It's not the most impressive Transformers toy I've ever acquired, and at the hefty price ($200+), it needed to impress me to be worth spending that much on it. I'm yet to transform it, but removing it from the packaging and having a look over it, I'm kinda wondering why it cost so much to produce (and sell). After all, this is something that Hasbro would be expected to release in the western markets, which would offset the cost of design and production... so I'm a bit disappointed in having this costing more than other Masterpiece figures, but is smaller.
The robot of Optimus looks wrong, with the "stretched" abs/grill on the front, and the wheel covers on the legs. I do like how they've managed to create a robot that doesn't look like it could possibly convert into anything (by way of no kibble or bits hanging off, sticking out), and yet, it obviously must. That's always the goal of the perfect Transformers toy - to look like they did in the original cartoon (a robot drawn like a regular non-converting robot, but actually transforms into something).
As for the accessories...
The trailer looks nice, but isn't completely hollow, so can't hold much inside. I also need to see if it can stand on its own like the original one (when the truck isn't attached), as the parking "legs" don't seem to swing around to keep the trailer from falling forward.
Having Roller included is expected, and makes up for its absence in the earlier MP4 Optimus.
The Spike figurine is a smaller scale to the recent Human Alliance figurines, so I was a bit disappointed by that. I can see that it needed to be small enough to fit into Roller, but it would be nice if Hasbro & Tomy could stick to a uniform human figurine size, like they are trying to do with the hand-held weapons.
The handgun folds up for some reason (so that it can be hidden away in the back of Optimus), but feels wrong for it to be able to do that. It is a gimmick I'd rather have not happen (hiding the weapon) if it left the gun solid and stable.
The Matrix... another expected item for a Masterpiece Optimus, so no comment there.
But the battle-axe... I'm so over that accessory. It was used in one single episode for like two minutes, waaaay back in 1984... and has been included in so many Optimus Prime toys now. Okay, we all have at least one battle-axe in our collections... be creative Hasbro/Tomy - let it go and move on with something else.
I'd much rather have a mini Megatron for him to hold onto, or some other trinket he's held onto briefly in any other episode, than that darn battle-axe. Hopefully it isn't hinting at another Masterpiece Megatron (with flail attachment) to pair up with Battle-axe-Optimus... as that'd just be another expensive rehash for me to buy.
Okay, enough on Optimus for now, as I'll do a proper review of it after I've had a play with it.
For now, a pic of what else came in the box (which was 2/3rds paper padding... didn't they have any smaller boxes????).
So obviously the Optimus was the big, main expense. But purchased at the same time to save a little on combined shipping, was...
Human Alliance Reverb (the red toy), to get me up to date on the small HA figures - only the first wave was released here, so I've had to import the 2nd, 3rd and 4th waves.
Action Set Ratchet w/ Lunar Crawler (the two white, gold & blue toys at the back right), also intended to get me up to date on the Actionsets, but last week this 3rd wave started appearing in Australian stores, for less than it cost me to import... :(
DotM Guzzle (the tank), another toy that has been out for months overseas, and may show up here eventually, but I couldn't wait, because it's one of the nicer looking Movie toys.
Tomica Diecast Bumblebee (doesn't transform) - I got the Optimus vehicle last month, so had to get the pair.
More on those later, when I've had a chance to play with them.
(time to go buy some more stuff online - I usually wait until the previous purchases arrive before shopping for the next wave)
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