisfying just to have them open and close, and stay closed and lined up.
Beneath them is his Matrix of Leadership, as first seen in the Animated movie. One thing he’s missing from the setup, though, is the second inner panel that opens to reveal the Matrix, something MP-10 does have. However, I always found it really hard to get MP-10’s Matrix out, and the tight fit in his chest from the extra panel was a part of the reason why his chest doors wouldn’t stay shut, so I don’t miss it here. Light of Freedom has an interesting-looking Matrix, in that it’s not a perfect rendition of its classic cartoon look, but seems to borrow a bit from the comics, which means MP-10’s, to me, looks better. Still, this one’s got a crystal that impressively glows in the light, and can be easily held by Light of Freedom (though not opened like in the movie, but to be fair, basically no figures can do that), and it’s not a pain to pull out and remove.
Next up, he’s got his trademark Ion Blaster weapon. MP-10’s could fold up and store in his back, but came out a bit small as a result. This one is just a big, solid black piece, with a bit of paint on it to pick up details, and is rightfully huge.
It fits into his hand through a combination of slotting into a ridge on his palm, and his finger joints wrapping around it, and manages to stay in securely. Thirdly, we have his glowing energy axe weapon, which he used in exactly one episode of the original cartoon, but every high-end Optimus has a depiction of, anyway.
It’s cast entirely in transparent amber, is solid plastic, unlike MP-10’s rubber, and also comes in two pieces. How it attaches isn’t clearly explained in the instructions, so let me break it down: The inner piece fits in his hand the same way his gun does, with his fingers wrapping around it, but with his thumb folding out of the way, like so:
The outer piece then fits onto and over it. At first, I thought it only worked on his right hand, but you can also install it on his left hand, if you rotate his wrist so his hand’s upside down, as I did above. All of that work is basically to ensure the axe stays on. It’s a shame that, to my eyes, it comes off as kind of small and dinky-looking, compared to some of the axes on other Primes, including MP-10, even if it’s better-constructed.
Finally, we have his effect parts, most of which are designed to simulate battle damage. Those way-too-easy-to-remove windows get replaced with an alternate set with a big spiderweb crack on the right, and a pair of bullet holes on the left (which are actual holes, not just a sculpt!)
Meanwhile, though it’s a bit tricky to figure out at first, a pair of red panels on either side of his abs can also be popped off. You’ll need good fingernails or a prying tool the first time, and need to partially transform the area to get some parts out the the way, but it’s easier after that first time. They can be replaced with a pair of panels with sculpted black and silver damage on him (see the above photo), though it’s not the specific damage he sustained during his famous fight in the Animated movie, like you’d expect. I’m not usually a fan of battle-damaged parts, but I think he wears them well, and they add visual interest to him.
Lastly, and most oddly, if you have a small screwdriver, you can remove a part of his helmet, and replace it with a barely-different, alternate sculpt, shown above. This new sculpt doesn’t seem to be based on anything from the animation, but instead looks similar to MP-10’s head design, a strange choice. I’m not a fan of it, nor am I a fan of needing to unscrew bits of a figure, but it can be easily ignored.
Transformation
I wish the instructions he came with were more detailed. Not only do they not show how any of his accessories or gimmicks work, but the transformation guide is a bit rudimentary. Still, that’s an outside issue, and it’s a credit to the figure that I managed to figure it out on my own most of the time by squinting, and the few times I didn’t, I checked on some video reviews. It’s helped by the fact that it’s a fairly intuitive transformation, full of moments where, after a few steps, you can immediately see where everything’s supposed to go, and peg it all in. (Everything pegs nice and securely, by the way).
Basically, it starts out similar to the original Optimus Prime toy’s transformation, where he bends his legs back, tucks his head away, and tucks his arms into his sides, only his waist now rotates backwards, a bunch of panels come out of his arms to fill in the truck mode, and his legs basically explode into panels and reform into a more truck-ish shape.
Here’s three tips on areas that gave me trouble: You can pull his shoulders out farther than you think, until some red joints appear, in order to get them to fold back, like so:
Secondly, when changing him back into a robot, this is how the panels in his arm fold away, a photo I wish I had for reference at the time:
Finally, again when returning to his robot mode, it can be tough to figure out the exact alignment of his hidden leg wheels, so here’s how they’re supposed to be placed:
Admittedly, it took me about an hour to figure out the first time, but don’t let that scare you away. I was taking it slow and checking a video. I was able to do it without instructions every other time, in a much shorter time.
Truck mode
Once again, my first impression of this mode is that it’s extremely clean and cohesive, with everything aligned, and few to no gaps. Let’s get this out of the way, though: Light of Freedom doesn’t come with Prime’s trailer, unlike MP’s 10 and 44 (and can’t connect to MP-10’s trailer for an easy swap, either). That’s going to bother some people, but doesn’t bother me. British Transformers reviewer Thew Adams said it best on Twitter, when talking about a previous Prime released without one: “Y’all know I love G1 and Diaclone but I have literally never spent more than 30 seconds with my G1 Prime’s trailer and have always kinda wished he didn’t bring that damn bulky thing into my house.” Basically, it spends most of its time taking up space somewhere. In the cartoon, it mostly disappeared into thin air anyway. I strongly suspect Magic Square is going to release a trailer of its own eventually, though, thanks to a couple of suspicious panels that you need to flip out on the back of the truck bed that don’t seem to serve any obvious purpose, and go just where a trailer would attach:
So, with that out of the way, this is an impressively boxy truck mode. Everything on his front half compresses and clicks into a big meaty square, covered in truck-y details. While they were visible in his robot mode, I’ll note here that those details include fully moveable, sculpted windshield wipers on his windows.
Overall, there’s a minimum of panel lines on his front, and it does a good job of managing to feel like a slabby, cohesive whole, instead of a jumble of parts. Color-wise, he’s exactly the same as his robot mode, with one curious painted detail: A white stripe that runs along his truck’s side, present on many iterations of Optimus, but left off of his original cartoon model. Light of Freedom decided to eschew cartoon accuracy and leave it on him to add visual interest, which I like, but purists might have a problem with, and it’s a detail that both MP-44 and the Transform Element version omit.
It’s a shame about his truck’s back end. Despite exploding and reforming during transformation, it’s still really obviously a pair of robot legs, just with extra wheels on the sides, and a robot pelvis right in the middle. It’s a problem almost every Prime has, but the trailer usually covers up. It also feels like these legs rise up higher than on most Primes, and are thicker than they should have been. Another slightly annoying bit: The side mirrors on the truck’s doors are on pegs, and can pop off easily. I feel like they weren’t glued in order to stop them from breaking, but it can still be bothersome to sometimes have them fall off.
Still, there’s something really pleasant about this mode, and to be honest, it’s fun to roll around on its wheels, like a toy car. Said wheels are made of real rubber, by the way. In terms of other features in this form, he’s got smokestacks that can be extended or left short, as well as moved up and down on his truck back/shoulder. To be honest, I’m not sure what their “correct” configuration is, but having options it’s a nice detail. Additionally, he’s got doors on the sides of his truck mode that you can actually open up, though they just open into red plastic, where the upcoming MP-44 can store minifigures.
This one can still store a minifigure, though, thanks to his front windows still swinging open (again, anyone that’s owned a later-run MP-10 will appreciate how these ones actually stay shut, and are perfectly aligned), though you need to open his doors to open those windows first. Here he is with MP-10’s Spike figure:
Also, while it’s not an intended gimmick, because of the transformation, his Matrix of Leadership is actually on the inside of his bumper, and easily accessible, meaning you can pull it out without having to open him up, or de-transform him.
Compared to MP-10
As I’ve hinted above, I never really cared for MP-10, or at least, the copy I wound up with. I got the 2017 re-release of him, and several problems with the figure really irked me. The doors on his chest never wanted to stay shut, especially in vehicle mode, and were always a little bit uneven (something I confirmed, through photos, wasn’t just a one-off problem with mine). His poseable fingers kept falling out of his hands, his Matrix was really hard to pry out of his chest, and a dozen other little things that just gave me a bad impression of the expensive figure. So I was eager for a better alternative.
Light of Freedom is certainly more cartoon-accurate, cleaner and less busy in robot mode. His legs are skinnier, and don’t have the bulk of the wheels sticking out of the sides. He looks more unified, thanks to the block colors on his body. He’s also way more proportionate, since MP-10 had oddly long arms. Both have pretty good head sculpts, but I like Light of Freedom’s better.
Light of Freedom is way more poseable, with things like its individual fingers and thumbs that actually stay on, and generally, joints that have a greater range of motion. The only joint that MP-10 has that Light of Freedom lacks are rotating knees.
While Light of Freedom’s gun doesn’t stash in his back and flip out like MP-10’s, it’s bigger, and looks better.
Similarly, Light of Freedom has a less-accurate Matrix, but one that’s easier to remove and to use.
Finally, Light of Freedom’s axe is positively puny compared to MP-10’s gigantic cleaver, but is made of solid plastic instead of rubber.
Light of Freedom’s transformation is somewhat more difficult than MP-10’s, but accomplishes its purpose much better, since its parts all hold together much better and more cohesively. And, for the most part, all of his vehicle mode parts actually become the corresponding robot mode parts, whereas MP-10 has two truck grills, one for each mode. (Light of Freedom does have a shrunken set of fake fuel tanks for his robot legs, though).
Light of Freedom’s vehicle mode holds together way, way better than MP-10’s, which can come undone easily. MP-10 has opening windows that have trouble staying shut, and don’t align properly, as you can see here:
I’d say overall that Light of Freedom has less sculpted detail, but what’s there is finer, and cleaner, with no visible shoulder joints, like on MP-10.
While Light of Freedom’s truck doors open, MP-10’s mirrors do swing in and stay on, instead of easily coming off.
Surprisingly, Light of Freedom’s truck bed is only a bit thicker than MP-10s, but feels bulkier thanks to its design. They’re both equally really obviously robot legs, though, it’s just that MP-10 gets to hide it with its trailer.
Overall, while it has less accessories, Light of Freedom is definitely the superior of the two, and, if you can live without the trailer, is 100 per cent worth the upgrade.
Compared to MP-44
This one’s tougher, since we really only have stock photos to go off of (2021 edit: And, naturally, I never owned this), but I will say, in terms of poseability, Light of Freedom can pull off most of the same poses as MP-44, and look cleaner while doing it:
In terms of its appearance, Light of Freedom doesn’t look like it’s a mass of tabs and tiny panels, as is most obvious in that “Superhero Landing” photo.
In terms of transformation, MP-44 essentially turns its cab inside out, in order to swap basically all of its truck mode details in the name of extreme animation accuracy. Light of Freedom doesn’t bother with this, and is almost certainly much easier to transform.
In truck mode, they look about the same in terms of quality. MP-44 lacks the white stripe, again, due to animation accuracy, but also has way more sculpted details. One advantage MP-44 seems to have is that its opening side doors actually have space for figures, though it looks like its chest windows no longer open as a result, and the wipers on them are just sculpted, unpainted details.
While MP-44 also manages to have a less bulky back end, photos show it as looking much less clean, and full of gaps.
Overall, while there’s a lot I don’t know about MP-44, to my eyes, he looks far more complex, and far less fun than Magic Square, to say nothing about the price tag, which I personally find too steep for my interests.
Absolute Final Thoughts
No matter what way you slice it, Light of Freedom is an excellent toy. Even as a one-off, this guy is a near-flawless rendition of the Autobot leader, and is now one of my favorite figures ever. I highly recommend him. It’s not even a case of being cheaper, or possibly superior to the official Takara alternative, it’s just that he’s good on his own. He has the friendly spirit and personality of the original Sunbow Optimus Prime, and is just fun to handle, pose, and fiddle with. This is an excellent figure, and I can almost guarantee you’ll enjoy him. As you can tell, I really am.
(2021 edit: I still love this guy. In fact, since 2019, I’ve sold nearly all of my Masterpiece figures, thanks to generally not being enamored with them, but this guy’s still on my shelves, and probably always will be, just as a one-off Cartoon Optimus. Since then, Magic Square also did a few repaints of this guy, including the expected Magnus and Nemesis versions, but also did another Optimus cast in metallic colors, which, if you don’t care for this guy’s pastels, is an equally good alternative. They never did make him a trailer, though).
