Originally written May 2019.
So, right now (Well, May 2019) every Transformer collector is frantically scouring the shelves of their local haunts for the latest Studio Series Optimus Prime, based on his appearance in the Bumblebee movie. This isn’t a review of that guy (when I see one, I’ll write him up). Instead, this is a review of the other Studio Series Optimus that was just released, one that’s likely going to get passed up, but really shouldn’t. It’s based off of Optimus Prime as he appeared in the original 2007 Transformers movie.
Say what you will about the Bayverse movies (as I’ll call them), but they did give us a long line of really nice-looking Optimus Prime designs, partially because, unlike the rest of the cast, the core look of the character was preserved when he was redesigned. I was most fond of his look in the first two movies, and that design has received a massive pile of figures over the decade-plus since that first movie came out, including a giant Movie Masterpiece version that’s ludicrously complex. This Studio Series figure is the latest in that line.
Since I haven’t reviewed anything from it on this blog before, I’ll sum it up briefly: The Studio Series started its life as the 10th anniversary movie line, and proved to be popular enough to just keep going. The point of the line is extreme movie-accuracy, a dedication to a consistent scale between the figures, and a truly impressive amount of catering to longtime movie collectors, by making the line focus on characters that really needed updating, and filling holes in collections by releasing characters that never got proper figures before. Of course, because the line still needs mainstream appeal, there’s plenty of Optimuses and Bumblebees.
This figure (designated SS-32) is actually a significant retooling of one of the earliest figures in the Studio Series line, Optimus Prime as he appeared in Revenge of the Fallen (designated SS-05). I picked that figure up at the time, and found him fun but flawed, mainly because, despite the Studio Series dedication to movie accuracy, his robot mode was a bit off in its design, mainly around the chest and back. This new version aims to fix those problems, gives him brighter colors, and has actually been re-engineered so he can combine with Studio Series Leader Jetfire, like at the end of Revenge of the Fallen….despite this figure being based on his 2007 movie appearance. Makes my head spin.
Anyway, let’s have a look at the latest attempt to bring one of the nicest Optimus designs (don’t @ me) into plastic form, and see if it’s worth picking up when the Bumblebee movie one’s out there, or worth the upgrade if you got the previous version.
Robot Mode
The Bayverse designs were always hard to accurately translate into plastic, thanks to how complex they were, but this guy gets it pretty close. When looking at a render of his film appearance, you can see that all of the important details are there, and the heroic shape is right.
He’s maybe got more bulk around his torso and back than he’s supposed to, and a couple tiny things are off, but they managed to avoid the issues that have plagued other versions of this character. He’s got the proportions down pat, and a really nice sculpt, particularly now that they fixed the issues of the previous release, on the right, below.
Two important changes were made to this version: His chest was retooled from a flat surface to have his proper windows, and his backpack was changed from a flat panel into something approximating his X-shaped movie backpack.
It’s a bit bulky, but it works, and makes a ton of difference. He’s also got a really nice headsculpt, with his battle mask down, as I prefer my Primes.
Another problem with the complicated nature of the Bayverse designs is how complex and detailed their color schemes can be, and how impossible it can be to replicate that and keep the price of a figure reasonable. This Optimus does the best he can on a mass-released Voyager budget, and it gets things pretty close. The main thing he’s missing is additional flame patterns on his legs, shoulders and chest, where the figure only has block colors. Importantly, it gets the color distribution right, isn’t missing any important details, and best of all, looks vivid and heroic, especially compared to his previous release, which opted to give him darker, more muted colors.
This figure just looks good, no matter what pose he’s in, and radiates heroic, dynamic vibes. Luckily, he has great poseability to go with it, on par with the concurrent Transformers: Siege line. Ankle tilts, wrist swivels, and a waist joint come on top of the standard knees, hips, shoulders, elbows and head. He’s not without his poseability issues, though.
Some of his joints are incredibly, weirdly tight, particularly his knees and his head, requiring struggle to move. They’ve definitely been tightened from his Revenge of the Fallen release, and I strongly suspect that this was done to make his Jetfire combination more solid. His waist is also slightly blocked by his backpack. Still, it’s hard not to make this guy look good, and he’s stable enough to pass the litmus test of “able to stand on one leg while doing a mid-air kick.”
This version of Optimus comes with a single accessory: His ion blaster gun, as used for a few seconds in the 2007 movie, and more visibly in Revenge of the Fallen.
Personally, I think it looks a bit undersized for what it should be, but it’s hard to find solid reference in the movies, so it might just be me. It’s got a nice bit of paint on it, in the form of a black burn mark on the barrel.
Of course, he didn’t use this weapon as prominently in the 07 movie as he did one of his swords, which is where we run into the issue of them not being included with him. The reason they were likely omitted was because the previous Revenge of the Fallen release includes both of his swords, and they likely didn’t want to make that other set totally redundant, which is kind of unfortunate.
For what it’s worth, he can hold those ones just fine, and he looks great posed with them (just like he does with his gun).
Still, if you didn’t get the previous version like I did, it leaves you out in the cold.
Transformation
Not gonna lie, I expected this to be easier. A proper, movie-accurate transformation has been done before with this design, on the old Revenge of the Fallen Leader, the Hunt for the Decepticons Voyager, and on the recent Movie Masterpiece. By movie-accurate, I mean every part in one mode goes where it goes onscreen in the other mode, i.e. his chest windows become his truck windows. The problem with that is it makes for a really complicated transformation, and can sometimes compromise the overall look and quality of both modes. This version of Optimus has a more cheat-y transformation, (i.e. the windows on his chest aren’t his actual truck windows) which I regarded as a good thing, since it likely meant it would be simpler.
Hoooo, boy.
This was one of those transformations where I had a bunch of parts splayed out, and said to myself “I have no idea how any of this fits together.” The tiny instructions didn’t help. In the end, I used the following transformation video to figure it out. All that being said, there’s definitely a knack to it, and I feel like I got it after a couple more tries, but it’s still wayyy more complicated and time-consuming than I’d have liked.
Vehicle Mode
It doesn’t look bad, but it’s definitely not as polished as the robot mode. For one thing, the smokestacks are too short, but that’s necessary for safety and stability.
The back of the truck is also kind of sketchy, being obviously composed of robot feet, and there’s gaps in the sides of his cabin that expose more folded up robot bits.
The front and driver’s cabin looks good, though, particularly with the nice shade of silver they used on his grille and roof.
Speaking of that, the colors are once again mostly correct, just missing flames on the door and roof. On the other hand, he has painted wheel rims, unlike the previous release.
Unfortunately, he doesn’t roll well, and the folded up robot parts beneath his truck front tend to scrape the ground. The original release did roll well, but some of the retooling on this version makes his undercarriage too thick.
While it’s not movie-accurate, you can stash his gun on the side of his truck roof for an improvised attack mode.
He can also still stash the previous version’s swords on his back, if you’d like to give them to him as well.
Overall
This figure’s got problems, but I’m pretty forgiving towards it because it depicts a design I love. It has an excellent robot mode that oozes personality and character. On the flip side, the vehicle mode’s a bit dodgy and the transformation is way too difficult for that level of dodginess. He also excludes necessary accessories for a “complete” version in the name of not making his previous release totally pointless.
Still, he’s definitely better than the previous Studio Series release, and improves the things I didn’t like about it, even if he introduces one new issue (his undercarriage stopping him from rolling). This retool also added the ability to combine with Studio Series Jetfire, despite the previous version being unable to, so that’s a neat feat of engineering. I like him better than the Movie Masterpiece, since he’s not as complex, and he’s easier to handle. If you want a Bayverse movie Optimus, this is the best version on the market, though I’ll note that he’s also currently scheduled to have a third release, retooled into his Dark of the Moon design, with a trailer he can pull that changes into a battle base and jet armor, which inflates him to the Leader price point. Time will also tell how this compares to the Bee Movie version of the character that’s just starting to trickle out, though I’ll also say that I prefer this character design over that one.
(2021 notes: Well, it turned out that I liked the Bee Movie version better, but this is still the best version of his original movie design out there including that impossible-to-transform Movie Masterpiece.)
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